Advanc'edge MBA June 2011

Advanc’edge MBA March 2011 1

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Upcoming leaders need to have a broader skills set, one that equips

them to think and act globally.

Sarita Kutty

Is your career on the right path?

The secret of running a successful business organisation these days is to operate in the global marketplace, no matter where it is headquartered. In fact, many companies today are looking overseas for new markets and new customers in

order to sustain the profitable growth of their businesses. As a result, a great deal of attention is being paid to cracking the code on how to perfect global leadership, irrespective of industry or company size. Top management is pressed to find ways to improve performance and to do so with greater consistency and effectiveness. Upcoming leaders need to have a broader skills set, one that equips them to think and act globally. Besides, new behaviours, skills and thinking are required to succeed globally, and companies must act strategically in order to secure the talented people required to fulfill their increasingly global vision.

In fact, today, there are some pioneering global MBA programmes that have been able to help train a new generation of leaders in what it means to be truly global. Indeed. Some of the most path-breaking innovations in management education are being accomplished in these mostly new global MBA programmes for executives. They provide what most MBAs do not: a thoughtful understanding of how the global economy works and how organisations can best organise and operate in it. The Cover Story in this issue delves deeper into the objective of the Global Leadership Programmes which are gaining popularity.

Further, in the modern workplace, it is imperative that Information Technology (IT) works both effectively and reliably. Computer and information systems managers play a vital role in the implementation and administration of technology within their organisations. Moreover, computer and information systems managers may advance to progressively higher leadership positions in an information technology department. A project manager, for instance, might be promoted to the chief technology officer position and then to chief information officer. On occasion, some may become managers in non-technical areas such as marketing, human resources, or sales because in high technology firms an understanding of technical issues is helpful in those areas. Read Careers Watch for an in-depth information on the various career prospects.

And for those of you who dream of running your own business, read the Special Report on Entrepreneurship MBA.

Finally, the long-term investment that is an MBA will be paid back in more ways than just financial success. It is a commitment to fulfil deeply rooted goals and objectives, to develop the potential of leadership, to learn to manage work/life balance. Knowing your goals and examining your priorities will provide the key to which MBA programme is ultimately right for you.

Editor-in-ChiEf Kamlesh Sajnani

Editorial

Editor: Sarita Kutty

Senior Correspondent: Gauri Puranik

Correspondents: Reshma Majithia Serena Kallian

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Amar Deshmukh Uma Shirke

advErtising Rekha Billava,

Nikhil Harpale, Arun Jain,Nitin Kewlani, Suchita Parab

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Advanc’edge MBA, IMS Publications,

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Contributors

Dr Shubhra Gaur, Dr Suresh Srinivasan,

Priya Gokani, Radhika Arunkumar

WritE to thE Editor at:[email protected]

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All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole and in part without written permission is prohibited. Printed and published by Kamlesh Sajnani, on behalf of, IMS Learning Resources Pvt. Ltd., 1/45 Tardeo A.C. Market, Tardeo, Mumbai - 34. Printed at Uchitha Graphic Printers Pvt. Ltd., 65, Ideal Ind. Est., Mathuradas Mill Compound, Lower Parel, Mumbai - 13 and published at Mumbai.

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FIRST STEPCOVER STORY

04 Global management programmes: The making of a leader

ADMISSION Q&A

11 Prof Satish Deodhar, IIM-A

Anne Sandford, London Business School Prof R Srinivasan, Prof P D Jose and Prof L Prasad, IIM-B

Stephen Sacca, MIT Sloan

Prof Pranabesh Ray, XLRI Jamshedpur

CAREER WATCHIN FOCUS

14 Is an MBA required for success after BSc IT?

RECRUITER Q&A

22 V A Rangarajan, Recruitment Leader, IBM India/South Asia

MBA BUZZSPECIAL REPORT

23 Do B-schools build better entrepreneurs?

SCHOOL SPEAK

26 Vijay Anand, Head - Incubation Centre, Indian Institute of

Technology (IIT) Madras

EXECUTIVE SUITE

27 Praveen Agarwal, Director, RJ Capital

STUDENT SILHOUETTE

28 Parveen Mangla, IIM Calcutta

PLACEMENT REPORT

30 Placement Trends 2011

Disclaimer : The views expressed in the articles by contributors and others are not necessarily those of the Publishers, unless specifically stated therein. While no effort is spared in ensuring the accuracy of the information published herein, readers are advised to reconfirm the current facts before acting upon any such information. The Publishers regret their inability to accept responsibility for any inadvertent errors of commission or omission in this issue. Readers are recommended to make appropriate inquiries before incurring expenses or entering into commitments in relation to any advertisement appearing in this publication. The publishers do not vouch for any claims made by the advertisers of any products or services. The Publisher, Printers or Editor shall not be held liable for any consequences in the event of such claims not being honoured by the advertisers. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, in any form or means, or stored in a database or retrieval system without prior permission from the publisher.

Payment to be made by crossed Demand Draft/Cheque drawn in favor of “IMS Learning Resources Pvt. Ltd.”For subscriptions and related enquiries write to: Advanc’edge MBA, IMS Publications, A division of IMS Learning Resources Pvt. Ltd. 1/45 Tardeo A.C. Market, Tardeo, Mumbai - 400 034. For more queries e-mail: [email protected]

New Subscription RatesPeriod Issues New Rate1 Year 12 Rs. 480/-2 Years 24 Rs. 840/-3 Years 36 Rs. 1080/-

FINANCIAL GUIDE

36 Loan and scholarship avenues

REGION FOCUS

45 Why study in the USA?

STUDENT SILHOUETTE

48 Anup Dhalwani, Kellogg School of Business

SKILLZ

49 Unleash your creativity

CORPORATE WORLDBRAND WAGON

53 Micromax goes mobile

EXECUTIVE SUITE

55 Amish Tripathi, National Head - Marketing &

Product Management, IDBI Federal

BUSINESS ANALYSIS

57 Mergers and acquisitions: The new norms

59 Economic Indicators

WORLD VIEW

61Assembly elections 2011: Key takeaways

STUDY HOURWORD DOSE

63 An ode to mother

65 Globescan Sudoku

Contents June 2011

Advanc’edge MBA June 2011www.advancedge.com 3

FIRST STEP

4 Advanc’edge MBA June 2011 www.advancedge.com

FIRST STEP

Global management programmes

The making of a LEADERGlobalisation is the single biggest influence on leadership development today. With the shift from multinational to global organisations, cultural differences become more important in understanding leadership and designing and delivering effective development programmes. In this article, Gauri Puranik explores some of the top class management programmes where every enrolled student is an ‘Achiever’, where the curriculum is meticulously framed to include a ‘global perspective’ and where leadership is taught through ‘self awareness’. (Note: For the sake of reference, the MBA programmes covered in the article are referred to as ‘Global Management Programmes’ within the article itself. The terminology bears no connection with the programmes beyond the scope of this article.)

Seshadri Thirumalai was not just any manager. He was the Vice

President/ Operating Leader of Genpact, Hyderabad, India. With diverse international experience across six countries, Seshadri was responsible for executing turnaround strategies in financial and operational areas in the outsourcing industry. With previous experience in corporate development strategy, target-selection and negotiations, Seshadri was not alien to management concepts. With such a ‘Power Profile’, a typical MBA programme would just not do for Seshadri. He found his moorings in the London Business School’s Sloan Masters in Leadership and Strategy.

Similar was the case of Sanjay Sundaresan. During his career with a global IT Services major in India, he was involved in programme delivery, pre-sales, business development and operations management roles. Sanjay was aware that a solid

understanding of business economics, business finance, strategy management, market forces, government policy, etc would take him to the echelons of top management. “In the absence of knowledge of solid management principles; decision making and governance becomes abstract. The IIM Ahmedabad’s PGPX programme with a

combination of general management learning and specialised learning through electives provides exactly what is critical for aspirants to top management roles,“ says Sanjay.

There are many like Seshadri, and Sanjay who are stuck in a different kind of adolescence - they are neither too young to join the traditional MBA programme

”

“Devendra Kale, IIM Ahmedabad, PGPX 2011-2012

Surprise quizzes keep you on your toes. The complete case-based method of learning is very interactive and stresses on strategy in everything we learn. There is a definite increase in the scope of thinking and in the various ideas on marketing or cost management in the short while of the programme already.

Cover Story


FIRST STEP

nor are too old to write off management education all together. Moreover, such individuals are also not content with part-time executive MBA programme. They believe in complete immersion and the benefits of a full-time MBA programme.

Leadership: The basic fabric of Global Management ProgrammesLeadership is the main component of Global Management programmes. Most students in such programmes have at least seven years of work experience. They are individuals who already understand or have experienced the basic tenets of management. The core objective of such programmes is thus to mobilise people towards actualising their leadership potential through understanding of self and others.

Schools also leave no stone unturned in exposing students to leadership experiences. At the MIT Sloan School of Management participants of the Sloan Fellows Programme undergo a 360° Leadership Assessment before they join the programme. Stephen Sacca, Director MIT Sloan Fellows Programme, elaborates on this assessment “Several years ago, the MIT Sloan School

developed a leadership model, called the ‘Four Capabilities Model’. This model puts forward the idea that four primary capabilities: sense-making, relating, envisioning, inventing can be used to examine an individual’s attributes and can assist to further develop them as leaders.

So, prior to coming to MIT Sloan in June, we ask students to take the 360° Leadership Assessments themselves.

We process that data and then present them with a report that contains qualitative and quantitative data to help them to see themselves. This serves as a basis for individuals to develop a personal leadership development programme which can be tailored to build on their strengths and further develop areas that may have been identified as needing more attention.”

Participants of IIM Ahmedabad PGPX programme have a course segment on ‘Preparing for Top Management’ that includes topics like ‘Leadership: Values and Ethics’, ‘Building and Managing Corporate Reputation and

Leadership: Meshing Theory and Practice’.

At XLRI Jamshedpur, participants of the GMP programme are taken on an adventure trip and rural trips as part of the programme. “The very challenging adventure trip serves as a team-building and self-discovery tool. The rural trips capitalise on the location advantage of XLRI and expose students to the ground realities of the real India where 60 percent of our population lives. Both these modules leave students with precious learning and memories for a lifetime,” says Nikunj Verma, XLRI GMP 2011.

Cover Story

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Agnel Joseph, IIM Bangalore, EPGP 2011-12

I feel it is the one year to transform your life! The best thing about 1 year MBA programs is that they test you to the hilt; unless you take the plunge you would remain unaware of your true potential.

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Abhay Pratap Singh, IIM Ahmedabad PGPX (2011-2012)

This is an MBA programme with more rigour. The differentiation with two year MBA is the peer level interactions and viewpoints which are a great contribution to learning in addition to what generally comes from teaching. After 10 years of work experience, you associate case studies with workplace, related real events and imbibe more and more.

Job Roles held by students before joining IIM Indore’s EPGP programme:} Project Leader, TCS Ltd.} Deputy Manager, Maruti

Suzuki} Chief Manager, ICICI

Bank Ltd.} Project Lead, Infosys} Business Development

Manager, Capgemini} Senior Research Analyst,

FlagstoneRe} Manager – Project

Planning

Job Roles held by students before joining Stanford Sloan Masters Programme} Associate Director at Cinven, London, UK} Partner at Pinsent Masons LLP, Global 100 Law Firm} Business Unit Director within Trimble Navigation, USA} Senior Footwear Designer for Jordan Brand, a division of

NIKE, Inc.} Vice-President- Corporate Finance Division, LarrainVial

S.A, Chile} President, DP JINDAL Group} Managing Director (China) for the German solar company

Q-Cells SE} Deputy Director of Personnel, Singapore Ministry of

Education} Vice President, Middle East Sales at Nomura

International Plc, Dubai.


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An elite peer groupTo be an achiever, one has to think like an achiever. And this is not possible without intellectual exchange of ideas with a challenging and competitive peer group. “The geographic and professional diversity of my class offered significant opportunity to benefit from the knowledge and experience of my peers. The LBS Sloan class comprises mid-career executives with a minimum

12 years of leadership experience. This composition permits a rich interaction in the class. Discussions are seldom restricted to the theoretical concepts and centre on a variety of situations that enable or hamper successful application. This level of participation makes the learning relevant for application rather than fancy presentations,” says Seshadri Thirumalai, LBS Sloan Masters, 2011.

Amitesh Tyagi, IIM Ahmedabad PGPX 2011-12, believes that the greatest difference between this programme and a conventional MBA programme is your peer group. “The intake in regular programmes is usually focused on younger students while programmes like PGPX focus on seasoned professionals. The level of knowledge that is shared across the classroom in the 90-minute sessions for a

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Vikas Tarachandani, IIM Bangalore, EPGP 2011-12

I worked as a Branch Manager at State Bank of India for around 10 years. Though I had a much defined career path, I realized that I was not always able to deal with the critical situations as effectively as I would have liked to. I distinctly felt a void of training in management, soft skills, interpersonal skills and performance under pressure…. IIMB’s EPGP fit my requirements very well. The infrastructure, the faculty and the peer group learning culture at IIM B is unparallel.

Cover Story


FIRST STEP

”

“Nikunj Verma, XLRI GMP 2011-12

I chose GMP as I wanted a one year management programme that would accomplish my mid term career goals and also prepare a solid ground for my future ambitions. The fit with the programme w.r.t. batch profile, placements, etc. was an important decision variable too.

London Business School – Sloan Masters- New Venture Development- Managing Change- World Economy: Problems and Prospects- Managing Corporate Turnarounds

XLRI – GMP Programme- Building Business in China- Business Ethics and Corporate Citizenship- Private Equity Finance- Market Driving Strategies

IIM Ahmedabad – PGPX - Competitive Strategy- Assessing and Creating Customer Value- Management Control Systems- Setting and Delivering Service Levels

Some of the courses/ electives taught in Global Management Programmes

Institute Full Name of the Program Prog. Dur. mnths

Total Intake

%age Women

Avg. Work Exp. in yrs

Avg. GMAT Score

Indian ProgrammesIIM Ahmedabad Post Graduate Program for Executives

(2011-12)12 101 5.94% 10 714

IIM Kolkata Post Graduate Program for Executives (2011-12 )

12 45 __ 9 710

IIM Lucknow International Program for Management for Executives

12 50 __ 9 680

IIM Bangalore Executive Post Graduate Program (2011-12) 12 62 4% 9.5 702

IIM Indore Executive Post Graduate Program 11 60 __ NA 680

XLRI General Management Program (2011-12) 12 120 __ 6 __

International ProgrammesLondon Business School, UK Sloan Masters in Leadership and Strategy

(2011)12 61 23% 17 648

MIT Sloan School of Management, USA

MIT Sloan Fellows Program in Innovation and Global Leadership (2011-12)

12 104 19% 14 *NA

Stanford Graduate school of Management, USA

Masters Programme in Management 10.5 60 __ 13 680

Nanyang Business School, Singapore

Fellows Programme in Management 12 NA __ NA NA

Special ProgrammesIIM Calcutta Post Graduate Programme for Executives -

Visionary Leadership in Manufacturing12 40 __ 8 650

MICA-Ahmedabad Executive Post Graduate Diploma in Management (Communications)

15 NA __ NA MICAT

MDI-Gurgaon Post Graduate Diploma in Energy Management

15 NA __ NA NA


Masters Programme in System, Design & Management

13-18 55 __ NA 663

*GMAT scores will be required in case of applicants who haven't successfully completed one of three courses: Finance I, Microeconomics or Calculus I during their previous academic experiences.

course is phenomenal. Also, the IIMA case method based learning ensures that we get real business problems to solve. No doubt, in a short duration, one starts thinking about the bigger picture and starts honing his/her decision-making skills,” says Amitesh.

Interactions with a rich student body help individuals to push themselves. Students

understand that they may not always have the right answers, but the collective interaction/ discussions within and between cohorts is the real learning. The versatility of the class helps achieve a collaborative environment, where solutions to management problems are drawn after a holistic discussion.

Pedagogy tailored to foster successAnother attractive factor about Global Management Programmes is their curriculum and pedagogy. Rigidity in thinking is questioned and fixed mindsets are challenged. Students are made to think ‘out of the box’. The faculty ensure that they bring individuals out of

Cover Story


FIRST STEP

their ‘comfort zones’ and enable them to draw objective and creative solutions to management problems.

Ashish Dongre, IIM Bangalore EPGP 2011-12, felt that he needed a programme that would be intensive enough considering his 8 years of rich corporate experience. “The pedagogy at EPGP is a function of the vast experience and diversity of the class. EPGP’s course duration itself, makes the program very intensive and rigorous. The seminar series, a part of the curriculum, for example, gives the class a platform to interact with the czars of the industry at various walks of life. The international immersion opens up endless possibilities across geographies for the participants. Most of the lectures are carried out in the form of case studies and discussions and learning is exponential,” says Ashish.

Getting there…Now there lies the challenge!Most of the admission requirements are very similar to those of the conventional MBA programme. For most programmes you need to score well on the GMAT (at least 650), write genuine admission essays that reflect your achievements and strengths, and give credible reference letters. Though these are the broader requirements, the quality of your work experience is of essence in Global

Management Programmes. Seshadri Thirumalai, LBS Sloan Masters 2011 asserts that the strength of his leadership experience and his 770 score in GMAT permitted him the option of applying to top global schools. Having international work experience, though not mandatory, is an added advantage. A close look at the class profiles shows that most students in such programmes have international work experience and have worked in at least one

Sector PlacementsSchool Finance Gen Mgt Consulting Buss.

DevStrategy IT/ Tech/

TelecomSales/ Marketing

Proj Mgt/ Operations

Others

London Business School (2009)

32% 25% 8% 8% 8% -- -- -- 19%

IIM C PGEPX (2009)

-- -- 49% 11% -- 20% 13% 7% --

IIM Ahmedabad PGPX (2010)

3% 9% 19% 13% 3% -- 9% 39% 5%

IIM Bangalore EPGP (2010)

9% -- 7% -- -- 53% -- 12% 19%

*Others includes Human Resource, Retail, Healthcare, Pharma industry, Entrepreneur/ Business, Product Development

“As a business leader with ambitious growth plans, Shapoorji Pallonji is building its leadership pipeline, which will be the key to our success. Shapoorji Pallonji group has experienced that the EPGP programme delivers a pool of very capable and grounded management professionals. We value the contribution from EPGPites in our organizations.Vasant Sanzgiri, Group Human Recources Head, Shapoorji Pallonji Group (Source: www.iimb.ernet.in)

”

“Tonia de Sousa-Shields, MIT Sloan Fellows 2011

People talk about distributive leadership here. So there is a concept of each of us being able to bring in something to the programme. There is no one person who has all the answers and I think that is the magic of MIT and that is what attracted me to come to the MIT Fellows Programme.

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FIRST STEP

country besides the country of their origin. For e.g. 92% of the class at IIM Ahmedabad PGPX programme and 89% of the students in IIMC PGPEX programme have international exposure.

Overall, students need to have a ‘quality’ profile. According to Nikunj Verma, XLRI GMP 2011-12, academic achievement and work experience are both important admission parameters for the programme and candidates need to have well rounded profiles to present a strong candidature for a seat at GMP.

Placements and Return on Investment Most students in Global Management Programmes

have an average of 8-10 years of work experience. Taking a sabbatical to pursue higher studies is thus a huge career decision and one which is made after a great deal of introspection and number crunching. Students weigh their returns not only in monetary terms but also consider the non-monetary benefits – life-time access to a valued network of faculty, peers and alumni along with the brand name of the school. Guruppa Padsali, IIMB EPGP 2011-12, sums this up well. “Financing for the programme has been the least of my concerns, as I am sure this is a sum well spent. Like most of my batchmates, I opted for the student education loans.

The banks affiliated with IIM-Bangalore have been very helpful in guiding us with the procedures on getting education loans.”

For many students of Global Management Programmes, employment offers for final placements come from their previous employers; while many others also reply on networking and utilise the career services offered by the schools. The Global Management programmes however are based on a ‘Career Development Model’ rather than a typical Career Placement Model. In the career development model, the emphasis is on equipping the students with relevant skills that will help them in

Some of the Recruiters at Global Management ProgrammesSchool Programme RecruitersIIM Ahmedabad PGPEX (2010) Accenture, Google, NIIT, Aditya Vikram Birla Group, Hazira LNG, NISG, Arcelor Mittal,

Hewitt Associates, Bharti Group, Polaris, HSBC, IBM

IIM Kolkata PGPEX (2009) Arcelor Mittal, Cognizant Technology Solutions, Coke, DLF, Genpact, Hindustan Unilever, ITC, McKinsey, Ranbaxy, Reliance Energy, Tech Mahindra, WalMart

IIM Lucknow IPMX McKinsey & Co, HLL, Axis Bank, ICICI Group, Deutsche Bank, Asian Paints, Cadbury, GlaxoSmithKline, L’Oreal, Darashaw & Co, Allegro Advisors, ONGC

IIM Bangalore EPGP (2010) Reliance Industries Ltd, Manipal, Deutsche Bank, Accenture, Barclays Capital, Bloomberg, British Petroleum, Capgemini, CRISIL, KPMG, Oracle, PWC, Tata Motors, Yahoo!

IIM Indore EPGP Proctor & Gamble, Edelweiss, HSBC, Deutsche Bank, Deloitte, Arshiya International, Orchid Pharma, Sony India, IFCI, Suzlon Energy, I-Maritime Consulting, Syntel Thomas Cook.

XLRI GMP (2010) J P Morgan Chase, SBI Capital, Abellon Energy, Emergent Ventures, HP, Sapient, Vedanta Group, L&T, Tata Steel, Future Group, Wipro Alcatel-Lucent

IIM Kolkata PGPEX-VLM Maruti Udyog, LG Electronics, BHEL, Birla Copper, National Mineral Devp Corp, Hindustan Zinc, Tata Cummins, Nuclear Power Corporation, Textron, Doosan E&S

MICA-Ahmedabad PGPCMX Absolut Data, Future Group, BIG FM, Disney Entertainment, Sony Erickson, eClerx, E&Y, Essar, Advisors, Godrej, TATA-Infinity Retail, HCL, Woolworths, HDFC Bank

MDI-Gurgaon PGDM-Energy Management

AC Nielsen,Becton Dicinson, Bharat Shell, Britannia, Cavin Kare, Dabur, DHL, Eveready First Global, HCL, HDFC Bank, HeroHonda, HSBC, IBM, IJP, KPMG, Marico, Nokia

London Business School, UK

Sloan Masters Programme (2009)

Alvarez & Marsal, Bunzl, Cargill, Citigroup, eBay, Google, Johnson & Johnson, Heinz, Kingfisher, Microsoft


Sloan Fellows Programme

NA

Stanford Graduate school of Management, USA

Sloan Masters Programme

Amazon Inc., Apple, Inc., Asian Development Bank, B Lab, Balsam Brands, Merrill Lynch, Bloomberg LP, Citi, Deloitte Consulting LLP, Facebook, Hewlett Packard Company

Nanyang Business School, Singapore

Nanyang Fellows Programme

NA


Masters Programme

NA

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FIRST STEP

making accurate and well-informed career decisions in the future. Thus there is much more emphasis on self awareness and self assessment, peer coaching, relationship building, networking, soft skills etc. Seshadri, LBS Sloan Masters 2011, corroborates this point, “Given that the Sloan class does not offer a standard profile unlike the MBA programme, campus recruitment is not an applicable model for the Sloans. Campus Services provides a greater focus on equipping participants with skills that could be used for building networks for finding opportunities – even beyond the first job after the Sloan programme.”

According to Devdutt Shastri, IIMB EPGP 2011-12, with the increasing popularity of the programme, the roles and compensations offered by companies at campus

have been really attractive. “I personally feel that the experience, learning and the networks developed during this one year are very valuable and a treasure of a lifetime. I have seen people from our previous batches rising fast in various companies and I feel there is no looking back for us,” adds Devdutt.

“The career services for the IIMA PGPX course are more personalised to individuals’ needs since students have different backgrounds and aspirations. The typical experience level is above 10 years and so the target for placement is more towards middle/senior management roles,” says Rajat Kaul, IIM A PGPX 2011-12

Students enrolled in such programmes are well aware of the opportunity costs related to a job forgone for the duration

of the programme. “This is not a risk of one year but an investment for the next 35 years of your career. The short term opportunity costs are much lower than long term gains,” says Amit Chhabra, IIM Bangalore, EPGP 2011-12.

To conclude, Global Management Programmes are for individuals who introspect on their potential and realise that they are capable of achieving much more. It is a ‘calling’ and has a lot to do with a conscious choice to learn more at a time when you already ‘know a lot’. As Davd Lucchino, MIT Sloan Fellows 2006, rightly puts it, “For me, MIT Fellows Programme was not only a professional and academic programme, but it was a programme which had a soul.” (Source: Student Videos http://mitsloan.mit.edu/ fellows/)

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Seshadri Thirumalai, London Business School Sloan masters 2011-12

The full-time nature of the LBS Sloan programme, unlike a typical Executive MBA, allows participants to reflect on the learning without the distraction of day-to-day engagements. Participants benefit by utilizing the one-year period to establish a foundation for a transformational experience.

