Advanc'edge MBA_May 2011

May 2011 Mumbai | Volume VIII | Issue 10

Rs. 100/-

MiM programme

Subscriber’s Copy

What’s in it

for YOU

The ABCs of Luxury Management...Pg 22

Fr P T Joseph S J, Director, XIMBon the 3 Continent Master of Global Management ...Pg 12

John Campagnino, Senior Director of Global Recruitment, Accentureon career opportunities for MBAs...Pg 20

Dr Rama Velamuri, Academic Director, CEIBSon the EMBA market in India...Pg 27

Why should you do an MBA after BCom/CA?...Pg 16

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Advanc’edge MBA March 2011 1

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There are quite a few masters in

management programmes that do NOT require work experience.

Sarita Kutty

An alternative approach

It almost goes without saying that most schools require students to have a few years of work experience, before seeking admission for an MBA. This is because schools believe that working professionals will relate to the values of business

ethics, diversity, organisational skills, etc more swiftly in the classroom. However, there are MBA colleges that do accept students without work experience. Also, there are quite a few masters in management programmes that do NOT require work experience. In fact, they are aimed at people with one year or less work experience.

In such a scenario, a few B-schools offer graduating students a deferred admission through various programmes. Among the schools that have some variation on this theme include: HBS, Stanford, Yale, and Chicago. In the case of Yale, the modality is study for one year, work, and then finish the second year of the MBA after acquiring work experience.

In India, academics are unanimous in their view that the growth in management education in the country is quantitative, not qualitative. This quality gap needs to be addressed to acquire competitive edge, and with the recent visit of President Obama, foreign collaborations with Indian higher education institutions gained a new wave of enthusiasm and excitement. Recently some major announcements related to academic collaborations also contributed to positive sentiments. For example, Strathclyde University with SKIL has announced a Masters in Management programme to be offered by Strathclyde. Later they plan to offer 3-year BBA and 1-year MBA programmes. Read the Cover Story for an in-depth insight into the world of Masters in Management programmes.

Then again, one of the biggest changes in graduate management education has been the dramatic increase in the accessibility of schools and programmes to students of diverse backgrounds worldwide. Demographic changes, with a growing middle class in countries such as India and China, have contributed to an increasing student population, the expansion of existing schools and programmes, and development of new ones. For many students in these countries, going West is no longer the only option to gain an excellent business education. Schools in the East too have become more creative in adapting their curriculum to local needs or changing business and market needs, which has made the graduate management education option more attractive. The Region Focus focusses on schools in the East.

This issue also unfolds a whole lot of information in terms of the career options that are available for an MBA graduate. Turn the pages to Careers Watch and MBA Buzz.

Happy Reading!

Editor-in-ChiEf Kamlesh Sajnani

Editorial

Editor: Sarita Kutty

Assistant Editor: Radhika Arunkumar

Senior Correspondent: Gauri Puranik

Correspondents: Reshma Majithia

Serena Kallian

dEsign

Amar Deshmukh Uma Shirke

advErtising Rekha Billava,

Nikhil Harpale, Arun Jain,Nitin Kewlani, Suchita Parab

Tel - 022-23533503/05/10

CirCulation / subsCription

Ramesh More

hEad - publiCations

Anil Bhagtani

addrEss for CorrEspondEnCE

Advanc’edge MBA, IMS Publications,

A Division of IMS Learning Resources Pvt. Ltd.,

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Contributors

Atasi Das Dr Shubhra Gaur,

Dr Suresh Srinivasan, Priya Gokani

WritE to thE Editor at:[email protected]

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www.imspublications.com,www.imsindia.com

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.

www.advancedge.com

FIRST STEPCOVER STORY

04 MIM programme: What’s in it for you?

STUDENT INTERVIEW

10 Carlos Sanz Esteve, Masters in Management, London Business School

ADMISSION Q&A

12 Fr P T Joseph, Director, XIMB

CAREER WATCHIN FOCUS

16 Why do an MBA after BCom / CA?

RECRUITER Q&A

20 John Campagnino, Senior Director of Global Recruitment,

Accenture

MBA BUZZSPECIAL REPORT

22 Do it in style: The ABCs of Luxury Management

SCHOOL SPEAK

27 Dr Rama Velamuri, Academic Director of CEIBS’s

International Executive MBA

STUDENT INTERVIEW

29 Deepak Nanwani, IIM Bangalore

PLACEMENT REPORT

32 Placement Report

FINANCIAL GUIDE

38 Fees in Indian B-schools

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/-

REGION FOCUS

40 Move over Uncle Sam!! The tigers and the dragons are coming!

SUCCESS STREET

44 The power of social networking

SKILLZ

46 Nurture your creative blocks

CORPORATE WORLDBRAND WAGON

50 The ever-expanding Virgin Brand

EXECUTIVE SUITE

52 Sankar Ramamurthy, ED & Head - People &

Change Consulting, PwC India

BUSINESS ANALYSIS

53 How can India deepen its manufacturing sector?

55 Economic impact of Japan’s crisis

57 Economic Indicators

WORLD VIEW

59 Lokpal Bill

STUDY HOURWORD DOSE

61 An April Fool’s Day hoax

63 Globscan Sudoku

64 B-school Events

Contents May 2011

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

FIRST STEP

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

FIRST STEP

“

”

Patrice Houdayer, Vice President - Graduate Programmes, EMLYON Business School

“The values upon which our school’s mission statement ‘Educating Entrepreneurs for the World’ is based are an integral part of our Master of Science in Management programme. Studying at EMLYON Business School is all about developing the mind-set of an entrepreneur and acquiring the academic knowledge that will help you successfully navigate the different business environments you will encounter throughout your career in international management.

MiM programmeWhat’s in it for you?

Are you a recent graduate with less than 1-year of work experience? In today’s increasingly crowded job market, the Masters in Management (MiM) degree is one option you could look at. The MiM degree will provide you with the skill-set necessary to compete in today’s highly competitive job market. With this type of degree, you can work not only in a traditional business setting, but also in a specialised niche, such as sports, healthcare, education, or finance. Sarita Kutty demystifies a few important myths surrounding the MiM programmes…

The ever-increasing complexity of the business environment

has placed a premium on those who understand business in a cohesive, cross-functional way, and can communicate their ideas effectively. In such a scenario, the Masters in Management (MiM) programme is specifically designed to provide high-calibre recent graduates with a solid foundation in understanding what business is about while developing the skills and awareness needed to be a successful manager.

The programme is mainly targeted at candidates with non-business related unde rg radua te degrees such as in Humanities, Science, Arts or Engineering, and at those with a background in business studies. Besides, the MiM enables you to expand your career options by combining the specialist knowledge of your undergraduate degree with a broad and general business management post graduate education.

Global reachThe Master in Management (also often called MiM, Master of Science in Management or Master of Management) is aimed at helping university graduates without work experience find a management job fast and

e a s i l y .

The 11- to 36-month long programmes, prepare students for leading positions in companies. The MiM is offered in Europe as well as in Asia, Australia, and Canada.

In the US, the MSc in Management is rather unusual because there it is common to first undertake work experience immediately after the Bachelor degree and then add an MBA. Nevertheless, single US-Universities do offer MiM programmes but these take place in less known institutions.

How is the MiM different from the MBA?

The three key differences include: 4 Age of students4 P r o f e s s i o n a l experience4 Programme tuition

feesMiM programmes are

designed for people in the early stages of their

career – right after their undergraduate degree or after about a year on the job. Most business schools, actually, do not require professional experience at all for their MiM programmes. As for the tuition

Cover Story


FIRST STEPCover Story

School name CountryESCP Europe France,

U.K., Italy, Germany, Spain

Cems Across locations

HEC Paris France

Universität St.Gallen Switzerland

EM Lyon Business School France

Grenoble Graduate School of Business

France

London School of Economics and Political Science

U.K.

Essec Business School France

Esade Business School Spain

Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University

Netherlands

WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management

Germany

Mannheim Business School Germany

Edhec Business School France

Stockholm School of Economics Sweden

ESC Toulouse France

City University: Cass U.K.

Audencia Nantes France

IAG-Louvain School of Management

Belgium

Solvay Business School Belgium

Reims Management School France

Copenhagen Business School Denmark

Rouen Business School France

WU (Vienna University of Economics and Business)

Austria

Maastricht University Netherlands

University of Strathclyde Business School

U.K.

Imperial College Business School

U.K.

Universiteit Antwerpen Management School

Belgium

Skema France

Aalto University School of Economics

Finland

Euromed Management France

Kozminski University Poland

Università Bocconi Italy

School name CountryHEC Montreal Canada

Bem Bordeaux Management School

France

HEC Lausanne Switzerland

Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School

Belgium

HHL-Leipzig GSM Germany

Aston Business School U.K.

NHH Norway

University of Bath School of Management

U.K.

University of Cologne, Faculty of Management

Germany

ICN Business School France

Nottingham University Business School

U.K.

IAE Aix-en-Provence Graduate School of Management

France

Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Antai

China

ESC Clermont France

National Chengchi University Taiwan

Warsaw School of Economics Poland

Eada Spain

Aarhus School of Business Denmark

ESC Tours-Poitiers (ESCEM) France

Nyenrode Business Universiteit Netherlands

Bradford University School of Management

U.K.

TiasNimbas Business School, Tilburg University

Netherlands

Durham Business School U.K.

Faculdade de Economia of the Universidade Nova de Lisboa

Portugal

University of Economics, Prague Czech Republic

Brunel University U.K.

Lancaster University Management School

U.K.

University College Dublin: Smurfit

Ireland

Corvinus University of Budapest Hungary

National Sun Yat-Sen University Taiwan

BI Norwegian School of Management

Norway

Politecnico di Milano School of Management

Italy

Table 1: B-schools offering MiM programmes

”

“JP Rai, Group CEO, Strathclyde SKIL Business School

Based on our own experiences, and the need to equip our young men and women with the skill sets necessary to reap the benefits of our democratic dividend, we have worked with the University of Strathclyde to create a unique curriculum for our Masters in Management (MiM) course – one that ensures that the original Strathclyde curriculum is delivered in the context of the role that Indian managers will be expected to play on the world stage. The MiM initiative is the first one that we will be launching in the 2011 academic session at the Greater NOIDA campus, with more such campuses coming up in the future, with ever widening disciplines being covered.


FIRST STEP

“

”

Jean-Paul Larçon, Academic Director, Senior Associate Dean for International Development, CEMS HEC

HEC’s Master in International Business (HEC MIB) is a 12-month full-time Master program taught entirely in English. It is designed to give participants the pertinent academic and practical knowledge in management for an international career. This program also benefits from close ties with the business community: corporate partners help us shape the curriculum and are also very active in providing practical knowledge; they take part in courses, training seminars, consultancy projects and conferences organised on campus.

fees, the MiM programmes are cheaper than MBA programmes. While tuition fees at the most expensive full-time MBA programmes can reach as high as Euro 60,000, the most expensive MiM programmes cost only about half of that.

Further, the length of MiM programmes is an enormous advantage – usually a year. It helps students enter the job market faster without compromising on the quality and quantity of education. Moreover, the MiM programme duration also includes a compulsory internship programme. And while the average programme duration of MiM programmes is 11-18 months, the Yale Silver Scholars Program (USA) with a duration of 3 years is an exception to this rule. This programme has a 3-year duration. Students do one year in class, followed by a 12 months’ internship and then complete 1 more year in class after their internship. The London Business School MiM programme has a two-month internship before the start of the programme followed by 11 months’ in-class training. Most UK programmes are of 12 months’ duration and include a research project to be completed by the student in the third term usually with a sponsoring organisation. Table 2 offers an insight into the length of the study period for the MiM programmes in a select few schools.

What is taught in MiM programmes?MiM programmes are postgraduate programmes in general management. They are not the same as Master in Marketing, Master in Project Management, Master in Human Resources Management, Master in IT Management, or Master in Innovation Management programs. Instead, a MiM course portfolio covers a broad range of business topics including some of the aforementioned. Some of the specialisations include:l MSc in Sustainable

Developmentl MSc in Managerial and

Financial Economicsl MSc In Marketing

l Master in Strategy and International Management

l MSc in Luxury Management and Marketing

l MSc in Management Consulting

l MSc in Innovation, Strategy and Entreprenuership

l MSc Management of Biotechnology Companies

l Masters in International Hospitality and Tourism Management

l MSc Organisational Behaviour

l MSc Organisational Psychology & Business

l MSc Social Responsibility & Sustainability

How to get in: Admission criteria for an MiM programmeIt is quite interesting to note that unlike in the best Indian MBA institutions where the percentage of engineers is exceedingly high (more than 90 percent), international MiM programmes tend to have a majority cohort comprising Commerc, BBA, Economics, Maths, Statistics, Law, Political Science, Psychology and other graduates. Figure 1 indicates the academic profile of students in MiM

Institute Programme lengthNyenrode Business Universitiet - Netherlands

16 months

Yale Silver Scholars – USA (MBA) 36 (Inclusive 12 months’ internship)

Grenoble – France 24 (Inclusive 12 months’ internship)

IUM – Monaco 12 months

LBS – UK 11 months

UCD – Dublin 12 months

CASS Business School 12 months

Aston Business School 12 months

St Gallens University 18 months

London School of Economics – UK 12 months

Esade Business School – Spain 12 months

Stockholm School of Economics – Sweden

22 months

NHH – Norway 24 months

Table 2: Length of study period for the MiM programmes

Figure 1: Academic profile of students in MiM programmes

Cover Story


FIRST STEP


FIRST STEP

”

“

Sébastien Vivier-Lirimont, Associate Dean MIM and MSc Programmes, EDHEC Business School

EDHEC Business School is emerging as one of the leading International Business Schools in Europe with its graduate and post-graduate programmes that take into account current markets dynamics. With its international positioning, we have seen a strong increase for our Masters in Management programmes (MIM Business in Management track and MIM in Financial Economics track). Each MSc programme is supported by a Research Centre that enables us to offer students with an in-depth expertise at a technical level and strong diversification of the relevant programme including dedicated workshops and in situ experiences.

programmes. For the MiM programmes,

the primary entry requirements include a bachelor degree, proof of language skills, GMAT or comparable tests, and the academic achievements during the undergraduate degree. About two thirds of the MiM programmes worldwide accept graduates from all types of undergraduate programmes whereas one third requires a degree in business or economics.Work experience not required: Most Masters in Management (MIM) do not require professional experience. This is an important difference to the Master of Business Administration (MBA) that

ususally requires a minimum of three years of professional experience. While most Management Masters do not require work experience, some do: for example, the MIT Sloan Master of Science in Management tudies. Tests: Some universities require a GMAT score of their applicants for the admission to a MiM degree course. There is no certain information about the score that has to be reached. Some schools are content with a score of 500 whereas others require ‘600-800’.

