Why MBA in Design Thinking Beats a Generalist MBA

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Why MBA in Design Thinking is scoring over the Generalist MBA

16 Nov 2021
- admin
Evolution of Management Education as a science – The conventional MBA

A new era began in the early part of the 20th century with the introduction of formal education in the field of management. Management was perceived as a science and the recognition and acceptance by the industry led to a proliferation of MBA courses. The first programme was established by the Harvard Business School. In the decades to come, the popularity of MBA grew exponentially and the number of students continues to expand even today. The initial structure of the MBA course was based on the teachings of F.W. Taylor was enumerated in his famous treatise “Principles of Scientific Management”. Taylor’s theories provided for a scientific approach to management and concentrated on the supervisory level of management in an organization. The focus was on the operational performance of managers and delved into a result-based approach. Soon, the original MBA underwent a transformative change and metamorphosed into generalist MBA courses. Functional specializations were added to meet emerging and changing demands of business and remain the most widely available variant of the MBA programme looking to add competencies in areas of Finance, Marketing, HR etc. These MBA courses are the springboard that is offered to candidates to launch their careers in the business world. The candidate looks to specialise in specific business areas and then look for a career in the domain of their choice.

MBA in Design Thinking – The confluence of management and innovation with a human centric approach.

The dynamic world of business today is characterized by volatility, uncertainty, and complexity. Needs and expectations of organizations are changing rapidly with respect to their managers. Management education is generalist in nature and looks to build managers that are transactional in approach. Many lack the skills required to be true leaders and manage businesses with creativity, empathy and innovation.

To tackle competition, reduce redundancy and in an effort for survival, businesses are constantly and increasingly on the lookout for managers with emotional intelligence as an additional attribute along with intellectual competence. Cross-disciplinary learning is the need of the hour. The fusion of design and management looks to apply design principles to management, and derive long-term value for the organization.

Management education, thus, has undergone a change and design thinking is the new buzzword. In a nutshell, conventional MBA theory is process driven and strives to prioritize the bottom line as the culmination. On the other hand, Design Thinking takes a creative, humanistic, innovative and problem solving approach with the customer in the forefront.

Introduced as a core MBA programme sometime in 2005, the MBA in Design Thinking is now much sought-after in the world. The MBA in Design Thinking offers a new approach to tackle the multifarious issues that managers encounter in today’s business world. The main difference between the MBA in Design Thinking and the traditional MBA is the deviation from the process driven scientific approach and adoption of empathy, experimentation, creativity and innovation.

The fusion of Design and Business

Business models in organizations are often designed based on the experiences of the leaders/ managers that run them. Organizational vision too rests on bias and perception of the people at the helm of affairs.

However, business models and functioning of organizations need to undergo constant review with a view of the primary stakeholder i.e., the customer. The process driven approach should be flexible enough to take into cognizance the needs and wants of the customer and adjust accordingly.

To sum up, Design thinking is a non-LINEAR approach that is:
- human-centric and process driven
- includes empathy
- keeps the user/ customer in forefront
- is iterative
- looks to create long term value for the organization
The traditional design thinking process follows the route of definition of issues through Brainstorming, Prototyping, Testing, and Implementation.

This fusion of Design with Business helps in a number of ways.
- Tackling challenges and issues that are undefined and undocumented
- Discovery and leveraging of differentiators that could drive the business
- Discovery of latent user needs that remain unsatisfied
- Constant recognition of the changing perceptions of users/ customers
- Opportunistic direction finding through ideation
- Brainstorm and generate potential opportunities for evaluation
MBA in Business Design – scoring over the Traditional MBA

The new generation of managers have a role to play that goes beyond functional expertise in their chosen professions. They have to be leaders, strategizers, innovators, creators, and incubators of a culture of growth but with the user/ customer as the forefront. For this, the pedagogy is designed to expose the student to functional management concepts along with training in design thinking. The empathy and humanistic approach is inculcated through a unique combination of management learning with liberal arts. Exposure to experiential learning and project work hones the student’s skills and prepares them to be ready to address real-world challenges.

An MBA in Business Design adds to the generalist MBA through increased exposure. The curriculum is designed scientifically and looks to develop latent skills in the student in an effort to inculcate a well-rounded personality. Some of teaching is in the areas of:
- Functional Expertise – Core management functions such as Marketing, Finance, Human Resources, Analytics, etc.
- Liberal Arts – study of psychoanalysis, philosophy etc., to develop a humane approach to business decision making.
- Training in the Design Thinking process – Using a unique approach of introspection and awareness, students are taught the process through research, empathy, observation and defining, ideation, prototyping, testing and implementation.
- Immersion programs and experiential learning – Live projects and project work to give first-hand experience to students.
To Conclude

Design thinking approaches management issues the same way as designers approach design problems. This has important implications in management and is garnering increasing recognition in business organizations. As Business Design and design thinking continues to make contributions to business and management, MBA courses are adapting to integrate a humanist approach to business through business design.

Business Design and Innovation will teach the student to leverage principles of design thinking to address business challenges. Applications could be in the areas of building products, formulating strategies, synergizing teamwork, and environmental framework for optimum performance. The next generation of managers will be leaders who are well versed in Business Design, ready to lead in a demanding environment.

The flagship PGDM in Design thinking offered at SOIL Institute of Management offers an opportunity to the student to unleash their inner potential and learn better ways to creatively design new products / services or to modify or extend existing ones.

Design thinking is designed management learning that is practical, multidimensional and user oriented. It can have diverse applications in businesses in areas of redefining internal processes and creating/ solving external problem statements.

The world-class curriculum at SOIL empowers and inspires young leaders to take on the challenges of managing, collaborating and adapting with a different perspective. The program integrates Design Thinking, Management and Liberal Arts to unleash the creative potential of students and create truly well-rounded, future-ready leaders.