Cover Story

Global Management Programmes: Fees and average salariesSchool Programme Fees Avg Salary *IIM Ahmedabad Post Graduate Program for Executives Rs 21,00,000 Rs 26,10,000IIM Bangalore Executive Post Graduate Program Rs 18,25,000 Rs 20,00,000IIM Calcutta Post Graduate Program for Executives Rs 14,00,000 Rs 18,40,000XLRI General Management Programme Rs 14,00,000 Rs 15,00,000IMD Masters program in Management USD 96900 USD 124800London Business School Masters program in Leadership and Strategy USD 78556 --MIT Sloan Fellows Program in Innovation and Global

LeadershipUSD 119000 --

Nanyang Business School Fellows Program in Management USD 55080 --Stanford Business School Masters Program in Management USD 107475 --* Current year placements are in progress. Salary data is of previous year.1 GBP = USD 1.64 1 SGD = USD 0.81


FIRST STEP

Global Management Programmes are meant for future leaders. Undoubtedly, the selection process for such programmes is rigorous. Class diversity is just one aspect of the programme; the selection committee also has to ensure that the cohort is competitive, attuned with the global environment and achieves the purpose of the programme. Gauri Puranik speaks with Chairs and Programme Directors of five top schools around the world to understand the programme objectives and what makes these programmes unique.

Prof Satish Deodhar,Post Graduate Program for Executives Chair, IIM Ahmedabad What was the idea or the logic behind starting the PGPX programme?There are highly capable professionals in the industry aspiring to become management leaders and change agents in today’s global business environment. Before they start getting closer to a glass ceiling, we want to offer them a glass prism, a medium through which their capability will transform into a Vibgyor of multiple management perspectives required for top management.

How is this programme different from the normal MBA programme at IIMA?The obvious differences are that PGPX is a one-year programme and it is meant for individuals with industry experience which averages about 10 years. Importantly, however, apart from the building blocks, we offer them a PTM (Preparing for Top Management) module in which courses are designed for visionary leadership and

change-agent roles. Moreover, we have the international immersion and capstone segments to provide a holistic perspective of the learning process. How do corporates perceive students who do the PGPX programme v/s the normal MBA programme at IIMA?Perhaps, you mean perception about the students by the corporates. The two programmes have a different niche and Placement Chair would be in a better position to answer this question. However, going by the fact that Financial Times has ranked PGPX programme as number one in terms of salary enhancement, the market perception is very good indeed.

What are the key attributes that you look for in a student enrolling for the programme?We take a multi-dimensional perspective. Apart from a high GMAT score, work experience, analytical abilities, leadership profiling and effective communication are a few of these attributes.

Anne Sandford, Programme Director, Sloan Fellowship, London Business School

What is the history of the Sloan Masters Programme?Following MIT in the 1930s and Stanford in the 1950s, London Business School established the Sloan programme in 1967. It was awarded to London Business School after intense competition to establish the programme in Europe across the top universities. The first Sloan programme ran at London Business School under Charles Handy. The three programmes have gone down different paths, while sharing the ethos of the founder, Alfred P Sloan, that formal management learning has the most impact when the student has depth of experience and an established frame of reference.

How is this programme different from the MBA programme (which also takes students with significant work experience) at London Business School? The focus of a typical MBA programme is on the basics

of business principles and development to achieve potential. The Sloan curriculum at London Business School puts an intensive spotlight on three core themes of leadership, strategy and understanding the global economic environment, and is developed for senior decision-makers preparing for the next phase of their careers. Many Sloan Fellows will have an MBA acquired earlier in their careers.

Are most students in this programme company sponsored or individuals?Sloan at London Business School has always mixed sponsored and self-sponsored students, with the balance around 75% of a class funding themselves. We believe it creates a more interesting dynamic and a richer mix of perspectives and experience.

In terms of the corporate, what is the perception of the students who do the Sloan Masters programme v/s the normal MBA programme?I cannot comment on how companies perceive MBA students, except to say that the decision-makers in sponsoring companies will often have an MBA degree from a good business school and are very knowledgeable

Admission Q&A


FIRST STEP

about different degrees and learning and development. Corporate-sponsored students are high achievers, being prepared for strategic roles (they are usually leading a business function, territory or business unit). They have undergone an exacting selection process and are often making personal sacrifices to immerse themselves in learning. Companies supporting Sloan Fellows do so

because of the level of learning. The employees have established rich experience in their company, and their personal development and career ambitions align with those of the company. They are often being developed as part of a senior succession-planning initiative. We see company-supported Sloan Fellows going on to continually add value in their organisations.

IIM Bangalore Executive Post Graduate Programme

What is the most important aspect of the application process for the EPGP programme at IIMB? IIMB values candidates with consistent performance in their past academic performance. The EPGP admissions process therefore gives equal weightage to their past academic performance and their qualifying examination (GMAT) scores. Those applicants that qualify and exceed our pre-set cut-offs are then evaluated on the basis of their personal statement of purpose and personal interviews. -Professor R Srinivasan, Chairperson, Admissions, IIM Bangalore

Mention some of the diverse backgrounds of the current batch of EPGP students? Is there a conscious effort taken to ensure ‘diversity’ during the selection process?The current EPGP batch of 62 students is a diverse group in terms of background as well as experience. Students are from the IT, Engineering, Telecom, Manufacturing, Energy, Banking & Financial Services industries to name a few. In terms of functional experience, Project Management, Consulting, Operations, Sales and general management are some of the representative groupings. The group has varied international experience, in countries such as the PRC, South Africa, the UK, Europe and the Americas.

While diversity is very important from a peer learning perspective, IIMB does not make any conscious effort to bring in diversity in the class, and this is left to the selection methodology and student performance in the process.

-Professor L Prasad, Chairperson, Executive Post Graduate Programme, IIM Bangalore

In terms of corporate placements, is there a difference in perception between the EPGP students and the conventional MBA students?Corporate recruiters consider EPGP candidates for middle to senior management roles, as opposed to the PGP (the IIMB two-year programme) students who join mostly at entry level management roles.

EPGP participants are hired at lateral levels for specific positions and are expected to hit the ground running whereas most PGP hires go through some sort of training in the organisations, they join before they start delivering results.

In case of EPGP students, their past experience is given due consideration in deciding the roles they are offered.

The EPGP placement process is longer than that of a regular PGP (MBA) as it typically involves multiple rounds of interviews with senior executives. Very often, candidates are required to travel to company offices or headquarters to meet with their leadership teams.-Professor P D Jose, Chairperson, Office of Career Development Services, IIM Bangalore

Stephen Sacca,Director MIT Sloan Fellows Programme, Sloan Fellows Programme in Innovation and Global Leadership, MIT Sloan

What is the history of the Sloan Fellows Programme in Innovation and Global Leadership? The programme began in 1931 when Alfred P. Sloan, then the CEO and Chairman of General Motors Corporation, came to MIT with a problem. He had outstanding mid-career individuals who, he knew, were

capable of a lot more than their current responsibilities may permit them to demonstrate. He asked MIT to help him find a way to develop these individuals, to broaden their perspective and prepare them for future positions of responsibility and leadership. Over the next seven years,

Alfred P. Sloan selected some of his most promising future leaders and thinkers, and he invited his leading industrialist friends to do the same. They spent a year at MIT, immersed in discussion with leading academic scholars and with leaders from industry and government, and developing skills in management and leadership. In 1937, the experiment was declared a success and the programme has been a key part of the MIT Sloan School programme portfolio ever since. Today, while many aspects of the program and the way it is delivered has changed, the focus on bringing bright, highly motivated people together to explore the realms of modern management and their role in shaping the future remains.

Is there more weightage given to applicants who have international work experience (i.e. they have worked for at least 6 months in another country besides their country of origin)?The MIT Sloan Fellows Program is a very global program,

Admission Q&A


FIRST STEP

with 27 nations spread across the planet represented this year. We do like to see a person that has experienced the global environment first hand and in fact, a large segment of the fellows have lived abroad for short or long stays. Having said that, we do not require that candidates have international experience to be considered for the programme.

What is the difference in the pedagogy of the Fellows Programme compared to the conventional MBA programme at Sloan? Do the faculty tailor their teaching format to cater to a mature student audience?

MIT Sloan Fellows come with significant experience – at least 10 years but more like 15 years on average. This is more than most other MBA programmes and faculty do approach teaching core courses in this program differently than they would in a more conventional MBA programme. More specifically, the greater the experience, the greater the ability for fellows to relate academic principles and frameworks to the relevance of real-world situations. And MIT Sloan Fellows like to talk about their experiences, share them with other members of the cohort and, in doing so, enrich each other with perspectives that span the globe, a multitude of industries and academic backgrounds.

Prof Pranabesh Ray,Dean (Academics), General Management Programme , XLRI Jamshedpur

What is the main objective of XLRI’s GMP programme?XLRI’s GMP programme prepares students to hold senior level leadership positions in their organisations. It provides students (those who missed the bus) with comprehensive

management education and moulds real life corporate experience with rigours of management knowledge. What are the most important admission parameters for the GMP programme?The quality of work experience along with the XAT or

GMAT scores and their performance in the interview is important. Added to this students should have the potential to be a leader and an XLRI alumni upholding our values of Excellence & integrity. Why is ‘International Immersion’ a crucial aspect of GMP programme? In International Immersion, students travel to cities across the globe to familiarize students with the business climate and industrial scenario of their host countries. The purpose of the visit is to give exposure in understanding International Business from a managerial perspective. Even for those having experience working abroad the immersion programme is to go beyond the technical mindset and appreciate and understand the intricacies of being an International Manager. The immersion programme adds value by the critical inputs from faculty in our partner universities.

London Business SchoolIIM Ahmedabad

Admission Q&A

MIT Sloan

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Is an MBA required for success after BSc IT?

In the not-so-distant past, those who graduated from business school with an MBA degree found

most of the jobs within the financial industry or in large corporations in their marketing functions. Today, with massive changes to our economy and the instability that is present within some major corporations and the banking industry, many MBA students are choosing to focus their degree in specialisations such as information technology (IT), which are expected to offer a greater demand and therefore, greater stability.

The National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom) recently revealed that the Indian IT industry was likely to hire about 2.5 lakh professionals in the current fiscal due to steady recovery in demand for technology services. “The top four players are expected

to hire more than one lakh people this fiscal. The industry on a whole should add about quarter of a million people in this fiscal…Renewed demand for IT services after the slowdown and return of discretionary spending in the market are the key drivers,” avers Som Mittal, President, Nasscom.

The hiring intent in IT and ITeS was the highest in cities like New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Pune. “The Indian IT-BPO sector had grown 19 per cent in 2010-11 to $ 76 billion in revenues. The market is upbeat but the Middle East and Japan crisis and the debt issue are macro economic variables and add to uncertainty. Economies are growing but companies are still cautious,” Mittal added.

What is MBA in IT/Systems?MBA in Information Technology has become one of the essential courses for students willing to enter into IT sectors for making a career. It has become the glue that holds together lots of companies around in the field of IT. An MBA degree in Information Technology offers a chance for employees to study the IT sector in depth and hold all information together with quality and affectivity. Employees require working together and managing all information in the best way. For individuals willing to make a career in this particular field, a degree of MBA in Information Technology is a must. Refer Table 1 for some of the best Indian institutes falling in to this category and offering a professional postgraduate degree in MBA Information Technology.

The MBA in Information Technology programme begins with coursework in computer science, information database management and networking. Information technology education also includes information management theory

Due to speedy technological advances, there are ample job opportunities for qualified professionals who are management graduates from Information system and technology. There is a high demand for people who have managerial skills in several areas from IT project management to information security management. Hence, studying management with Information System & Technology will be really a big advantage that can make excellent growth in your career graph, finds Sarita Kutty.

“Narendra M Agrawal, Chairperson, PGSEM & Centre for Software and IT Management, IIM-B

The unique philosophy of PGSEM programme at IIM-B is collaborative learning and knowledge creation. The program participants act as important links between the industry and the institute. The faculties at IIM Bangalore vastly appreciate the two-way knowledge sharing within the classroom. Project assignments facilitate the participants to work on live organisational challenges and contribute towards knowledge creation and learning.

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and related technology applications. Information technology is then examined in light of modern business administration requirements. Coursework includes accounting, finance and economics related to the information technologies industry.

Likewise, a specialisation in Systems is primarily concerned with the integration of business processes with technology. A systems-related graduation proves to be extremely beneficial for a career in this field. Understanding of various hardware and software platforms and the ability to ascertain the exact IT requirements of an organisation based on its processes and manual systems is the secret to success in this field. MBA in Systems focusses on areas like e-business, IT security and IT strategy. The basic aim is to develop into managers of tomorrow who can harness the latest advancements in technology to cater to ever growing business needs of corporates across the globe. Thus, the knowhow of integration of technology with business processes is the basic purpose of the systems specialisation in MBA.

In short, MBA-IT is the study of Information Technology, where the main focus is on application programming, databases, web technology, testing the software and QA. Further, the MBA-Systems is the study of general view of IT & different systems used in IT field. Here, the main focus is on the systems like networks, servers,

database management, software & hardware configuarations, trouble shootings, etc.

Eligibility criteria and course content For a successful systems and consulting career, the candidate has to possess good analytical skills, and an unending quest for knowledge. Besides this, the candidate with a degree in BCA, engineering and B.Sc (IT) would be preferred for admissions in MBA in Systems Management. Aspirants have to attend MAT, CAT or XAT exams for getting MBA admissions in reputed institutes. After clearing the written test, the candidates need to appear for a group discussion and personal interview.

MBA in Systems Management programme includes training in systems department of organisations, business development, systems consultancy, account management and sales and marketing. Candidates are further trained to develop Enterprise Resource Planning solutions. Students are taught customised development of IT solutions in all spheres such as automating attendance punching, putting daily sales, developing Enterprise

Resource Planning solutions and distribution of data online.

Information Technology Management involves the way in which information technology (IT) relates to a business environment. Because it is such an important corporate resource, well-trained IT Managers continue to be in great demand. Holding a master’s degree in the field can provide students with the opportunity to pursue a variety of related careers. While curriculums vary from school to school, many of the same courses will appear in various Master of Information Technology Management degree programmes.

Strategic Information Technology - Operational Strategy: This course provides students with the opportunity to explore case studies in order to learn how to efficiently manage the resources of an IT department. Many strategic operational topics are examined, including systems security, strategy implementation and ethical considerations. This class may also discuss the role of chief information officers within IT departments.

Systems Analysis and Design: This course focuses on information systems and offers students an introduction to the principles and techniques of systems analysis. The course is an examination of the various design methods involved with information systems, as well as a discussion of system aspects,

MBA skills required in the IT Industryl Problem-solvingl Time management l Communicationl Analyticall Decision-makingl Goal settingl Teamworkl Capability to help IT managers to deliver

projects on time with proper client satisfactionJobs for an MBA in the IT Industryl Technical Architectl System Analystl Internet Marketingl Product Managerl Project Manager

“Dr Arun Mohan Sherry, Director of IMT-CDL and Dean (Corporate Affairs) of IMT Ghaziabad

The Post Graduate Diploma in Management (Information Technology) is designed to equip students for building of Enterprise Information Infrastructure through effective utilisation and management of information technology and information systems resources. This will be attained through emphasis on the areas of Information Technology, Information Systems, Business Management, Business Analysis and Modeling, Software Project Management and Strategic planning and use of Information Systems.

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such as pricing, performance criteria and structure.

Information Security and Privacy: Because protecting the integrity of information is paramount to the success of a corporation, ensuring the security and privacy of its information systems is extremely important. In this course, students examine various security aspects, including cryptography and network intrusion detection. The course also explores anonymity and privacy. Ways in which security threats can be efficiently identified are also considered.

Skills obtainedUnder the MBA in Information Systems, you will learn to handle

various information and their sources tactfully. You will also get a chance to get familiarise with the technical aspect of the information like allocating and administering the technical staff, managing and handling the information etc. Hence, upon completion of a master’s degree in Technology Management, graduates should be able to use business technology to enhance the corporate environment, manage financial resources, provide successful brand marketing, design information systems and successfully lead executive teams. It will also provide the skills necessary for an employee to become a manager.

Job profiles

Information Technology management professionals apply information technology to a business setting. Because the vast majority of corporations are dependent upon computer systems to conduct business, IT Managers provide a very important service.

Staff supervision: While many of an IT Manager’s duties involve computer systems directly, employees in this field are also responsible for overseeing IT staff. This includes a variety of tasks, such as training, development and performance management. Such a role may also include the actual staffing of the department, as well as any necessary outsourcing.

IT budget monitoring: An IT manager may be responsible for creating and overseeing the annual IT budget. This task involves approving costs, reviewing contracts and monitoring the department’s expenditures. This role may also include meeting with upper level executives for budget approval.

Software development: Because companies must constantly stay up to date with regards to current technology, an IT Manager is responsible for researching possible software and hardware updates. This means evaluating new products and communicating with product vendors to set up demonstrations and negotiate pricing.

Systems management: Systems management could perhaps be considered the most basic function of an IT Management professional. This task includes the general monitoring of a corporation’s computer system, including infrastructure, networks and software. Because a company’s information system is often integral to its daily operation, this daily supervision is extremely important. Related tasks may include: } Developing standards and

procedures } System restart and recovery } Monitoring safety and compliance } Controlling computer system

security

“Dr R Raman, Director,Symbiosis Centre for Information Technology

MBA in Information Technology Business Management (ITBM) aims at developing Management professionals for IT Businesses and its specialized streams. The programme builds Management skills and reinforces IT skills to create Leaders, Managers & Entrepreneurs in IT products & services domain. This programme will also enable students to gain in depth knowledge in any one of the niche elective categories and courses viz. General, Information Security (IS), Networks & IT Infrastructure (NITI), Software Solutions Management (SSM), and Systems (SYS).

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Career opportunitiesDue to the increasing reliance on computer technology, the job growth for professions related to this degree programme is expected to grow much faster than the average for other occupations. Professionals who understand how to use business technology to increase company profitability will continue to be in high demand.

The career option and scope for an MBA in Systems are almost similar abroad when compared with India. A systems specialisation is primarily concerned with the integration of business processes with technology. A systems related graduation proves to be extremely beneficial for a career in this field. Understanding of various hardware and software platforms and the ability to ascertain the exact IT requirements of an organisation based on its processes and manual systems is the secret to success in this field. MBA in Systems focuses on areas like e-business, IT security, IT strategy etc. The basic aim is to develop into managers of tomorrow who can harness the latest advancements in technology to cater to ever growing business needs of corporates across the globe. Thus, the knowhow of integration of technology with business processes is the basic purpose of the systems specialisation in MBA. One major

factor that you need to consider is that after spending two years of your MBA majoring in Systems, options available will be MNC consulting firms like Accenture, IBM, CapGemini and Ernst & Young. Alternatively, if you are placed with IT firms like Infosys, Wipro or TCS, the initial phase would involve IT training along with more qualified B. Tech, M. Tech graduates. Their functional know-how should not demotivate you or make you feel insecure enough to ponder on the worth of the two years spent in the MBA programme. In due course of time, your growth track in the firm, based on your business knowledge, will be different from others.

While Tata Consultancy Services

(TCS) has announced that it will hire about 60,000 people in 2011-12, Mahindra Satyam is also planning to add 18,000 new people in its workforce. According to staffing firm TeamLease Services, the overall hiring sentiment is bullish in IT and IT-enabled services (ITeS) sectors.

And with information systems, professionals who play a critical role in many organisations from a managerial, operational and decision-making standpoint, and have a big impact across a wide range of industries in the business world, they play a big part in ensuring that businesses get effective analysis, design and management of information as to allow them to continue to be competitive and successful in today’s world. Hence, those enrolled in an MBA programme in information systems will play a big role in how information is stored and utilised both today and in the future.

With technology taking a forefront in many businesses as well as economic crunches forcing businesses to make tough decisions, those with degrees in information systems will be entering a fairly good job market. Graduates can look for work in a wide range of industries as everyone from drug companies to toy manufacturers need business advice on finances products and marketing. While many students will prefer to work for companies, there may be an opportunity to work as independent consultants as well.

“Dr P L Maggu, Executive Director,GSBA

The PGDIT/PGDM (IT) 2-Year Full Time Programme (Approved by AICTE) is a useful professional course since every area of industry now demands knowledge of information processing, and managers with IT / Computer knowledge are more effective and efficient in decision making process for achieving the company’s financial targets and meeting the specific objectives of the organisation well in time.

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Institute Program Website Dura-tion

Eligibility Selection Process

Fees Place-ments

Apeejay Institute of Technology, School of Manage-ment, Great-er Noida

P.G. Diplo-ma in Man-agement: Information Technology [PGDM (IT)]

http://apeejay.edu/aitsm/ad-mission.html

2 yrs Graduates in any disci-pline.Final year students are also eligible to apply.

CAT/XAT/MAT/ATMA/JMET AIT-score (Test conducted by AIT), Group Discussion, Personal Interview, academic performance

The fee for the PGDM programs are pro-visionally Rs.91,600 per annum which is subject to revision by U.P state fee fixation committee.

Recruiters - Accenture, Infosys, HCL Info Systems

Department of Man-agement Studies, IIT Madras

MBA with specializa-tion in Sys-tem & IT

http://www.doms.iitm.ac.in/special-izations.htm

2 yrs 1. B.E./ B.Tech. (or equivalent) with First Class (or equivalent) from a recognized Insti-tution or University 2. A Masters degree with First Class (or equiva-lent) in any discipline from a recognized Insti-tution or University. 3.Final year students are also eligible to apply.

Joint Manage-ment Entrance Test (JMET)/ CAT, Inter-view, Group task, previous academic per-fomance, work experience

Other Category Hosteller - Rs 59,850, Day Scholar - Rs 63,392, SC/ST Category - Hosteller - Rs 4,850 Day Scholar - 8,392, Sponsored -Hosteller - Rs 69,850, Day Scholar - Rs 73,392

Recruiters - Accenture, CISCO, HP, Infosys, Dell, Wipro, Avalon, Deloitte

Department of Man-agement Studies, IIT Roorkee

MBA with dual spe-cialization in any two of the follow-ing: Market-ing, Finance, Information Technology, Operations

http://www.iitr.ac.in

2 yrs 1. Bachelor’s degree in any discipline of Engi-neering/Technology with first class or its equiva-lent, or a Master’s degree with first class or equiva-lent in any discipline from a recognised Institution or University. Final year students are also elgible to apply. 2. Candidates of General/OBC category seeking admission to the MBA program must have at least 60% marks or CGPA of 6.00 on a 10 point scale at qualifying degree level; but for SC/ST/PD category candidates, this percentage is 55% or 5.50 CGPA on a 10 point scale.

Joint Manage-ment Entrance Test (JMET) scores, Group Discussion, In-terview, Work experience

Program Fee - Regular student - Rs 35,000 per semester, For Sponsored candidiate - Rs 60,000 per semester

Highest Salary - 13.5 lakh p.a., Aver-age Salary - Rs 9.83 lakh p.a. Recruiters - Deloitte, HCL, TCS, IBM, Infosys, Deloitte, Accenture

Graduate School of Business & Administra-tion, Greater Noida

PGDIT/PGDM (IT)

http://www.gsbaindia.org/CoursesAvail-able/PGDITP-GDMIT.aspx

2 yrs A candidate with mini-mum 19 years age and with a Bachelor's Degree for Management Program and Degree with 10+2 maths for computer or IT course in any field of study from a recognized University / Institution can apply.

CAT or MAT scores, Group Discussion, Personal Interview

Academic fee - Rs 3 lakh p.a., Hostel Fee - Rs 45,000 p.a.

Recruiters - TCS, Patni Computers, HCL Tech-nologies

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Fees Place-ments

IIM Bangalore

Post-Graduate Programme in Software Enterprise Manage-ment (PG-SEM)

http://www.iimb.ernet.in/pgsem

2 and half yrs

Bachelor's Degree or equivalent qualifica-tion obtained by the candidate must entail a minimum of three years of education after com-pleting higher second-ary schooling (10+2) or equivalent. Applicants need to have a minimum of two years experience in the IT industry or IT related field as on June 1, 2011 .

CAT/GMAT/PGSEM Ad-mission Test in Bangalore and Interview

Total fees - Rs 9,50,000

This course is specially designed for working software profession-als and hence no placement opportuni-ties will be provided like other courses.