Further, besides TOEFL or IELTS, some business schools also accept other verifications about foreign language skills such as the Cambridge

Proficiency Examination (CPE) and the Cambridge Advanced Examination (CAE). Some Business Schools even have in-house tests. This can be an advantage for the applicant because he saves spending money on the TOEFL. The disadvantage obviously is that the test is only valid for the university in question. Those who want to apply for several universities will generally not be able to get around without the TOEFL.

Intakes, application deadline and batch sizeAlmost all the MiM programmes begin in the fall of each year (August to September). However, some MiM programmes offer an additional spring intake (January-February). Further, international institutions have 3 to 4 cycles of application. Most MiM programmes normally open their first round of application in the month of October. Table 3 indicates the last date of application along with the date of commencement of MiM programme in a few B-schools.

As far as the batch is concerned, MiM programmes have a group size ranging between 50 and 200. The top 100 MiM programmes cumulatively have 10,000 seats. The average application to selection ratio at most MiM programmes is 4:1.

Financing your MiMMiM programmes may easily cost you between Euro 20,000 and 35,000 depending where you do it and which lifestyle costs you have in addition to the tuition fees. The tuition fee includes overall programme instruction, manuals provided to the students and other course materials, accommodation and transport for the international trip and other residential seminars. Living expenses, on the

Table 3: Date of application and Intake for MiM programmesInstitute Programme

nameLast date of Application

In-take

Programme start date

Maastrict University

Masters in International Management

June 1 Fall September

Bath Business School

MSc in International Management

June 30 Fall Late September

Aston Business School

MSc in Management

July 30 Fall Late September

Nyenrode Business Universitiet

MSc in Management


London Business School

Masters in Management


Grenoble Business School



Esade Business School



Stockholm School Of Economics – Sweden

Masters in Business & Economics

January 17 Fall August

Mannhiem Business School – Germany

MSc in Business Management

May 31 Fall September

NHH - Norway

MSc in Economics and Business Administration

February 15

Fall August

Cover Story


FIRST STEP

other hand, will include rent, electricity, water, laundry, food, travel, leisure, cell phones, etc. In Europe, for instance, personal expenses on an average will be Euro 1000.

Career and placement opportunities With plenty of global companies setting up base in India, job opportunities for MiM graduates are plentiful in India. A good plan for you will be to work in international economies for at least 2-4 years and gain sufficient global exposure. This would facilitate your return to middle-management positions in India.

Some of the Indian origin companies that hire from these programmes include:l Tata Motors – JLR –

London Business School – UK

l TCS – Grenoblel Tata Motors – Grenoblel Wipro Technologies –

Grenoblel Jones Lang Lasalle –

(India) – Erasmus

The average salaries tend to be in the range of 25 to 35 lakh annually from these programmes. The general thumb rule for salaries in Finance & Consultancy to FMCG is 10:7. Some companies also give students joining bonuses and end of year incentives apart from the salary.

It is also important to note that companies who

hire from MiM programmes are MNCs (Table 5), and they value students from MiM programmes, as they can be placed anywhere across the globe.

In summaryMiM programmes are an investment, not only financially but also in terms of your effort and time. Moreover, the trend towards globalised markets is ever increasing. It is therefore of vital importance for companies operating internationally to meet the challenges these trends bring about. The development of sustainable and success-oriented strategies thus call for managers with an extensive knowledge of modern management concepts and innovative means of implementation at the international level.

In such a scenario, the MIM programme prepares young managers tackle international level issues. Further, the learning environment, curriculum, ambience etc are conducive for the all-round growth of students as required by the corporate world. Thus, defining your career path early on in life for will help you enjoy your studies and profit from them sooner than later.

Table 4: Broad classification of industries / departments where you could work

Finance Marketing Other industries

Corporate finance Marketing Energy

Central banks, ministries and regulation

Advertising Internet

Public finance Market Research Minerals & Mining

Asset Management Data Analytics – Consumer Behaviour

Real Estate

Retail & Commercial Banking

Retailing Logistics & sales

Technology and Telecom

Private Equity and Venture Capital

Product management FMCG

Commodity Trading Customer Relations Leisure and Tourism

Rating Agencies PR and Media Departments

Manufacturing

Table 5: MNCs who hire from MiM programmesSector Name of organizationsFinance Airbus, Deloitte, Goldman Sacs, Cadbury,

Schneider Electric, Thyssen Krupp, ABB Oil & Gas, Rothschild, London Stock Exchange, Bloomberg, Risk Capital Partners, Phillip Morris

Marketing P&G, Unilever, Coca Cola, Ac Neilson, Pfizer, Eurosport, Adidas, Sony, Disney, Colgate Palmolive, Danone, Facebook

Banking HSBC, BNP Paribas, Royal Bank of Scotland, Duetsche Bank, ING, Nomura, Credit Suisse, Barclays Capital, Bain & Company, Black-rock, Blackstone, CITI

Sports AEG Rocky Mountain Region, Ascent Sports, Ball Corporation, COGA, Coloco Inc, Comcast, Denver Broncos Football Club, Great West Life, Vail Resorts, Manchester United, Nimbus World Sports

Real Estate ABN Amro, CBRE, Colliers CRE, Jones Lang Lasalle, Cushman & Wakefield, DTZ, Knight Frank, Citigroup, KPMG, Savills, Credit Suisse

Hospitality Mariott, Jumeirah Hotels Group, Ritz, Sodexo, Cushman & Wakefield, Rafells, Intercontinental Hotels, Accor Hotels, Hyatt, Four Seasons, Disney Resort, Hilton

Luxury Brands

Cartier, Cayman, Hugo Boss, Louis Vuitton, L’Oreal, Swarovski, Gucci, Tissot, Porche, Chanel

”

“

Laura Zoni, MIM Chair, International Partnership of Business Schools (IPBS)

The MIM programme, designed within the IPBS network, is certainly a challenging path for individuals with high expectations and strong motivation to pursue their goals. Within the IPBS each Partner Institution strives to offer a programme whose contents and values can help you to make the most of your potential. The MIM programme is an exciting programme in which business skills, ethical principles and social sensitivity are fully integrated. It is a “hands-on” programme that is both rigorous and up-to-date.

Cover Story


FIRST STEP

“The approach in MiM is much more practical and the learning is much more experiential”

What were your reasons for studying a Masters in Management, and why did you choose London Business School?After gaining professional experience in law, I wanted to accomplish two goals in my next immediate career step: working in a more business-related function; and internationalising my career. Because of the economic crisis and its effects on the job market, I realised that I needed the branding of a prestigious institution on my CV to help me achieve these goals. Being globally recognised as a preeminent business school, London Business School perfectly suited my aspirations, and the Masters in Management for students without extensive work experience provided a fantastic opportunity to get into business school straight from undergraduate level.

What have been the key benefits of the programme?On top of the comprehensive and rigorous tuition covering the main areas of business, the programme and the School community offered a wide range of benefits. The programme is structured with a focus on a practical approach and a great deal of group work, and I gained a broad range of soft skills which will be of great benefit to me in my future career.

There are a huge number of opportunities for students to gain in-depth knowledge of a wide variety of business areas. These arise through activities such as the summits, guest speaker events and seminars that are organised by the School clubs.

Access to the School alumni community and to MBA students also provided fantastic opportunities for networking – a key aspect of securing a top job.

How do you think the programme will help you in your future career?

… says Carlos Sanz Esteve, who is pursuing Masters in Management (MiM) from London Business School. Prior to joining the programme, Carlos gained work experience at Uría Menéndez, a leading Spanish law firm. In this e-interview with Sarita Kutty, he outlines the key benefits of the programme.


Student Interview


FIRST STEP

Many of the soft skills gained throughout the programme will be essential in both my immediate and my long term career, and the network I formed on the programme will be of great help in the future. In this sense, one of the key aspects of the programme is the gathering of a large group of extremely talented, ambitious and diverse individuals. I am convinced that I will always be able to ask for help from my classmates if I need it, as they will be able to do so with me.

How has the Masters in Management differed from your undergraduate experience?The approach is much more practical and the learning is much more experiential, as it is mainly based on discussion, teamwork and reflection rather than memorising theories and frameworks. Moreover, London Business School is different from typical undergraduate institutions in the extracurricular experience it provides.The diversity and quality of both the academic and extracurricular activities at London Business School is something that particularly surprised me when I arrived

on campus, and the personalised, comprehensive support received from Career Services is fantastic.

How do you think membership to the School’s alumni community will benefit you in the long term?I think membership to the School’s alumni community is one of the key benefits of the programme. Starting from my fellow classmates, I have been able to develop lifelong relationships that will enrich my personal and professional life. In addition to these close contacts, the School’s alumni are also willing to help you on the basis of your shared membership to this community. This can be very helpful in acquiring business opportunities.

Finally, in one sentence, how would you describe your experience of the London Business School Masters in Management?

My time at the School has been an intense experience combining academic rigour, strong emphasis on career placement and the development of interpersonal abilities, but with plenty of fun along the way as well!

London Business School perfectly

suited my aspirations, and the Masters in

Management for students without extensive work

experience provided a fantastic

opportunity to get into business

school straight from undergraduate level.


Student Interview


FIRST STEP

“Students will have the unique opportunity to benefit from an

international curriculum”

… says Fr P T Joseph S J, Director of the Bhubaneswar-based Xavier Institute of Management (XIMB), which recently signed an MoU with the Antwerp Management School in Belgium and Fordham Graduate School of Business in New York to launch its ‘3 Continent Master of Global Management (3C MGM)’ programme. The course allows a student to spend four months studying in each of the three continents. In this exclusive e-interview with Sarita Kutty, Prof Joseph outlines the course structure, admission procedures and the benefits that could be derived out of this programme.

Admission Q&A


FIRST STEP

Could you brief us about the “3Continent Master of Global Management” programme? What is the idea behind this unique initiative?The progam aims at admitting equal number of students from the American continent, Europe and from Asia. These students will spend four months in New York, the financial capital of USA, four months in Belgium which is the European Union capital and four months in Bhubaneswar. What better way to prepare young minds for a successful professional career than to offer them a global look at management? That’s the idea behind our unique initiative and exclusive master degree. As the first education of its kind, it will offer 60 open minded, top talented, recent university graduates clear management insights into 3 very diverse economies, namely Europe, USA and India. This one of a kind education is made possible by a pioneering partnership between our 3 Management Schools.

Each School will give the students a unique view of its region for 4 months, integrating culture and local business models to inspire these young minds not only in their chosen career, but also as future leaders of change.

In India, students will find out how a bottom of the pyramid economy works. In Europe they will discover a rich history of culture and all that comes with it. New York will show them a different financial spectrum, focusing on innovation and entrepreneurship. Three very different experiences that will change their outlook on life.

The 3Continent Master of Global Management will enable the graduates of our programme to enter their professional life with a global and open outlook. We will deliver global citizens of the world.

Who is the 3-Continent Master of Global Management” programme designed for?This programme is designed for young graduates for a successful career in global management. The programme will offer global exposure by faculty from 3 continents and also by working with students from different parts of the world.

A lot of learning in this programme happens through interacting and working with students from diverse culture, in different parts of the world.

Students will be given exposure to different countries in Europe through study trips. In India, it will be visiting villages to understand how ‘the bottom of the pyramid’ works. In New York, it will be visiting places where financial and communication innovation takes place.

Tell us a little about the programme and course details.‘Some things can’t be taught. They have to be learned

through experience around the world’. The focus is first and foremost on personal

development. By interacting with a international group of fellow students, being engaged by an international faculty and personal coaches and being paired to local high level alumni mentors in three very different environments, students will not only take away beneficial management

insights, but grow as individuals as well. Each student will follow an individual learning trajectory with a personalised evaluation, revealing personal talents, new skills and capabilities and paving the way for a smart career choice. Closely linked to personal growth is the need for young people to be aware of how quickly the world is changing due to globalisation. The best way to show the next generation of leaders how businesses work in different regions is by showing them up close. By experiencing India, Belgium and the United States from the front row, students have the unique opportunity to benefit from an international curriculum that offers them a global perspective on business and a different outlook on life. Finally, by experiencing different cultures and learning about the importance of sustainability, they will extract key lessons about professional dos and don’ts, as well as how to be a more balanced human being. As a result, these future leaders will discover that what is good for business, can also be

good for society.Fordham University, Antwerp Management School

Antwerp Course Faculty

0 credit Pre-Requisite for those requiring

Professors Bert Cambré & Marc Ingham

1 credit Personal Development Portfolio

Morton Lindh, Ruth Leahy, And Peter Kähäri

3 credits Integrated Performance Management

Professor Michael Corbey

3 credits Managerial Decision Making

Professor Bart Cambré

3 credits Fundamentals of Global Business & Organizations in a Global Context

Professors: Joe Nellis John Glen, and Patrick Kenis

1 credit The European Business Context: Cultural Diversity and the EU

Professors: Elizabeth Dezutter and Banu Goleshorki

This programme is designed for

young graduates for a successful career in global management.

