Including Human Values in Management Education: Experiential insights

Abstract

This paper makes a critical analysis of the need and method for instilling human values in management students, derived from an understanding of the role of the Management Centre for Human Values (MCHV), a centre concretised in and by the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IIMC) way back in April 1992. The case of MCHV is used here to understand and appreciate the responsibilities of educational institutions towards a global world. MCHV has come a long way in “integrating” courses on human values into the mainstream post-graduate programs administered by IIMC. Human value courses offered by the Centre make an attempt to cultivate a global outlook, love for nature and a concern for fellow human beings and the environment in management students. These courses touch the distinct dimensions of human personality such as developing; aesthetic sensibilities, socially desirable moral values and finally, the inner dimension of spiritual growth. The human values agenda of MCHV is to make students more socially concerned, compassionate, liberal, inclusive, ethical, and humane. The courses offered by the Centre, also helps developing inclusive leaders who would include humans, religions and environment in their programmes. For achieving this purpose, MCHV courses use universally applicable syllabus which is multidisciplinary in nature. This paper makes a journey through the experiences of the Centre to share some of its success stories and also to share some of its concerns.