B-Schools pump up spiritual quotient in classrooms

MUMBAI: Premier business schools likeIndian Institute of Managements (IIMs) andSP Jain Institute of Management and Research (SPJIMR) are giving a renewed impetus to spirituality on the curriculum to equip their students to manoeuvre a challenging business environment. 

This month, IIM Kozhikode is starting a course for first-year post graduate diploma in management (PGDM) students called 'Self Incorporated', which draws on insights from spiritual texts like the Bhagavad Gita and transfers them into a management context. Last month, Mumbai-based SPJIMR rolled out a compulsory credit course titled 'The Science of Spirituality' as part of its executive MBA programme. 

Around November, SPJIMR will make this a compulsory course in its PGDM programme. The course, developed by the institute's dean, Dr Manesh Shrikant, discusses the significance of the 'Spirituality Quotient' in management by drawing from the Bhagavad Gita."When the environment is uncertain you need wilderness skills," says Dr Debashis Chatterjee, director, IIM-K. "In a situation where one doesn't know where the economy is headed, whether one has a job or not, or if there is a pay cut lurking, one needs internal cohesion, external resilience, ability to deal with stress and an ability to operate beyond the ego," he says. All these can be key lessons from spirituality.
Prashant Sharma
  PGDM I sem