The programme will offer global

exposure by faculty from 3 continents and also by working

with students from different

parts of the world.

Admission Q&A


FIRST STEP

and XIMB will offer its career management services so that students may choose a global career which suits them best.

Could you throw light on the Application / Evaluation Process and Estimated Expenses. How will the % weightage be assigned to CAT /XAT score, group discussion & personal interview, academic record, and work experience?Application process1. Apply online on the website: www.3cmgm.org . The

last date for online application is 30th April.2. Take a printout3. After receiving the online application form Indian

students, XIMB will evaluate the application and if the student satisfies minimum requirements, then XIMB will ask the student to send the hard copy of

the application form along with all the supporting documents and application fee of Rs.3000.

4. If for some reason, after the interview, if the student is not given admission, then the application fee will be returned.

5. The student will be called for interview in the month of May.

6. Within a few days of the interview, the student will be informed of the result of the interview.

7. If selected, the student will have to pay the fees to Antwerp.

8. Immediately after receiving admission, Antwerp Management school will issue the necessary papers for visa to Belgium.

Expenses for the programmeTuition, incl. books and supplies: € 24,900Living Cost. Room. Travel estimate: € 15,000Total Estimated Expense: € 39,900

Selection process1. Only qualified students will be asked to send the hard

copy of the application form2. All the students who meet the basic qualifying

standards will be called for interview.3. There is no GD.4. There will be a personal interview. The admission will

be based on the interview and the qualities that will be assessed include ability to become a global manager, communication skills and academic background.

Basic minimum requirements for qualifying for the programme include:• Recent graduation degree in any discipline with a

minimum of 55% marks.

XIMB Course Faculty

1 credit Personal Development

Fr.PT Joseph, SJ

3 credits

The Strategic Perspective: First Integration and Cornerstone Case

Professor Amar KJR Nayak

3 credits

Innovation Management

Prof.Shambu Prasad

3 credits

Operations, Logistics and Supply Chain Excellence in the Globalized World

Professor Winfred William & Santosh Biswal

3 credit Global Human Resource Management

Professors: Andrew Dutta

1 credit The Indian Business Context: A “Bottom of the Pyramid” Emerging Economy, Technology and Innovation

Professor Amar Nayak & Shambu Prasad

Fordham Course Faculty

1 credit Personal Development

Professor John Hollwitz

3 credits Corporate Finance Professor Sris Chatterjee

3 credits International Marketing Management

Professor Sertan Kabadayi

3 credits International Business Law

Professor Hiro Aragaki

3 credits Integrating the Business Process: Global Strategy and Business Leadership

Professor John Yang

1 credit The American Business Context: Global Finance and Financial Institutions, Money Center of the World

Professors Frank Werner and Paul McNellis

Admission Q&A


FIRST STEP

• 550 scores for GMAT or with 80 percentile or more in CAT/ XAT/MAT.

• Proficiency in English• From India, we will recruit students who have up to 5

years of work experience.

What could be the benefits and career impact?F o r d h a m U n i v e r s i t y , A n t w e r p M a n a g e m e n t School and XIMB will offer its career management services so that students may choose a global career which suits them best. In all the three places, they will have access to interact with business organisations of their choice.

There are several multinational companies who have already shown interest in such a programme and have shown interest in recruiting these students.‘Some things can’t be taught. They have to be learned through experience around the world’. The focus is first and foremost on personal development. By interacting with a international group of fellow students, being engaged by an international faculty and personal coaches and being paired to local high level

alumni mentors in three very different environments, students will not only take away beneficial management insights, but grow as individuals as well.

Each student will follow an individual learning trajectory with a personalised evaluation, revealing personal talents, new skills and capabilities and paving

the way for a smart career choice. Closely linked to personal growth is the need for young people to be aware of how quickly the world is changing due to globalisation.

The best way to show the next generation of leaders how businesses work in different regions is by showing them up close. By experiencing India, Belgium and the United States from the front row, students have the unique opportunity to benefit from an international curriculum that offers them a global perspective on business and a different outlook on life.

Finally, by experiencing different cultures and learning about the importance of sustainability, they will extract key lessons about professional dos and don’ts, as well as how to be a more balanced human being. As a result, these future leaders will discover that what is good for business, can also be good for society.

”“There are several multinational companies who have already shown interest in such a programme and have shown interest in recruiting these students.

XAVIER INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT - BHUBANESWAR

Admission Q&A

CAREERS WATCH


In Focus

Why do an MBA after BCom / CA?

Employment opportunities are available for the students of B. Com and companies give

preference to the candidate with English language proficiency and communications skills. A graduate can join any private or government organisation as a specialist in any of the streams of commerce, such as economics, accountancy or work as an accounts executive, junior accountant or pursue a career in auditing or banking. These days, many multi national BPO companies and banks have set up branches in India and are recruiting at the graduate level. The remuneration largely depends upon the standard of organisations and the area of specialisation. Private and government organizations have their own policies regarding salary of professionals working in the field of commerce. In most places one can join as entry level executive or as an accountant in starting salaries that range from Rs. 15,000 to 30,000.

Professional Chartered Accountants have the option to be appointed as auditors of companies. They also can take private audit as their profession. It involves verifying books and

accounts and issuing certificate about the company’s financial state. The other areas of consultancy are cost accounting that includes working out cost of a particular operation as well as minimising costs and future forecasting. Tax Management is another type of consultancy taken up by Chartered Accountants. It requires minimisation of incidence of direct and indirect taxes using legal

means. They can efficiently provide services in areas like corporate law, project planning and finance, amalgamation and business advice. It is a profession where returns are quite high be it public, private sector or own consultancy firm. Salaries of CA employed in public or private sector companies vary depending upon qualification and experience. Average salaries at junior level are

Rs. 20000 to 35000 per month while a senior most CA can expect over Rs 50000 to a lakh per month.

Why an MBA after B.ComMany feel that if you want to stand out from the crowd you need to have something extra, and an MBA is the means to achieving this. Most notably this is the case in consultancy and finance where not having an MBA can be a barrier to career progression. A commerce graduate is good in accounting but he lacks in financial management, which comes from logical analysis of financial data. An MBA with specialisation in Finance helps a person to understand the job responsibilities of the Finance sector with respect to the customer. This increases

B.Com is a degree that has been very popular for a long time coming. Before the pre MBA era most students preferred to have a commerce graduation degree to help them focus on finance related jobs. It was the next best to engineering and medicine. A B.Com degree also helped one to ace the CA or the ICWA exams and one would often see a mad scramble for admissions. Over a period of time with the advent of the management degree, B.Com has come to be categorised as an entry level qualification for the job market in India. Chartered Accountancy (CA), Certified Financial Analyst (CFA), Cost Accountancy (from ICWA), etc. were identified as lucrative careers in finance and till date continue to hold sway. However, if one were to look for a management angle to a career in the financial sector, one option would be combining the two- management and finance and what better than an MBA. Radhika Arunkumar reports.

CAREERS WATCH


net worth of that individual and he is able to take any related responsibility according to his specialisation. “A commerce graduate can enter this industry but top notch management jobs go to persons having MBA specialisation in Finance,” says Amuda an MBA professional.

An MBA facilitates improvement of leadership qualities and prepares students to face the corporate world and impart effective people-management skills. An accredited MBA degree from a prestigious business school endorses the managerial skills acquired during the course of the study. It has become ‘the most in demand’ degree in the current scenario and is regarded the easiest way to a well-paying job. Says Siddarth from HR College who is in the second year of graduation, “I have joined B.Com as I want to do my MBA from the IIMs. It is a natural progression as I know I will not be able to do anything in life with just a graduation and M.Com will not take me anywhere. Besides the education you get in accounting, finance, management, operations, etc., you will build your business network. Plus, graduating from a prestigious MBA programme adds brand value.”

There is often a stage when one is at crossroads and is not sure if an MBA is the right call. Says Amuda, “I too am a B Com graduate. And for quite sometime I was in the same state of confusion. After a lot of thinking I joined the course and I strongly recommend doing a management degree from a reputed institution. In today’s competitive business environment, an MBA is an essential pre-requisite for personal corporate advancement and holds an exceptional advantage over those without the qualification.”

Says Mani Singhal a B.Com (Honours) graduate from the Sri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi University who did his MBA from the Faculty of Management Studies, Delhi “Management to me seemed a logical extension of my background in commerce. It was meant to take my understanding of business and its dynamics to the level that is required to perform effectively in the corporate world. I found that the industry

interface the institutes provide during the MBA programme exposes you to the intricacies of a manager’s responsibilities. My aptitude in logical reasoning and my analytical ability were considerations in pursuing this career.”

Why an MBA after CAHowever if you are a qualified CA, the decision to pursue a management degree or continue in the current setup is often debated, the reasons being the same. Both a CA and an MBA may join the same companies, but their job profiles would be completely distinct. This is not to say that one job is superior to the other. But the fact is that, starting as a CA, you can expect to climb up the ladder upto the CFO position. While an MBA’s career path could take you upto the CEO position. Jobs purely in the CA domain are Statutory & Regulatory c o m p l i a n c e , C o n s o l i d a t i o n s , Taxation, International Accounting (GAAP), Internal Audit, Systems Audit, and Transaction Advisory etc. Profiles available to both CAs and MBAs are MIS, Business Planning, Equity Research, Treasury, Investment Banking,

Mergers and Acquisitions, Portfolio management, Fund management, Sector Analysis etc. Many employers prefer to hire MBAs from premier institutes for these roles, as it is felt they are more equipped to provide insight and analysis. Does a CA and an MBA provide an extra edge? Well logically having two degrees is often to an advantage. Deepa who works as a CA in an MNC says salary structures are good with experience and very satisfying. “I did not feel the requirement to do a management degree as it does not interests me. I know some friends who have done their CA and have done an MBA as well; they have not been placed at exceptional pay brackets. They are in fact at par with senior CAs and are doing the work of a CA. Anyway these are personal choices and my opinion is doing what you are good at and interested in.”

Factors to consider…When one wants to gain a position of greater responsibility, an MBA programme comes to the fore. A right MBA programme can help you take a right jump along with a leap in income. An MBA indicates that the person has the knowledge and skills that a job

An MBA facilitates improvement of

leadership qualities and prepares students to face the corporate

world and impart effective people-

management skills. It is regarded the easiest way to a well-paying job.

In Focus

Admission Process4 CAT (Common Aptitude test) CAT has become one of the most competitive

exams to judge the potential of the candidates willing to pursue their career in business administration. Most institutes ask for the CAT score as a parameter for admission. CAT Exam tests students on various parameters like Quantitative Aptitude, Reading Comprehension & Verbal Ability, Data Interpretation & Data Sufficiency

4 MAT (Management Aptitude test) MAT is the MBA entrance test conducted

country-wide by Centre for Management Services (CMS) of All India Management Association (AIMA). It is usually conducted four times in a year in February, May, September and December. MAT is conducted in all major cities in the country and in leading cities abroad.

4 Another way is to give the entrance exam to any university, which offers an MBA. They are UGC recognized and approved by AICTE; admission is through entrance test

4 You can also do MBA by Correspondence from any correspondence university.

CAREERS WATCH


demands. It provides opportunities for the specialisation especially in sectors like finance, marketing, HR, logistics, biotechnology etc

The MBA is not an end in itself, but a means to an end. It is a degree designed to give one the ability to develop his or her career to its fullest potential. Kruti Desai, an IIM A graduate, has a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce. She says the abilities essential for success are the need to communicate effectively, think clearly and always be willing to learn and change. “The first skill enables you to get work done and work effectively in teams, while the second enables you

to grasp situations or issues quickly and correctly and devise solutions for them. The third stems from the eternal reality of the corporate world where change is the only constant.”

An MBA graduate acquires skills that include an academic know-how of subjects that range from finance,

marketing, operations, management, accounting, HR etc. One also acquires analytical skills that help one to distinguish relevant from irrelevant information, identifying issues and problems; have the ability to set attainable goals, show maturity and tenacity, clarity, judgment, and to some extent intellectual creativity to develop new concepts and ideas. He also becomes skilled at leadership techniques, teamwork process, ethics, and most importantly communication that are so critical for effective management. Since an MBA programme attracts people from diverse educational backgrounds, industries and cultures, the programme

translates all of these into learning opportunities.

An MBA degree offers access to a network of MBA students, alumni, faculty, and business and community leaders. This network can be very useful when beginning a job search, developing a career path, building business relationships, or pursuing expertise outside one’s current field. The institution too plays an important role. The IIMs are known for their ability to provide students with skills and opportunities for personal growth; the reach of their alumni and industry network is worldwide.

ConclusionStudents with only graduation under their belt can opt for an MBA degree to achieve a managerial position in their field. Possession of an MBA degree would indicate to your prospective employer that you have the skills required to be successful in any business and that you would be able to manage and lead teams, have time management skills and so on. Re-inventing oneself and making the most of your education helps you in making the transition from a graduate to senior level management.

In Focus

B-schools at a glanceB Schools Programmes WebsiteIIM Ahmedabad FPM, PGP, PGP-ABM, PGPX, PGP-PMP, FDP www.iimahd.ernet.in

IIM Calcutta PGPEX-VLM, PGPEX, PGDM, PGDCM, FPM, CMDP www.iimcal.ac.in

IIM Bangalore PGP, PGSEM, PGPPM, EPGP, FPM, EEP http://www.iimb.ernet.in/

IIM Indore PGP, FPM, EPGP, PGPMX, FPM (Industry), FDP, Executive programmes

www.iimcal.ac.in

IIM Kozhikode PGP, IDL, FDP, MDP, FPM http://www.iimk.ac.in

IIM Lucknow PGPM, PGP AGM, IPMX, Part time PGPM, FPM www.iiml.ac.in

IIM Shillong PGP, FPM, MDP, www.iimshillong.in

ISB, Hyderabad PGP, PGPMAX, FPM, Executive programmes www.isb.edu

SP Jain Institute of Management Research (SPJIMR)

PGDM (2yrs), PGPM (11mths), PGCIM, Family Managed Business, PG EMP

http://www.spjimr.org/

An MBA graduate acquires skills that include an academic know-how of subjects that

range from finance, marketing, operations, management, accounting, HR etc.

