Management is about conducting a business efficiently and effectively, and the core purpose of a business school is to teach this

discipline. This definition of management gives rise to a set of thoughts, the foremost of which is what is efficient and effective business? Business that is profitable to all stakeholders and the society, in economic and non-economic terms can be termed as efficient. It is effective when it conducts itself at zero negative cost to the stakeholders and the society. Therefore, the basic definition of business carries an implied sense of ethical conduct and social realization coupled with responsibility. To reinstate the underlying purpose of the existence of a b-school is imparting a holistic management education. Its function is to transform individuals into inspirational leaders, irrespective of their existent knowledge quotient or capabilities. Creating leaders is contextually relevant for business, especially today, due to the vast disparities in the society. Underlying problems can be addressed only by students who have been imparted not only functional education but also socially responsible values/behaviour. According to a renowned saying, one should always focus on his work and not at the merits derived from the work. In analogy, a business school should focus on its core purpose rather than the result placements at the end of the course. Placement is a natural result of the educational process and should be given only the amount of importance it deserves. It is not a yardstick to evaluate how well a student has learnt the art of management; rather the best way to evaluate how well a school has managed to provide education, is by measuring the amount of change the student has brought about t his workplace and the value created for the stakeholders. Therefore instead of channelizing their efforts towards placements, schools should focus on bridging the gap between academics and industry through more sustainable and less outcome oriented, short-lived transactions. In order to keep the discussion contemporary and contextually relevant, management education should aim to make business students aware about working with environment friendly businesses. The environment includes the political, economic, social, cultural and the green environment. This should be done through qualitative research, conducted by students themselves in collaboration with the faculty. Research ensures that education stays current and can be applied in real business situations. Instead of putting all their eggs in one basket, schools should include a mix of industry veterans and academic thinkers so that students acquire skills that they can use to drive businesses efficiently. To conclude, business schools just like other educational institutions should aim at educating individuals to make them business ready and bring about a transformation in their status quo. Keeping the commerce aspect aside, if schools look at education as a service and imbibe all necessary steps to offer business education qualitatively, India as a country would benefit in the form of a flourishing economy, stable governance and a model of a leading nation world-wide. Issues such as placements and rankings would then seem miniscule in this macro context.