An MBA’s Mother Tongue Part-4

Exhibit No.2:

The author of this post (“me” in English) has used jargon to justify the ancient Japanese kimono as the perfect example of New Product Development. So convincing was the presentation that the professor confessed that the nearly extinct Japanese garment is a beacon of cutting-edge technological innovation. In English, this might be called making a fool out of someone. However, it is truly considered as a matter of perspective.

It has been said that it is such use of jargon that makes the world of business so incomprehensible. However, the world of business is so complex that no one really understands it anyway. Hence, one must has to learn this langue culturel so as to appear to be knowledgeable. The appearance of being efficient, intelligent, truly gifted et cetera are far more important than actually being all of these.

In passing, one must also mention that jargon is not used merely to demystify the complex world of business. It is also used to argue about anything, mask one’s disgust, profess one’s love and even contemplate spirituality!

Here’s an actual example. Readers can attempt to translate it into English.

Exhibit No.3: Religion:

Student 1: What bhaiyya, (a term borrowed by the particular speaker from Hindi) what do you think of Buddhism? I mean, it became like Hinduism in the 5^th Century. Would you consider that as a merger? I think it was a successful acquisition. Lack of involvement on the part of the upper management, no leadership. What do you think?

Student 2: Oho, sirjee! Such ultimate philosophy!(Such terms of respect translate as: “you dumb a**” in English)

Such and other exhibits abound. But this is an blog post; not a dissertation. And as SIBM MBAs, we know how much jargon to use in an article and how much to cram into a dissertation. Hence, I would presently restrict the scope of my discussion.

However, interested individuals can read further samples of this unique jargon dialect in my other published work: “The Optimisation of Forecasting Process for a Computer Manufacturer – a Summer Training Report” and my forthcoming “Six Sigma Dissertation”.

Other excellent examples of SIBM jargon include all the examination papers with A or A+ grades.