CAREERS WATCH


In Focus

B Schools Programmes WebsiteXLRI, Jamshedpur BM, PM & IR, FPM, ExePGP, GMP, PGCBM, MDP http://www.xlri.ac.in/

FMS (Faculty of Management Studies) University of Delhi

MBA Full time, MBA Part time, MBA MS, MBA HCA Part time, MDP, Doctoral programmes

www.fms.edu

Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies (JBIMS)

MMS, MFM, MHRDM, MIM, MMM, Doctoral programmes http://www.jbims.edu/

Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS)

M.A. In Human Resources Management & Labour Relations, Diploma In Hospital Administration, Post Graduate Diploma In Child Rights (PGDCR)

http://www.tiss.edu/

Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai (NMIMS)

MBA, MBA (Pharmaceuticals Management), MBA (Capital Markets), MBA (Actuarial Science), MBA (Banking), MBA (HR), MBA (Entrepreneurship & Family Business), Executive Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management (EPGDBM)-Bengaluru, PGDM - Bengaluru

http://www.nmims.edu/

Shailesh J. Mehta School of Management, IIT Mumbai (Bombay) (SJMSOM)

M.Mgmt, MDP http://www.som.iitb.ac.in/

Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Pune (SIBM)

MBA, Ex MBA, One year PG diploma programmes http://www.sibm.edu/

XIMB (Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneshwar)

PGDM, PGDM-RM, PGDM-PT, FPM, PGPBFS, PGCBM, PGCHRM,

http://www.ximb.ac.in

Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, New Delhi and Kolkata

MBA (IB), MBA (IB) Part Time, EPGDIB, EPGDIB VSAT, EPGDIM, EPGDCFM, PGDIBYM, ADIB, Certificate Courses

http://www.iift.edu

Management Development Institute, MDI Gurgaon

PGPM, PGP-HR, PGP-IM, Part time PGPM, NMP, FPM, EX FPM, PGP-PPM, EPGDBM

http://www.mdi.ac.in/

Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad (MICA)

FPM-C, PGDM-C, PGPCMX, PGPCME, Post Graduate Certificate Programme

http://www.mica.ac.in

T.A. Pai Management Institute (TAPMI)

PGDM, eGPX, PGDM-Health Care, MESM http://www.tapmi.edu.in/

Loyola Institute of Business Administration (LIBA)

PGDM, PGDM Part Time http://liba.edu

Institute of Management Development Research, Pune (IMDR)

PGDM, MDBA, DHRM, DIT http://www.imdr.edu/

Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA)

PGDRM, FPRM, CRM, CPDM www.irma.ac.in

National Institute Of Industrial Engineering (NITIE)

FPM, MDP, UBP, PGDIE, PGDIM, PGDISEM, PGDITM http://www.nitie.edu

VGSoM IIT (Kharagpur) MBA, EMBA, MDP http://www.som.iitkgp.ernet.in/

DMS, IIT Delhi (Delhi) MBA FT, MBA PT http://www.dmsiitd.org/

DMS, IIT Roorkee (Roorkee) MBA FT http://www.iitr.ac.in/departments/DM/pages/Index.html

DMS, IIT Kanpur (Kanpur) MBA FT http://www.iitk.ac.in/ime/MBA_IITK/program.html

CAREERS WATCH


““

“It is important to show the hiring manager that you are

eager to learn on the job”

Recruiter Q&A

… says John Campagnino, Senior Director of Global Recruitment, Accenture. According to him, there is no excuse today for not having a good level of understanding of what any company does. Known for sourcing candidates via social networking venues, he feels that job seekers should be out there on sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter because that is where many corporate employers look to source quality candidates. In this e-interview with Sarita Kutty, Campagnino shares the career path that MBAs could plot with Accenture Management Consulting and the qualities that Accenture looks for in a prospective employee.

Does an MBA boost chances of success at Accenture?The short answer is yes. I could mention four reasons off the top of my head for what we think MBA programs bring to our business.

First one would be generally the broad business view that the MBA student comes with. The second is time management. The ability to multitask -- many people balance work and school in some cases, or school and internships and other outside activities.

The third thing I think is really important and the crux of the thing is that the work we do here is very aligned with the MBA school case study methodology. It’s really the presentation of the business problem, understanding the discrete elements of that problem and identifying key areas and then moving into solution mode is exactly what we do as an organisation for our clients. That’s the third one and probably one of the biggest.

Finally, one of the things business schools bring is the ability to build your network and to have business contacts

that may turn into client development opportunities later on. That’s certainly something we value here at Accenture.

What does an MBA mean 5 or 10 years later?After a certain point we do tend to focus on work experience. I mean listen, we want to have people who know something about something at this organisation. We can look at coming to Accenture in two different ways. If you are a career changer, then I think an MBA has high value for the reasons that I mentioned. The best way to make that leap is with an MBA program for the four reasons I mentioned.

For experienced professionals, it is a little bit more of a complicated question. We assume that individuals come in at some point in their career after a number of years in a professional work environment, they bring the critical thinking skills, the commitment to team work with them. They can make a good transition to executive. So if you have got industry experience, if you are already a specialist in an area and plan on staying as such in that area, the MBA for us here may not be of that much value.

CAREERS WATCH


“

“

“

“

““Are there specific MBA programs that consistently give Accenture the best candidates?The four core MBA schools we work with are Wharton, Booth (Chicago), London Business School and INSEAD. Whenever we make a decision on the school, it is an intersection of a couple of different things.

It is the demographics -- can we get the people, the skills we need from that school? Number one. Number two is, are we in a position to effectively attract students from that school? And then third, a lot of this has to do with some of our relationships. Where have we built good, robust relationships so we can be what I call a day zero employer -- we are one of the employers that have a reputation on campus that students will pick us ahead of others to interview with first.

That is not to say we do not go to other places. For example in the US, we will go to Kellogg, Darden, Duke, Cornell and other institutions. And of course we have got local institutions we visit all over the world. But those four schools are where we get a large percentage of our management consulting capability from an MBA perspective.

What is particularly strong about each of the four core schools?These guys are all phenomenally good students. I would give a limb to have an MBA from one of those institutions. At the end of the day, I think they bring into balance the things that we need. They graduate people who have the right level of cross functional skills and business acumen that we need, the demographics around the people we get out of those schools. What I mean by that is those people are inclined towards the types of careers that we offer at Accenture, the type of work we do.

Many MBAs choose to plot their career path with Accenture Management Consulting, putting academic knowledge into action. When you join Accenture Management Consulting, you will be combining what you have learned at business school with the practical reality of working with clients to deliver high performance.

Based on your interests and skills, you can build deep skills in one or more of our functional specialties:lCustomer relationship management l Finance and performance management l Process and innovation performance l Strategy l Supply chain management l Talent and organisation performance

We have strong relationships with select MBA programs and are often found on these campuses.

Define a typical career path at Accenture.As a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, Accenture offers a number of other career options for professionals with advanced degrees. For example, as a technology professional you will help deliver innovation by envisioning the future and inventing the next wave of cutting-edge solutions for our clients.

Depending on your experience, skills and interest, you can define your career path at Accenture. If you have

more than three years of prior work experience, please visit our experienced professionals section for more information. Graduates with fewer than three years of experience are encouraged to explore our entry- level careers section.

What type of career opportunities do you offer?Accenture offers a range of career opportunities in

consulting, technology and outsourcing, each providing a unique career experience depending on your skills, career objectives and preferred work experience. You could join our Consulting workforce and partner with clients to design, develop and deliver innovative solutions, apply your technology expertise to help invent the next wave of cutting-edge solutions for our clients, deliver long-term specialised business or technology services to our outsourcing clients, or manage Accenture’s corporate functions.

What do you look for in a candidate?We recruit from a wide variety of backgrounds, but the aim is the same—to find people who can deliver high performance. Whether you are an experienced professional, MBA, Accenture alumnus or recent graduate, we look for people who can challenge conventional thought, offer unique perspectives and conceive innovative solutions for Accenture clients.

How does Accenture help employees balance work with personal life?We understand that it is important for our employees to balance a successful career with a healthy lifestyle, involving family, friends and community. From flexible work arrangements, competitive time off packages to a variety of health and wellness programs, we make a genuine commitment to achieve that balance.

Recruiter Q&A

Accenture offers a range of career opportunities in

consulting, technology and outsourcing, each providing a unique career

experience depending on your skills,

career objectives and preferred work

experience.

MBA BUZZ


Special Report

Do it in styleThe ABCs of luxury management

programmes

The Luxury industry is a dynamic field with an annual turnover estimated at $ 200 billion

globally. Following the recession many luxury companies were expected to suffer severe backlash but the trend that followed was not too bad. Brands like LVMH (Louis Vuitton), Channel, Bulgari, Burberry and Rolex managed to have sustained growth and profits; however there were other luxury goods companies who did suffer setbacks due to unpredictable markets. This sector is known to have a cyclical flow with ups and downs due to political, social or economic changes.

Post the global economic downturn the luxury goods industry has realized the importance of the emerging markets especially the BRIC countries such as Brazil, Russia, India and China. It is estimated that in less than five years emerging Asian markets will make up 50 percent of luxury sales globally. The global luxury goods companies are eyeing markets like China and India because of the rising number of billionaires and the new elite rich in the cities and towns of these countries. The Indian consumers too have acquired a taste for luxury products and this can be attributed to the fast paced growth in

technology and a rise in family wealth and income among the middle class.

According to a report by A T Kearney, the past 6-8 years have seen an enthusiastic reception of iconic international luxury brands here in India. The most visible segment in the luxury industry in India has been luxury products. In 2009 a 22 percent growth was seen in the luxury products market in India. According to a luxury trend study, the most marketed luxury goods are fine jewellery followed by women’s

accessories, designer wear (clothing) and digital accessories.

This vibrant luxury market was considered a mainstay in cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. This scenario seems to be changing with new trends and more number of cities and towns being added to its consumer list. Large sections of the markets continue to remain untapped for the luxury industry.

Target audience The Luxury management programme

is meant for people who wish to make a successful career in the luxury goods and retail business of luxury brands. The fulltime programmes are usually considered by people who come from a non luxury background but have work experience either in retail, marketing, sales or other fields. The executive programmes also called advanced management

programmes are pursued by individuals who are already working in the luxury segment and who wish to have a progression in their career. Entrepreneurs who are looking at expanding or starting out a business opportunity in the luxury sector are also a favourite among the targeted groups for these specialised luxury programmes.

The course in Luxury management is targeted towards graduates wishing to establish a management career in companies, which deal in luxury products. The basics of management, how to apply this knowledge to the luxury industry, and the experience gained in international business cultures are an inherent part of the programme. Serena Kallian takes a look at the highly international luxury industry, and the agenda offered if one wants to build a successful career in this exceedingly competitive industry.

MBA BUZZ


These programmes have been essentially tailored as a response to the needs of luxury corporations and its executives who will have to create new luxury brands or develop the business of existing ones.

Rising enrollment What this sector needs is the right kind of manpower and talent to take on rising opportunities in this field. Indian consumers may not be a Louis Vuitton and Chanel sporting mass in general but this scenario may change in phases is what the industry believes. Traditionally people with a retail or marketing background move into the luxury sector because retailing is the space where luxury goods have found a mainstay in India. There are also a section of entrepreneurs who venture into the luxury goods markets here; however this segment has had no major encouragement from Indian management institutes. No mainstream training programmes or courses in luxury management are offered in India. IIM-A may be an exception here since it offers a global management programme in Luxury as part of its executive education in association with ESSEC Paris.

Internationally luxury management is not an unheard of stream however there are not too many schools which offer this unique programme. Most of the good schools that offer programmes on luxury are located in Europe. Many of these schools have only a few seats available and so selection can be really competitive. ESSEC, the Paris based institute has been offering a fulltime programme in International luxury brand management since 1995 and it also has an advanced management programme for the luxury sector. ESSEC has campuses in other international locations like Singapore, Shanghai as well. Similar full time luxury management programmes are offered at EM LYON, France; International University of Monaco; Alma Graduate School, Italy etc. The duration of these courses are usually one year long.

HEC, Paris offers a major in Luxury as part of its executive MBA which is

aimed at participants who are already in the business of managing luxury brands or plan to make a transition into this field. The luxury major has duration of two weeks in Paris and Milan.

SDA Bocconi School of management entered into a new partnership with the global brand Bulgari with a view of introducing a new specialization in Luxury business management in the fulltime MBA course starting 2011. This new track is reserved for only 20 candidates.

New York University’s Stern school of business offers a specialisation in Luxury marketing as part of its two year MBA in general management. Columbia Business School offers a master classes programme which is a project based elective for its MBA and EMBA students in marketing of luxury products. The intake for this master class is only 40.

Career opportunitiesWithin the luxury goods segment,

opportunities exist in luxury marketing, retailing & distribution and communications. This is also a platform for those who wish to specialise in management consulting within the luxury goods sector. The luxury retail and marketing management offers a host of career opportunities for luxury enthusiasts in India in avenues like brand management, business development, general management, management consulting, marketing, market research, strategic planning etc.

Individuals who come without any luxury experience start out as store managers post the luxury management programme and then grow into bigger roles.

Placement trendsAs is the case with most International B-schools, participants of the luxury management programmes are provided assistance from the career services department on campus for internships and final employment. The career services departments help participants apply for various jobs and get a role finally through their personal development programmes,

workshops, corporate partnerships and events for networking opportunities.