IIT Delhi, Department of Man-agement Studies

MBA (full-time) with Focus on Manage-ment Sys-tems

http://www.dmsiitd.org/ index.php?option= com_content &view= article &id= 11& Itemid=15

2 yrs Bachelor's Degree in any branch of Engg./ Technol-ogy/ Architecture/ Phar-macy/ B.Sc. Agriculture Engineering (minimum 4 years after 10+2) OR Master's degree in any branch of Physical/Chemical/Mathematical Sciences like Physics, Chemistry, Mathemat-ics, Statistics, Computer Application, Electronic Science, Environmental Science, Operations Research, Computational/Information Science, Agriculture or Master's Degree in Commerce/ Economics, CA/ICWA.. Those appearing in the final year examina-tion may also apply. Minimum of 60% marks in aggregate (of all the years/semesters) or 6.75 CGPA on a 10 point scale or equivalent in the above mentioned degree programmes essential for admission. There is a relaxation of 5% in marks (i.e. min. 55%) or equivalent in CGPA (i.e. min. 6.25) for SC/ST candidates and as per Institute norms for PH category.

JMET, Group Discussion and Interview

At the time of joining - Rs 30,935 and for every subsequent semester - Rs 26,735, Hostel room rent will be Rs. 6300 per semester

Highest Salary - Rs 25 lakh p.a. and Average Salary - Rs 14.78 lakh p.a. Key Recruiters - Deloitte, KPMG, Accenture, Wipro and Infosys

IMT Ghaziabad

Post Gradu-ate Diploma in Man-agement (Information Technology)

http://www.imt.edu/Programmes/FT10IT.aspx

2 yrs Minimum 3 years Bachelor's degree or equivalent with minimum 50% aggregate marks in any discipline. Candi-dates who are appearing for the final year degree examination can also apply.

CAT and Personal Interview


Recruiters - HCL Tech-noligies, Deloitte, In-fosys, TCS, Accenture

IMT Nagpur Post Gradu-ate Diploma in Man-agement (PGDM - IT)

http://www.imtnagpur.ac.in/

2 yrs Minimum 3 years Bach-elor's degree or equiva-lent with minimum 50% aggregate marks in any discipline. Candidates who are appearing for the final year degree examination can also apply.

CAT and Personal Interview


Highest Salary - Rs 9.60 lakh p.a. Aver-age Salary - Rs 5.50 lakh p.a.

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Fees Place-ments

Indian Institute of Information Technology, Allahabad

Master of Business Administra-tion (MBA) in Informa-tion Technol-ogy

http://www.iiita.ac.in/inner.php?conf= grad#mba

2 yrs Bachelor's Degree with valid CAT score.

Entrance test, CAT, Group Discussion, Interview

Fees - 1st Semester - Rs 40,500, 2nd and 4th Semester - Rs 28,500, 3rd Semester - Rs 32,500

L&T Infotech, Deloitte, In-fosys, Patni Computer, HCL Info-systems

Institute of Manage-ment Stud-ies (IMS), Ghaziabad

Post Gradu-ate Diploma in Man-agement - Information Technology (PGDM - IT)

http://www.ims-ghaziabad.ac.in/academic_programmes /pgdmit.asp

2 yrs A three-year Bachelor's Degree or equivalent with 50% marks in any discipline recognized by the Association of Indian Universities / AICTE. Candidates appearing for the final examina-tion for the Bachelor's Degree can also apply, subject to furnishing evidence to that effect latest by 30th October 2011.

CAT/MAT/GMAT or ATMA or any other national level score, Group Discussion and Personal Interview

Total fees - 1st year - Rs 3,55,000 and 2nd year - Rs 3,46,000

Recruiters - Infosys, Microsoft, Wipro Tech-nology, HCL Technolo-gies , Tata Consultan-cy Service Accenture

NITIE (National Institute of Industrial Engineer-ing), Mum-bai

PGDITM http://www.nitie.edu/index.php?option= com_content &task= view&id= 776 & Itemid =401& lang =en

2 yrs Bachelor's Degree with First Division in any branch of Engineering / Technology (5% con-cession in case of SC/ST/PD candidates). The sponsored candi-dates are required to have atleast 2 years of relevant experience after gradua-tion in Engineering / Tech-nology as on 31st March, Sponsored candidates are NOT required to give the Common Admissions Test conducted by IIMs. Candidates who are cur-rently in their final year of Engineering/Technology degree can also apply.

CAT scores, Group Discus-sion / Personal Interview with due weightage to scholastic achievements and work experience

Total fees - 1st year Rs 2,66,000, 2nd year Rs 2,40,500

Recruiters - Accen-ture, IBM, Infosys, Dell, Wipro, Patni Computers, Mindtree

Shailesh J. Mehta School of Manage-ment, IIT Bombay

Master of Manage-ment Pro-gramme

http://www.som. iitb.ac.in/joomla/ index.php?option= com_content &task= view&id=37 &Itemid =69

2 yrs 1. An undergraduate de-gree or equivalent (as defined by Association of Indian Universities in Engineering with First Class or a Graduate de-gree in any branch of Sciences (e.g. MS, M.Sc. etc.) with First Class. 2. Candidates appear-ing for the final degree examination can apply. 3. Candidate must have at least 60% marks in aggregate or 6.5 CPI on the scale of 10 (all years/semesters put together) in the qualifying degree. 4. Candidate with a M.Sc. as qualifying degree must have at least 60% marks or 6.5 CPI on the scale of 10 in bachelor's degree as well as in M.Sc. degree.

Joint Man-agement Entrance Test (JMET), Group Discussion and Personal Interview. International candidates can opt for GMAT in lieu of the JMET.

Total fees - Rs 8,86,902, For SC/ST candidate - Total Fees - Rs 4,86,902

Highest Salay - Rs 20.50 lakh p.a., Aver-age Salary - Rs 13.87 lakh p.a. Recruiters - Microsoft, Amazon, HCL, Cognizant, Wipro and Infosys

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Fees Place-ments

5. For candidates with an M.Tech degree the B.Tech./B.E./ M.Sc. de-gree would be considered as qualifying degree. 6. SC/ST candidates must have at least 55% marks or 6.0 CPI in aggregate in the qualifying degree.

Symbiosis Centre for Information Technology, Pune

MBA in Information Technology Business Manage-ment (ITBM)

http://www.scit.edu/academic_programmes.asp

2 yrs Graduate of a statutory university with 50% marks (45% for SC/ST) at gradu-ation level in - IT/computer science/computer applica-tion; or Engineering; or Any other faculty with IT related experience. Candidates passing de-gree examination by part-time/ correspondence/ external course/ Distance Learning, or in one sitting are not eligible. Candi-dates appearing for Final year bachelor's degree examinations may apply but their admission will be subject to obtaining a minimum of 50% marks. (45% for SC/ST).

SNAP test, GE (Group Exercise) , PI (Personal Interaction)

Fees - Rs. 2,78,500 per year, Hostel - Rs. 35,000/- per year, Mess - Rs. 35,000 per year and Hostel Deposit - Rs. 10,000 (Refund-able) (Payable one-time)

Highest Salary - Rs 10 lakh p.a., Aver-age Sal-ary - Rs 6.8 lakh p.a. Recruiters - Accenture, Deloitte, Capgemini, Hexaware, Infosys, Cognizant Technology, TCS, L&T Infotech, Wipro Tech-nologies, Mindtree Consulting

Symbiosis Instiute of Computer Studies & Research, Pune

Masters of Business Admin-istration (Information Technology)

http://www.symbiosis computers. com/v5/ home/mbait.php

2 yrs Graduates in any dis-cipline of any satutoray university with 50% marks (For SC/ST: 45%) shall be eligible for admis-sion to the M.B.A. (IT) programme.

SNAP test, GE (Group Exercise), PI (Personal Interaction)

Fees for 1st year - Rs 1,89,000 and Fees for 2nd year - Rs 1,89,000

Recruiters - Capgemni, ITC Info-tech, Tata Technolo-gies, HCL, Deloitte

University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Dehradun Campus

MBA (In-formation Systems Manage-ment)

http://www.upes.ac.in/mba-it.html

2 yrs 1. Minimum 50% marks at Higher & Senior Secondary level (10th & 12th). 2. B.Tech/ BE (IT/ CSE/EEE)/ B.Sc. (IT/CSE)/ BCA with at least 50% marks from a recognized University.

UPES Management Entrance Test (UPES-MET) / National Level Test, Group Discussion and Interview.


Highest Salary - Rs 9 lakh p.a. and Average Salary - Rs 4 lakh p.a. Recruiters - Accen-ture India, Infosys Technolo-gies, Larsen & Toubro Infotech, TCS, Wipro Technolo-gies

Xavier Institute of Social Science, Ranchi

Post Gradu-ate Diploma in Informa-tion Man-agement

http://www.xiss.ac.in/index.html

2 yrs A three years bachelor's degree in any discipline recognized by Associa-tion of Indian Universities. However, preference will be given to Engineering, Economics, Commerce, Management and Com-puter Science graduates and candidates with relevant work experience.

XAT,Group Discussion, Personal Interview

N.A. Recruiters - HCL In-fosystems, Cognizant Technology Services, TCS

Disclaimer: Data is collated from the B School website, readers are advised to reconfirm and make appropriate enquiries from concerned institutes.Compiled by : Priya Gokani

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“IBM offers opportunities to build a global career”

… says V A Rangarajan, Recruitment Leader, IBM India/South Asia. IBM is a global technology and innovation company that stands for progress. With operations in over 170 countries, IBMers around the world invent and integrate hardware, software and services to help forward-thinking enterprises, institutions and people everywhere succeed in building a smarter planet.

The diversity and breadth of the entire IBM portfolio of research, consulting, solutions, services, systems and software, uniquely distinguishes IBM India from other companies in the industry.IBM India’s solutions and services span all major industries including financial services, healthcare, government, automotive, telecommunications and education, among others.

Widely recognised as an employer of choice, IBM holds numerous awards for its industry-leading employment practices and policies. In this exclusive interview with Sarita Kutty, Rangarajan stresses on the fact that there exists pertinent career opportunities at IBM – irrespective of whether you are fresh out of college, or an experienced professional. Excerpts…

Recruiter Q&A

Does an MBA boost chances of success at IBM?Depending on the Institution where the candidate does the MBA and the skills acquired in the process, an MBA can be a major advantage. However, success in IBM is also a function of other factors that determine performance, such as hard work, leadership, knowledge of the business and business conditions.

What does an MBA mean 5 or 10 years later?This is hard to predict because life, in general, is full of uncertainties. But, all things considered, a person with a good quality MBA education is likely to achieve success in the long term.

Define a typical career path at IBM?IBM is a large global company that offers opportunities to build a global career working with the best and the brightest people in several areas of technology and management. We hire people with various levels of experience including fresh campus graduates. So, it is a bit difficult to define a typical career at IBM.

What type of career opportunities do you offer?We offer career opportunities in Research, IT software and

infrastructure services, IT hardware and software sales and IT product development. One can learn new skills, work across different disciplines or move into new challenges. It is possible with our award-winning, customised professional development and leadership training. IBM offers competitive benefits, as well as an industry-leading practice of performance-based bonuses for all employees. We believe that global innovation demands diverse employees and attractive work/life initiatives that sustain, and retain, them. IBM gives you the power to design your workday, and your life, according to your unique styles and needs.

What do you look for in a candidate?Among other things, we look for a strong academic record, good people and communication skills.

How does IBM help employees balance work and personal life?IBM has a number of programmes that ensure work-life flexibility. Depending on the country, role and legal environment, we provide leave of absence and work-at- home options that can greatly enhance work-life balance. Other benefits include day-care.

MBA BUZZ


Do B-schools build better ENTREPRENEURS?

The growing need for creating entrepreneurially-oriented corporate managers has its obvious implications for our B-schools. Also, when so much of investment is being made for establishing incubators to create high growth startups in various B-schools, it is important that the students grasp the impact of high growth over a time period on entrepreneurial quality of the decision-making processes in such organisations. In this article, Serena Kallian delves deeper into B-school programmes that are targetted at a certain section of corporate leadership.

An entrepreneur is usually described as someone who takes the path less trodden.

Taking the unconventional route is never easy - especially if you want to make it a successful enterprise. Has India truly come to a stage where entrepreneurs can find themselves in a comfortable position? The answer is: Not really, but a change may be on its way. This change needs to happen at the grassroots particularly at the ‘temples of learning’ - the academic institutions. It is a commonly accepted fact that most students who enter the doors of a management institute come with the hopes of a well-paid corporate job, more so because they have to consider the return on their investments once they leave college and, in such cases, thinking about starting an enterprise of one’s own is difficult. Post recession with the job markets facing the heat, students were forced to think about different avenues and entrepreneurship became a new career option. Whether this newfound interest would last is still to be seen. In essence, the idea of a start-up is not new to India, especially in the areas of technology, IT services, BPOs etc.

In case of business schools in India, the need of the hour is to make this a sustainable career choice. Several top B-schools do have the means to encourage young entrepreneurs through their innovation and enterprise

incubation centres, business plan competitions, specialised courses etc. Well-known entrepreneurial networks like the National Entrepreneurship Network (NEN) India, The Indus Entrepreneurs Network (TiE) and The Entrepreneurs Network (TEN) established in 2005 are providing platforms for knowledge exchange and a chance to meet future investors. NEN in association with corporate world biggies like TATA also encourage start-ups through innovation awards.

Prof A Karthik, a senior faculty member of a top business school is of the opinion that in order to encourage an entrepreneurial spirit among MBA students a collective effort should be made by the institute. He says, “Entrepreneurship cannot be taught using a theoretical model and it is not just about knowledge but also about the right kind of skills. What we need is to have courses or events which help impart essential skills such as networking, negotiation and an ability to decide in risky and ambiguous

situations.There should also be an emphasis on making alumni networks stronger. All this can be enabled by the institute.”

At whom is the programme targetted? Management or MBA programmes with a focus on entrepreneurship have become a growing trend in the international schools over several years. While the Indian institutes are still at a nascent stage, post recession there was a spurt of interest in entrepreneurship options and many of the top B-schools in the country established entrepreneurship and incubator cells to encourage the trend. Whether such programmes are effective or not is another aspect of the discussion. The availability of the course still exists. In the international scene, entrepreneurship has come into the business school through its curriculum and entrepreneurship centres. They also have active participation from the student

community. The participants of these specialised programmes or ones who do take up electives on entrepreneurship in the MBA tenure of the international schools come with considerable work experience and so come at a stage where they are really certain of their start- up ideas.

Entrepreneurship has also been identified to be more than just a process

Special Report

MBA BUZZ


of starting a venture. In fact, it has been considered useful in identifying opportunities in small, big, profit and non-profit organisations. In such cases, the programmes or centres are targetted at a certain section of corporate leadership.

The entrepreneurship and innovation centres or incubators, as they are also called, provide a platform for budding entrepreneurs to meet investors, develop their ideas and receive assistance though different stages.

Rising enrollment Traditionally, technology institutes were always associated with innovation and new ideas and not management schools. B-schools in India may be bringing about a change in outlook towards entrepreneurship through their centres. In the report, Tomorrow’s MBA 2011, which is the second study of prospective MBAs conducted by CarringtonCrisp an education marketing and market research specialist, in partnership with ABS and EFMD have found an increase in the demand for entrepreneurship in the MBA classroom. The 476 prospective MBAs from 79 countries, who were interviewed for the study by Carrington Crisp, chose Entrepreneurship as one among the top five most valuable aspects of the MBA content. The top slot belonged to Strategic studies. The report has also found that many students prefer to have a curriculum which allows them to develop and consider entrepreneurial skills. This may be a result of the recession which forced several students in the domestic and international schools to consider entrepreneurial ventures in the face of an unstable job market.

Here are a few examples: Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIM A) started its Center for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE) in 1998, a result of the first national workshop on Indian Incubator for Innovation Based Enterprise (13 E) at IIM A. The enterprises which

have seen growth and achieved a sustaining stage from CIIE include Mantis Technology, Ants and Eeon. IIM Bangalore set up an incubator cell called the Nadathur S Raghavan Center for Entrepreneurial Learning (NSRCEL) in March 2002. The Center facilitates business growth by combining academic research with practical experiences.

Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad started its entrepreneurship centre called the Wadhwani Center for Entrepreneurship Development in 2009. Other top institutes like IIM C,K and L have started entrepreneurship cells which help students with start- ups.

Mudra Institute of Communication Ahmedabad (MICA) provides a programme on entrepreneurship

called the PGPCME. This course, however, does not teach its participants entrepreneurship or how to become entrepreneurs. They act as facilitators to participants who already possess the entrepreneurial streak.

The trend is, however, here to stay, feels Neel Shah, an entrepreneur who chose to stay away from the herd at his alma mater IIM K, follow his heart and launch a start-up.

On the international front, Harvard Business School’s ‘Arthur Rock Center for Entrepreneurship’ was founded in 2003. The Center supports faculty research, fellowships for MBA and doctoral students, the annual business plan contest, symposia and conferences. The London Business School offers initiatives such as the ‘Entrepreneurship Summer School’ and ‘Financing the Entrepreneurial

Business’ under its venture capital and entrepreneurship programme. Institutes like Babson College, Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and University of Florida offer MBA programmes with a focus on entrepreneurship.

Career opportunities and trends Entrepreneurship has only benefitted the growth and progress of the society and economy at large through innovation, generation of employment and social empowerment. Entrepreneurship education in India needs to scale up to include facilitators, investors and promoters too.

As mentioned earlier, the IT sector has seen a lot of start-ups, however in the future a lot of

entrepreneurial activity is expected in the following areas: healthcare sector, education and training, engineering goods, social ventures, textiles, automobile, tourism, recycling business, energy solutions, biotechnology, toy manufacturing, floriculture, packaging, media & entertainment, organic farming, ayurveda and traditional medicine, corporate demands, food processing, etc.

“Areas like healthcare, education, water, communication are fertile grounds for innovation and entrepreneurial ventures in India because of the problems that exist,” feels Prof A Karthik.

In India, there are problem areas which are unique to its geography, economy and society and so entrepreneurs are at an advantage here since they can find a lot of areas to work in.

Indian B-schools like IIM B, IIM C, XLRI, ISB, IRMA etc are giving students the option of “deferred placements” wherein they are allowed to opt out of placements in the current year to pursue individual ventures. Depending on the institute, they have an option of participating in the placement processes that happen in the following 2/3 years.

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MBA BUZZ


Institute Pro-gramme

Dura-tion

Fees Course Curriculum Pedagogy

Mudra Institute of Communication Ahmedabad

PGP-CME

15 mnths

Na Education in Communications, Manage-ment and Entrepreneurship, Learning in three thrust areas Digital Media, Films, and Entertainment and Marketing Communica-tions businesses.

Relevant industry ex-perience through Con-tinuing Industry Intern-ship Programme (CIIP) in the communications domain,International immersion in US, UK and Singapore

Babson College, F. W. Olin Graduate School of Business, Wellesley, Massachusetts

MBA 2 years

Na Electives:New venture creation, social entre-preneurship, corporate entrepreneurship, en-trepreneurial finance, technology, public policy, managing growing business, buying a small business, family as entrepreneur

International compo-nent, Summer intern-ships

University of Chi-cago Booth School of Business

MBA 2 years

$85,488 (9 months including housing)

Entrepreneurship concentration: entre-prenurial finance & private equity, new venture strategy, building the new venture, special topics in entrepreneurship small seminar in developing a business plan, commercializing innovation

Classroom instruction, game assignments, presentations, co-curricular seminars, conferences

University of Michigan--Ann Arbor, Stephen M. Ross School of Business

MBA 2 years

$73,610 (1 yr including housing

Legal Aspects of Entrepreneurship,Entrepreneurship via Acquisitions, CleanTech Venture Opportunities, New Venture Creation, Venture Capital Finance, Private Equity Finance, Con-tinuing a Legacy: Leading a Family Business, Financing Research Commercialization, Inde-pendent Study Project

action based learning, assignments, projects etc

University of Vir-ginia, UVA-Darden Graduate School of Business Admin

MBA 2 years

$ 52,000 (1 year only tuition)

Entreprenurship and iinovation courses:entrepreneurial thinking, developing new products & services, emerging informa-tion technologies, emerging medical tech-nologies, entrepreneurial finance & private equity, innovation & intergration in services, networked business, sustainable innovation and entrepreneurship, venture capital

Case based learning, projects, assignments, b plan competitions, venture capital clubs and workshops

Stanford University,Stanford Graduate school of Business

MBA 2 years

$55,200 (1 yr only tuition)

Entrepreneurship concentration: Private Equi-ty Investing Seminar, Investment Management and Entrepreneurial Finance, Real Estate In-vestment, Environmental Entrepreneurship, Sports Business Finance, Sports Business Management, New Product Development, En-trepreneurial Design for Extreme Affordability, Entrepreneurial Design for Exreme Affordability, Biodesign Innovation: Concept Development and Implementation, Intellectual Property & Its Effect on Business, Building and Managing Professional Sales Organization, Entrepre-neurship: Formation of New Ventures, Entre-preneurship and Venture Capital, Managing Growing Enterprises, Aligning Start-Ups with Their Market, Evaluating Entrerpreneurial Op-portunities, Social Entrepreneurship, Strategy and Action in the Information Processing In-dustry, Strategic Management of Technology and Innovation, Entrepreneurship from the Perspective of Women, New Venture Work-shop, Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition

through projects, simu-lations, prototyping, role-playing scenarios, global immersions, and case studies

Kellogg School of Management

MBA 2 years

$51,495 (tuition for 1 year)

Majors in entrepreneurship & innovation: en-trepreneurship and new venture formation, social entrepreneurship, SE in the develop-ing world, strategic franchising, successful entrepreneurship, managing enterprise risk, entrepreneurial selling, corporate innovation, global innovation, advanced turnarounds, en-trepreneurial finnace, venture capital & private equity, family enterprises, internet marketing, technology marketing, negotiations, intellec-tual capital management

classroom studies, ex-periential learning and external learning op-portunities through the Kauffman Entrepreneur Intern Program

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MBA BUZZ


Management schools in India (not all) seem to be trying to incorporate various means to encourage “entrepreneurship” among its students (MBAs) either through b-plan competitions, e-cells/entrepreneurship centres, having it as a subject in the curriculum, focused programmes (academic) and by encouraging start-ups at placements etc. What would you say about these recent developments? Can we call this a change in perception towards entrepreneurship?I agree with you that it’s happening, but it’s also a very mixed signal for most students. If you understand the context of what an MBA is meant for, it is to manage stable companies in their growth through a set means of processes and incremental innovation. Start-ups in most cases are a hole in the wall that one has to figure out the meaning for, and define an opportunity for. The viewpoints are actually conflicting. We need visionaries to kickstart a venture, and as the growth picks up, we need people with management degrees to manage that growth and sustain it. To ask a management graduate - by training - to do a start-up, would be like asking a start-up entrepreneur to handle a large company. In my opinion, it is a different set of talents. MBA schools by structure invite or attract students who want to be a part of the corporate workforce.

Is the environment in India conducive for start-ups? What are some of the challenges that they face in the Indian context?India might not be the most conducive environment for most of the middle class, as we struggle with our infrastructure to provide us the basic services, but from an entrepreneur point of view, the opportunities and the range that you see in this landscape are amazing. This is defintely a good time to be an entrepreneur in India.

In your experience with start-ups which are the areas where you expect to see a lot of innovation or seeds that may become successful models?It’s really quite spread out. People seem to be working on everything and anything. As I said, the space where

we find opportunities is really wide unlike the silicon valley where the focus is on technology and New York is obsessed with media and London with financial markets. I do believe that the very nature of business models will find its innovation in India. We were the first country in the world to think of telecom companies as entities manufacturing minutes, and look at them as an OPEX instead of CAPEX,thus significantly lowering call rates. The environment in India makes for such innovation to happen - not just in technology, but in models as well.

Does having a background in business education help an entrepreneur at any stage of his/her venture or is that a misconstrued fact?It does. Ideation is a burst process. After that, there is a lot of calculated planning that needs to be done: from planning your finances, to market strategy. If the individual can look at this as a product needing to get into market and doesn’t get lost in corporate mentality, he can add a lot of value. But let the creative chaos settle down before you step in, otherwise you could be mistaken for someone who is in the wrong place.

Many MBA graduates who nurture entrepreneurial ambitions talk of having some level of corporate experience before going forward with their ideas, what is your opinion of such an approach?I believe that’s a good approach as well. There are the incremental entrepreneurs who will start a first company out of college, do a few more and in the third or fourth, raise some capital, make some moderate returns, etc. On the other hand, there will be folks who will get into a career, build it for a good 10 years or so and then get out, and fire up their company - their reputation might even help them raise capital, and the experience would bring them networks and the much needed exposure. It’s really upto the entrepreneur to decide - some can’t wait to start, and don’t mind learning along the way, the others plan a bit. Different folks, with different perspectives and they both work - as far as starting- up is concerned.

