What if human psychology was incorporated as a core topic in the MBA? Randeep Radhakrishnan explains why psychology throughout an MBA could be the add-on that would assist aspiring leaders to succeed in the field of business and management
When you notice an advertisement you might occasionally feel the desire to buy the product or service being promoted – but why?
You’ll get an explanation for this if you have an understanding of people: we often end up selecting a product that has packaging which is more ‘visually generous’ than the product we have been using for years – and this is due to simple psychology.
For those of you taking an MBA, you will know that it is not just a degree, but an essential journey for any student who desires to pursue it because the two years of MBA studies, by definition, teach them the administration of business. In saying that, and considering the advertising example above, business is fundamentally associated with dealing with people and, working in a corporate world, means that you have to deal with different varieties of human minds every day.
Every one of us is unique; and each one of us thinks and reacts to situations differently. Therefore it is essential for leaders to have the ability to analyse human minds.
In the past, people had more time to think about themselves. They had time for self-reflection. Now we all are surviving a digital life: we don’t have time to think because life is so fast-paced. Stress is endemic in the business world and can lead to depression; therefore, it becomes vital for leaders to know how to deal with challenging situations in life – and psychology can help anyone with this.
Importance of psychology
Those who pursue an MBA will have access to knowledge about the business world, but even if you have a trillion pieces of knowledge about business techniques, are they beneficial if you are not able to understand your client’s priorities?
Your degree is worthless if you aren’t able to read your client’s mind. Therefore, it is crucial to have a reasonable percentage of insight into psychology.
In Business Schools managers study business psychology, but that is limited to organisational behaviour or behavioural economics. If we have more psychological subjects in Schools, we will have a better understanding of our colleagues, our customers, our family, and our society.
Knowledge of human psychology will make you more confident in handling situations.
The topic is not limited to Business Schools. It can further extend to schools and colleges. But here we shall discuss more in a business context.
We need to brainstorm to identify and design a particular subject giving more importance to human psychology, which will make managers more capable in creating a balanced work-life environment.
Problems people might face in their careers if they don’t appreciate psychology
Have you ever witnessed talented and hardworking employees resigning from their jobs?
The reason might be that they are not capable enough to deal with the company’s culture and might struggle to interact with people.
You might come across numerous situations in your professional life in which you are expected by your seniors to understand the minds of others.
The balance between professional and personal life
It is important to have a work-life balanced environment in today’s life. In our life we play different roles (father, son, daughter, husband, wife, manager, team leader and so on). If you have an argument with family at the breakfast table, will go to the office with the same mindset and this will have an impact on every action you do at office.
Similarly, if you have a bad experience at office you carry that home. If you have knowledge of psychology, that would make you able to look at these challenges from a different angle. If you could handle this properly with the knowledge of human psychology, you could ensure happiness for your family and your colleagues.
Psychology will help you to stand out among your colleagues
Each of us wants to be the favorite of our bosses, but this can only be possible if our work speaks more than we do. Psychology is one way by which this can be achieved.
Psychology provides an insight into how to read the minds of others and how to analyse situations in reality; thus, every MBA aspirant needs to have an appreciation of psychology.
If you understood human psychology, not only would you treat your colleagues in a better way, but you would also interpret their behaviour in the best way possible.
Scope of psychology in the business world
Business world is the world of human-minds. To deal with minds, we need human psychology as a powerful tool. A a good business opportunity often arises when we find a need. To find the need, we need to have a good understanding of people.
When we think of any product or service, we should be able to think as a customer. If we know our customers and their behaviours, we can plan how to sell, when to sell – and where to sell – strategically. as such, productivity of manpower will increase considerably, if we know human psychology because we will be able to give our people the best atmosphere.
Business decisions and the mind
When we make any business decision, several factors will influence our minds – such as our egos, culture, and other psychological factors. These factors will act as dust on the window through which we can see problems. If issues are not apparent, how can we hope to solve them? Psychology can help us see issues through clear glass with a clear mind.
I wish I had studied human psychology, so that I could have solved many of my professional and personal issues.
Have you ever thought about why a company fails or succeeds? I strongly believe that, to a great extent, this is because of the attitude of the owner or the key decision makers. If they are not taking correct decisions, business will fail and if the decisions are good business succeeds.
It is important that leaders have good employees but what if they fail to engage them in the best way? The whole system fails.
Randeep Radhakrishnan is Business Development Manager at a tensile light-weight roofing company based in UAE. He completed his MBA in finance and marketing from SP Jain School of Global Management Dubai. His research interests lie in the areas of the attitudes of corporate decision-makers and their effects on success and failure; and the importance of human-psychology studies in the business world.