Some of the big brands that have been providing internships for participants of the International Luxury Brand management programme at ESSEC are Cartier, Céline, Chanel, Chaumet, Chloé, Christian Dior Couture, De Beers, Louis Vuitton, M.A.C, Montblanc, Prada, Sephora, Tod’s, Van Cleef & Arpels etc.

At the NY U Stern School of business the 2010 employment report states that 4 percent of the reported placements among the MBA graduates have been in the luxury and retail segment with a base salary ranging between $70,000 and $115,000. Aeropostale, Ann Taylor, Banana Republic, Chanel, Coach, Cole Haan, Hermès, Louis Vuitton, Nike, Target, Toys “R” Us, Urban Outfitters, Victoria’s Secret etc were some of the top employers in the luxury and retail segment at Stern.

Special Report

MBA BUZZ


Institute Programme Course curriculum Duration Fees Pedagogy Admission criteria

ESSEC MBA in International Luxury Brand Management

Luxury Product Knowledge and Management Foundations, Understanding Luxury Distribution, Consumption and Management Issues, Understanding Brand Management and Organizational Issues, Managing Specific Luxury Sectors

11 months 35,000 Euros Classroom lectures, 7 Field trips, Boutique internship, two months field project, CEO seminars

GMAT, Min 3 years work experience,TOEFL or IELTS score, 3 letters of recommendation, CV etc

EMLYON Business School

MSc in Luxury Management & Marketing

NA 16 months 27,500 euros NA Bachelor's /Masters degree in any field, GMAT score, English proficiency (TOEFL/IELTS)

International University of Monaco

Masters in Luxury Business; Master in Luxury Brand Management, Food & Wine; Master in Luxury Goods & Services; Master in Luxury Retail Management

Extended core courses (24 credits), Luxury concentration courses such as Luxury Consumer Behaviour, Luxury Services, Luxury Product Design, Development and Management, Luxury Distribution, e-Luxury, Luxury Communication, Luxury Selling & Boutique Management, Managing Luxury Brands

10 months 16,150 euros Field trips, internship projects, networking events, seminars, conferences

Bachelor's degree, application form, IELTS/TOEFL score, Two letters of recommendation, internship or work experience in luxury preferred

European Business School, London

MA in Luxury Brand Management

Principles of Luxury, consumer behaviour, managing luxury brands, contemporary issues in luxury brand management, intergrated marketing communications, creative foundations of luxury brands, distribution and channel management, endorsement and sponsorship events

12 months 18,695 GBP Internship-based consultancy project within the industry or dissertation; Field trips to luxury clubs, showrooms and events; Regent's College Luxury Lecture Series etc.

IELTS/TOEFL, a bachelor's degree

Alma Graduate School, Italy

MBA Design, Fashion and Luxury Goods

Corporate Finance and strategy, Customer Satisfaction, Fashion Tradition and Products: Clothing and Leather Goods, Financial and Managerial Accounting, Gemmology and Watches, Industrial Design and Branding, International Finance, International Production and Logistics, International Trade Techniques, Luxury Goods: Boats, Cars and Motorbikes, Managing IT, Marketing Management, Oenology and Food Culture, Organizational Analysis, Perfumes and Eyewear

12 months 25,000 euros 3 month internship, masterclass lectures

Undergraduate degree, 2 years work experience, IELTS/TOEFL

GCU London MBA Luxury Brand Marketing; M Sc International Fashion Marketing

MBA: Luxury market analysis; strategy evaluation for luxury businesses; luxury consumer behaviour, luxury product and brand management; luxury marketing communications and retailing & channel management within the luxury sector; finance and wealth management. Marketing Management of Luxury Brands

I year (MBA);

16,000 pounds (MBA); 12,000 pounds (MSc)

Dissertation, internships, projects etc

Undergradute degree, relevant work experience, IELTS/TOEFL

Special Report

An exclusive interview with Dr. Ashok Som who is the Associate Dean of Global MBA Program at ESSEC Business School, Paris-Singapore. He is the founder of the India Research Centre at ESSEC, Director of the Global Management Programs on Luxury and Retail Management (in partnership with Indian Institute of Management (IIM Ahmedabad) and co-ordinator of the module Managing International Business.

MBA BUZZ


Institute Programme Course curriculum Duration Fees Pedagogy Admission criteria

ESSEC MBA in International Luxury Brand Management

Luxury Product Knowledge and Management Foundations, Understanding Luxury Distribution, Consumption and Management Issues, Understanding Brand Management and Organizational Issues, Managing Specific Luxury Sectors

11 months 35,000 Euros Classroom lectures, 7 Field trips, Boutique internship, two months field project, CEO seminars

GMAT, Min 3 years work experience,TOEFL or IELTS score, 3 letters of recommendation, CV etc

EMLYON Business School

MSc in Luxury Management & Marketing

NA 16 months 27,500 euros NA Bachelor's /Masters degree in any field, GMAT score, English proficiency (TOEFL/IELTS)

International University of Monaco

Masters in Luxury Business; Master in Luxury Brand Management, Food & Wine; Master in Luxury Goods & Services; Master in Luxury Retail Management

Extended core courses (24 credits), Luxury concentration courses such as Luxury Consumer Behaviour, Luxury Services, Luxury Product Design, Development and Management, Luxury Distribution, e-Luxury, Luxury Communication, Luxury Selling & Boutique Management, Managing Luxury Brands

10 months 16,150 euros Field trips, internship projects, networking events, seminars, conferences

Bachelor's degree, application form, IELTS/TOEFL score, Two letters of recommendation, internship or work experience in luxury preferred

European Business School, London

MA in Luxury Brand Management

Principles of Luxury, consumer behaviour, managing luxury brands, contemporary issues in luxury brand management, intergrated marketing communications, creative foundations of luxury brands, distribution and channel management, endorsement and sponsorship events

12 months 18,695 GBP Internship-based consultancy project within the industry or dissertation; Field trips to luxury clubs, showrooms and events; Regent's College Luxury Lecture Series etc.

IELTS/TOEFL, a bachelor's degree

Alma Graduate School, Italy

MBA Design, Fashion and Luxury Goods

Corporate Finance and strategy, Customer Satisfaction, Fashion Tradition and Products: Clothing and Leather Goods, Financial and Managerial Accounting, Gemmology and Watches, Industrial Design and Branding, International Finance, International Production and Logistics, International Trade Techniques, Luxury Goods: Boats, Cars and Motorbikes, Managing IT, Marketing Management, Oenology and Food Culture, Organizational Analysis, Perfumes and Eyewear

12 months 25,000 euros 3 month internship, masterclass lectures

Undergraduate degree, 2 years work experience, IELTS/TOEFL

GCU London MBA Luxury Brand Marketing; M Sc International Fashion Marketing

MBA: Luxury market analysis; strategy evaluation for luxury businesses; luxury consumer behaviour, luxury product and brand management; luxury marketing communications and retailing & channel management within the luxury sector; finance and wealth management. Marketing Management of Luxury Brands

I year (MBA);

16,000 pounds (MBA); 12,000 pounds (MSc)

Dissertation, internships, projects etc

Undergradute degree, relevant work experience, IELTS/TOEFL

You have been in the capacity of an academic director of the global management programme on Luxury that was started here in India in association with IIM-A and ESSEC has been among the top destinations for the luxury brand management programme, could you tell us a little bit about these programmes?In 1995, ESSEC created the MBA in International Luxury management programme which can be considered the world leader in the field. We have 45 participants in this programme this year where 50 percent of the class is from Asia, 25 percent from Europe and 25 percent from the US and Latin America. This is a full-time one-year MBA programme, which means that we have the capacity to give all the necessary courses, focused on Luxury, which very few schools are able to give.

In 2007, I took a sabbatical at IIM-A and there I saw how people around me were talking about luxury goods and the way the subject was handled in the media. I

realized that people did not have adequate knowledge about different facets of the luxury industry such as; the industry’s history, evolution, the need to have luxury goods, the consumers etc So I thought that it would be good to have an executive programme for professionals who want to be in this industry and for those who want to do business in the emerging markets. That is how we started the global management programme in Luxury being offered at IIM-A and today we have redesigned it to an advanced management programme with 5 days in Paris, 5 days in IIM Ahmedabad, India with three round table conferences per year in three different cities and five days of luxury educational tour in Paris. So the advanced programme is of around 21 days.

Your views on the current luxury industry scenario especially what it may mean for the emerging markets and India...

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MBA BUZZ


The global luxury industry has to rethink about its emerging market strategy. The size of the emerging markets is a rethink not because of the geographical spread but also by the size of the population. This means that there are a lot of needles and a lot of hay and we have to find the needles from this stack of hay. Most emerging market consumers believe in investing and not in consumption and thus the dynamics of marketing would be entirely different than what is perceived to be in France and Italy. Also it’s important to note that the investment cycle for a luxury company is between 6-7 years.

The logic of luxury for emerging markets cannot be generalized, as each emerging market requires a dedicated approach, so basically one needs to spend time educating the consumers. Luxury brand management is all about telling stories and it is this story telling which might be the best way to increase the popularity of the brand.

The Indian consumer is extremely value conscious and not necessarily price conscious. And although fashion in the western world is different from India the emerging market story and the Indian story will eventually catch up with the western trends. So that is why plenty of opportunities exist in India and the emerging markets, consumers are young, freshly employed and are willing to spend. It’s important to find different ways of thinking and new ways of reaching out to these people. The other important aspect that we consider is brand experience after creating the distribution channel. The distribution channel is also a very important cog in the whole wheel of the luxury chain so the right mix of online and physical stores might be a key in emerging markets. Communication has also come to play an important role in the luxury chain.

Whom is it ideally meant for? Do you see a lot of diversity in the classroom in terms of sectors?The fulltime luxury management programmes are ideal for two sets of people. Firstly for those who have had extensive work experience in the retail and service industry and now want to move into the luxury sector and secondly

for individuals who want to enhance their experience to gain better roles within the company. The average age of candidates doing the fulltime programmes is 28 or 29 years and with an experience between 5-7 years.

For the executive or the advanced management programme in luxury, the work experience ranges anywhere between 7 and 20 years and the average age is around 38/39 years. Candidates pursuing this course are either entrepreneurs who have an interest in having a business in the luxury space or employees of a company which is planning to venture into the luxury segment or corporate individuals interested in the emerging markets. Presently a lot of retail and hotel industry giants have plans of expanding into the luxury space.

We try and maintain a diverse classroom and so we do have people coming in from different sectors but at the same time they are clear about what they want from the course.

Do you see a lot of Indian applicants vying for this programme?Yes we do see a lot of Indian applicants for the luxury programmes ie both the fulltime and the executive course. We usually maintain a small class size for such courses and this also helps us during field trips and internships. The admission process therefore is extremely selective. The trend this year shows that out of a class of 45, 50 percent are

Asians and of these 6 are Indian nationals.

What are some of the attributes /skills that are considered in an applicant during admissions for this programme especially at ESSEC?We give a lot of importance to an applicant’s experience and how it adds value to the class and the candidate needs to be certain about his/her career progression and what is sought from the programme.

Criteria such as a GMAT score; work experience, proficiency in English and admission application are used to select candidates for the interviews

What are the job profiles that are taken up by students who complete a luxury management programme?The entry points into the Luxury industry are based on a participant’s work experience. So an individual with no luxury space experience starts as a store manager. Individuals who have Luxury experience start as senior managers in the organisations. The other roles that are taken up are that of Product manager, Brand manager, Senior Marketing manager etc. Some of our alumni from India are in top management roles with brands like L’Oreal, Chanel, UB group (luxury space)

Special Report

The logic of luxury for emerging markets cannot be generalized,

as each emerging market requires a

dedicated approach, so basically one needs to spend

time educating the consumers.

MBA BUZZ

26 Advanc’edge MBA May 2011

MBA BUZZ


“The EMBA market in India is poised to grow”

Dr Rama Velamuri teaches Entrepreneurship and Negotiation in the MBA, EMBA and executive development programs at the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS). He is the Academic Director of CEIBS’s International Executive MBA. Dr Velamuri has been a facilitator in programs for senior managers of top corporations like Abbott Laboratories, Goodyear-Dunlop, Nissan Europe, Vodafone and Unicef to name just a few. He has also been a facilitator in the CEO Collaborative Forum, which brings together 30 European technology entrepreneurs who have received venture capital backing.

Dr. Velamuri has six years experience as a manager in the International Division of Grupo Tudor, one of Spain’s largest

manufacturing companies. During his tenure at Grupo Tudor, he lived for three years in Britain and one year in Germany. He also has eight years experience as a full time consultant to US, Indian and Spanish clients. He has carried out a number of assignments for the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC). Dr. Velamuri did his MBA from IESE Business School, Spain in 1985 and did his PhD from Darden Business School in 2003. His teaching interests include entrepreneurship, ethics and negotiations. In a candid interview with Gauri Puranik, he speaks about ethics, MBA and the scope of India and China as future economic superpowers.Today unethical practices are not just affecting organisations, but are also affecting the brand image of a country (for example, the recent scams in India have shaken the confidence of foreign investors in India). According to you what is the best way to make entrepreneurs and managers understand the relevance of ethics and keep them away from capitalist, individualistic mindsets?RV: I think that to understand the relevance of ethics to business, there is no need to keep them away from capitalist and individualistic mindsets. Ethical behaviour lies at the core of capitalism, understood as the system of free markets. Without ethics, capitalism cannot function. This was well understood by the father of modern

economics, Adam Smith, who was in fact a professor of moral philosophy. In addition to his very famous “Wealth of Nations”, he wrote a less well known book entitled “Theory of Moral Sentiments”. Capitalism is a system of cooperation between different stakeholder groups. The more efficient this cooperation, the better the system of capitalism. It is no surprise that the most competitive nations in the world are Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and Germany, which are characterized by very high levels of trust between stakeholder groups.