Vijay Anand, head of the Incubation Centre at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras has been at the helm of many start- ups like ‘Proto.in’. He is popularly known as the ‘start-up guy’. Here’s Anand, in an

exclusive e-interview with Serena Kallian...

School Speak

MBA BUZZ


“Building a business is quite challenging and demanding”

… says Praveen Agarwal who has been in the financial services sector for the last 15 years having dabbled in areas like Fund Raising, Debt Syndication, Private Equity Funding, Mergers & Acquisitions, Asset Restructuring, Taxation and Administration etc. A member of BNI - an international business group - and winner of the best performance award at the national bank level in 2005, he is currently the Director at RJ Capital. Praveen in this exclusive interview with Serena Kallian shares his experiences

Could you tell us about your journey so far? My professional journey started with the Bank of Rajasthan, where I headed functions of the branch like Credit, Sales, Legal, Investments, Recovery and Treasury operations etc. Besides, the branch size was over Rs 500 to 800 crore. I worked in the capacity of an Asst Vice President and after 12 years at the Bank, I moved on to RJ Capital as its Director. I have had a rich and diverse experience in the Banking and Information Technology industry in India. Academically, I have an MBA in Finance from Amity Business School and MCA and other certifications like IRDA, NCFM, BCFM, NOVELL and ORACLE. This in short has been my journey so far.

What are your expectations from the financial services sector in India today, what are some of the changes expected?According to me, the financial services sector is expected to rise to the occasion by adopting new instruments and innovative means of financing. It will certainly play a very dynamic role in the economy.

Indian financial markets have been facing various issues in the past and the present and the situation can be improved if the government intervenes at the right time and controls the inflation rate. For instance, according to the last RBI credit policy central banks were directed to increase their rates (repo and rev.repo) and this is an excellent means to control inflation rate by the government. I hope this trend is continued for at least a year’s time.

Would you say that the economic environment is favourable for Indian entrepreneurs in general? How competitive is this market?First of all the environment is never favourable or unfavourable for anyone. We have to face challenges to achieve our goals. In my opinion, some of the favourable key factors for Indian entrepreneurs are low cost manpower, administration and overheads.

I moved on from the role at the bank to start on my own at a time when I was in quite a comfortable position enjoying a lavish lifestyle. Building a business is quite challenging and demanding. However, as an entrepreneur I had enough confidence, good relations and networks to overcome any challenging situation. Today, as I reap the benefits of my enterprise which has been successful in meeting all its targets, the hurdles of the past seem like sweet victories.

Financial services are a competitive market but as they say ‘Competition is a part of our life’. And always remember that “A competitive world offers two possibilities: either we lose or we win through change.”

How does having a management education help you today?Personally, management education has helped me gain confidence, a practical approach and develop a logical attribute which has helped in the way I take decisions in business and in life. In my opinion, it is an excellent platform for beginners to equip themselves with the right knowledge tools and attitude to start off in the corporate world.

Your advice to all future job seekers and aspirants to the financial sector…I believe in an education where students can increase their professional, innovative and creative skills. These are also important attributes for a successful entrepreneur. An academic qualification is necessary for the initial filtering process when it comes to a talent pool but it is not a fixed benchmark because sometimes a creative professional is preferred over a highly qualified professional who is unable to make an original contribution. To all aspirants who want to take up careers in the financial sector be academically competent but also develop a positive, practical and logical approach towards the various stakeholders in this profession.

Executive Suite

MBA BUZZ


What led you to do an MBA and why

did you choose IIM Calcutta?

A small town b a c k g r o u n d , followed by a degree in

engineering in an area which I was

not very passionate about, led me to study

options that could lead to a challenging, promising and a

rewarding career. The options considered by me were to shift to

a career in software, study further for a civil services and government

job or study for an MBA programme and join the corporate world for a fast

-track career in the arena. While the former two were perceived to be safe, I opted for an MBA, as I believed this will prepare me for a leadership position in the area, which would be both challenging and interesting. However, I was targeting only IIMs, IIFT, FMS and XLRI. I am also pursuing the International CFA programme as a

back-up plan and settling for anything lower than these institutes would be a compromise. Though I was willing to

join any of the top three IIMs A, B and C, my preference was clearly IIM Calcutta

since my forte is number crunching, and graduating from IIM C would clearly give me an opportunity to leverage my abilities, my additional qualification CFA programme

and also help me prepare for my long-term goal of entrepreneurship in the financial sector.

When did you start preparing for the entrance test? What would you consider was your biggest challenge?I started preparing in a structured manner after my B.Tech in Biotech for about 18 months. While in my first attempt I was able to clear the cut-offs for the Quantitative and Data Interpretation section, there was a wide gap in the verbal section and also the grammar section, as I had a very limited vocabulary, little interest and very limited exposure to reading. I had also converted SIBM last year and there was parental and peer group pressure on me to join SIBM, as there was no guarantee that I would be called or be able to convert an IIM call due to my average academics and small-town exposure. At this stage, I mustered up all the courage and took another shot at CAT.

You have worked as Quantitative Aptitude Faculty at IMS Ludhiana. How did this help you in the admission process?I have had to confront all myths surrounding CAT call and B-School conversions on my journey to joining IIM-C. After my B-Tech, as stated earlier, I was in a dilemma: whether to take up a job in the software sector or to join as Quantitative faculty with IMS Ludhiana. Most of the experienced pundits counseled me against joining as faculty, as this may not be considered as relevant experience, but I was also aware that a job in the software sector would not be very interesting, nor would it help me improve my Verbal or Communication Skillls or consolidate my strength in the Quantitative section. I believe that this stint at IMS did wonders for my self -confidence, instilled time management and prepared me to interact with like-minded people in a 24x7 environment.

“I want to start my own organisation

in the financial services sector”

…says Parveen Mangla, a B.Tech in Bio-Technology. He has worked with IMS Ludhiana as Quantitative Aptitude Faculty and is pursuing his MBA from IIM Calcutta. In conversation with Reshma Majithia, he talks of his journey to IIM Calcutta. His hobbies include watching and playing cricket, playing table tennis and solving Sudoku puzzles.

Student SilhouetteMBA BUZZ


MBA BUZZ


I would also like to share that during my IIM-C interview, this issue came up and I was able to persuade the interview panel that my stint at IMS was not only teaching Maths, but it was also mentoring students and working with a highly focused team and this exposure was more challenging and dynamic.

How much weightage is given by institutes to academic achievement, work experience and extra-curricular? Some colleges like IIM A, B, I and K prefer exceptional academics and do not call students with average academics, even if they have very high scores in CAT. However, most colleges give weightage to work experience and extra-curricular activities and if you are not good in these, you better excel in the written tests and prepare your case very passionately to convince the B-school about your sincerity, focus and hardwork. The strategy for an applicant should be that if one is graduating, excel in academics and participate proactively in extra-curriculars. On the other hand, if you have already graduated, you should sharpen your

communication skills and justify your work experience besides excelling in the written tests.

What are your career goals post MBA?My career goals post-MBA are to join a global consulting firm in the financial sector and after working for a few years, I want to start my own organisation in the financial services space.

Message for MBA aspirants… My message would be that your first priority should be to strengthen your self confidence, as only if you win the battle in your mind, will you be able to win it on the ground. Though there is a lot of gyaan dissemination on cracking the CAT, there is no substitute for solid hard work and let us not forget it, it will be rewarded with an admission into one of the most respected B-schools of the country. Another thing one needs

to ensure is to be positive and optimistic from the time one starts preparing to the date of writing the exam, and though one may lose some battles on the way ie, even if you score low in a simulated test, do not get disappointed. You are sure to crack the CAT and win the war if you remain focussed and optimistic at all times.

The strategy for an applicant should be

to excel in academics and participate

proactively in extra curriculars. Also

focus on sharpening your communication

skills and justifying your work

experience.You are sure to

crack the CAT and win the war if you

remain focussed and optimistic at all times.

Auditorium at IIM Calcutta

IIM Calcutta - Liabrary

MCHV building at IIM Calcutta

IIM Calcutta

Student Silhouette

MBA BUZZ


Placement Report

Placement Trends 2011Continued...Name of the Institute

No. of Students

Partici-pating com-

panies

No of offers Pre-Place-ment Offers (PPOs)

Salary Offered (Domestic) International Companies

Interna-tional Place-ments

Top Recruiters Sectoral Breakup CommentsAverage/ Median Sal-ary

Highest Salary

Department of Management Studies, IIT Delhi

49 45 90 18% of the batch had managed PPOs from top-notch compa-nies in dream profiles.

Average Sal-ary - Rs 14.78 lakh p.a., Median Sal-ary - Rs 13.00 lakh p.a.

Rs 25 lakh p.a.

N.S. N.S. Banking & Finance - GE, American Express, Nomura, PTC India Ltd., SBI, SKS Microfinance, Yes Bank, Kotak Mahindra and ICICI Bank, Consulting and IT - Deloitte, KPMG, Accenture, Wipro, Infosys, General Management & HR - GE, Welspun, BHEL, Cognizant, Operations - BASF, P&G, Mitsui, Titan, DSCL, Sales & Marketing - Panasonic,Tata Motors, Idea Cellular and Hindustan Coca Cola Beverages Pvt. Ltd.

Operations - 26.53%, Consulting and IT - 24.49%, Marketing - 18.37%, General Management and HR - 16.32%, Finance - 14.28%

The placements of the 2009-11 batch spanned a period of 2 weeks in December.The increase in the number of companies visiting the campus, both for recruitment and industry interaction, and the increased diversity in the profiles offered are a feather in the cap of a highly satisfying placement season.

Goa Institute of Management

109 30 111 Johnson & Johnson Medi-cal India, Tata Motors, Wipro, Tata Capital and many other promi-nent firms.

Average Salary - Rs 8.82 lakh p.a., Median Sal-ary - Rs 8.06 lakh p.a.

Rs 16 lakh p.a.

N.S. N.S. Key Recruiters - Deloitte, JP Morgan Chase, J.P. Morgan (Global Finance), Citibank, Vodafone, The Nielsen Company, CRISIL, Hewlett Packard, Godrej & Boyce, Thomas Cook, Infosys Technologies, Telcon, IMRB International, Firstsource Solutions, eClerx Services Ltd, Star Den, HDFC Life, TATA AIG General Insurance, First time Recruiters - A total of 8 companies visited institute for the first time such as Goldman Sachs, Religare, Verity Knowledge Solutions

BFSI - 41%, IT - 34%, ITES - 7%, Automobile & Manufacturing - 7%, Market Research - 5%, Telecom - 3%, Hospitality & Healthcare - 2%, Media - 1%

One student chose to pursue an alternative opportunity of becoming an entrepreneur and launched an education consultancy business.Companies recruiting from GIM belonged to various sectors such as BFSI, IT & ITES, Consulting, Healthcare, Automobiles & Manufacturing, Telecom, Market Research and Hospitality.

IIM Shillong 66 24 68 N.S. Mean Salary (Overall) - Rs 12.36 lakh p.a., Mean Salary (Do-mestic) - Rs 11.51 lakh p.a., Median Salary - Rs 12.00 lakh p.a.

Rs 18 lakh p.a.

Total of 3 inter-national offers made this year on campus.

Highest Interna-tional Offer - Rs 30 lakh p.a. made by Triton Group

Banking & Finance - Nomura Investments, Standard Chartered, HSBC, ICICI Bank, YES Bank, DE Shaw and SBI Capital, Marketing & Operations - Procter & Gamble, Godfrey Phillips, Titan,Tata Steel, Consulting - Deloitte, PwC, IT - HP, Wipro, Suzlon, Info Edge and Sonata Software, HR - YES Bank, IBM, Indofil Chemicals and Hyundai, Pharma & Chemical - Pfizer, Indofil Chemicals & Biocon, Other Recruiters - GSK Pharma, HDFC Bank, HCL, Shipping Corporation of India, Zee Learn, Bank of Baroda, Future Group, SREI, Sage Publications, Kohler, IMRB, OIL India, Berger Paints, Emami and NCDEX

BFSI - 43%, Consulting - 17%, Marketing - 14%, Operartions - 13%, IT - 8%, HR - 5%

Selection process was greatly aided by technology with 33% of the offers happening through Video Conferencing which was also preferred by the recruiters.

International Management Institute, New Delhi

N.S. 40 N.S. Tata Motors, Maruti Suzuki Ltd, QAI, RPG Group, and Firstsource

PGDM Aver-age Salary Offered - Rs 9.5 lakh p.a., PGDMHR Average Do-mestic Salary Offered Rs 8.5 lakh p.a.

PGDM Highest Domestic Offered Rs 18 lakh p.a., PGDMHR Highest Domestic Salary Offered Rs 11.46 lakh p.a.

N.S. Highest Interna-tional Salary Offered - Rs 26 lakh p.a.

AT Kearney, Indian Oil, Axis Bank, Infosys, Axix Risk Consulting (Genpact), Infosys BPO, Balmer Lawrie & Co. Ltd., Irevna, Bloomberg-LP, JSW, Ceat (RPG Group), Jumbo Electronics Company Ltd. (LLC), Central Bank of India, Larsen & Toubro, Citi Corp, MakemyTrip, Crisil, Maruti, Deloitte, Panasonic India Pvt. Ltd, Deutsche Bank Positive Mooves, DSCL QAI, Ernst & Young (Global) Ranbaxy Laboratory Ltd, ETMA (NGO), Ruchi Soya, FINO, Siemens, First Source, State Bank of India ,HCL Technologies Ltd., Tata Motors, HDFC Bank, TCS eServe Ltd., Hero Honda Motrors Ltd, UB Group ICICI Bank, Worldswindow Group, IMRB, Yes Bank Ltd.

PGDM - IT- 29%, BFSI - 28%, Consulting - 15%, ITES - 4%, KPO - 4%, FMCG - 3%, Consumer Durable - 3%, Oil & Gas - 3%, Automobiles -3%, Steel - 3%, Manufacturing - 2%, Travel - 2%, Pharma - 1% PGDMHR - IT - 29%, BFSI - 19%, FMCG - 10%, ITES -10%, Consulting - 6%, Manufacturing - 6%, Automobiles - 6%, Travel - 4%, Education - 4%, Power - 4%, Steel - 2%

The profiles offered to the selected students varied from Consultant, Associate Consultant, Research Analyst, Wealth Management, International Marketing to name a few.

MBA BUZZ


Name of the Institute

No. of Students

Partici-pating com-

panies





Highest Salary

Department of Management Studies, IIT Delhi

49 45 90 18% of the batch had managed PPOs from top-notch compa-nies in dream profiles.


Rs 25 lakh p.a.

N.S. N.S. Banking & Finance - GE, American Express, Nomura, PTC India Ltd., SBI, SKS Microfinance, Yes Bank, Kotak Mahindra and ICICI Bank, Consulting and IT - Deloitte, KPMG, Accenture, Wipro, Infosys, General Management & HR - GE, Welspun, BHEL, Cognizant, Operations - BASF, P&G, Mitsui, Titan, DSCL, Sales & Marketing - Panasonic,Tata Motors, Idea Cellular and Hindustan Coca Cola Beverages Pvt. Ltd.

Operations - 26.53%, Consulting and IT - 24.49%, Marketing - 18.37%, General Management and HR - 16.32%, Finance - 14.28%

The placements of the 2009-11 batch spanned a period of 2 weeks in December.The increase in the number of companies visiting the campus, both for recruitment and industry interaction, and the increased diversity in the profiles offered are a feather in the cap of a highly satisfying placement season.

Goa Institute of Management

109 30 111 Johnson & Johnson Medi-cal India, Tata Motors, Wipro, Tata Capital and many other promi-nent firms.

Average Salary - Rs 8.82 lakh p.a., Median Sal-ary - Rs 8.06 lakh p.a.

Rs 16 lakh p.a.

N.S. N.S. Key Recruiters - Deloitte, JP Morgan Chase, J.P. Morgan (Global Finance), Citibank, Vodafone, The Nielsen Company, CRISIL, Hewlett Packard, Godrej & Boyce, Thomas Cook, Infosys Technologies, Telcon, IMRB International, Firstsource Solutions, eClerx Services Ltd, Star Den, HDFC Life, TATA AIG General Insurance, First time Recruiters - A total of 8 companies visited institute for the first time such as Goldman Sachs, Religare, Verity Knowledge Solutions

BFSI - 41%, IT - 34%, ITES - 7%, Automobile & Manufacturing - 7%, Market Research - 5%, Telecom - 3%, Hospitality & Healthcare - 2%, Media - 1%

One student chose to pursue an alternative opportunity of becoming an entrepreneur and launched an education consultancy business.Companies recruiting from GIM belonged to various sectors such as BFSI, IT & ITES, Consulting, Healthcare, Automobiles & Manufacturing, Telecom, Market Research and Hospitality.

IIM Shillong 66 24 68 N.S. Mean Salary (Overall) - Rs 12.36 lakh p.a., Mean Salary (Do-mestic) - Rs 11.51 lakh p.a., Median Salary - Rs 12.00 lakh p.a.

Rs 18 lakh p.a.

Total of 3 inter-national offers made this year on campus.

Highest Interna-tional Offer - Rs 30 lakh p.a. made by Triton Group

Banking & Finance - Nomura Investments, Standard Chartered, HSBC, ICICI Bank, YES Bank, DE Shaw and SBI Capital, Marketing & Operations - Procter & Gamble, Godfrey Phillips, Titan,Tata Steel, Consulting - Deloitte, PwC, IT - HP, Wipro, Suzlon, Info Edge and Sonata Software, HR - YES Bank, IBM, Indofil Chemicals and Hyundai, Pharma & Chemical - Pfizer, Indofil Chemicals & Biocon, Other Recruiters - GSK Pharma, HDFC Bank, HCL, Shipping Corporation of India, Zee Learn, Bank of Baroda, Future Group, SREI, Sage Publications, Kohler, IMRB, OIL India, Berger Paints, Emami and NCDEX

BFSI - 43%, Consulting - 17%, Marketing - 14%, Operartions - 13%, IT - 8%, HR - 5%

Selection process was greatly aided by technology with 33% of the offers happening through Video Conferencing which was also preferred by the recruiters.

International Management Institute, New Delhi

N.S. 40 N.S. Tata Motors, Maruti Suzuki Ltd, QAI, RPG Group, and Firstsource

PGDM Aver-age Salary Offered - Rs 9.5 lakh p.a., PGDMHR Average Do-mestic Salary Offered Rs 8.5 lakh p.a.

PGDM Highest Domestic Offered Rs 18 lakh p.a., PGDMHR Highest Domestic Salary Offered Rs 11.46 lakh p.a.

N.S. Highest Interna-tional Salary Offered - Rs 26 lakh p.a.

AT Kearney, Indian Oil, Axis Bank, Infosys, Axix Risk Consulting (Genpact), Infosys BPO, Balmer Lawrie & Co. Ltd., Irevna, Bloomberg-LP, JSW, Ceat (RPG Group), Jumbo Electronics Company Ltd. (LLC), Central Bank of India, Larsen & Toubro, Citi Corp, MakemyTrip, Crisil, Maruti, Deloitte, Panasonic India Pvt. Ltd, Deutsche Bank Positive Mooves, DSCL QAI, Ernst & Young (Global) Ranbaxy Laboratory Ltd, ETMA (NGO), Ruchi Soya, FINO, Siemens, First Source, State Bank of India ,HCL Technologies Ltd., Tata Motors, HDFC Bank, TCS eServe Ltd., Hero Honda Motrors Ltd, UB Group ICICI Bank, Worldswindow Group, IMRB, Yes Bank Ltd.

PGDM - IT- 29%, BFSI - 28%, Consulting - 15%, ITES - 4%, KPO - 4%, FMCG - 3%, Consumer Durable - 3%, Oil & Gas - 3%, Automobiles -3%, Steel - 3%, Manufacturing - 2%, Travel - 2%, Pharma - 1% PGDMHR - IT - 29%, BFSI - 19%, FMCG - 10%, ITES -10%, Consulting - 6%, Manufacturing - 6%, Automobiles - 6%, Travel - 4%, Education - 4%, Power - 4%, Steel - 2%

The profiles offered to the selected students varied from Consultant, Associate Consultant, Research Analyst, Wealth Management, International Marketing to name a few.

Placement Report

Placement season at Indian B-schools have taken off with a big bang. We had brought you placement snapshots from some of the top campuses in the last issue of this magazine. Here, we continue with the coverage...

MBA BUZZ



No. of Students

Partici-pating com-

panies





Highest Salary

MDI Gurgaon 316 (PGPM – 235 students, PGP-HRM – 60 students, PGP-IM – 21)

110 N.S. 41 students got the PPOs

Average Sal-ary for PGPM - Rs 13.50 lakh p.a., PGP-HRM - Rs 13.42 lakh p.a., PGPIM - Rs 12.94 lakh p.a.

Highest domestic salary for PGPM - Rs 21 lakh p.a, Highest domestic salary for PGP-HRM - Rs 20.15 lakh p.a., Highest domestic salary for PGPIM - Rs 15.60 lakh p.a.

N.S. N.S. Recruiters for PGPM - Accenture, Asian Paints, American Express, Axis Bank, Bharti Airtel, Biocon, Castrol, Citigroup, Coca-Cola, Cognizant, Dabur, Deloitte, Godrej, Goldman Sachs, Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages (HCCB), HP, HSBC, ICICI, ITC, JP Morgan Chase, Mahindra & Mahindra, Nomura, Procter & Gamble, Pepsi, Philips, Ranbaxy, Madura F&L, RBI, Religare, SBI Capital, Standard Chartered Bank, Videocon and Yes Bank, among others. Recruiters for PGP-HRM - Aon-Hewitt, Bharti Airtel, Ernst & Young, Franklin Templeton, GSK, ICICI, Intel, ITC, Mahindra & Mahindra, Mercer Consulting, Procter & Gamble, RPG, Schneider Electric, Tata Sons and Tata Steel. Recruiters for PGPIM - Aspiring Minds, Avalon Consulting, Biocon, Deloitte and RPG. Profiles up for grabs for them were Finance, Consulting, IT, Sales and Marketing, General Management and Operations.

PGPM-Marketing- 37% Finance - 31%, Consulting - 20%, Operations - 6%, Analytics - 6%, PGPHR - Consulting - 20%, Financial Services - 18%, Manufacturing - 12%, Conglomerate - 12%, Pharma - 10%, Fashion & Apparels - 7%, FMCG - 5%, Telecom - 3%, Others - 13%, PGP-HRM - Financial Services - 18%, Conglomerate - 12%, Manufacturing - 12%, Consulting - 20%, Pharma - 10%, Fashion & Apparels - 7%, FMCG - 5%, Telecom - 3%, Others - 13%, PGPIM - IT Consulting - 28%, Power - 11%, FMCG - 11%, Financial Services - 6%, Pharma - 5%, Others - 39%

43 companies were first-time recruiters.Out of the total student strength of 316, 51 were placed during the lateral placement process and 41 accepted the Pre-placement offers extended to them by the organizations where they pursued their summer internship. In keeping with the recent trend, 11 students took the entrepreneurial route, opting out of the traditional placements to pursue their ambition of being wealth creators for the nation.

National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE), Mumbai

N.S. 82 3.87 per com-pany

26 students ac-cepting PPOs

Rs 12.97 lakh pa.

Rs 19.50 lakh p.a.

Overall 9 offers by companies like Olam International, IFFCO Dubai and VVF Dubai. Olam International made the highest international placement offer at $150,000 per annum and took on board 4 students.

US $ 1,50,000

Banking & Finance - Citibank, HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, JPMC, Edelweiss, Deutsche Bank, GE, ICICI Bank, Barclays, Yes Bank, Credit Suisse. Consulting - PWC, Ernst and Young, Cognizant Business Consulting, Global e-Procure, Bristlecone, Capgemini and Accenture Consulting, FMCG - Procter & Gamble, Hindustan Unilever Ltd, Nestle, Cadbury, PepsiCo, ITC, Marico, Colgate Palmolive, Britannia, Johnson & Johnson Consumer, L’Oreal, Godrej, Asian Paints, IT/Systems - Amazon, Dell, Accenture, TCS, HP, Infosys, Wipro, KPIT Cummins, ITC Infotech, Syntel, Manufacturing and Process - Schneider Electric, Daimler, Larsen and Toubro, Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Panasonic, Godrej & Boyce, Strides Acrolab and Akzonobel, Glenmark Pharma and JSW, Telecom - Airtel, Idea Cellular, Vodafone

Manufacturing/Process - 25%, FMCG - 21%, IT - 17%, Consultancy - 16%, Banking & Finance - 12%, Others - 9%

Yes Bank was the biggest recruiter across all sectors making 13 offers and JPMC stood only second to Yes Bank in BFSI by making 11 offers.Cognizant was the highest recruiter in this sector making 13 offers followed closely by Accenture which offered 12 positions.Procter & Gamble & HUL made 10 & 4 offers respectively.

