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NISHANT SAXENA, Dy CFO, Procter & Gamble India.

Nishant Saxena, who passed out from IIM-Lucknow, believes B-schools must organise more interaction with industry managers so that students can learn what really is important from a business point of view.

On what made him pursue an MBA...

To get a complete picture of running a business (in addition to the focus on technical aspects that my engineering degree offered). In most big companies, if we aspire to reach the top echelons, an MBA helps.

On what B-school taught him...

It is interesting that most of us use only 10 per cent of what we studied in B-school. But the value is in a thinking process that helps see the big picture, looking at the forest as well as the trees, and having a comprehensive look at a problem.

On what it ought to have taught...

Most B-schools in India are run by academicians who unfortunately may not have a very high quality corporate experience themselves (unlike in the West where most professors do active research with Fortune 500 companies). This naturally limits their ability to focus on what really is important from a business point of view (against what is written in the text book).

There is still opportunity to focus on many soft skills, though these soft skills are very abused ...you can easily make a mockery of a classic strategy or leadership, and you can also make it ever so inspiring and a real value add. Managing people, art of influencing, seven habits, win-win.....many such basically commonsensical concepts are something we could have focussed more in B-schools.

Interaction with industry managers and more handsome projects/research is another area B-schools can focus more on.

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