• Member
• May 1, 2024

A MULTIPERSPECTIVAL APROACH TO MANAGEMENT EDUCATION BY SHAILENDRA JAISWAL

The Management education industry is at an inflexion point. Management education has grown quantitatively, but not qualitatively, and contributed too little to the labor-rich but skill-poor economy. This means that the Management education   have to be different in time to come. Innovations will play a major role in shaping future of Management education. The number of stakeholders in Management education is getting wider and larger. The developments will require inputs from varied stakeholders.

It is imperative that the managerial resources perform at their best through potential enhancement and realization. The next decade is going to be characterized by technological change, economic growth, manpower constraints and increasing customer expectations. Skill enhancement among employees will witness emerging paradigm in training and learning like E-Learning. Gaming based Learning and customized learning offer opportunities to increase impact of training to meet the managerial and technological challenges.

Need for Multi-Perspectives

Management   is a multidisciplinary subject requiring   inputs   from many disciplines such as    Engineering, Finance, HR, Safety, Marketing etc. Majority of the challenges/opportunities   in industry cannot be categorized   into disciplinary boxes, developing the capacity to synthesize knowledge from multiple perspectives, to capitalize on distributed expertise, integrating insights   becomes essential for optimal solutions.

From Single to Multiple Perspective Approach

A single perspective image represents the spatial relationships of objects in a scene as they appear from a single viewpoint. A multi-perspective image combines several viewpoints into a single context. The Multiple Perspectives approach to problem solving was introduced by Mitroff and Linstone (1993). It was based on what they call unbounded systems thinking, integrating   as many perspectives as possible on a situation when analyzing it. This approach was   introduced as a new paradigm in decision support system by Courtney (2001) .The multiple thinking processes creates a powerful platform for divergent perspectives to come together. The result is an expansion of an organization’s   peripheral vision. 

Outside-In Thinking

In today’s world of accelerating change what’s born on the edge can transform the core with breathtaking speed. Organizations ignoring   the edge will find their core markets and capabilities under attack from edge players who can deliver more value at lower cost. (John Hagel and John Seely Brown). Most individuals and organizations are surprised by discontinuous events because they   spend their time thinking about what they are most familiar with: their own field or organization. They think from the inside—the things they can control—out to the world   they would like to shape. For an   organization   responding to needs    as they emerge, the realm of control is very narrow, as is the organization’s peripheral   vision—making it highly vulnerable to blindsiding. Conversely, thinking from the outside-in begins with cognizance of external changes /trends that   might have   profound affect work i.e. a   geopolitical shift that could introduce unforeseen social needs. Outside-in thinking can help organizations   anticipate and prepare for surprising eventualities. Outside-in thinking can inspire more open and imaginative thoughts about a range of potential changes and strategies that may not have been visible otherwise.  Outside-in thinking is so important because it takes   one   out of one’s immediate reality.

ANALOGY

Analogy is a stimulus that aids generation of new ideas (Ahmed & Christensen, 2009; Casakin & Goldschmidt, 1999; Christensen & Schunn, 2007; Dunbar, 1997; Leclercq & Heylighen, 2002). Analogy acts as a stimulus to generate new concepts and solve design problems. It can trigger breakthrough ideas (Herstatt & Kalogerakis, 2005).

The technique of Analogy consists of transferring of insights /essence from a source domain to a target domain by a process of mapping between sources to target. The modeling of a source domain abstracts its structure and relationships .In the field of design during   the idea generation phases the design team get inspirational products to focus on. They analyze the product and translate aspects of the product in their own context. The name ‘product crossing’ is inspired by   the term ‘plant crossing’. Plant crossing is the art and science of combining properties of two plant species to create a new variety. In ‘product crossing’ designers combine aspects from the inspirational product to their own design and create a ‘new’ product .

Multiple Perspectives from Multiple Analogies

Mapping of single source domain to a target domain has been extensively used for idea generation however there is little information available on generating more than one inference from a single analog or on the use of multiple analogs. (Gadwal 2010). Multiple analogies mapping onto a common target is the technique developed and practiced by the author. A source domain model is chosen and represented by its key determinants.  During the mapping features of structure and relationships are transferred from source domain to target domain.  The uncommon elements and  structural relationships   uncover many  hitherto  unknown aspects of target domain and  illuminate  new perspectives .Analogies are special models which externalize the relationships and processes embodied in the actual phenomenon leading to generalized relationships and processes. The process is repeated for multiple   source domains. Superposition of multiple analogies from fields of economics, art, sports, politics, warfare, culture, media, industry, sociology, cultural anthropology, psychology, mathematics, physics, computer science, engineering, biology etc, leads to multidisciplinary model having   multiple perspectives. 

The method   takes forward the technique of analogy   by    using several source   domains   instead of one expanding the overcoming the limitations in any one source. Different  model for same phenomenon shows new interconnections and dynamics by   removing  the constraints under which the phenomenon was being studied  encouraging  flexibility In aircraft development, the project engineer, the  aeronautical engineer, the electronic engineer, the engine builder, the interior designer, and  the market analyst all look at the same aircraft using distinct  perspectives. Representing different disciplines, they use different models and data.