Symbiosis Institute of Business Management (SIBM), Pune

N.S. 113 214 No. of PPOs/PPIs- 24/28

Rs 10.67 lakh p.a.

Highest Domestic Salary - Rs 18.80 lakh p.a.

N.S. Highest Interna-tional Sal-ary - Rs 26 lakh p.a.

BFSI - Axis Risk Consulting, Citibank N. A., Darashaw & Co., Deutsche Bank Operations, International, Fidelity Business Services, FINO, Goldman Sachs Services, HDFC Bank, HDFC Standard Life, Insurance, HSBC Global Resourcing, HSBC Global Resourcing (Analytics), ICICI Bank, J. M. Financial, J P Morgan, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Principal Pnb Asset Management, Religare Enterprises, SBI Capital Markets, Tata Capital, Verity Knowledge Solutions, (UBS Affiliate), Vistasoft India Consulting - Aon Hewitt, Avalon Consulting, Deloitte Consulting, Ernst & Young, Mercer Consulting and RocSearch, Diversified - Future Group, Godrej Industries, Honeywell International, Tata Sons, UB Group and Welspun Group, FMCG/FMCD - 3M India, Agro Tech Foods, Asian Paints, Bayer Healthcare,

BFSI - 26%, IT & ITES - 26%, FMGC/FMCD - 22%, Manufacturing - 8% , Consulting - 7%, Telecom - 3%, Diversified - 3%, Others - 5%

The companies that came to campus offered a plethora of profiles across verticals and functional domains like Investment Banking, Private Equity, Project Finance, Equity Research, Business Advisory and Strategy, Sales, Marketing, SCM Consulting, Operational Research and Technology Advisory.

Placement Report

MBA BUZZ



No. of Students

Partici-pating com-

panies





Highest Salary

MDI Gurgaon 316 (PGPM – 235 students, PGP-HRM – 60 students, PGP-IM – 21)

110 N.S. 41 students got the PPOs

Average Sal-ary for PGPM - Rs 13.50 lakh p.a., PGP-HRM - Rs 13.42 lakh p.a., PGPIM - Rs 12.94 lakh p.a.

Highest domestic salary for PGPM - Rs 21 lakh p.a, Highest domestic salary for PGP-HRM - Rs 20.15 lakh p.a., Highest domestic salary for PGPIM - Rs 15.60 lakh p.a.

N.S. N.S. Recruiters for PGPM - Accenture, Asian Paints, American Express, Axis Bank, Bharti Airtel, Biocon, Castrol, Citigroup, Coca-Cola, Cognizant, Dabur, Deloitte, Godrej, Goldman Sachs, Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages (HCCB), HP, HSBC, ICICI, ITC, JP Morgan Chase, Mahindra & Mahindra, Nomura, Procter & Gamble, Pepsi, Philips, Ranbaxy, Madura F&L, RBI, Religare, SBI Capital, Standard Chartered Bank, Videocon and Yes Bank, among others. Recruiters for PGP-HRM - Aon-Hewitt, Bharti Airtel, Ernst & Young, Franklin Templeton, GSK, ICICI, Intel, ITC, Mahindra & Mahindra, Mercer Consulting, Procter & Gamble, RPG, Schneider Electric, Tata Sons and Tata Steel. Recruiters for PGPIM - Aspiring Minds, Avalon Consulting, Biocon, Deloitte and RPG. Profiles up for grabs for them were Finance, Consulting, IT, Sales and Marketing, General Management and Operations.

PGPM-Marketing- 37% Finance - 31%, Consulting - 20%, Operations - 6%, Analytics - 6%, PGPHR - Consulting - 20%, Financial Services - 18%, Manufacturing - 12%, Conglomerate - 12%, Pharma - 10%, Fashion & Apparels - 7%, FMCG - 5%, Telecom - 3%, Others - 13%, PGP-HRM - Financial Services - 18%, Conglomerate - 12%, Manufacturing - 12%, Consulting - 20%, Pharma - 10%, Fashion & Apparels - 7%, FMCG - 5%, Telecom - 3%, Others - 13%, PGPIM - IT Consulting - 28%, Power - 11%, FMCG - 11%, Financial Services - 6%, Pharma - 5%, Others - 39%

43 companies were first-time recruiters.Out of the total student strength of 316, 51 were placed during the lateral placement process and 41 accepted the Pre-placement offers extended to them by the organizations where they pursued their summer internship. In keeping with the recent trend, 11 students took the entrepreneurial route, opting out of the traditional placements to pursue their ambition of being wealth creators for the nation.

National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE), Mumbai

N.S. 82 3.87 per com-pany

26 students ac-cepting PPOs

Rs 12.97 lakh pa.

Rs 19.50 lakh p.a.

Overall 9 offers by companies like Olam International, IFFCO Dubai and VVF Dubai. Olam International made the highest international placement offer at $150,000 per annum and took on board 4 students.

US $ 1,50,000

Banking & Finance - Citibank, HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, JPMC, Edelweiss, Deutsche Bank, GE, ICICI Bank, Barclays, Yes Bank, Credit Suisse. Consulting - PWC, Ernst and Young, Cognizant Business Consulting, Global e-Procure, Bristlecone, Capgemini and Accenture Consulting, FMCG - Procter & Gamble, Hindustan Unilever Ltd, Nestle, Cadbury, PepsiCo, ITC, Marico, Colgate Palmolive, Britannia, Johnson & Johnson Consumer, L’Oreal, Godrej, Asian Paints, IT/Systems - Amazon, Dell, Accenture, TCS, HP, Infosys, Wipro, KPIT Cummins, ITC Infotech, Syntel, Manufacturing and Process - Schneider Electric, Daimler, Larsen and Toubro, Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Panasonic, Godrej & Boyce, Strides Acrolab and Akzonobel, Glenmark Pharma and JSW, Telecom - Airtel, Idea Cellular, Vodafone

Manufacturing/Process - 25%, FMCG - 21%, IT - 17%, Consultancy - 16%, Banking & Finance - 12%, Others - 9%

Yes Bank was the biggest recruiter across all sectors making 13 offers and JPMC stood only second to Yes Bank in BFSI by making 11 offers.Cognizant was the highest recruiter in this sector making 13 offers followed closely by Accenture which offered 12 positions.Procter & Gamble & HUL made 10 & 4 offers respectively.

Symbiosis Institute of Business Management (SIBM), Pune

N.S. 113 214 No. of PPOs/PPIs- 24/28

Rs 10.67 lakh p.a.

Highest Domestic Salary - Rs 18.80 lakh p.a.

N.S. Highest Interna-tional Sal-ary - Rs 26 lakh p.a.

BFSI - Axis Risk Consulting, Citibank N. A., Darashaw & Co., Deutsche Bank Operations, International, Fidelity Business Services, FINO, Goldman Sachs Services, HDFC Bank, HDFC Standard Life, Insurance, HSBC Global Resourcing, HSBC Global Resourcing (Analytics), ICICI Bank, J. M. Financial, J P Morgan, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Principal Pnb Asset Management, Religare Enterprises, SBI Capital Markets, Tata Capital, Verity Knowledge Solutions, (UBS Affiliate), Vistasoft India Consulting - Aon Hewitt, Avalon Consulting, Deloitte Consulting, Ernst & Young, Mercer Consulting and RocSearch, Diversified - Future Group, Godrej Industries, Honeywell International, Tata Sons, UB Group and Welspun Group, FMCG/FMCD - 3M India, Agro Tech Foods, Asian Paints, Bayer Healthcare,

BFSI - 26%, IT & ITES - 26%, FMGC/FMCD - 22%, Manufacturing - 8% , Consulting - 7%, Telecom - 3%, Diversified - 3%, Others - 5%

The companies that came to campus offered a plethora of profiles across verticals and functional domains like Investment Banking, Private Equity, Project Finance, Equity Research, Business Advisory and Strategy, Sales, Marketing, SCM Consulting, Operational Research and Technology Advisory.

Placement Report

MBA BUZZ



No. of Students

Partici-pating com-

panies





Highest Salary

Castrol India, Dabur, GlaxoSmithKline Consumer, Healthcare, Godfrey Philips, Godrej Industries, Heinz India, Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages, ITC, J. L. Morison, Jumbo Electronics, Marico, Nestlé India, Panasonic India, PepsiCo India, Pidilite Industries, Procter & Gamble, Videocon, VIP Industries, Whirlpool of India, IT/ITES - Accenture Services, Birlasoft

Shailesh J Mehta School of Management, IIT Bombay, Mumbai

94 62 119 PPOs/PPIs from compa-nies across the sectors like HSBC, De-loitte, Procter & Gamble, John-son & Johnson, Asian Paints, Capgemini Consulting, Colgate Palmo-live, Global eProcure, L’Oreal, Idea, GE and Tata Motors.

Average Salary - Rs 13.87 lakh p.a., Median Salary - Rs 12.75 lakh p.a., Lowest Salary - Rs 7.50 lakh p.a.

Rs 20.50 lakh p.a.

N.S. N.S. BFSI - J P Morgan Chase, Citibank, Nomura, CRISIL, JM Financial, HSBC, ICICI, Yes Bank, Consulting - Ernst & Young, KPMG, PwC, Accenture, Deloitte, Capgemini Consulting, Avalon Consulting, Bristlecone, Cognizant and Global eProcure, FMCG - Procter & Gamble emerged as the largest recruiter this year. Other companies that represented this sector include Johnson & Johnson, Asian Paints, Godrej Consumer Products Ltd., Colgate Palmolive, Marico, Heinz, Coca Cola, L’Oreal, Manufacturing - Cummins, Tata Motors, UB Group, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd., Shipping Corporation of India, Technology - Microsoft, Amazon, HCL, Cognizant, Wipro and Infosys, Others - Lodha Group, GE and Welspun, Vodafone, Idea and Mercator Lines

Consulting - 27%, BFSI - 22%, FMCG - 20%, Technology - 15%, Manufacturing - 14%, Others - 2%

While the batch size has increased by 16%, the placement process has seen 30% new recruiters taking part in the process. There is a remarkable rise in the number of Leadership & General Management profiles being offered to the students. An increasing preference to profiles and growth prospects over the pay packages is seen among the students. Recruiters from niche sectors like semiconductors, pharmaceuticals etc. made inroads, while those from traditional sectors continued to hold their sway.

Vinod Gupta School of Management, IIT Kharagpur

94 45 117 20% of the batch got PPOs from reputed companies like ITC, Reckitt Benckiser, Hindustan Coca Cola Beverages, TATA Motors, Deloitte India, Deloitte USI, Nomura, Wipro and IMRB


Rs 18 lakh p.a.

N.S. N.S. Banking, Finance & Analytics - Citibank, ANZ, Nomura, CRISIL, Cognizant and Union Bank of India , Goldman Sachs, HSBC, ANZ, IMRB and Citi Analytics, FMCG & Telecom - Procter & Gamble, Reckitt Benckiser, Coca Cola, ITC, Heinz, UB Group and Vodafone, Technology & Consulting - Ernst & Young, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte (India and USI),KPMG, PWC’s Government Reforms and Infrastructure Development Advisory (GRID), Accenture Management Consulting, i-Maritime, HCL, Cognizant, Infosys, Wipro, Tech Mahindra and HP, Manufacturing - TATA Motors, TATA Telecon, TATA Metaliks, Welspun, Shipping Corporation of India, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, Balmer Lawrie, MMTC India Ltd and Rural Electrification Corporation.

Technology - 30%, Consulting - 29%, BFSI - 14%, Manufacturing - 13%, FMCG - 10%, Telecom - 3%, Others - 1%

VGSOM attracted 15 new companies this year which constitute 33% of the total companies that visited the campus.Evika Green, an Energy Subsidiary of Evika Group, a firsttime recruiter offered coveted position of Assistant Vice President to the selected student. Medall, a leading medical diagnostic firm were the first time visitors offering challenging roles in Market Research and Business Development.

Placement Report

Roles: For all the above schools, roles offered in different sectors were as follows:

Finance - Investment Banking, Equity Research, Project Advisory, Consumer Banking, Wholesale Banking, Capital Markets, Research Analyst,Wealth Management, Project Finance, Corporate Finance, Corporate Banking, Risk Management to Equity Research, Credit Analyst, Infrastructure Advisory role., Risk Assessment, Forex, Fixed Income

Marketing - Customer Business Development, Product Supply, Business Development, Pre-Sales, Sales and Marketing

MBA BUZZ



No. of Students

Partici-pating com-

panies





Highest Salary

Castrol India, Dabur, GlaxoSmithKline Consumer, Healthcare, Godfrey Philips, Godrej Industries, Heinz India, Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages, ITC, J. L. Morison, Jumbo Electronics, Marico, Nestlé India, Panasonic India, PepsiCo India, Pidilite Industries, Procter & Gamble, Videocon, VIP Industries, Whirlpool of India, IT/ITES - Accenture Services, Birlasoft

Shailesh J Mehta School of Management, IIT Bombay, Mumbai

94 62 119 PPOs/PPIs from compa-nies across the sectors like HSBC, De-loitte, Procter & Gamble, John-son & Johnson, Asian Paints, Capgemini Consulting, Colgate Palmo-live, Global eProcure, L’Oreal, Idea, GE and Tata Motors.

Average Salary - Rs 13.87 lakh p.a., Median Salary - Rs 12.75 lakh p.a., Lowest Salary - Rs 7.50 lakh p.a.

Rs 20.50 lakh p.a.

N.S. N.S. BFSI - J P Morgan Chase, Citibank, Nomura, CRISIL, JM Financial, HSBC, ICICI, Yes Bank, Consulting - Ernst & Young, KPMG, PwC, Accenture, Deloitte, Capgemini Consulting, Avalon Consulting, Bristlecone, Cognizant and Global eProcure, FMCG - Procter & Gamble emerged as the largest recruiter this year. Other companies that represented this sector include Johnson & Johnson, Asian Paints, Godrej Consumer Products Ltd., Colgate Palmolive, Marico, Heinz, Coca Cola, L’Oreal, Manufacturing - Cummins, Tata Motors, UB Group, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd., Shipping Corporation of India, Technology - Microsoft, Amazon, HCL, Cognizant, Wipro and Infosys, Others - Lodha Group, GE and Welspun, Vodafone, Idea and Mercator Lines

Consulting - 27%, BFSI - 22%, FMCG - 20%, Technology - 15%, Manufacturing - 14%, Others - 2%

While the batch size has increased by 16%, the placement process has seen 30% new recruiters taking part in the process. There is a remarkable rise in the number of Leadership & General Management profiles being offered to the students. An increasing preference to profiles and growth prospects over the pay packages is seen among the students. Recruiters from niche sectors like semiconductors, pharmaceuticals etc. made inroads, while those from traditional sectors continued to hold their sway.

Vinod Gupta School of Management, IIT Kharagpur

94 45 117 20% of the batch got PPOs from reputed companies like ITC, Reckitt Benckiser, Hindustan Coca Cola Beverages, TATA Motors, Deloitte India, Deloitte USI, Nomura, Wipro and IMRB


Rs 18 lakh p.a.

N.S. N.S. Banking, Finance & Analytics - Citibank, ANZ, Nomura, CRISIL, Cognizant and Union Bank of India , Goldman Sachs, HSBC, ANZ, IMRB and Citi Analytics, FMCG & Telecom - Procter & Gamble, Reckitt Benckiser, Coca Cola, ITC, Heinz, UB Group and Vodafone, Technology & Consulting - Ernst & Young, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte (India and USI),KPMG, PWC’s Government Reforms and Infrastructure Development Advisory (GRID), Accenture Management Consulting, i-Maritime, HCL, Cognizant, Infosys, Wipro, Tech Mahindra and HP, Manufacturing - TATA Motors, TATA Telecon, TATA Metaliks, Welspun, Shipping Corporation of India, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, Balmer Lawrie, MMTC India Ltd and Rural Electrification Corporation.

Technology - 30%, Consulting - 29%, BFSI - 14%, Manufacturing - 13%, FMCG - 10%, Telecom - 3%, Others - 1%

VGSOM attracted 15 new companies this year which constitute 33% of the total companies that visited the campus.Evika Green, an Energy Subsidiary of Evika Group, a firsttime recruiter offered coveted position of Assistant Vice President to the selected student. Medall, a leading medical diagnostic firm were the first time visitors offering challenging roles in Market Research and Business Development.

Placement Report

Consulting - Technology Risk and Business Consulting, Strategy consulting, Strategy and Business Transformation, Business consulting, Supply chain consulting, IT strategy and Business advisory, Technology Consulting and Risk Advisory

Others - HR, IT, Operations management, Supply Chain Management, Procurement and General management, Plant Management, Quality Management, Manufacturing

Disclaimer: Data is collated from the B School website, readers are advised to reconfirm and make appropriate enquiries from concerned institutes.Compiled by : Priya Gokani

FINANCIAL DYNAMICS


Today, students have several kinds of external and internal funding options. For instance, educational

loans are offered by leading public and private sector banks in the country, besides several scholarships offered by management institutes, trusts and corporates.

Bank loansAn educational loan aims at providing financial support from the banking system to meritorious students for pursuing higher education in India and abroad. It will cover fees payable to college, exam fee, study material fee, caution deposit, travel expenses. A few other expenses may be covered depending on the scheme.

Based on the recommendation

made by a Study Group, Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) released a Revised Model Educational Loan Scheme for Pursuing Higher Studies in India and Abroad. Through a loan scheme every meritorious student though poor is provided with an opportunity to pursue education with the financial support from the banking system with affordable terms and conditions. No deserving student is denied an opportunity to pursue higher education for want of financial support. The scheme provides broad guidelines to the banks for operationalising the educational loan scheme and make changes suiting the convenience of the students or their parents to make it more customer-friendly. The table below will provide a snapshot of the educational

loans provided by the leading public and private sector banks along with security, interest-rate charged, eligibility conditions:

Loan and scholarship avenues Getting into a B-school of your choice after clearing the entrance tests and GD/PIs is a ‘pricey’ issue, as most management institutes have hiked their course fee. This section offers an insight into different modes of financing your B-school education.

Educational Loans Offered by BanksBank Quantum of

FinanceEligibility Interest rate per annum Security

Allahabad Bank

Studies in India - Maximum Rs.10.00 lakh Studies abroad - Maximum Rs.20.00 lakh

Indian National who has secured admission to professional/ technical courses in India or Abroad

(i) For IIT/ IIM/ ISB (loan upto 10.00 lakh) - Base rate (10%) + 2.25% - 12.25% (ii) For Others (a) Loan upto 4.00 lakh - Base rate (10%) + 3.25% - 13.25% (b) Loan above Rs.4.00 lakh - Base rate (10%) + 3.00% - 13.00%

For IIT/IIM/ISB(Indian School of Business, Hyderabad ), for loan upto Rs 10.00 lac- NIL, Only co-obligation of Parent / Guardian For others: For loan upto Rs 4.00 lakh: NIL, Only co-obligation of Parent / Guardian For loan above Rs 4.00 lakh and upto Rs 7.50 lakh: Satisfactory third party guarantee & Co-obligation* of parent/ guardian. For loan above Rs 7.50 lakh: Co-obligation of parents/ guardian & tangible collateral security covering full loan amount.

Axis Bank - Study Power Loan

Studies in India - Maximum Rs.10.00 lakh Studies abroad - Maximum Rs.20.00 lakh The minimum amount of loan would be Rs 50,000.

Indian National who has secured admission to professional/ technical courses in India or abroad

Upto Rs. 4 lakh - Base rate (8.75%) + 7.00% - 15.75% Loans greater than Rs. 4 lakh- Rs. 7.5 lakh - Base rate (8.75%) + 8.00% - 16.75% Loans greater than 7.5 lakh - Base rate (8.75%) + 6.00% - 14.75%

Third party guarantee and/or collateral security may be asked for in appropriate cases

Education Loan for Girl Child : Upto Rs. 4 lakh - Base rate (8.75%) + 6.50% - 15.25% Loans greater than Rs. 4 lakh - Rs. 7.5 lakh - Base rate (8.75%) + 7.50% - 16.25% Loans greater than 7.5 lakh - Base rate (8.75%) + 5.50% - 14.25%

Additional Security - Assignment of LIC policy in favour of the Bank for the sum assured being at least 100% of the loan amount. The policy is kept alive during the currency of the loan. To ensure this, the annual premium may be included in the computation of the loan requirement, along with the tuition fees and other recurring charges. Further, the future income of the student needs to be assigned in favour of the Bank for meeting the installment obligations.

Priya Gokani

FINANCIAL DYNAMICS


Bank Quantum of Finance

Eligibility Interest rate per annum Security

Bank of Baroda - Baroda Scholar

Studies abroad - Maximum Rs.20.00 lakh

Indian National. Secured admission to Professional/Technical Courses at foreign Universities/Institutions.

Loans upto Rs.4.00 lakh - 2.00% above Base Rate (10%) Loans above Rs.4.00 lakh - 4.00% above Base Rate (10%) Loans above Rs.4.00 lakh for ISB, Hyderabad Students - 2.00% above Base Rate (10%)

Upto Rs.4.00 lakh : No security Above Rs. 4.00 lakh and up to Rs. 7.5 lakh: Collateral in the form of a suitable third party guarantee along with assignment of future income. Above Rs.7.5 lakh: Tangible collateral security equal to 100% of the loan amount along with assignment of future income

Bank of Baroda - Baroda Gyan

Maximum Rs.10.00 lakh

Should be Resident Indian and secured admission to graduation and post graduation courses

Loans upto Rs.4.00 lakh - 2.00% above Base Rate (10%) Loans above Rs.4.00 lakh - 4.00% above Base Rate (10%) Loans above Rs.4.00 lakh for ISB, Hyderabad Students - 2.00% above Base Rate (10%)

Upto Rs. 4 lakh: No security Above Rs. 4.00 lakh and up to Rs. 7.5 lakh: Collateral in the form of a suitable third party guarantee along with assignment of future income. Above Rs.7.5 lakh: Tangible collateral security equal to 100% of the loan amount along with assignment of future income

Bank of India - Star Edu-cational Loan


1) Should be an Indian National. 2) Secured admission to professional/technical courses in India or Abroad through Entrance Test/Merit based selection process. 3) Good academic career. 4) The student should not have outstanding education loan from any other Institution. Father/Mother should be co-borrower. Branch nearest to the permanent residence of student will consider the loan.

Upto Rs.7.50 lakh – 3.50% above Base Rate, 13.50% Above Rs.7.50 lakh – 4.00% above Base Rate, 14.00%

Upto Rs. 4 lakh : No security Above Rs.4 lakh & upto Rs.7.5 lakh : Collateral security in the form of a suitable third party guarantee. Above Rs.7.5 lakh : Co-obligation of Parents together with tangible Collateral security of suitable value along with the assignment of future income of the student for payment of installments.

Central Bank - CENT Vidyarthi


Indian National who has secured admission to Professional / Technical courses through entrance test / selection process.

Male - 9.50% + 2.00% - 11.50%, Female/SC/ST Candidates / IIT/IIM - 9.50% + 1.50% - 11.00%

Upto Rs.4 lakh: Co-obligation of parents/ guardian/ parent-in-law/spouseAbove Rs. 4 lakh and up to Rs.7.50 lakh: Co-obligation of parents/ guardian/ parent-in–law/spouse together with collateral security in the form of suitable third party guarantee. Above Rs.7.50 lakh: Co-obligation of parents / guardian / parent-in–law / spouse together with tangible collateral security of suitable value, along with the assignment of future income of the student for payment of installments.

Corpora-tion Bank of India - Corp Vidya


1) Student should be an Indian national. 2) Should have completed previous qualifying examination. 3) Secured admission to Professional/ Technical courses in India or abroad through Entrance test / Merit based selection process/ Management quota.

Loans upto Rs.4.00 lakh - 11.65% Loans above Rs.4.00 lakh and upto Rs 7.00 lakh - 12.65% Above Rs 7.00 lakh - 12.15%

Up to Rs. 4.00 lakh: Co-obligation of Parent/s, Grand Parent/s (if parents are deceased). No other security. Above Rs. 4.00 lakh & up to Rs. 7.50 lakh : Co obligation of Parent/s Grand Parent/s (if parents are deceased) together with collateral in the form of suitable third party guarantee. Above Rs. 7.50 lakh: Co-obligation of Parents/Grand Parents (if Parents are deceased) together with tangible collateral security along with the assignment of future income of the student for payment of instalments. The loan to be fully secured after maintaining prescribed margin on respective securities.

FINANCIAL DYNAMICS




4) Person already in gainful employment not eligible for loan under the scheme except for pursuing evening course covered under the scheme of approved Institute. 5) If a gainfully employed person wants to pursue full time education either on study leave or by resigning from present employment, such proposals may be considered provided the applicant submits the proof in this regard to the sanctioning authority before disbursement of loan.