To impress upon people that ethics is important in business, we must first make them understand that ethics is fundamental to being a good human being. When people share their ethical dilemmas with him, my

School Speak

MBA BUZZ


former professor and co-author R. Edward Freeman asks - What kind of a person do you want to be? Answering this question dispels the ethical dilemma quite easily. Being a good human being means being a good son or daughter, a good sibling, a good parent, and a good friend. If your occupation is that of a manager or entrepreneur, being a good business person is also a fundamental part of being a good human being. The second thing we must make people see is that unethical behavior undermines the legitimacy of the institutions that are so important for society to function properly. For example, the scandals in India have undermined people’s faith in politicians and businesspeople, and have consequently harmed the legitimacy of political and business institutions in India. It is going to take tremendous effort to restore this faith. We see a lot many MBAs turning to entrepreneurship in the recent times. Most governments have made setting up a business ‘easy’. But while there are quite a few success stories, there are many more startups that are failing? What are the common check points that an entrepreneur should consider before setting up her business?RV: In our MBA courses, we impress upon our students that being a successful entrepreneur is very challenging. We make the following specific recommendations: 1. Work for some years in managerial positions before

setting up your own venture. This experience will give you industry knowledge, which is important to understand i) customer needs in-depth and the extent to which these needs are not being satisfied, ii) supplier capabilities, iii) talent availability, iv) key success factors, v) capital required to start a business, etc. This industry knowledge (which we also refer to as domain knowledge) is very important for the success of the venture. Managerial experience is also very relevant for entrepreneurial success.

2. Start a venture as a member of an entrepreneurial team rather than individually. Teams have a higher probability of survival and success than individual entrepreneurs. However, it is very important for team members to reach clear cut agreements on roles, responsibilities and benefits before they start working together.

3. Try to start a venture in a sunrise industry rather than in a sunset industry. You cannot guarantee the success or failure of a new venture. However, even failing in a sunrise industry will give you exposure and help you develop capabilities in that industry, which will very likely open up new options for you in the future.

4. As far as possible, start small and scale up as you go. To begin with, have as much variable costs instead of fixed costs as possible. At the start-up stage, this means renting instead of buying, subcontracting production instead of investing in fixed production equipment,

subcontracting secretarial and administrative services instead of taking on full time employees. Once the business is proven and revenues are growing steadily, these variable costs can be converted into fixed ones.

Drawing on CEIBS’s experience of delivering one of the best MBA programmes, what trends have you observed in the last decade or so? What is your assessment of the future potential of this pace?RV: The projection is for China and India to become the largest and third largest economies, respectively, in a few decades. The demand for high quality management education will continue to grow. High quality is essential, and this means excellent faculty, excellent support staff and excellent facilities. Achieving this high quality requires high investment and a long term focus. Since you are the Academic Director of the International Executive MBA programme at CEIBS, what are some of the most important aspects that an Executive MBA programme must cover? Also what is the role and importance of executive MBA programmes?RV: An EMBA program caters to the needs of people who are already working and cannot afford to take a year or two off to study for a full time MBA. There are two formats of the EMBA program. The first is the weekend format (also called part time EMBA) and this caters to the learning needs of people in their early thirties. At CEIBS, we do not offer a weekend format. The second format is the modular format, where people meet either every month or less frequently. This modular format typically caters to the needs of more senior

people, in their late 30s to early 40s. The CEIBS International EMBA Class of 2011 intake started on March 15th with 53 students from 15 nationalities. Only 33 of the 53 students live and work in Shanghai. The rest travel from many different cities in China and abroad.

Although the EMBA market is not very developed in India, it is huge in other countries.

According to our data, out of the 140,000 students enrolled in US schools in the 2004-2005 academic year, 63.7 percent were in part time MBA programs, and 15 percent in EMBA programs. We expect the EMBA to grow in India after ISB’s pioneering launch of its modular PGPMax. Do you believe that China and India have the potential to become economic superpowers in the near future? Elaborate on your reasons.RV: This question requires a long answer that is beyond the scope of this interview. Suffice it to say that both countries are very large and have already unleashed the growth process. China has been growing at more than 10 percent for more than 30 years. India has been growing at 7 percent for 20 years. These high growth rates will be maintained in the future.

School Speak

China Europe InternationalBusiness School (CEIBS)

MBA BUZZ


Trace your journey from IIT Guwahati to IIM Bangalore…IIT Guwahati was like a second home during those four years. I participated actively in extra-curricular activities, which helped me learn outside the classroom. I developed a deep interest in core chemical engineering subjects during my study and this led me to pursue my internship with one of India’s leading oil and gas majors. However, gradually my interests changed and I decided to take up a job in the consulting sector. I worked with excellent team members and learnt a lot about the way the corporate world functions. Being in a client-facing role gave me a lot of confidence and also made me more responsible in my communication. It was an excellent learning curve for me. After working for close to two years, I decided that it was the right time to go for an MBA as an MBA at that stage would have been conducive for my career growth. So, I took the CAT and luckily got through IIM Bangalore.

Could you elaborate on your work experience?My work mainly involved working closely with clients to understand their business processes and help them adopt IT as a business enabler. I helped clients in Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementation and reengineering of business processes for mapping onto the ERP systems.

During both my assignments, I worked with people from

diverse backgrounds and this aided the learning both on the job and otherwise too.

The work experience has been a boon in more ways than one. I was in a client-facing role very early in my career and this helped me in honing my communication skills. Working in teams also helped to improve my team skills. I believe having some work experience before my MBA has assisted me as I can relate much more to the concepts taught in the class and in dealing with my responsibilities here.

You have been involved in extra-curricular activities; does it help in the selection process?Well, extra-curricular activities help you become a well rounded individual and give you confidence about having achieved something outside the sphere of academics. And this confidence helps you in all aspects of life (especially during the interviews). These extra-curricular activities are a quintessential part of that.

How much weightage is given by institutes when it comes to awards, achievements etc?Awards and achievements and other recognition in academics or elsewhere would always help you in any interview. They say a lot about one’s ability to achieve excellence and deliver quality results. At the same time it also gives a lot of confidence to perform well. In the end it is all about being confident of one’s abilities.

“An MBA course is a continuous learning experience”

…says Deepak Nanwani, an IIT graduate from Guwahati who is currently pursuing his MBA from IIM Bangalore. Staying in a hostel at the IIT campus, he says has taught him to take key decisions in life as well as shoulder responsibilities and to work in teams. In conversation with Reshma Majithia, he talks of his work experience as a consultant with Pricewaterhouse Coopers India and his hobbies, which include watching wildlife documentaries and writing.

Student Interview MBA BUZZ

MBA BUZZ


How and when did you start your preparations? I did not study particularly for the CAT; I just practiced test papers regularly. Since I was working it was very difficult for me to study after spending a whole day at work. Moreover, I never felt the need to go through any study material. I concentrated on practicing, and I guess taking the CAT exam before, helped. When I started preparing, I gave equal priority to all the three sections. However, I can say that towards the end of my preparation as the exam approached, I gave more time to the Data Interpretation section.

Tell us about your GD and PI experience.I did not have a GD for IIM Bangalore. My PI started with a few questions about my background and the reasons for pursuing an MBA. I was then asked about a couple of elective courses that I had taken in the final year of my under graduation. The interview then moved towards a discussion on my experience of staying in the Northeast for four years and my opinion on the developmental issues in the region. The interview finally finished with a

discussion about my hobbies and finally about the political scenario between India and its neighbors. It was a long interview as it spanned a lot of areas right from my resume to my hobbies and general knowledge. The other IIM interviews, I was mainly asked about my work experience, the reasons for pursuing an MBA and also a few questions about the current state of the country.

What has been your greatest learning experience at IIM-B so far?The greatest learning experience has been from working with my peers here. People with diverse educational and professional backgrounds come

to IIM Bangalore to pursue their MBA and interacting with them both inside and outside the classrooms, be it for projects or even otherwise is a great take away from my stay here till now.

What kind of recruitment/placement are you looking at after the completion of the course?I am keeping all my options open. An MBA course is a continuous learning experience and I am still not too keen on deciding on my final placement option. As of now I am just enjoying my stay here.

Message for MBA aspirants…First and foremost be clear in your mind about the reason you want to do an MBA. Being in a rat race and going for an MBA just under peer pressure will not help in the long run. Also because an MBA is a significant investment financially and in terms of time, clarity of thought is absolutely necessary. As for the tests, the focus was more on the person’s ability to take pressure than anything else, so stay calm during the preparation as well as while doing the test.

Awards and achievements and other recognition in academics or elsewhere would

always help you in any interview.

Student Interview

MBA BUZZ


MBA BUZZ


Name of the Institute

No. of S t u -dents

Partici-pating c o m -panies

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

Salary Offered (Domestic)

International Companies International Place-ments

Top Recruiters Sectoral Breakup

Comments

Average/ Median Salary

Highest Salary

Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai

111 83 N.A. N.A. Rs 15.54 lakh p.a.

Rs 26 lakh p.a.

BTS, Oliver Wyman, P&G, Bloomberg, Jumbo Elec-tronics

N.A. BFSI and IB - Citibank, HSBC, Barclays Bank, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, YES Bank, HDFC Bank, JP Morgan Chase, Nomura, ICICI Securities, Avista Advisory, India Infoline, Edelweiss Capital, Bloomberg,Crisil, ICRA, IDBI Capital, Indiabulls, Principal PNB, SBI Capital, Thomson Reuters Consulting - McKinsey, Oliver Wyman, BTS (USA), Deloitte Consulting, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Capgemini, Bristlecone, MindTree Consulting, Nodwin Consulting FMCG/Pharmaceuticals - HUL, P&G, GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Helathcare, Reckitt Benckiser, ITC, Dabur, PepsiCo, Castrol, Britannia, Givaudan, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Ranbaxy, Titan, UB Group, AstraZeneca Conglomerates - General Electric, Reliance Industries, Mahindra & Mahindra, Larsen & Toubro Telecom / Media - Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Idea Cellular, HT Media IT / ITES - Accenture, TCS, Hewlett-Packard, HCL, Infosys, Wipro, Tally Solutions, Polaris, QAI Global PSU / NGO - Reserve Bank of India, Bank of India, National Institute of Securities Markets, Teach for India

BFSI & IB - 36% FMCG & Pharma - 24%, Manufacturing - 14%, Consulting- 12%, IT & Telecom - 8%, Others- 6%

ICICI Bank with 12 offers and P&G with 9 offers were the top recruiters on campus this year. Oliver Wyman, Reliance Industries Ltd., BTS (USA), Givaudan, Reliance Power, Videocon, Raymond and VIP Industries were the new recruiters.

IIM Bangalore 332 135 Total number of offers made - 461 includes - Final Placement Offers - 230, Lat-eral Placement Offers - 147, Pre-Placement Offers - 84, Do-mestic Offers - 387, Internation-al Offers - 74. Total number of offers accepted - 332 includes -Final Placement Offers - 202, Lateral Place-ment Offers - 73, Pre-Placement Offers - 57, Domestic Offers - 278, Interna-tional Offers - 54.

Offers made – 84 and Offers accepted - 57

N.A. N.A. Barclays Capital, Citi Glob-al, Deutsche Bank, HSBC Global, BofA-Merill Lynch, Morgan Stanley made of-fers in the investment bank-ing division across Mumbai, Hong Kong and Singapore. A Europe-based Bank of-fered an associate position to an IIMB student in the Netherlands. Olam Interna-tional offered Commodities Derivatives Trading profile to five students for Singa-pore location. Earlier com-panies that recruited via Pre-Placement Offers were Barclays Capital (HK), Citi Group, Deutsche Bank (London), HSBC Global, JP Morgan, BofA-Merill Lynch, Nomura, Royal Bank of Scotland, Rothschild and Standard Chartered Global across New York, London, Hong Kong and Singapore. McKinsey & Co. (12 offers based out of India, Sydney and Brussels). Arthur. D. Lit-tle and Oliver Wyman made offers for New York, London and Dubai locations. Hindu-stan Unilever (5 offers) and Procter & Gamble (9 offers) were the largest recruiters and offered positions for marketing profile in India and Singapore.

International offers made - 74 and Interna-tional offers accepted - 54

Finance - Goldman Sachs (7 offers), Barclays Capital, Citi Global, Deutsche Bank, HSBC Global, BofA-Merill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Europe-based Bank, Olam International, Barclays Capital (HK), Citi Group, Deutsche Bank (London), HSBC Global, JP Morgan, BofA-Merill Lynch, Nomura, Royal Bank of Scotland, Rothschild and Standard Chartered, Morgan Stanley (Hong Kong), Blackstone Group, Chrys Capital, o3 Capital, American Express, Anand Rathi, Allegro Advisors, Avendus Capital, Axis Bank, BNP Paribas, Capital One, Citi Bank, Edelweiss, HSBC, ICICI Prudential, India Infoline, J M Financial, Kotak Wealth, Standard Chartered and Yes Bank. Consulting - A. T. Kearney (9 offers), Boston Consulting Group (7 offers), Bain & Co. (7 offers) and McKinsey & Co. (12 offers based out of India, Sydney and Brussels), Arthur. D. Little and Oliver Wyman made offers for New York, London and Dubai locations, Other strategy consulting firms that recruited were Accenture, Alvarez & Marsal, Booz & Co., Deloitte, Ernst & Young, EXL Services, Infosys Consulting, KPMG, PwC, and Siemens, Sales & Marketing - Hindustan Unilever (5 offers) and Procter & Gamble (9 offers), other recruiters from this sector were Aircel, Airtel, Asian Paints, Aviva, BMGI, Britannia, Diageo, ITC, Johnson & Johnson, Marico, Nokia, Philips and Videocon. Myntra offered the role of Executive Assistant to the Founder while Comviva recruited one student for the role of Chief of Staff.General Management & Others - Aditya Birla Group made offers to 7 students, Some of the other recruiters are Essar, Hinduja, Mahindra & Mahindra, Lodha group, Reliance Industries and TAS. Ingersoll Rand offered their unique ‘Entrepreneurial Management Programme” to three students at IIMB. Narayana Hrudayalaya, a multispecialty hospital and Global e-Procure. HCL, Intelenet, McAfee, Microsoft and NetApp were some of the firms that offered Product Management profiles.

