A new world-order of business is emerging which is being shaped by design
The world today is characterized by volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity; and fueled by technology. Organizations are under intense pressure to innovate or be rendered irrelevant. Leading brands like Apple, Google, Facebook, Amazon that have established a strong global presence with unprecedented speed are anchoring themselves in design and not focusing exclusively on technology and management efficiency. Organizations from the previous century that are thriving today have also leveraged design to play a decisive role in their transformation.
Companies which will survive and thrive in this world will need a new breed of professionals, leaders, thinkers and entrepreneurs who demonstrate creative ideas and not just managerial skills.
This new world-order of business calls for a change in the design of management education
Management education is under severe criticism for its increasing lack of relevance to the contemporary business world. Globally, leading business programs have been rather similarly structured around inductive (generalization from specific instances) and deductive (inferences from logical premises) reasoning; based on the requirements of the business world of the previous century.
The current state of affairs calls for a new structure on the premise of abductive reasoning i.e. ‘what might be’. The key to creating this mindset lies in Design Thinking. Business programs have to shift from producing managers to nurturing Business Design leaders who can visualize and craft new possibilities.
India’s first integrated School of Business Design (SOBD)
SOIL’s School of Business Design (SOBD) is a bold and radical initiative that reimagines management education in India.
Representatives from over 30 companies from diverse sectors, their customers, and students have collaborated to build a one-of-a-kind experiential curriculum that blends design and management for the first time in India.
SOBD’s vision is to nurture creative Business Design leaders for this new world of business. These leaders will be aware of the true needs of multiple stakeholders, care for their requirements, and dare to take on complex problems, source creativity and inspiration through radical collaboration, and develop products and solutions that are sustainable – the essence of Design Thinking or human-centric innovation.
SOBD is built upon the legacy of the School of Inspired Leadership (SOIL) that has the vision of building leaders with character, competence and enthusiasm. Over the last nine years, SOIL has created an outstanding ecosystem comprising of international academic partners from across the world, robust executive coaching programs, relationships with over 300 domestic and international recruiters, and 1000 strong alumni network of social and business entrepreneurs and professionals.
SOBD offers a 2 Year PGDM program in Business Design. AICTE Approval underway.