In case of married person, co obligant can be either spouse, or the parents or parents -in-law.

Dena Bank - Dena Vidya Laxmi Educa-tional Loan Scheme


Indian national and have secured admission to a professional or technical course in an Indian or Foreign university.Simply walk in with the marksheet of the qualifying exam. and proof of admission.

For loans upto Rs 4 lakh: Repayable upto 3 years - 12.50%, Repayable > 3 years - 13.00% For loans above Rs 4 lakh: Repayable upto 3 years - 13.00%, Repayable > 3 years - 13.50%

Not Specified

Federal Bank - Special Vidya Loan


Open for Indian Nationals who have secured admission to professional / technical courses through Entrance test / merit based selection process or have secured admission to foreign university / institutions (for studies abroad). Course & Institution should have necessary approval / recognition. Further, the bank nearest to the residence of the borrower must be Federal Bank.

For loans upto Rs 4 lakh: Female - Base Rate+6.00% i.e.15.72%, Male - Base Rate+6.50% i.e. 16.22%For loans above Rs 4 lakh: Female - Base Rate+7.00% i.e. 16.72%, Male - Base Rate+7.50% i.e. 17.22%

No security is needed Up to Rs 4 lakh. Third party guarantee acceptable to bank / collateral security for loans up to 7.50 lakh. Above Rs 7.50 lakh collateral security with required margin is required Single premium insurance policy on the life of the student to be taken covering the loan amount and period.

ICICI Bank


Indian National and secured admission to professional/ technical courses in India or Abroad through Entrance Test / Merit Based Selection process.

As prescribed / changed by bank from time to time.

Loan upto Rs.4.00 lakh: No security Loan above Rs.4.00 lakh and upto Rs.7.50 lakh: Collateral Security in the form of third party guarantee to the satisfaction of bank. Loan above Rs.7.50 lakh: Collateral security equivalent to the loan amount comprising of any one or more of the following : NSCs, Govt. Securities, Bank Deposits and Mortgage of Immovable Property (supported with guarantee of the owner) in favour of the Bank and acceptable to the Bank.

FINANCIAL DYNAMICS




IDBI Bank Studies in India - Maximum Rs.10.00 lakh Studies abroad - Maximum Rs.20.00 lakh

Merit-based selection process

Up to Rs. 4 lakh - 12.75%Above Rs 4 lakh - 13.00% For the students of IIT,IIM and ISB (up to Rs 20 lakhs) - 12.00%

Up to Rs. 4 lakh - No Security Above Rs 4 lakh and up to Rs. 7.5 lakh - Collateral in the form of a third party guarantee Above Rs 7.5 lakh - Collateral security in the form of Land/ building, (The minimum value shall be 1.33 times the amount of loan sought). Govt. securities/ Public Sector Bonds/ Units of UTI, NSC, KVP, LIC policy, gold, shares/ debentures, bank deposit in the name of parent/ guardian or in the name of the co-applicant (The minimum value shall be 1.1 times of the amount of loan sought).

HDFC Bank


An Indian Citizen/Resident who has secured admission in any of the graduate/post-graduate courses offered by college/institute/university recognized by UGC/AICTE/AIBMS/ICMR.

Not available For Loans Upto Rs 7.5 Lakhs – Nil Collateral nor Third-Party Guarantee For Loans Above INR 7.5 Lakhs- Yes, Any of the following wide range of collaterals Acceptable Collaterals - Residential Property, HDFC Bank Fixed Deposit LIC/NSC/KVP

Indian Bank

Studies in India - Maximum Rs.10.00* lakh Studies abroad - Maximum Rs.20.00 lakh ( Higher quantum of loan also can be considered in deserving and meritorious cases.)

Indian national should have secured admission to professional / technical courses in India or abroad through Entrance Test / Merit based selection process.

Upto Rs.7.50 lakh - 14.00 % p.a. at present Above Rs.7.50 lakh -14.25 % p.a. at present Concession of 0.50% in applicable rate of interest will be allowed on fresh Educational Loans to Girl Students for studies in In-dia and Abroad with effect from 1st July 2009. This interest concession will not be applicable to - Existing female educa-tional loan borrowers - Educational Loan bor-rowers who are enjoy-ing finer rate of interest allowed to select premier educational institutions. Floating Rate linked with Base Rate (BR) of the Bank and liable to undergo changes whenever there is a change in BR.

Upto Rs. 4 lakh - No security Above Rs. 4 lakh & Upto Rs.7.50 lakh - Collateral in the form of satisfactory third party guarantee Above Rs.7.50 lakh - Co-obligation of parents / guardians together with tangible collateral security of suitable value along with assignment of future income of the student for payment of installments.

Oriental Bank of Com-merce


Indian nationals not above 45 years of age who have secured admission in a recognized course of an approved university (AICTE approved institutions) OR institutes recognized by a statutory body.

Loan upto Rs 4 lakh - 12.75% Above Rs 4 lakh - 13.50% Education Loan to Serving Professionals / Executives and Defence Personnel for Part-time courses - 15.25% Education Loan Scheme for Rural / Semi-urban Populace - 14.75%

For loans upto Rs 4 lakh - No Collateral Security Co-obligation of parents/guardian is must. For Loans above 4 lakh and upto Rs.7.50 lakh - No Collateral Security required, Co-obligation of parents/guardian is must One satisfactory third party guarantee Above Rs.7.50 lakh Co-obligation of parents/guardian is obligatory. Mortgage of immovable property or any other tangible security like pledge of NSC/UTI/LIC (Surrender Value)/Bonds/ Banks deposits (Except under tax saving scheme) etc. having value at least equal to 100% of loan. Extension of charge on property already mortgaged with our Bank, subject to adequate residual value of security.

SBI Studies in India - Maximum Rs.10.00 lakh Studies abroad - Maximum Rs.20.00 lakh

Indian Nationals for pursuing higher education in India or abroad where admission has been secured.

For loans upto Rs.4 lakh - 12.25%, Above Rs.4 lakh and upto Rs.7.50 lakh - 13.75%, Above Rs.7.50 lakh - Rs 12.75%, Education Loan

Upto Rs. 4 lakh - No Security Above Rs. 4 lakh to Rs. 7.50 lakh - Collateral security in the form of suitable third party guarantee. The bank may, at its discretion, in exceptional cases, weive third party guarantee if satisfied with the net-worth/

FINANCIAL DYNAMICS




Scheme for students of ISB, Hyderabad - 11.25% (0.50% concession in interest for girl student)

means of parent/s who would be executing the documents as “joint borrower”. Above Rs. 7.50 lakh - Tangible collateral security of suitable value, along with the assignment of future income of the student for payment of installments.

Saraswat Bank

Maximum Rs.20.00 lakh

100% of cost of the fees and other expenses on the basis of the eligibil-ity and income proof provided by the appli-cant.Or75% of Accrued Value of NSC's or 70% of valuation of Gold or 85% of outstanding bal-ance, in case of cumu-lative deposits or 95% of outstanding balance in case of other depos-its or 90% of the market value of the property Or 50 times of the net salary of the parents or 3 times of net cash ac-cruals in case of busi-nessman

Contact nearest branch for interest rate

Upto Rs 2.00 lakh:Two guarantors with nominal membership/5% shareholding Above Rs 2.00 lakh and upto Rs 5.00 lakhs: Hypothecation of household articles worth minimum of Rs 3 lakh and two guarantors Equitable mortgage of property or pledge of any other tangible security acceptable to the bank. Minimum two guarantors of well-placed means. Tangible investments like LIC (Surrender Value), NSC (Face Value), KVP (Face Value), Gold (As per Banks Valuation), RBI Bonds or FDs with the Bank can be considered while assessing the proposal and for sanctioning the loans.

Syndicate Bank - Synd-Vidya


1) Indian national who has secured admis-sion on the basis of merit to professional/technical courses through Entrance Test/Selection process. De-viations/relaxations are also permitted under special circumstances. 2) Secured admission to foreigh university / institutions. 3) The student who is a major representing himself or a minor student represented by parent or guardian.

For loans upto Rs.4.00 lakh - PLR minus 1.50% For loans above Rs.4.00 lakh - PLR minus 1.00% Girl students and students belonging to SC/ST category are eligible for concession of 0.50% on the above rates. Girl students under SC/ST category are eligible for a further concession of 0.25% on the above rates. (Total concession of 0.75%) (PLR presently 13.25%)

For loans upto Rs.4.00 lakh - NIL. For loans above Rs.4.00 lakh and upto Rs.7.50 lakh - Collateral in the form of satisfactory third party guarantee acceptable to the Bank. For loans above Rs.7.50 lakh - Collateral security with 25% margin covering the loan amount and assignment of future income of the student for payment of loan instalments.

Union Bank of India - Union Education


Indian citizen who has secured admission to the concerned institute in India or abroad through an appropriate selection process and cleared the qualifying examination, if any

Upto Rs. 4.00 lakh - Male - 13.75%, Female - 13.25% Above Rs. 4.00 lakh and Upto Rs. 7.50 lakh - Male - 14.25%, Female - 13.75% Above Rs. 7.50 lakh (Upto Rs. 10.00 lakh for Inland;Upto Rs. 20 lakh for Foreign) - Male - 13.50%, Female - 13.00%

Upto Rs. 4.00 lakh: No collateral security required Above Rs. 4.00 lakh and upto Rs. 7.50 lakh : No collateral security required. A suitable third party guarantee is required. Above Rs. 7.50 lakh : Collateral security of suitable value is required.

UCO Bank


1) Applicant must have secured admission to professional/technical course through Entrance Test/Selection Process. 2) Secured admission to foreign University / Institution.

Upto Rs 4 lakh - 13.00%, More than Rs 4 lakh - 13.75%, Students satisfying 60% handicap criteria - Any Amount - 4%, Students satisfying DRI norms - Any Amount - 4%

Upto Rs.4.00 lakh – No security Above Rs. 4.00 lakh – Collateral securities by way of suitable third party guarantee or tangible security equivalent to loan amount.

FINANCIAL DYNAMICS


Key PointersQuantum of Finance Most of the banks offer loans upto Rs 10 lakh for studies in India and upto Rs 20 lakh for studies abroad.

Eligibility An Indian national who has secured admission to professional/technical courses in India or abroad through entrance test/merit based selection process.

Interest rateMost banks have tie ups with IITs, IIMs and ISB Hyderabad and students who secure admissions to these institutes can avail themselves of the special interest rate. For instance: Allahabad Bank charges interest rate of 12.25% for IIT/ IIM/ ISB (loan up to 10.00 lakh), Bank of Baroda - Baroda Gyan scheme charges interest rate of 12.00% for loans above Rs.4.00 lakh for ISB, Hyderabad students, Central Bank charges 11.00% to students of IIT/IIM as against 11.50% to students of other institutes, IDBI charges 12.00% to IIT, IIM and ISB (up to Rs 20 lakh) while SBI charges 11.25% to ISB Hyderabad student.

Girl students can also avail themselves of the special interest rate concession provided by banks such as Central Bank, ICICI Bank.

SecurityAs observed in the above table for the loans up to Rs 4 lakh no security is required. For the loans in the range of Rs 4 lakh upto Rs 7.50 lakh banks asked collateral in the form of a suitable third party guarantee with the exception of HDFC Bank. A guarantor is usually an individual who knows the applicant pretty well and also will pay the due amount if the applicant defaults on his payment. For the higher loan amount, banks do ask for

tangible collateral security which can be in the form of immovable property or transferable securities.

MarginUp to Rs. 4 lakh of loan, there is no margin rate required. To get a loan above Rs. 4 lakh, there is a margin of 5 per cent for studies in India and that of 15 per cent for studying in abroad.

RepaymentThe loan is to be repaid within 5-7 years after commencement of repayment. The repayment holiday or Moratorium is Course period plus 1 year or 6 months after getting job,

whichever is earlier.

InsuranceSome of the banks do provide special privileges such as insurance protection to students eg: HDFC Bank provides Insurance Protection from HDFC ERGO, Indian Bank provides Life Insurance cover available to the student borrowers under ‘New IB Jeevan Vidya’ Insurance Scheme.

Processing Charge Many banks do not charge the processing fee but then



3) No maximum or minimum income is prescribed for par-ents/family.

V i j a y a Bank

Studies in In-dia - Maximum Rs.10.00 lakh Studies abroad - Maximum Rs.20.00 lakh

Indian national who has secured admis-sion to the relevant Professional/ Techni-cal courses in India or abroad through entrance test/ merit based selection pro-cess. However there is no age restriction for the applicant

For girl students (0.50% interest concession for all fresh loans sanc-tioned from 01.11.08 to 31.12.10) - Base rate (10%) + 2.25% - 12.25%, For others - Base rate (10%) + 2.75 - 12.75%

Upto Rs. 4 lakh: For Studies in In-dia and Abroad – No Security, Above Rs. 4 lakh to Rs. 7.50 lakh: For Studies in India and Abroad - Suitable Third Party Guarantor Above Rs. 7.50 lakhs to Rs. 10 lakh (India) / Rs. 15 lakh (Abroad): For Stud-ies in India - Tangible Collateral security for full value of loan and For Studies in Abroad - Tangible Collateral security of suitable value of loan or third party guar-antee with assignment of future income of the student for payment of installments 15 lakhs to Rs. 20 lakh: For Studies in In-dia – NA, For Studies in Abroad - Tangible Collateral security for full value of loan and third party guarantee with assignment of future income of the student for payment of installment.

Disclaimer: Data is collated from the website of individual Banks; readers are advised to reconfirm and make appropriate enquiries from concerned banks.

FINANCIAL DYNAMICS


are few who do charge upto maximum 2% of the loan amount. Students need to be aware of these charges before applying for the loan.

Applying for the Bank LoanStudents can download the application form for the loan from the bank’s website for instance. Application forms are available on websites of Bank of Baroda, SBI and ICICI Bank. Students can also visit nearest bank branch in case they need any clarification or further details about the loan.

While applying for the bank loan, following are some of the documents applicants need to provide to the bank:l Completed education loan

application forml Passport size photographs l Institute admission letter with fee

break-upl Copies of marksheets and degree

certificatesl Proof of identity - Passport or

Voter’s ID card or driving license or PAN card or government department ID card

l Proof of income (i.e. Salary slips/ Form 16 etc)

l Proof of residence - Bank account statement or latest electricity bill or latest mobile or telephone bill or latest credit card statement or existing house lease agreement

B School joining hands with Banks Some of the leading institutes such as IIMs, ISB Hyderabad do have tie-ups with the banks which provide special loan schemes to students.

For instance: SBI is also running a Scholar Scheme, under which they are providing educational loan to SPJIMR students without any guarantor or collateral. The loan will be sanctioned in the name of the student only. ISB Hyderabad has inked loan agreements with leading banks/institutions that provide funding to cover up to 95% of the programme cost. Loans are offered at lowered interest rates starting from 10% per annum. An additional privilege extended to the ISB students is that the loans are available without any collateral and no processing charges will be collected. IRMA students get educational loan from SBI at a lower rate of interest and without any collateral. HDFC Bank offers loan to students of Symbiosis Institute of International Business (SIIB) under which a special interest rate of 11.25% is provided and for loans upto Rs 7.50 lakh, no security is required.

HDFC Bank provides education loan to students pursuing Post-Graduate Programme in Management for Executives (One-Year) from Management Institutes - ISB, IIM’s. The special feature of this loan is – 1) Unsecured Lending Upto 15 Lakhs - No Third Party Guarantee or Collateral Required. 2) Loans Above Rs 15 lakh will be secured by adequate collateral. (a. Residential Property, b. HDFC Bank Fixed Deposit, c. LIC/KVP/NSC) 3. Eligibility for the Loan Eligibility based on applicant’s last drawn salary or Co-Applicant Income or combination of both. 4. Loan Tenure Upto 72 Months Including 15 Months of Moratorium.

Union Bank provides ‘Special Education Loan Scheme’ upto Rs 15 lakh for IIMs/ XLRI/ MDI/ SPJIMR with no collateral and interest rate of 10.50% fixed; 0.50% concession for women.

ScholarshipsStudents aspiring to get into a management institute can avail of a wide range of scholarships offered by the institutes themselves, corporate or some trust. These scholarships are merit-based, need based or merit-cum-means. Need-based scholarships are awarded on the basis of the financial need of the student. These are provided to students from economically weak section and the amount is decided on the basis of annual gross family income, parental asset ownership, number of dependants. IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Calcutta, IIM Lucknow and IIM Kozhikode do offer ‘Need-based scholarships to students.

The eligibility criteria for these scholarship may vary, as in IIM Calcutta students whose annual gross family incomes are Rs 4 lakh and below will be eligible for receiving financial assistance amounting to full or partial tuition fee waiver. Students, whose annual gross family incomes are Rs.4 lakh and below, are also eligible to receive financial assistance beyond full tuition fee waiver, in special deserving cases. The IIM Lucknow scholarship is offered to those whose total annual family income does not exceed Rs.1,50,000/- and it covers tuition fee component of the total fees.

Merit-based scholarships are awarded to students on the basis of their outstanding academic achievement and not on any financial requirements of the students. Merit-cum-means scholarships are provided to poor and meritorious students belonging to the minority communities. A table below provides a snapshot of various scholarships options that are available to students.

As observed in the above table, many of the merit-based scholarships are offered by companies such as NTPC, Cognizant Technology Solutions, Hindustan Lever Ltd., Reckitt Benchiser, Nestle India Ltd., Bharti Enterprises. These scholarships may not fund entire MBA education

FINANCIAL DYNAMICS


Scholarship Options available in leading B-schools in IndiaInstitute Scholarships available to studentsIIM Ahmedabad Need Based Scholarship - To help economically weak PGP & PGP-ABM students. Under this scheme,

every year many students are provided scholarships. The scholarship amount is decided on the basis of annual gross family income, parental asset ownership, number of dependants etc. Application for these scholarships can be made in July.

Merit-Cum-Means scholarship provided that the students meet the merit and means criteria.

IIM Bangalore Aditya Birla Scholarship (merit-based scholarship) - Rs 1.75 lakh per student

Uday Nayak Scholarship (merit-cum-means scholarship) - Rs. 10,000 is given to a second-year student.

T Thomas Scholarship (merit-cum-means scholarship) - Rs. 1 lakh is given by Hindustan Unilever Limited to one PGP second-year student.

OPJEMS Scholarship (merit-based scholarship ) - Rs.1.25 lakhs is given by the OP Jindal Group to one student of each academic year.

Rajesh Kaushik Memorial Scholarship (merit-cum-means scholarship) - Rs. 1.5 lakhs given per year.

Ocwen Financial Solutions Private Limited - Rs.1.80 lakh

Cognizant Technology Solutions - B’izard Scholar - The scholarship amount is Rs. 3 lakhs for the winner, Rs. 2 lakhs for first runner-up and Rs. 1 lakh for second runner-up.

IIM Calcutta Need-based Financial Assistance - The students admitted to IIMC, whose annual gross family incomes are Rs.4 lakh and below will be eligible for receiving financial assistance amounting to full or partial tuition fee waiver. Students, whose annual gross family incomes are Rs.4 lakh and below, are also eligible to receive financial assistance beyond full tuition fee waiver, in special deserving cases.

A number of scholarships sponsored by different companies like Aditya Birla Group, Ratan Tata Trust, HUL etc. are available for the deserving students on the basis of merit and various criteria. NTPC sponsors merit scholarships for SC/ST/PWD students.

IIM Lucknow Need Based IIML Scholarships(IIML) - IIM Lucknow has instituted scholarships for up to 15% of the student intake based on merit and family income. Any student, including those belonging to the reserved category, whose total annual family income does not exceed Rs.1,50,000/- is eligible for consideration of these scholarships.The scholarship covers the Tuition fee component of the total fees charged by the Institute in the year awarded, and is subject to maintaining the stipulated standards of academic performance.

Industry Sponsored Scholarships - The value of these scholarships presently ranges from Rs.6,000/- to Rs.100,000/- per annum. The benefactors are: Hindustan Lever Ltd., Reckitt Benchiser, Aditya Birla , Ratan Tata, Citibank, EXIM Bank, Hughes Software Systems, Nestle India Ltd., Central Bank of India, Apeejay Trust and Bharti Foundation.

Merit-cum-Means Scholarships - The Government of India Merit-cum-Means scholarships of Rs.2200/- per annum are available to a maximum of 25% of the students subject to their satisfying the stipulated means and merit criteria.

Bharti Scholarship of Rs. 50,000/- p.a. has been instituted by Bharti enterprises for meritorious and needy students (annual income not exceeding Rs. 1.08 lacs). The scholarship continues for both years of the PGP.

SC/ST Scholarships - The Government of India SC/ST Scholarships of Rs. 1500/- per annum are available to all SC/ST students admitted to the programme.Deserving candidates are also eligible for scholarships, from their respective State Governments, covering the non-refundable components of the fees and maintenance charges, depending upon family income.

IIM Indore The PGP Office of IIM Indore shall provide details on scholarships administered by IIM Indore to all finally admitted candidates.

IIM Kozhikode Merit scholarships - Awarded by the Institute to first and second year students on the basis of their performance during one academic year, as determined by their CGPA.

Scholarships/awards are also offered by benefactors like Sir Ratan Tata Trust, HCIL, O.P Jindal Group

Need based financial assistance to first and second year students

ISB Hyderabad Each year the ISB awards several scholarships, in the form of fee remission, to outstanding candidates. These scholarships vary in amounts and include some full scholarships. Scholarships are both need and merit based.The ISB will award approximately 100 scholarships ranging between INR 3,00,000 to 10,00,000. The ISB also partners with several corporates to provide scholarships during the course of the academic year. Citibank, HSBC and Novartis Group offer scholarships up to INR 6,00,000. Application criteria and selection procedures vary for each of these.

FINANCIAL DYNAMICS


Institute Scholarship Options available in leading B-schools in India

IFMR Chennai Merit-cum-means assistance to a few deserving candidates. The assistance ranges from Rs 100,000 to full waiver of tuition fees.IFMR has been selected by Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) as one of the five B-Schools in India to receive the prestigious T Thomas Scholarship award of Rs 100,000 to be given to the best outgoing student of the full-time Post Graduate Diploma in Management.

IRMA Scholarships from Sir Ratan Tata Trust: Sir Ratan Tata Trust offers about five scholarships every year to second-year students based on merit. The scholarship covers a part of the fees during the second year, subject to a ceiling of Rs 50,000/-. The number and amount of the scholarship are approved by the trust on a year-to-year basis.

Scholarships for SC/ST Candidates: More than 15 scholarships covering the entire costs of education of SC/ST candidates are available at IRMA. The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India has allocated ten scholarships to IRMA for SC/ST students. The scholarship covers fees, non-refundable charges, lodging and boarding expenses, and cost of books, stationery, and personal computer.

MDI Gurgaon There are five merit scholarships of Rs.10, 000/- each available for the top five students at the end of the second year. From the year 2006, Bharti Foundation Scholarship is also awarded on the basis of merit. MDI students are also eligible to apply for O.P. Jindal Scholarship.

The following international scholarships are available for MDI students going abroad on exchange programme to our partner Universities/ Business Schools: France: Eiffel Scholarships are available for students going for dual degree programme. In addition to above Scholarships, our students from time to time get scholarships/funding support from Copenhagen Business School, Denmark, European Business School, Oestrich-Winkel, and Bergische Universitat Wuppertal, Wuppertal, Germany.

SIBM Pune NTPC Scholarship Scheme” is applicable for SC / ST / Physically Challenged students pursuing Full Time MBA course with specialization in HR / Finance from SIBM as a part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).The students belonging to SC / ST / PC Categories who are in their second year of study pursuing MBA specialization in HR / Finance shall be eligible for the aforesaid scholarship.

Government of India – New scholarship scheme of Top Class Education for ST students - Students who secure admission in SIBM and whose total family income from all sources does not exceed Rs. 2.00 lakh per annum, will be eligible for the scholarship under the scheme limited to the number of scholarships allocated to the institute.

Amity Business School

100% Scholarships and 50% scholarships to students

IMT Ghaziabad Bharti Scholarship Scheme - Bharti Foundation has extended Bharti Scholarship Scheme to PGDBM-I year students for pursuing higher education. The objective of the BSS is to support one bright student of the institute to the extent of Rs.50,000/- per annum (to be released in two instalments) on merit-cum-means basis.

Scholarship from IMT - A merit scholarship of Rs. 10,000/- (Rupees ten thousand) each will be given to a student who has scored the highest and second highest CGPA at the end of the year during first and second years of PGDBM / MHRM&CG / MIB / PGDCA/PGDEM, in order to have a healthy competition among the students.

Prin.L.N.Welingkar.Institute of Man-agement Develop-ment & Research, Mumbai

Protsahan - Scholarships is designed to reward the crème de la crème of students applying to the full-time Indian Management Programs from all over the country. The scholarship selects the best minds through Welingkar's rigorous selection process (entrance test (the CAT/XAT/ ATMA/MH-CET), group discussions, personal interview, psychometric test), and then rewards the topper with a fully paid sponsorship for the entire duration of the program - in other words, a 100% tuition waiver.