Finance - 36% Consulting - 31%, Sales & Marketing - 21%, General Management - 7%, Others- 5%

ICICI Bank was the largest recruiter dur-ing Final Placements made 19 offers. International invest-ment banks, global strategy consult-ing firms, venture capital and private equity firms made their presence felt on campus and recruit-ed students in large numbers. Overseas Offer Location - Sin-galore - 30%, Hong kong - 24%, London - 21%, Dubai - 5%, New York - 4%, Abu Dhabi - 4%, Syd-ney - 3%, Nether-lands - 3%, Brussels - 3%, Atlanta - 3%. 16 students deferred their placements be-fore the commence-ment of the final placements in pursuit of entrepreneurial ventures.

Placement Report

Placement Trends 2011Continued...

MBA BUZZ


Name of the Institute

No. of S t u -dents

Partici-pating c o m -panies

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

Salary Offered (Domestic)

International Companies International Place-ments

Top Recruiters Sectoral Breakup

Comments

Average/ Median Salary

Highest Salary

Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai

111 83 N.A. N.A. Rs 15.54 lakh p.a.

Rs 26 lakh p.a.

BTS, Oliver Wyman, P&G, Bloomberg, Jumbo Elec-tronics

N.A. BFSI and IB - Citibank, HSBC, Barclays Bank, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, YES Bank, HDFC Bank, JP Morgan Chase, Nomura, ICICI Securities, Avista Advisory, India Infoline, Edelweiss Capital, Bloomberg,Crisil, ICRA, IDBI Capital, Indiabulls, Principal PNB, SBI Capital, Thomson Reuters Consulting - McKinsey, Oliver Wyman, BTS (USA), Deloitte Consulting, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Capgemini, Bristlecone, MindTree Consulting, Nodwin Consulting FMCG/Pharmaceuticals - HUL, P&G, GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Helathcare, Reckitt Benckiser, ITC, Dabur, PepsiCo, Castrol, Britannia, Givaudan, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Ranbaxy, Titan, UB Group, AstraZeneca Conglomerates - General Electric, Reliance Industries, Mahindra & Mahindra, Larsen & Toubro Telecom / Media - Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Idea Cellular, HT Media IT / ITES - Accenture, TCS, Hewlett-Packard, HCL, Infosys, Wipro, Tally Solutions, Polaris, QAI Global PSU / NGO - Reserve Bank of India, Bank of India, National Institute of Securities Markets, Teach for India

BFSI & IB - 36% FMCG & Pharma - 24%, Manufacturing - 14%, Consulting- 12%, IT & Telecom - 8%, Others- 6%

ICICI Bank with 12 offers and P&G with 9 offers were the top recruiters on campus this year. Oliver Wyman, Reliance Industries Ltd., BTS (USA), Givaudan, Reliance Power, Videocon, Raymond and VIP Industries were the new recruiters.

IIM Bangalore 332 135 Total number of offers made - 461 includes - Final Placement Offers - 230, Lat-eral Placement Offers - 147, Pre-Placement Offers - 84, Do-mestic Offers - 387, Internation-al Offers - 74. Total number of offers accepted - 332 includes -Final Placement Offers - 202, Lateral Place-ment Offers - 73, Pre-Placement Offers - 57, Domestic Offers - 278, Interna-tional Offers - 54.

Offers made – 84 and Offers accepted - 57

N.A. N.A. Barclays Capital, Citi Glob-al, Deutsche Bank, HSBC Global, BofA-Merill Lynch, Morgan Stanley made of-fers in the investment bank-ing division across Mumbai, Hong Kong and Singapore. A Europe-based Bank of-fered an associate position to an IIMB student in the Netherlands. Olam Interna-tional offered Commodities Derivatives Trading profile to five students for Singa-pore location. Earlier com-panies that recruited via Pre-Placement Offers were Barclays Capital (HK), Citi Group, Deutsche Bank (London), HSBC Global, JP Morgan, BofA-Merill Lynch, Nomura, Royal Bank of Scotland, Rothschild and Standard Chartered Global across New York, London, Hong Kong and Singapore. McKinsey & Co. (12 offers based out of India, Sydney and Brussels). Arthur. D. Lit-tle and Oliver Wyman made offers for New York, London and Dubai locations. Hindu-stan Unilever (5 offers) and Procter & Gamble (9 offers) were the largest recruiters and offered positions for marketing profile in India and Singapore.

International offers made - 74 and Interna-tional offers accepted - 54

Finance - Goldman Sachs (7 offers), Barclays Capital, Citi Global, Deutsche Bank, HSBC Global, BofA-Merill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Europe-based Bank, Olam International, Barclays Capital (HK), Citi Group, Deutsche Bank (London), HSBC Global, JP Morgan, BofA-Merill Lynch, Nomura, Royal Bank of Scotland, Rothschild and Standard Chartered, Morgan Stanley (Hong Kong), Blackstone Group, Chrys Capital, o3 Capital, American Express, Anand Rathi, Allegro Advisors, Avendus Capital, Axis Bank, BNP Paribas, Capital One, Citi Bank, Edelweiss, HSBC, ICICI Prudential, India Infoline, J M Financial, Kotak Wealth, Standard Chartered and Yes Bank. Consulting - A. T. Kearney (9 offers), Boston Consulting Group (7 offers), Bain & Co. (7 offers) and McKinsey & Co. (12 offers based out of India, Sydney and Brussels), Arthur. D. Little and Oliver Wyman made offers for New York, London and Dubai locations, Other strategy consulting firms that recruited were Accenture, Alvarez & Marsal, Booz & Co., Deloitte, Ernst & Young, EXL Services, Infosys Consulting, KPMG, PwC, and Siemens, Sales & Marketing - Hindustan Unilever (5 offers) and Procter & Gamble (9 offers), other recruiters from this sector were Aircel, Airtel, Asian Paints, Aviva, BMGI, Britannia, Diageo, ITC, Johnson & Johnson, Marico, Nokia, Philips and Videocon. Myntra offered the role of Executive Assistant to the Founder while Comviva recruited one student for the role of Chief of Staff.General Management & Others - Aditya Birla Group made offers to 7 students, Some of the other recruiters are Essar, Hinduja, Mahindra & Mahindra, Lodha group, Reliance Industries and TAS. Ingersoll Rand offered their unique ‘Entrepreneurial Management Programme” to three students at IIMB. Narayana Hrudayalaya, a multispecialty hospital and Global e-Procure. HCL, Intelenet, McAfee, Microsoft and NetApp were some of the firms that offered Product Management profiles.

Finance - 36% Consulting - 31%, Sales & Marketing - 21%, General Management - 7%, Others- 5%

ICICI Bank was the largest recruiter dur-ing Final Placements made 19 offers. International invest-ment banks, global strategy consult-ing firms, venture capital and private equity firms made their presence felt on campus and recruit-ed students in large numbers. Overseas Offer Location - Sin-galore - 30%, Hong kong - 24%, London - 21%, Dubai - 5%, New York - 4%, Abu Dhabi - 4%, Syd-ney - 3%, Nether-lands - 3%, Brussels - 3%, Atlanta - 3%. 16 students deferred their placements be-fore the commence-ment of the final placements in pursuit of entrepreneurial ventures.

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


IIM Calcutta 383 Lateral P lace -ments - 50, The F i n a l P lace -m e n t s a l o n e saw 21 n e w recruit-ers.

The total of 200 offers (139 – Final Place-ment offers, 61 – PPOs) made during Slot Zero recruiters is the higest across all campuses of the country, Lateral Placements - 145

The PPOs saw an increase of 156% com-pared to last year (from 36 last year to 92 this year). 19 PPOs were for international locations that include the finance hubs New York, London, Hong Kong and Singapore.

N.A. N.A. Procter and Gamble made 11 offers in their sales and marketing roles, including roles in Singapore. Dabur made an international offer for New Business Develop-ment at their Dubai opera-tions. International Banks such as HSBC, Standard Chartered and Develop-ment Bank of Singapore also extended offers. Arthur D Little selected stu-dents for their Dubai office, Mckinsey & Co recruited for its Singapore and India of-fices and for the first time for its Sydney office, Essex Lake Group, a global con-sulting firm, also recruited exclusively from IIM Calcut-ta. Olam International which made trading offers (deriva-tives trading in commodi-ties) with posting at Singa-pore.Gaja Capital recruited three students, Deutsche Post DHL selected students for consulting roles in their Miami office.

N.A. Finance - UBS, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and HSBC, Bank of America Merril Lynch, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Barclays Capital, Royal Bank of Scotland, Rothschild, Credit Suisse, MacQuarie, Daiwa Securities, HSBC, Standard Chartered, Development Bank of Singapore, ICICI Securities, India Infoline, Yes Bank, Crisil, Allegro Consulting - Mckinsey & Co, BCG, Bain & Co and AT Kearney, Essex Lake Group, Arthur D Little, Feedback Ventures, Hewitt and EXL services. FMCG - Procter and Gamble, Dabur, Marketing - Hindustan Unilever, ITC, J&J Consumer Products, Nokia and Kraft Cadbury, Business Leadership Program - Tata Administrative Services (TAS).

Finance - 31.3%, Consulting - 23.7%, Sales and Marketing - 21.6%, General Management - 8.5%, Others - 14.9%

The Final Place-ments alone saw 21 new recruiters. 5 students have signed up for the deferred placement program wherein students who want to pursue entre-preneurship, work in the social sector, join a government orga-nization involved in national service or pursue higher edu-cation are allowed to sign out of the cur-rent placement pro-cess and sit for the placement processes in the next 3 years. IIM Calcutta had the highest PPO conver-sion rate among IIMs (87.5%) in the top 4 consulting firms Mck-insey, BCG, Bain and AT Kearney.

IIM Lucknow 366 206 528 (PPOs - 70, Lateral offers - 213, Final place-ments - 245)

70 N.A. N.A. Deutsche Post DHL, IIFL (visited only Lucknow across all IIMs for its International Desk), Olam International, HCL Infosystems (Interna-tional profile at offer only at IIM Lucknow)

Job profiles were of-fered across Singa-pore, USA, Germany, Dubai and other Middle East nations and some African Nations.

Finance - American Express, Avendus Capital, Axis Bank, Baring Private Equity Partners, Bloomberg, CRISIL, DBS, Deutsche Bank, Edelweiss, Futures First, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, ICICI Prudential, IIFL, Indus Valley Partners, JM Financial, JP Morgan, Karvy, Kotak Wealth Management, Nomura, Nereus Capital, SBI Capital, Standard Chartered and Yes Bank among many others. Sales & Marketing - Asian Paints, Aviva, Britannia, Castrol, Dabur, GSK Consumer, Hindustan Unilever, ITC, Johnson & Johnson, Kraft Foods Cadbury, Marico, Nokia, Panasonic, Pepsi, Procter & Gamble, Ranbaxy, Raymond, Reliance and The Nielsen Company. Consulting - Accen-ture, Cognizant Business Consulting, Deloitte, Deutsche Post DHL, Ernst & Young, Fujitsu Consulting, Headstrong, KPMG, McKinsey and Co., PricewaterhouseCoopers, The Boston Consulting Group and Virtusa among others. Aon Hewitt also offered roles in HR Consulting.Information Technology - Amazon, Capgemini, Er-icsson, Google, HCL Infosystems, HP, iGate, Info-sys. Lenovo, Microsoft, Mphasis, Reliance Com-munications, Schneider, TCS, Wipro. Operations - Amazon, Deutsche Post DHL, Subros. Asian Paints, L’Oreal, Olam International, Philips and Target. General Management - Adani Group, Aditya Birla Group, Mahin-dra & Mahindra, Jindal Group, Larsen & Toubro, RPG and TAS. Telecom - Aircel, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone. Others - BASIX, Infosys, Jaipur Rugs and JFS

Banking & Finance - 25%, Consulting - 22%, Sales, Marketing & Market Research - 22%, Operations - 10%, General Management - 9%, IT/ITES - 8%, HR - 2% and Others - 2%

53 first time recruiters visited the campus. In terms of number of offers, Deloitte made - 24, ICICI Bank - 22, Procter & Gamble - 16, Cognizant - 15, Axis Bank - 10, Hin-dustan Unilever - 8 offers. Unique roles like Sports Manage-ment were offered by Reliance. Entrepre-neurship roles were offered by Nodwin Group to provide op-portunities to can-didates to set up their own ventures. Roles in microfinance offered by JFS and BASIX were for can-didates to service the massive bottom of the pyramid for social welfare.

Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT)

209 76 N.A. 27 students got PPOs. ITC, Colgate Palmo-live, Nomura, Cognizant Business Consulting, Johnson

Rs 11.60 lakh p.a.

Rs 15.51 lakh p.a.

Olam International, ADM Agro, Aditya Birla Group, Emirates National Bank of Dubai, Valency Internation-al, Triton Group and Jumbo Electronics offered appeal-ing profiles. International profiles were offered

The highest internation-al package was USD 150,000, offered by Olam International.

Finance - Edelweiss, Citibank, Deutsche Bank Operations, HSBC-GBM and Nomura Holdings, ICICI, Axis Bank, Yes Bank and Tata Capital, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Ran-baxy. Sales & Marketing - ITC, Colgate Palmolive, Perfetti Van Melle and Godrej Consumer Products Ltd, Tata Motors, Hero Honda, Bajaj Auto, TVS motors, Airtel, Vodafone, Idea Cellular, Tata Steel, Goodyear, Cummins Group, Titan and Madura F&L.

