How B-schools are introducing digital technology courses to keep students’ skills updated

B-schools are responding to the pandemic-led acceleration of digitisation of businesses. IIMB has introduced a new core course on digital businesses this year, while electives like gamification, Web 3.0 and Metaverse respond to some of the latest technology trends. IIMA has started courses on digital strategy and transformation and digital marketing. “The traditional way of marketing or strategy or managing HR are all changing. Real-time data about what employees are doing is useful to understand how giving a day off in the middle of the week may improve productivity,” says D’Souza.

Consulting major BCG India, one of the largest recruiters at the leading B-schools, recently launched ‘BCG X’—a vertical to bring together more than 2,500 digital and AI experts, tech designers and builders globally to service client needs, as the nature of businesses they consult for is also evolving. “We do a lot of work with large start-ups now, which are digital-first companies,” says Sankar Natarajan, Managing Director and Head of Recruiting at consulting firm BCG India, adding that the new vertical has a mix of people with specific functional and domain expertise, but also requires management and consulting skills.

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Meanwhile, agility, an umbrella term for skills required to overcome the VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity) world’s challenges, is a key ingredient for managers leading the businesses of tomorrow, the country’s top B-schools and businesses agree. “Post-Covid, while companies continue to think and implement long-term strategic plans, there is a need to be more agile about certain decisions. For example, clients we work with have to revisit decisions due to external shocks such as supply chain uncertainty, geopolitical developments, changes in commodity prices, etc. So, companies and consultants have to be adaptive and all these elements come to bear a lot more,” says Natarajan. Adds Varun Nagaraj, Dean of S.P. Jain Institute of Management and Research (SPJIMR): “The pandemic exposed to the whole world that somebody falls sick somewhere and, suddenly, the prices of auto rickshaw parts go up. Therefore, an appreciation for people who can operate in that kind of a world has gone up.”

Institutes are going about preparing students for unfamiliar and shifting situations in different ways. D’Souza says IIMA has introduced courses on innovation, including one on ‘Innovation, Live!’, a hands-on, practical course aimed at developing a student’s ability to come up with out-of-the-box solutions, understand innovation methodologies and learn corporate decision-making processes. “In the last few years, we have been thinking a lot about divergent thinking, where there are different solutions to a problem. This has become central to quite a few courses operating on the campus,” he says. For SPJIMR, one way is to focus on solutions in core courses. “For example, in human resources, how do we introduce a diversity, equity, inclusion solution in Afghanistan or in a company that’s like that?” says Nagaraj. IIM Bangalore (IIMB) is emphasising on digital, data and ESG-related skills to help students catch early trends in external changes that contribute to VUCA. “If you see a change in demand, or you see a new trend towards a new technology, or you see some other consumer or social trend, the focus on data will help students understand these kinds of changes,” says Rishikesha T. Krishnan, Director of IIMB.