TAPMI Institute offers scholarships to three students each in the first & second year. There are Industry sponsored scholarships too. From the year 2011, candidates joining PGDM after securing 99th percentile or above in CAT 2010 would be eligible for special scholarships.

but do provide some kind of financial support and is a value addition to the student’s profile. For details regarding eligibility process, application procedure candidates can contact institutes or corporates.

Apart from the above mentioned scholarships there are several trusts such as K. C. Mahindra Education Trust offering K. C. Mahindra Scholarships for Post-Graduate Studies Abroad-Announcement of the scholarship is

made in the month of January in leading newspapers throughout India. Currently the maximum amount awarded per scholarship is Rs. 95,000/., J.N.Tata Endowment offers J.N.Tata Endowment Scholarship for scholars pursuing higher education in all areas and fields of study, with newly emerging fields of relevance to the country (http://www.dorabjitatatrust.org/about/endowment.aspx#schol) and B.D.Bangur Endowment offers scholarships to those

who wish to pursue higher studies The maximum amount of loan scholarship will be Rs.1,00,000/-. The sum provided would be sufficient to enable a candidate to meet initial travel and term expenses. (http://www.bdbangurendowment.com/objective-education-scholarship.htm).

A wide range of scholarship and educational loans do reduce burden of financing the course for the students allowing them to pursue the course in the institute of their choice.

Disclaimer: Data is collated from the B School website, readers are advised to reconfirm and make appropriate enquiries from concerned institutes.

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Education is such an investment that it gives a good career to the students.

So, while investing our time and money why shouldn’t we invest it in a more secure way. This brings USA education into the mind of students because of the unique qualities it possesses.

Why USA?l US schools are known for

their academic excellence. An emphasis on research and original thought, flexibility in curriculum and availability of niche concentrations gives US schools an edge over other study destinations.

l US degrees and qualifications are recognised the world over. Education from an accredited US school has an intangible value attached to it. This further leads to future career flexibility.

l The return on investment in US education is lucrative. Mehul Pathak who is currently studying at the Penn State’s Smeal School of Business says “One of the major factors that I considered while shortlisting schools is the Return on Investment. I feel with soaring fees of Management education in India, an MBA in the US would fetch a better ROI, assuming that one works a year or two before coming back to India.”

l The US is an easy country to adapt to. Indian students find it easy to ‘settle’ in its environment. This is primarily due to the large

Indian diaspora already existing in the US. Most schools in US also have Indian student clubs that help Indian students settle on campus.

Popular programmesAs far as study programmes are concerned, the popularity of US schools is clearly tipped towards the science and engineering streams. In the academic year 2010-11, the Engineering studies witnessed 12 percent increase in the total international applications and Physical and Earth Sciences also saw a similar trend. On the other hand, the number of applications to Business and Management programmes witnessed only a 4 percent increase in 2010-11. The US recession and the increasing popularity of management

programmes in the UK, Asia and Australia are some of the key factors leading to a fall in international business applicants to the US. Table 1 indicates an increase in percentage of preliminary applications in some of the top fields of study in 2010-11 over previous year.

Cost of education and job opportunitiesThe average tuition cost for undergraduate programmes in USA is between $ 15000 and 20000 per annum. While the tuition cost for Masters Programmes is approximately $ 20000 to 30000 and peaks at an average of $ 50000 for management programmes.

Why study in the USA?Even the recession could not deter international students from selecting US as their study destination. According to the Council of Graduate Studies, USA, in the application year 2010-11, international student applications increased by 9% over the previous year. China, India, and South Korea are the top three countries of origin for international graduate students in the United States. Collectively, students from these three countries account for about one-half of all non-US citizens on temporary visas attending US graduate schools. Gauri Puranik examines the reasons for the popularity of US and why it still continues to be the ‘numero uno’ study destination for Indian students.

Table 1: Distribution of international students (%) Field of Study

Increase in applica-tions from interna-tional students (%)

Engineering 12Physical & Earth Sciences

12

Education 9Arts and Humanities

8

Life Sciences 8

Social Sciences & Psychology

5

Business 4

Other Fields 13Source: Council of Graduate Schools - 2011 CGS International Graduate Admissions Survey

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Besides the basic tuition costs, students have also to factor in the costs for room and utilities, transport, books and supplies, health insurance and any other personal expenses.

While education expenses in US are not modest, the job opportunities and the resulting pay packages still make it an attractive study destination. The average salary for MBA graduates in the US in $100000. Most students from the top 50 B-schools manage to pay off their education debt within 3-5 years of their graduation.

Job opportunitiesThough the recession rendered 8 million jobless in the US, 2011 is expected to be a recovery year. According to the Corporate Recruiters Survey 2010 conducted by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), 2009 was a difficult year for MBA graduates’ job searches. However, the MBA class of 2010 can expect to see a somewhat improved job market. A few more companies plan to hire

(5 percent more), and no drastic reductions are expected in the number of vacancies (down by 10 percent). In comparison, in early 2009, companies planned to reduce the number of available positions by half (down by 50 percent).

The majority of the recruitments are expected in the pharmaceutical, consulting and finance sectors. According to the data, students wishing to switch their careers or get a job in a foreign country are expected to face more challenges in the current US job market.

Below are the cost estimates of graduate and management programmes offered by the

University of California, Berkeley.Application cycleThe American Universities admit students in the Fall Semester and Spring Semester. The Fall Semester commences sometime in August-September each year and the Spring Semester begins from January-February each year. Few universities even have summer admissions, which commence sometime in March-April.

However, the Fall Semester is preferable for international students. The reason being the intake of international students is lower in the Spring Semester. Further, the chances of obtaining financial aid

are also low. The decision on admissions for the Fall Semester is taken by Jan/Feb of the same year and for the Spring Semester by Oct/Nov of the previous year. An early (at least 6-8 months prior to application deadline) start towards preparing your applications is strongly recommended.

EligibilityMinimum 16 years of education: The US

Table 2: University of California BerkeleyExpense Head Graduate divi-

sion student budget

Haas School of Business (MBA

Programme)Tuition $26,250 $50,178

Housing and Utilities $10,431 $10,782

Books, Laptop and Supplies

$1,040 $2,500

Food $5,054 $6,742

Personal Expenses $1,920 $1,764

Health Insurance $2,010 $2,150

Transportation $2,821 $2,772

Total $49,526 $76,888

Table 3: Tuition and median salary at some of top B-schools in the USSchool Tuition Median

SalaryTuition:

Salary RatioTop Recruiters

University of California, Haas School of Business

$50,178 $1,07,451 0.47 Amazon, Chevron, HP, McKinsey, SunPower

University of Chicago, Booth Business School

$53,400 $1,02,000 0.52 McKinsey & Company Inc, Bain & Company, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Booz & Company

University of Harvard, Harvard Business School

$51,200 $1,10,000 0.47 Accenture, Merrill Lynch, Bloomberg LP, General Electric Company, IBM, L'Oreal, Macquarie Bank Ltd

University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Ross School of Business

$52,689 $1,00,000 0.55 LLP, Accenture Ltd, UBS AG, Cisco Systems Inc, Dell Inc, Bain & Company Inc

Penn State, Smeal College of Business

$32,898 $87,500 0.38 Apple, Ford Motor, Pepsi, Siemens, Walt Disney, Time Inc.

University of Pennsylvania, Wharton Business School

$58,244 $1,10,000 0.53 Boston Consulting Group, Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase & Co, Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse Group

University of Rochester, Simon Graduate School of Business

$45,933 $72,744 0.63 A.T. Kearney, Cisco Systems, FedEx, Nestlem Sony

University of Texas, McCombs Graduate School of Management

$47,136 $84,026 0.56 BCG, Deloitte Consulting, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, Wipro

Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth

$50,700 $1,05,000 0.48 Bank of America Corporation, Amazon, Goldman Sachs & Co, Morgan Stanley

University of Virginia, Darden School of Business

$49,500 $1,00,000 0.50 3M, AT&T Corporation, Barclays bank, Goldman Sachs, Novartis

Figures in the tables are subject to change

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education system requires 16 years of education for applying to Graduate programmes. For PhD programmes, one needs to have a Masters Degree (and in some cases work experience). Course validity: Any course recognised by the Central or State governments or UGC or AICTE, is considered valid. Professional qualifications like CA/ICWA/CS may or may not be considered as an alternative to 16 years of education rule depending on each university’s policies.Work experience: Most Management and PhD programmes require student to have a few years of work experience. Admission is dependent on various other factors besides work experience. Where work experience is mandatory, only full-time work experience after completing college will be counted. Summer projects, curricular projects, internships, article-ship do not qualify as work experience. Standardised tests: For any Masters/PhD programme, one has to take the GRE® (Graduate Record Examinations). And for MBA and PhD in Business Management, one has to take the GMAT® (Graduate Management Admission Test) or the GRE® (for select schools). The TOEFL® (Test of English as a Foreign Language) is a compulsory requirement for all the courses in the US. All these are aptitude tests, with objective questioning (multiple choice) and are taken on a specially programmed computer.

Financial aidMost schools in the US offer financial aid in the form of tuition waivers, fellowships/ scholarships or work permit programmes. Financial aid for international students is more readily available for Masters programmes rather than Undergraduate Programmes. Fe l lowships /scholarships: These are usually merit-based and there is no obligation to return the amount to the university. Before applying to university fellowships/ scholarships, students should check their eligibility requirements as certain awards are reserved for students coming from

specific counties, specific academic backgrounds and career streams.Work programmes: Work programmes require students to provide services to the university and they are paid a stipend for it. Often the tuition fees are waived. Work Programs include Teaching Assistantships and Research Assistantships.Tuition waivers: These refer to partial or full tuition waivers awarded to students on the basis of merit. These are generally offered with teaching or research assistantships.US student visaThe following documentation and steps are involved in the US visa application process:

To confirm a visa interview appointment online, you need to pay

the visa fees at an authorised HDFC bank and obtain a Visa Fee Receipt. While going to HDFC Bank, students need to carry a copy of their passport. Currently, the visa fees are USD 140 or Rs 6580.

After paying the fees, students need to fill in the DS160 form online. Students can then schedule an interview appointment online. The barcode number on your HDFC receipt is required at the time of scheduling your interview.

All supplemental documents need to be submitted at the nearest VFS office at least three working days before your interview appointment.The documents required are:Mandatory documentsl Valid Passport. You are

recommended to have a passport valid for travel for at least six months beyond your date of entry into the US

l One photograph as per specification

l DS-160 Confirmation Barcode printout

l Original, valid HDFC Bank visa fee receipt (Embassy copy)

l Original interview appointment letter

l Copy of Form I-20Additional supporting documents (required at the time of interview)

l Copy of interview appointment letter, DS-160 Confirmation Barcode printout and Original, valid HDFC bank visa fee receipt (Applicant’s Copy)l Original I-20 and Sevis Fee Receiptl Evidence of financial resources: proof of liquid assets sufficient to pay for the entire first year of education and living expenses as well as proof of readily available funds to cover the remaining year(s) of studiesl Proof of your relationship to the sponsor (such as your birth certificate), the sponsor’s most recent, original tax forms, and the sponsor’s bankbooks and/or fixed deposit certificatesl Original degree certificates along with mark sheetsl Relevant test scores, for example, TOEFL® and SAT®, GRE®, GMAT® or LSAT®

American Universities admit students in Fall and Spring. While Fall Semester commences

from Aug-Sep, the Spring Semester commences from

Jan-Feb.

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“Kellogg has excellent Finance programmes, many successful alumni and an excellent learning environment”

…says Anup Dhalwani, a Computer Engineer from University of Pune. Anup has worked as a consultant with IBM and NESC. He has 7 years of work experience in diverse areas like Manufacturing, Distribution, CPG, Food and Beverage and Pharmaceutical industry. He is currently pursuing his MBA from Kellogg School of Management. In a succinct interview with Reshma Majithia he talks of his journey from being a computer Engineer to an MBA at Kellogg School of Management.

Besides Kellogg which other schools had you applied to and why did you choose Kellog in the end?I had applied to all the top schools in the US, I chose Kellogg for its extremely collaborative environment and support structure in terms of learning, careers and potential to network.

You enrolled in the business when the US recession was still at its peak. Did you have any apprehensions when you joined the programme. How did you deal with these?I did have some apprehensions, but by the time I joined, the recession was officially over (June ‘09 I suppose). I dealt with it by networking with alumni and taking advice from the Career Management Center (CMC).

What are the typical challenges that a career-switcher faces during an MBA programme (Considering the fact that you shifted from

computer engineering to marketing and finance)? That’s a good question. I feel top B-Schools provide an excellent support system for everyone. That’s one of the hallmarks of a great school. A lot of students are career- switchers, and many are engineers. I feel engineers are well prepared for many of the quantitative and analytical subjects.

What are your long-term aspirations and how do you see the Kellogg MBA degree helping you achieve the same?I am considering a career in finance, and for now, I am looking at Investment Banking. Kellogg has excellent Finance programmes, many successful alumni and an excellent learning environment that helps.

What advice would you give students targeting the top 10 schools in the US?Focus on your GMAT, make sure your essays have a distinctive style and differentiate you from others and diversify. Most importantly, be patient.

Student Silhouette

SKILLZ


It will not be superfluous to call this era an era of creativity and innovation. In turbulent economic

times, organisations are facing numerous challenges including those of technological advancement and global competition. These complex problems require creative and innovative solutions. Innovation thus becomes the need of the hour and innovation requires creativity. Understandably, therefore, HR professionals wish to hire creative employees and offer creativity training programmes for their current employees while management schools wish to select creative students. That is why it is important for everyone to enhance their creativity potential. The first step towards achieving that goal is to understand the essence of creativity. I have identified a few myths surrounding creativity to prevent a misguided journey into creativity or, worse still, postponement of the journey due to misconceptions about it.

Myths about creativity Myth-1: Creativity is human expression in fine arts, music, artistic and literary pursuits. Undoubtedly creative outputs like a beautiful sculpture, an insightful painting on a canvas, a composition on the piano, a heart -touching poem demonstrate the creators’ creativity. Nonetheless, it can also be visualised as a way of life. People can be creative while dealing with their personal and professional life’s small and big problems alike: in decision-making, for example. Organisations today seek creative and innovative individuals to deal with complex situations. Myth-2: Creativity is inborn or genetically determined. Numerous researchers have unambiguously

demonstrated that people can be trained to be more creative and thus creativity can be nurtured. Every individual who hopes to be creative can systematically train oneself. Several techniques have been found effective in enhancing creativity. It is important to note, however, that some individuals have a strong predisposition to become creative and they gain more from these techniques.Myth-3: Creativity is expressed in novel or unique outputs only. Although novelty and originality are perceived to be important components of creativity, anything unique and novel is not creative. It is increasingly felt that if a product or solution is unable to provide satisfaction to the person/s for whom it has been created, it does not meet minimum criteria of being labeled as a creative output. Myth-4: Creativity is ‘thinking out of the box’. These words indicate breaking away from conventional thought. Creativity has been popularly understood as ‘thinking out of the box’ as opposed to ‘in the box’. Several unique and superior solutions have been achieved by out-of-the-box thinking. However, creativity is much more than merely unconventional ways of thinking.

Myth-5: Creativity is ONLY divergent thinking or ideation. Divergent thinking is characterised by fertile imagination and idea-generation while convergent thinking can be understood as rational thinking. While divergent thinking is undoubtedly the distinguishing characteristic of creative thinking, there is an important place for convergent thinking. In grasping what an unclear problem is, a substantial amount of logical convergent thinking is needed. Also, once the divergent thinker comes up with a variety of solutions, the best solution or a combination of a few solutions would require convergent thinking. Quite often, creative thinking consists of alternating phases of imaginative (divergent) and rational (convergent) thinking.Myth-6: Creativity requires high IQ or superior academic performance: Several studies have shown that high IQ or superior academic performance does not necessarily lead to high creativity and also that high IQ or superior academic performance is not necessary for creativity. Studies clearly point out that a reasonable amount of knowledge is required to be creative in any field, however creativity is not solely dependent on it. Thus

there is hope for those who missed the bus in school or college. If we take the analogy of a ‘superior crop’ as ‘creative output’, ‘thinking’ is the ‘soil’ which requires more things like ‘potent seeds’ which can be understood as ‘requisite knowledge and personality’ acquired by the individual. In addition, air, water and sunlight can be broadly compared to ‘creativo-genic environment’ consisting of encouraging people, supporting technology and requisite resources to facilitate the creative process and generation of conducive

Unleash your creativityEverything you do, whether it’s writing, speaking or coming up with innovative ideas, is sourced from your creativity. An insight…

Dr Shubhra P Gaur

SKILLZ


psychological environment towards producing creative output. Another important point to be noted is that creativity is required in every field from physical sciences to social sciences.

It would be useful to keep in mind the following guidelines to unleash your creativity and gain competitive advantage over your colleagues.

Increase your ideation: Engage in a game of listing multiple and unusual uses of common objects like a pen, a safety pin or cardboard, at least once or twice a day. Another very useful game is calling out words with certain specifications, for example, all objects that are green and round, blue and square or red and flat. A third game is listing multiple associations of objects picked up randomly like a chair, fan, bird, etc. For each of these, a time limit of 2-5 minutes may be given. In the beginning, it can be played with 5 minutes as the time limit and as the practice increases the time limit can be reduced gradually.

Sharpen your observation skills: Games that spot the differences between a pair of shoes or two identical chairs are ideal to begin with. Another one requires you to display a scene for a brief period on a laptop or share a picture with everyone playing the game and each one is required to list all the things they remember having seen. The one with the maximum number of correct items is the winner. If you are playing individually then the number of responses in a minute can be counted each time and an increase in the number will indicate an improvement.

Challenge existing beliefs and open them to scrutiny: Everyone playing this game can be asked to state a commonly held belief. This should be followed by everyone taking turns to present counter arguments against the belief. This will enable all the members present to appreciate the futility of holding on to even those beliefs which one takes for granted and will pave way for inculcating habit of identifying assumptions. This exercise also brings forth multiple

perspectives on the same subject.

Question the status quo: No creation can happen if we were to remain fixed in our existing state. The biggest force is the force of inertia and the negative outcomes (for those rare individuals)who question the status quo are far too many. Nonetheless, one must begin doing the not-so-common a thing as a habit. Non-conformist movies and television programmes can be screened or similar type of novels can be discussed /read. Those movies or novels should be selected which contain rewards for non-conformity (two such examples are Gandhi and Three Idiots). Another option can be to carefully follow the life of great persons who questioned conventions that were harmful to small groups of individuals in particular and society at large thus paving the way for social change, for example, Swami Vivekananda and Martin Luther King.

Engage in problem-solving exercises: This world has more problems than solutions and one can pick any one of those multitude problems. The most critical stage of problem-solving is reviewing the problem and redefining it in simpler words. The next stage is to identify or guess the possible causes and consequences. Let’s consider the problem of slums in cities. A few causes could be: migration from rural and semi-urban areas due to insufficient employment opportunities in villages and perception that cities offer better life. The other side of the coin is the consequences of the current situation, e.g., increasing population and insufficient residential and sanitary facilities in the cities. The possible solutions lie in both these areas: causes and consequences.

Inculcate curiosity: Curiosity is the best way to reach to your creative destination. Many grassroot innovations, inventions and discoveries have actually come about because of the inherent curiosity of the creator. Make it a habit to ask questions and not take anything for granted. Detectives follow their curious instinct and solve big mysteries. Discoverers have found

new places by merely being curious. Try and encounter new things on a routine basis. Read mystery books and view detective serials carefully - not just for entertainment.

Travel outside the city or visit new places in the city like a tourist: Travelling is a very useful way of widening our horizons and getting ideas. The canvas of experience not only adds fun to our life but also enriches us. Innovation can come from any experience and the richer the experience, the greater the chances of some new thing cropping up in our minds at the most difficult of times in our stage of problem-solving.It brings us closer to myriad of people and their ways of thinking.

Get closer to nature: Nature has a richness that has no parallel. Inspiration from nature has led to many more inventions and innovations. Two great inventions where we can see a clear connect with nature are the aeroplane and the submarine. Besides the principles of science that are embedded in it, nature simply inspires by evoking emotions very evidently in the case of poets and painters but quite powerfully in all fields.

Experimentation is the very basis of creative outputs: Scientists and engineers are not the only ones who experiment. Painters and poets do, managers and doctors do and creative teachers and parents do. Experimentation can be with words, ingredients, arrangements in the rooms. It can help us manage our life: Taking different routes to reach the same destination, trying out new dishes at a restaurant and at home, wearing different kind of clothes... make experimentation a habit.The best part is that you can design your own games with friends or family members or play them all by yourself and enhance your creativity.

Dr. Shubhra P. Gaur has a D.Phil in Psychology from the University of Allahabad and has nineteen years of research and teaching experience. She is a Professor at Mudra Institute of Communications Ahmedabad (MICA), India.

CORPORATE WORLD


From being the business of distributing hardware solutions to manufacturing mobile

handsets, Micromax has come a long way ever since its inception in just two years. With its entry in March 2008, Micromax increased its marketshare from 0.59 per cent in 2008 to about 5 per cent (IDC report) in 2010. As per the report, the company today sells more than a million handsets a month and is now a Rs 1600 crore worth brand. The company has presence in more than 500 districts and 90,000 retail outlets. It started its mobile handset business in 2008 and the challenge was to establish an identity in a market dominated by big MNCs like Nokia, Samsung, LG and Motorola.

Interestingly, the company focused on rural markets initially - a strategy that was quite opposite to the route followed by marketers. Micromax concentrated on identifying the unmet needs of rural people and introduced products that fitted well with the rural consumer need.

Micromax goes mobile

Micromax Mobile needs no introduction today. Just two years ago people were not aware of the brand at all but today, it is India’s third largest selling company by volume after Nokia and Samsung (IDC Report). The brand’s success can be attributed to its ability to understand the need of the market, aggressive marketing with a budget of Rs 100 crore and smart distribution channel management. An insight…

Brand Wagon

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The handset manufacture was the first one to launch many innovative products such as handsets with 30 days battery back-up, dual SIM/dual standby, handsets that could switch between networks (GSM to CDMA and vice versa), QWERTY keypads and universal remote controls.

The company realised that the Indian customer always looks at products that deliver value for money. To communicate its strategy, Micromax started with an investment of Rs 50 crore. That increased to Rs 100 crore as it mixed television and below-the-line activities and roped in actor Akshay Kumar as its brand ambassador. What also helped Micromax was a readymade distribution set-up that was running when it launched. The company was founded in 1991 by Rajesh Agarwal to distribute computer hardware for brands such as Dell, HP and Sony.

Differentiation: The key strategyMicromax has a lot of ‘firsts’ to its credit in the product portfolio. It was the first to introduce: Handsets with 30 days battery backup (Micromax X1i), handsets with dual SIM / dual standby, handsets switching networks (GSM – CDMA) using gravity sensors, aspirational Q w e r t y k e y p a d h a n d s e t s , o p e r a t o r branded 3G H a n d s e t s , OMH CDMA h a n d s e t s , etc. Its gaming phone Gameo lu t ion has caught the fancy of y o u n g s t e r s . This phone works like wireless Wifi which works on motion sensor technology and can convert PC/Laptop in gaming device. Then it came up with MTV music phone MTV X360 with Yamaha amplifiers targeted at music-loving youth.

Thrust on dual SIM phonesIt understood the need of the market and put a thrust on DUAL SIM phones. Most of its phones are dual SIM. Intense competition has led to stiff fall in call rates and operators keep on coming with various offers to lure customers. Thus customers do not want to remain loyal to one and desire to avail the best available offers at any time. With dual SIM phones they can keep one number constant and another one changing to avail the best offers. This has led to increase in popularity of Dual SIM phones and Micromax has grabbed substantial market in this category.

Feature-rich phones at affordable priceIn a move to offer a simple way to have Wifi networks always and

everywhere at the touch of a button, Indian handset player Micromax has launched a 3G pocket wireless (Wifi) router, MMX 400R. The Wifi router will be available at all Micromax outlets for Rs 4,999. Micromax MMX 400R can be connected to the internet via a SIM card activated with data services. It converts the data signal connection to Wifi, thus creating a Wifi hotspot, and provides a signal with a downloading speed up to 7.2 Mbps within a radius of 5-10 metres.

Using the Micromax Wifi router people can connect to a maximum of five Wifi enabled devices including phones, laptops and personal computers. Besides, this device in not locked to any particular service provider, which means you can use a SIM from a GSM service provider of your choice.

Brand Wagon

CORPORATE WORLD


Finance professional from the investment industry turned best- selling author is a far cry from the typical author image. Your comments. Well my journey has been surprising. And I am the most surprised of us all. I wasn’t really creative when I was young. I was more of a sportsperson as a kid. The only creative thing I did was that I used to sing: I sang for our IIM-C band when I studied there. But I never really wrote anything of note. The only things I had written were some poetry; and frankly, everyone thought my poems were terrible! Only my wife liked them. But she is too sweet a person and likes anything that I do! I guess the fact that I became an author is a result of Lord Shiva’s blessing.

Why mythology in particular as a subject? When did the writer in you surface?I didn’t plan to become an author. So there was no particular subject that I was thinking about. The journey of writing began during a conversation between my family and me. We were watching TV together and there was an interesting historical programme being broadcast. We all know that for ancient Indians, Gods were called Devas and Demons were called Asuras. What we don’t know is that for ancient Persians, Gods were called Ahuras and demons are called Daevas - the exact opposite of the ancient Indians. This triggered an interesting conversation. Maybe if the ancient Indians and the ancient Persians met, they would probably be calling each other evil - because one

person’s god was the other person’s demon. Now both the groups cannot be right can they? So who is evil? Both the groups? Neither? But what can’t be denied is that evil does exist. It rises again and again. And it has to be destroyed. So I started writing a philosophy book on it. Then my brother and sis-in-law gave me some good advice that readers will be more interested in a grand adventure where the philosophy happens to come across with it rather than a pure philosophy book. And hence I started writing the present novel with a hero whose journey conveys the philosophies I want to talk about. And since the story is about the destruction of evil, who better to be the hero than the destroyer of evil himself, Lord Shiva!

“Classroom learning cannever match what you

learn in real life”… says author Amish Tripathi, National Head - Marketing & Product Management at IDBI Federal and an IIM Calcutta alumnus. While working in the insurance industry, Amish felt that his life was devoid of any meaning or self. Ultimately he decided to take the spiritual route. He started reading about the different philosophies and the Indian mythologies. Eventually, the inspiration for The Shiva Trilogy came from years of reading mythological stories, historical books and invigorating discussion with his family about the destiny of the human body, mind and soul. The Immortals of Meluha is his debut novel. In this exclusive interview with Radhika Arunkumar, Amish shares his ideologies about how good marketing has played a role in the success of the book and his views on business education in India, as it exists today.

Executive Suite

CORPORATE WORLD


How has the MBA degree helped in the marketing process of the book?More than the MBA, I think the experience and relationships I have built through my job has helped. I had some great advisors for the marketing of the book and I was smart enough to listen to them. There have been some innovative marketing techniques that we have attempted with The Immortals of Meluha. Such as a trailer film, a free excerpt of the book, regular social media interactions, etc. I think good marketing has played a role in the success of the book. As a finance professional, you must have been very busy, working more than 14 hours a day. How did you manage your work-life-family balance?Yes it takes a lot of time to write a book. And a job in insurance also keeps one really busy. So one has to find time. I would normally write on the back-seat of my car on the commutes to work and back. This was one place where the slow traffic of Mumbai helped! I’m also not much of a party animal and usually go to sleep early. That allows me to get up early in the mornings - I’m normally up by 5:30 am... to work on the book. And of course, there’s always the weekends. So at the end of the day, if one has the support of the family and the project is important enough to you, one can always find time.

Tell us about the creative challenges you faced while writing and difficulties of finding a publisher to take on board as a first-time author.Honestly, it was not very easy to get published. In my case, the manuscript got rejected by at least 35-40 publishers and it took almost 2.5 years to see the light of day. However, I can understand the plight of publishers, too. With the large number of manuscripts they get for examination every day, it is really difficult

to expect complete understanding on their part. Also, after all, they put their money where the author’s mouth is. So one can appreciate that they would not want to risk backing a book based on a religious topic – since the chances of success were considered slim.

Tell us about the early days of your management career and the journey that brought you here. What have been the most important lessons (or rather insights) that you gained on the way?

I have been a financial services guy all my life, having worked in Standard Chartered Bank, Development Bank of Singapore and various subsidiaries of the IDBI Group. Presently, I work as the National Head – Marketing & Product Management at IDBI Federal Life Insurance. How do you rate the learning in classroom against that which typically happens on the job as one climbs the corporate ladder? Classroom learning can never match what you learn in real life. I strongly believe that when we MBAs graduate out of B-school, we should put our egos aside and put our noses to the grind. You cannot become a CEO level person from day one, unless you start your own company. So you have to work hard, keep an open mind and learn. Every year in the corporate world has added to my ability to manage diverse people and scenarios.

What are your views on business education in India, as it exists today?At least when I graduated, I think the education was too theoretical. Professors and us students did not

get as much industry exposure as would be ideal. Also, most of us went into B-school straight out of college rather than after a few years of work experience. That meant that we graduated from B-school pretty much as greenhorns. However, I believe that things have improved a lot now. You hold an MBA from IIM C. What are your fondest memories and the greatest takeaway from your B- School experience?The time that I spent with my friends; IIM C was not just about studies (which was tough, of course), but also about the relationships that we formed and the fun-times that we had. It was a blast. IIM C truly rocks!

I strongly believe that when MBAs graduate

out of B-school, they should put their noses to the grind. You cannot become a CEO level person

from day one, unless you start your own

company.

Executive Suite

CORPORATE WORLD


Mergers and acquisitionsThe new norms

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) recently announced new merger and acquisition norms. This will make it mandatory for companies proposing to merge with other companies to secure CCI approval ahead of the merger transaction. So, what is CCI’s role? What has it got to do with mergers and what implications does merging for two companies have with competition?

Merger is a process where two corporate entities combine together to form

a single legal entity. Mergers have a key implication especially if such a combination happens with two companies operating in the same industry. To explain this point let us consider the Indian domestic airline industry. Consider an airline A controlling 20 percent marketshare is acquired by and merged with another airline B, controlling 30 percent marketshare. The combined marketshare of the merged airline AB would become 50 percent. Let us say there are 3 other airlines sharing the balance 50 percent of the market share. The implications of the merger between A and B in forming AB can be elaborated as follows.

Before the merger There are a total of five companies operating in the Indian airline industry. Due to the presence of five independent companies with independent management boards, each one of them would operate independently with an objective to maximise their profits, hence they would offer the lowest price, say an average of Rs 3,500 on a Mumbai-Delhi route, to the consumers on their flights

This also means that they would be competing with each other and providing attractive prices to the consumers in order to maintain and improve their market share. This also

means that the consumer would be getting an attractive price because of the existence of five independent players and the resultant competition.

Although it is technically possible for the five companies to reach an agreement to maintain the prices high, say at an average of Rs 4,000 (instead of Rs 3,500) on the said route, so that all of them are benefitted, known as Cartelization, it rarely works due to the existence of five players, where each one of them are concerned about their own interest; one of them could at any point in time reduce prices to Rs 3,500 or lesser, in order to acquire higher market share!

Hence, with five competitors in the Industry, the customer is benefitted and gets the best price; purely as a result of competitive rivalry between the five players.

Further, the operating profile of A and B also needs to be considered. Let us say, although the combined

A B control 50 percent of the overall market share, they jointly control 80 percent of the flights during the peak hour of 06:00 Am to 10:00 Am and the balance 20 percent by Airline C. Due to the presence of three independent players, let us say they charge Rs.4,000 in the peak hour.

After the merger This situation after the merger between A and B is quite different! How?

There are now a total of only four companies operating in the Indian airline industry. Due to the merger, the industry has done away with one of the competitors and hence, the best prices the four competitors would offer, at say Rs 3,800, would still be higher that what the five competitors used to earlier offer; ie, the decrease in competition has benefitted the four companies, but negatively impacted the consumer!

Dr Suresh Srinivasan

Business Analysis

CORPORATE WORLD


He has to shell out Rs 300 more per flight due to the merger.

Now, with only four competitors, cartelization is more probable than with the earlier scenario of five competitors. This again is negative from the consumer’s perspective.

Hence, with only four competitors in the Industry, the customer is disadvantaged as compared to the earlier scenario of five competitors, and thereby does not get the best price; purely as a result of the reduced competitive rivalry in the industry.

Considering the operating profile of A and B, the combined entity AB could now get away by charging Rs 5,000 instead of the earlier Rs 4,000 (because of the very little competition during the peak hour), then the negative influence of the merger on the consumer would be much higher.

To sum it all, with one merger in the industry eliminating one player, competitive rivalry in the industry reduces, the companies stand to gain and the consumer stands to lose. Especially, if the companies abuse their monopolistic position the consumer would stand to be greatly affected. This is precisely what the Competition Commission of India (CCI) wants to control through the enactment of the Competition Act, 2002. The new Merger Norms pronounced by the CCI will make sure that every large merger taking place in the country would not result in the consumer being affected. Hence, the approval of the CCI would need to be sought well in advance before the merger is completed so that the consumer interests are protected. The CCI has the right to reject a merger if it finds that it would not be in the best interests of the consumer.

The new norms stipulate that large mergers would need CCI approval; firms having combined assets of Rs 1,500 crore or more, or a combined turnover of Rs 4,500 crore or more, will have to approach CCI for approval. Further, the company which is going to be acquired should have minimum net assets of Rs 200 crore or a turnover of Rs 600 crore. This regulation will become

effective from 01 June 2011 and all ‘high value’ merger transactions happening after June 1 would need CCI approval. The new norms gain significant importance as merger and acquisition volumes in India has tripled to Rs 3,00,00 crore during

the current year from the earlier Rs 1,00,000 crore.

Thus competition is an important component of any market, with more competition the markets become

efficient and this is in the best interest of the consumer. Further, well functioning markets are key ingredients for economic growth. It is important to mention that such competition laws are very common in developed markets like the United States (US) and Australia, but has been lacking in an Indian context. In the past many mergers have not been brought into the strong scrutiny of CCI; the Jet Airways-Sahara deal, the King Fisher – Deccan Airways deal have all not gone through a detailed review by the CCI, as a result of which the ‘low cost airline ticket’ movement pioneered by Capt. Gopinath of Deccan Airways was dumped by King Fisher after its takeover and merger with Deccan Airways, greatly impacting the consumer. This may not happen henceforth with this new Norms coming into play!

It is a welcome development that CCI has finally come up with the new norms, after extensive industry consultations. Industry still may have many concerns as the

new norms give extensive powers in the hands of CCI to reject merger transactions if they find it to be not in the best interests of the consumers. However, it is definitely a positive development for the markets as this will ensure competition prevails and the consumer is not taken for a ride by companies enjoying monopolistic status!

Business Analysis

The new norms stipulate that large mergers

would need CCI approval; firms having combined assets of Rs 1,500 crore or more, or a combined turnover of Rs 4,500 crore or more, will have to approach

CCI for approval.

CORPORATE WORLD


Economic IndicatorsBusiness Analysis

CORPORATE WORLD


Business Analysis


WORLD VIEW

Legislative Assembly results have just been announced in four States: West Bengal,

Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Assam and the Union Territory of Puducherry. A strong verdict by the people of West Bengal and Tamil Nadu will change the government in these two states; in West Bengal Trinamool Congress has ended the 34 year rule of the Left Front with a ‘super majority’, which is historic, on many counts. In Tamil Nadu, AIDMK brings to end the DMK rule by a ‘land-slide’ margin. Kerala will also see a change in the government; however people’s mandate has not been very decisive as the United Democratic Front (UDF) has won Left Democratic Front (LDF) only by a wafer thin margin of 51:49. The people of Assam have provided a strong mandate in voting the Congress back to power. On a ‘fine ground’ analysis, there are a number of key ‘takeaways’ and far reaching implications for India’s national politics, as well as for the Indian economy.

Losing influence of the Left FrontThe loss of the Left Front in West Bengal and the LDF in Kerala is a major blow to the Leftist, or communist, ideology in Indian politics. Excluding Tripura, these two states are the only ones where the Left governed. The Communist Party of India (CPI), being a binding force within the Left Front, has been a coalition partner with the Congress in the earlier UPA government. The UPA had constantly complained that, due to Left dependence, it was unable to implement many key

socially liberal and centralist policies as the Left was opposing these on the grounds of their moving our country towards Capitalism. The UPA had difficulties in implanting reforms including petroleum pricing policy, withdrawal of subsidies, opening up of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), reforms in finance and insurance sectors and pension funds as well as many other issues like the Indo-US nuclear deal, due to which the Left eventually withdrew support to the Congress and pulled out of the ruling UPA government.

2011 Assembly ElectionsKey takeaways

With India at the ‘crossroads’ of transforming itself from an ‘emerging economy’ to a ‘fast growing developing economy’, the 2011 Assembly election results provide a number of subtle messages, which need introspection. The results also provide a ‘wake-up’ call to the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government lead by the Indian National Congress party (Congress), currently ruling the Centre, in terms of a number of key lessons learnt.

Dr Suresh Srinivasan

Current Affairs


WORLD VIEW

Although it is important in a democracy like India to have varied perspectives, including those of the Left parties, it was perceived at the Centre, that the Left was unduly retarding the country’s growth, by preventing the opening up of policy regime. Further, the states ruled by the Left Front, more specifically West Bengal and Kerala were visibly underdeveloped in terms of industrial activity. The wipe-out of the Left front in the current assembly elections, both in West Bengal and Kerala, now seems to indicate that such concerns will no more be relevant, which is positive for India’s economic growth! In the agenda of the winning parties, we are already seeing enhanced focus on attracting private sector investments, spelt out by both Trinamool Congress in West Bengal and the UDF in Kerala.

The corrupt punishedToday, corruption is the biggest challenge India is facing when it comes to economic growth! Corruption is rampant across private and public sectors, across the states, and it is deep rooted within the classes and masses! Ranging from the infamous 2G scam, Nira Radia and Amar Singh tapes, Commonwealth Games, Preferential Land Allotments, Public Distribution Systems, the Indian Premier League (IPL) to Defense spending, corruption has more or less become a widespread and common phenomenon taking India several notches closer to ‘under developed third world’ economies. The common man was shocked with disbelief when he saw his favourite politicians and respected business leaders exposed publicly in video and audio footages of corruption!

From this perspective, people’s verdict in Tamil Nadu rejecting the DMK – Congress alliance who are at centre of the 2G controversy, is a clear signal that corruption, when it crosses a particular threshold, will not be tolerated! The message is clear that it will be punished, even if the political parties cover it up through large-scale distribution of cash to the voting public! Credit also goes to Anna Hazare’s Jan

Lok Pal movement, which coincided closely with these assembly elections and created a serious dent in the minds of the voters against parties involved with large-scale corruption charges.

Family vs. National interests: Nepotism‘Dynasty ruling’ and family politics is widely prevalent in India. There is a perception that the Congress party at the Centre and many state level parties in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka divert valuable taxpayer monies into the family interests.

Although the DMK-Congress alliance do not attribute their debacle to voter’s perceptions of nepotism and ‘high handedness’, the message is fairly clear that transparent governance in the best interest of the common man will become the key success factor in elections.

Good governanceThe importance of good governance has become the ‘writing on the wall’! Poor infrastructure facilities in Kerala, power cuts and water shortages in Tamil Nadu, lack of law and order and high-handedness in West Bengal, failing to contain prices of essential commodities across the country, are all key contributories to the debacle of the ruling governments in each

of these states. It is fairly clear that there seems to be no substitute for good governance!

Conduct of electionsIndia being the biggest democracy, and having a large proportion of illiterate and ‘below poverty line’ voters, conducting a fair and just election is an enormous challenge, which astonishes even developed democracies like the United States! India’s Election Commission has received all round applause for monitoring every party in line with the code of conduct, conducting

seamless searches and recovering crores of cash intended to bribe the voters, and for maintaining law and order on the polling and counting days.

The Indian voter maturesThis is one of the biggest takeaways from the current bout of elections! The voter turnout crossed 80 percent in some states! Further, in spite of widespread cash and freebees distributions, they have stuck to their ideology and exercised their choice to bring about the necessary change!

With crucial elections coming up in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab sometime next year, and with the issue of corruption still being a major focus point at the centre, the UPA will need to consider stronger measures

to combat corruption and focus on good governance. It seems that the voters in the country are steadily moving towards more matured and thought out exercise of their voting rights. Such a trend will go towards improving governance, speedier economic reforms, accelerated private investments and thereby a probability of higher economic growth in the medium to long term future!

Dr Suresh Srinivasan is a Chartered Accountant, Cost Accountant, MBA (Bradford Business School, UK) and PhD (in Corporate Strategy from IIT Madras). He has held senior positions in leading multinational corporations both in India and abroad for over 20 years. As a management consultant, he currently works closely with a number of domestic and multinational corporations in the areas of Strategy and Finance.

Current Affairs

STUDY HOUR

She is versatile and plays the role of a mother, daughter, wife, sister,

a home-maker and a working woman with élan and elegance.

She is munificent but not dissolute, multifaceted yet unostentatious,

poised but not phlegmatic, empathetic without being sententious.

She stands at par and walks shoulder-to-shoulder with men in every profession,

every strata of life without losing her distinct feminine adroitness, nimbleness and

EQ, which makes her achievements even more laudable.

She has traversed her way through exploitation and badgering and

has reached the apex of success in the world today. She is a woman of substance.

Here’s wishing her a Happy Mother’s Day!

An ode to Mother

WORD DOSE Reshma Majithia

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WORD MEANINGS

Versatile: (Adj) (vur-suh- tahyl)

having or capable of handling a variety of

situations, problems or jobs

Élan: (N) (ey-lahn)

ardour, zeal, dash, flair

Munificent: (Adj)

(myoo-nif-uh-suhnt)

extremely liberal in

giving; very generous

Dissolute: (Adj)

(dis-uh-loot)

indifferent to moral

restraints; given to

immoral or improper

conduct; licentious;

dissipated.

Multifaceted: (Adj)

(muhl-tee-fas-i-tid)

having many aspects,

abilities, etc

Unostentatious: (Adj)

(un- os-ten-tey-shuhs)

modest, plain, quiet,

reserved

Poised: (Adj)

(poizd)

composed, dignified, and

self-assured, calm and

confident

Phlegmatic: (Adj)

(fleg-mat-ik)

cold and impassive

Empathetic: (Adj)

(em-puh-thet-ik)

compassionate,

sensitive

Sententious: (Adj)

(sen-ten-shuh s)

preachy, didactic,

judgemental

At par: (Idiom)

equal

Strata: (strat-uh)

societal group

Adroitness: (N)

(uh-droit-ness)

skillful, clever

Nimbleness: (N)

(nim-buh -ness)

lively, brisk, swift

Laudable: (Adj)

(aw-duh-buh l)

deserving praise;

praiseworthy;

commendable

Traversed: (V)

(trav-ers)

to pass or move over,

along, or through with

toughness

Exploitation: (N)

(ek-sploi-tey-shuh n)

taking mean advantage

Badgering: (V)

(baj-er-ing)

to harass or urge

persistently

Apex: (N)

(ey-peks)

top, high point

Substance:(N)

(suhb-stuhns)

essence, significance

Word DoseSTUDY HOUR


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Reshma Majithia1. Who has topped the ET-

Corporate Dossier ranking of India Inc’s Most Powerful CEOs for the third year in a row?

a. Lakshmi Mittal b. Mukesh Ambani c. Ratan Tata d. Sunil Mittal

2. He is an American political figure and was serving as U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of India. He was nominated by U.S. President Barack Obama as the 21st U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of India on May 27, 2009. He resigned due to personal commitments. Name him.

a. David C. Mulford b. Timothy J. Roemer c. Robert D. Blackwill d. Richard F. Celeste

3. The world’s largest generic drugmaker has agreed to buy specialty pharma company Cephalon in a $6.8 billion deal. Name the drug maker.

a. Pfizer b. Aptopex c. Watson Pharmaceuticals d. Teva Pharmaceuticals

4. According to a leading global consultancy, the Indian aerospace industry has experienced significant growth during the last five years and is expected to reach $23.5 billion by:

a. 2016 b. 2015 c. 2020 d. 2014

5. Which of the following Indian companies has become the first producer of steel plates approved by the government for supply to the Indian Navy for building strategic warships?

a. ArcelorMittal b. Tata c. Essar d. POSCO India

6. An American film and stage actor and director, he has been named as the 2011 recipient of the Jaeger-Le Coultre Glory to the Filmmaker Award. The award is given annually to an artist who has left an original mark on contemporary cinema. Name the actor.

a. Al Pacino b. George Clooney c. Tom Hanks d. Tom Cruise

7. He is regarded as the greatest Spanish golfer of all time and has won five major championships between 1979 and 1988, the Open Championship three times and the Masters Tournament

twice. He was also successful in the Ryder Cup, helping the European team to five wins both as a player and captain, and won the World Match Play Championship a record-tying five times. He is best known for his great short game and his erratic driving of the golf ball. He passed away on May 7, 2011. Name him.

a. Seve Ballesteros b. Pablo Martín c. Santiago Luna d. José Manuel Lara

8. Warner Music, the world’s third largest music firm has been bought by Access Industries, run by Russian born billionaire

How to PlayFill in the grid so that every horizontal row, every vertical column and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1-9, without repeating the numbers in the same row, column or box. You can’t change the digits already given in the grid. Every puzzle has one solution.Hint: Don’t fill in numbers at random. While filling a particular square, write numbers 1-9 on a pad and start eliminating those numbers that already appear in the same row, column or 3x3 box.

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Len Blavatnik in cash for __________

a. $ 2 billion b. $ 2.5 billion c. $ 3.3 billion d. $ 7.6 billion

9. Who has retained his position as the richest person in the UK for the 7th year in a row in 2011?

a. Rahul Bajaj b. Ratan Tata c. Lakshmi Mittal d. Azim Premji

10. British luxury carmaker plans to spend £5 billion ($8.2 billion) on new cars and equipment over the next five years in order to better compete with its German rivals.Name the carmaker.

a. Aston Martin b. Jaguar Land Rover c. Bristol Limps d. Vauxhall 11. France Telecom has entered into

a partnership with which of the following countries to deliver real time healthcare services in the country throughout its enterprise communications arm, Orange Business Services?

a. Bahrain b. India c. Bhutan d. Indonesia

12. India’s second largest Pharmaceutical Healthcare company has announced its entry into financial services business. Name the company.

a. Cadila Pharmaceuticals b. Intas Pharmaceuticals c. Pfizer d. Piramal Healthcare

13. Who has been appointed British High Commissioner to India?

a. Richard Stagg b. James Bevan c. Michael Arthur d. John Holmes

14. Who has been chosen for the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International

Understanding for her enormous efforts toward sustainable and equitable development?

a. Sheila Bair b. Wangari Maathai c. Angela Merkel d. Cynthia Carroll

15. US software giant is close to clinching a deal to buy Internet telephony pioneer Skype for $ 7-8 billion. Name the US software giant.

a. Hewlett Packard b. Google c. IBM d. Microsoft

16. Who was announced as the ‘Tobacco Control Ambassador of India’ by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare?

a. Shaan Mukherjee b. Aamir Khan c. Abhishek Bachchan d. Shabana Azmi

17. He is an English rock guitarist and bassist and is best known as a former member of The Jeff Beck Group, Faces, and current member of The Rolling Stones. He has been named music radio personality of the year at the Sony radio awards. Name him.

a. Chris Wolstenhome b. Ronnie Wood c. Gary Grainger d. Dominic Howard

18. Who was awarded the Sydney Peace Foundation’s top honour for “exceptional courage in pursuit of human rights?

a. Julian Assange b. Nelson Mandela c. Irene Khan d. Kathryn Greiner

19. Who has been appointed as Vice-President of Engineering, Enterprise Servers, Storage and Networking (ESSN) India?

a. Sunil Senan b. Girish Vaidya c. V. Balakrishnan d. Naresh Shah

20. Name the world’s largest technology companies that opted out from bidding for the 2,000-crore outsourcing from Unique Identity Development Authority of India, (UIDAI).

a. Infosys and Patni b. Wipro and Accenture c. TCS and HCL d. IBM and HP

21. Which of the following global information technology (IT) service companies has acquired a controlling stake in Brazilian hydraulic cylinder manufacturer RKM Equipamentos Hidrulicos Ltd?

a. HCL Technologies b. Wipro c. Patni Computer Systems d. I-flex Solutions

22. Which of the following movies was the big winner at this year’s National Movie Awards, winning three prizes? It won the best drama, beating Black Swan, 127 Hours and The Social Network.

a. The King’s Speech b. No Strings Attached c. Pirates of the Caribbean: On

Stranger Tides d. The Hangover II

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Answer to the Sudoku

1.c 2.b 3.d 4.a 5.c

6.a 7.a 8.c 9.c 10.b

11.c 12.d 13.b 14.c 15.d

16.a 17.b 18.a 19.d 20.d

21.b 22.a

Answers

Solution, tips and computer programme at www.sudoku.com

Documents

Advanc'edge MBA June 2011