BFSI - 20%, IT - 18%, Trading - 14%, Manufacturing - 11%, Consulting - 8%, Automotive - 7%, FMCG - 6%,

37 first time recruit-ers. First time re-cruiter and energy gi-ant Shell’s Graduate Lead program, ADM Agro’s Commercial Trainee program

Placement Report

MBA BUZZ


IIM Calcutta 383 Lateral P lace -ments - 50, The F i n a l P lace -m e n t s a l o n e saw 21 n e w recruit-ers.

The total of 200 offers (139 – Final Place-ment offers, 61 – PPOs) made during Slot Zero recruiters is the higest across all campuses of the country, Lateral Placements - 145

The PPOs saw an increase of 156% com-pared to last year (from 36 last year to 92 this year). 19 PPOs were for international locations that include the finance hubs New York, London, Hong Kong and Singapore.

N.A. N.A. Procter and Gamble made 11 offers in their sales and marketing roles, including roles in Singapore. Dabur made an international offer for New Business Develop-ment at their Dubai opera-tions. International Banks such as HSBC, Standard Chartered and Develop-ment Bank of Singapore also extended offers. Arthur D Little selected stu-dents for their Dubai office, Mckinsey & Co recruited for its Singapore and India of-fices and for the first time for its Sydney office, Essex Lake Group, a global con-sulting firm, also recruited exclusively from IIM Calcut-ta. Olam International which made trading offers (deriva-tives trading in commodi-ties) with posting at Singa-pore.Gaja Capital recruited three students, Deutsche Post DHL selected students for consulting roles in their Miami office.

N.A. Finance - UBS, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and HSBC, Bank of America Merril Lynch, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Barclays Capital, Royal Bank of Scotland, Rothschild, Credit Suisse, MacQuarie, Daiwa Securities, HSBC, Standard Chartered, Development Bank of Singapore, ICICI Securities, India Infoline, Yes Bank, Crisil, Allegro Consulting - Mckinsey & Co, BCG, Bain & Co and AT Kearney, Essex Lake Group, Arthur D Little, Feedback Ventures, Hewitt and EXL services. FMCG - Procter and Gamble, Dabur, Marketing - Hindustan Unilever, ITC, J&J Consumer Products, Nokia and Kraft Cadbury, Business Leadership Program - Tata Administrative Services (TAS).

Finance - 31.3%, Consulting - 23.7%, Sales and Marketing - 21.6%, General Management - 8.5%, Others - 14.9%

The Final Place-ments alone saw 21 new recruiters. 5 students have signed up for the deferred placement program wherein students who want to pursue entre-preneurship, work in the social sector, join a government orga-nization involved in national service or pursue higher edu-cation are allowed to sign out of the cur-rent placement pro-cess and sit for the placement processes in the next 3 years. IIM Calcutta had the highest PPO conver-sion rate among IIMs (87.5%) in the top 4 consulting firms Mck-insey, BCG, Bain and AT Kearney.

IIM Lucknow 366 206 528 (PPOs - 70, Lateral offers - 213, Final place-ments - 245)

70 N.A. N.A. Deutsche Post DHL, IIFL (visited only Lucknow across all IIMs for its International Desk), Olam International, HCL Infosystems (Interna-tional profile at offer only at IIM Lucknow)

Job profiles were of-fered across Singa-pore, USA, Germany, Dubai and other Middle East nations and some African Nations.

Finance - American Express, Avendus Capital, Axis Bank, Baring Private Equity Partners, Bloomberg, CRISIL, DBS, Deutsche Bank, Edelweiss, Futures First, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, ICICI Prudential, IIFL, Indus Valley Partners, JM Financial, JP Morgan, Karvy, Kotak Wealth Management, Nomura, Nereus Capital, SBI Capital, Standard Chartered and Yes Bank among many others. Sales & Marketing - Asian Paints, Aviva, Britannia, Castrol, Dabur, GSK Consumer, Hindustan Unilever, ITC, Johnson & Johnson, Kraft Foods Cadbury, Marico, Nokia, Panasonic, Pepsi, Procter & Gamble, Ranbaxy, Raymond, Reliance and The Nielsen Company. Consulting - Accen-ture, Cognizant Business Consulting, Deloitte, Deutsche Post DHL, Ernst & Young, Fujitsu Consulting, Headstrong, KPMG, McKinsey and Co., PricewaterhouseCoopers, The Boston Consulting Group and Virtusa among others. Aon Hewitt also offered roles in HR Consulting.Information Technology - Amazon, Capgemini, Er-icsson, Google, HCL Infosystems, HP, iGate, Info-sys. Lenovo, Microsoft, Mphasis, Reliance Com-munications, Schneider, TCS, Wipro. Operations - Amazon, Deutsche Post DHL, Subros. Asian Paints, L’Oreal, Olam International, Philips and Target. General Management - Adani Group, Aditya Birla Group, Mahin-dra & Mahindra, Jindal Group, Larsen & Toubro, RPG and TAS. Telecom - Aircel, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone. Others - BASIX, Infosys, Jaipur Rugs and JFS

Banking & Finance - 25%, Consulting - 22%, Sales, Marketing & Market Research - 22%, Operations - 10%, General Management - 9%, IT/ITES - 8%, HR - 2% and Others - 2%

53 first time recruiters visited the campus. In terms of number of offers, Deloitte made - 24, ICICI Bank - 22, Procter & Gamble - 16, Cognizant - 15, Axis Bank - 10, Hin-dustan Unilever - 8 offers. Unique roles like Sports Manage-ment were offered by Reliance. Entrepre-neurship roles were offered by Nodwin Group to provide op-portunities to can-didates to set up their own ventures. Roles in microfinance offered by JFS and BASIX were for can-didates to service the massive bottom of the pyramid for social welfare.

Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT)

209 76 N.A. 27 students got PPOs. ITC, Colgate Palmo-live, Nomura, Cognizant Business Consulting, Johnson

Rs 11.60 lakh p.a.

Rs 15.51 lakh p.a.

Olam International, ADM Agro, Aditya Birla Group, Emirates National Bank of Dubai, Valency Internation-al, Triton Group and Jumbo Electronics offered appeal-ing profiles. International profiles were offered

The highest internation-al package was USD 150,000, offered by Olam International.

Finance - Edelweiss, Citibank, Deutsche Bank Operations, HSBC-GBM and Nomura Holdings, ICICI, Axis Bank, Yes Bank and Tata Capital, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Ran-baxy. Sales & Marketing - ITC, Colgate Palmolive, Perfetti Van Melle and Godrej Consumer Products Ltd, Tata Motors, Hero Honda, Bajaj Auto, TVS motors, Airtel, Vodafone, Idea Cellular, Tata Steel, Goodyear, Cummins Group, Titan and Madura F&L.

BFSI - 20%, IT - 18%, Trading - 14%, Manufacturing - 11%, Consulting - 8%, Automotive - 7%, FMCG - 6%,

37 first time recruit-ers. First time re-cruiter and energy gi-ant Shell’s Graduate Lead program, ADM Agro’s Commercial Trainee program

Placement Report

MBA BUZZ


& Johnson Medical, Louis Dreyfus Commodities, Perfetti Van Melle, Ma-dura Fashion & Lifestyle, Tata Steel, Genpact, Religare, HT Media and Tata Motors made PPOs.

across geographies such as Europe, Singapore, the Middle East and Africa.

Consulting & General Management - Avalon Consulting, Cognizant Business Consulting and Indus Valley Partners, Mahindra & Mahindra, L&T, Murugappa, RPG, Bilt and Wel-spun. Trade & Logistics - Olam International offered the highest salary package. ADM Agro, Valency International, Triton Group and Aditya Birla Group made international of-fers. In domestic arena, Louis Dreyfus offered diverse pro-files.SARA International provided students with core trading opportunities. The Logistics profiles were offered by Daim-ler, DHL and GATI. IT/ITES - HP, TCS, Infosys, Wipro, HCL Comnet & HCL Technologies

Telecom - 5%, Energy - 4%, Logistics - 3%, Retail - 3%, Others - 1%

and Citibank’s Man-agement associate program were some of the sought after offerings. first time recruiter Procter & Gamble marked its arrival with 6 offers. Companies offered niche profiles in the domain of consulting & strategy, invest-ment banking, sales & marketing, interna-tional business and trading. Across these domains, companies which visited IIFT for the first time and made unique offer-ings further include RPG, Indus Valley Partners, Murugappa Group, L&T, Cum-mins, DHL, HSBC (GBM), HP and Ran-baxy.

Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA)

98 63 98 NA Rs 7.70 lakh p.a

Rs 10.50 lakh p.a.

N.A. N.A. Dairy & Allied Services Promoters - Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation – 15, Mother Dairy F&V Ltd – 4, Kolhapur Milk Union – 2, IDMC – 1, NDDB Dairy Services – 1, IL - 1, Kamdhenu Electronics | Aakashganga – 1, Rural Finance Institutions - Financial Inclusion Network & Oper-ations Ltd. (FINO) – 7, ICICI | RMAG – 7, Yes Bank | ARSB & Yes Bank |ISB – 5, NABARD Financial Services – 1, Axis Bank | Rural Retail Banking – 1, L & T Finance | Rural As-set Financing & Microfinance - 1, State Government Rural Development Agencies - AP Govt | Commissioner - Rural Development (CRD) – 6, AP Govt | Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty (SERP) – 3, AP Govt | Commissioner - Tribal Welfare (CTW) (MNREGA & Education ) – 4, Gujarat Govt – DSAG – 2, Kerala Govt | Kudumbashree SPEM - 1, Farm Solutions Providers - Agrocom Software Technologies Pvt Limited – 5, ITT | Essence of Life – 2, TAFE | Farm Equip-ments – 1, John Deere | Crop Solutions - 1, Agribusiness Organisations and CSR - Metro Cash & Carry | Neev – 5, ITC | e- Choupal – 2, CSR – 5, ICICI Foundation | Center for Elementary Education – 4, TATA Steel CSR - 1, Health Care Institutions - Charotar Arogya Mandal |Shree Krishna Hospital – 3, Sankara Eye Care Institutions India - 1, Rural/Social Research & Consulting Agencies - Ernst & Young | Govt Advisory Group – 2, IWMI - 2, Livelihood Promotion/ NRM /Grass root Organisations - FES – 1, AKRSP ( I ) - 1, e-Governance Solution Providers - Sahaj SREI E-Village Solutions - 2, Rural Energy Access Providers - Schneider Electric | BIP-BOP - 2

Daily and Allied Services - 26%, Rural Financial Institution - 22%, State Govt Ru-ral Development Agencies - 16%, Farm Solutions Providers - 9%, Agribusiness - 7%, CSR - 5%, Health Care In-stitutions - 4%, Rural/Social Re-search & Consult-ing - 4%, Liveli-hood Promotion/ NRM /Grass root - 2%, e-Gover-nance Solution Providers - 2%, Rural Energy Ac-cess Providers - 2%

No of Students Opted Out - 4

Roles: For all the above schools, roles offered in different sectors were as follows:Finance: Investment Banking, Private Equity, Venture Capital, Equity Research, Corporate Finance, Project Finance, Buy and Sell side Analyst, Fund Management, Tax consulting, Risk Management, Equity Research and Wholesale, Commercial and Retail Banking, Credit Rating, Credit Risk, Treasury, M&A, Insurance, International Bank.General Management and Operations: Supply chain management, infrastructure development

Placement Report

MBA BUZZ


& Johnson Medical, Louis Dreyfus Commodities, Perfetti Van Melle, Ma-dura Fashion & Lifestyle, Tata Steel, Genpact, Religare, HT Media and Tata Motors made PPOs.

across geographies such as Europe, Singapore, the Middle East and Africa.

Consulting & General Management - Avalon Consulting, Cognizant Business Consulting and Indus Valley Partners, Mahindra & Mahindra, L&T, Murugappa, RPG, Bilt and Wel-spun. Trade & Logistics - Olam International offered the highest salary package. ADM Agro, Valency International, Triton Group and Aditya Birla Group made international of-fers. In domestic arena, Louis Dreyfus offered diverse pro-files.SARA International provided students with core trading opportunities. The Logistics profiles were offered by Daim-ler, DHL and GATI. IT/ITES - HP, TCS, Infosys, Wipro, HCL Comnet & HCL Technologies

Telecom - 5%, Energy - 4%, Logistics - 3%, Retail - 3%, Others - 1%

and Citibank’s Man-agement associate program were some of the sought after offerings. first time recruiter Procter & Gamble marked its arrival with 6 offers. Companies offered niche profiles in the domain of consulting & strategy, invest-ment banking, sales & marketing, interna-tional business and trading. Across these domains, companies which visited IIFT for the first time and made unique offer-ings further include RPG, Indus Valley Partners, Murugappa Group, L&T, Cum-mins, DHL, HSBC (GBM), HP and Ran-baxy.

Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA)

98 63 98 NA Rs 7.70 lakh p.a

Rs 10.50 lakh p.a.

N.A. N.A. Dairy & Allied Services Promoters - Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation – 15, Mother Dairy F&V Ltd – 4, Kolhapur Milk Union – 2, IDMC – 1, NDDB Dairy Services – 1, IL - 1, Kamdhenu Electronics | Aakashganga – 1, Rural Finance Institutions - Financial Inclusion Network & Oper-ations Ltd. (FINO) – 7, ICICI | RMAG – 7, Yes Bank | ARSB & Yes Bank |ISB – 5, NABARD Financial Services – 1, Axis Bank | Rural Retail Banking – 1, L & T Finance | Rural As-set Financing & Microfinance - 1, State Government Rural Development Agencies - AP Govt | Commissioner - Rural Development (CRD) – 6, AP Govt | Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty (SERP) – 3, AP Govt | Commissioner - Tribal Welfare (CTW) (MNREGA & Education ) – 4, Gujarat Govt – DSAG – 2, Kerala Govt | Kudumbashree SPEM - 1, Farm Solutions Providers - Agrocom Software Technologies Pvt Limited – 5, ITT | Essence of Life – 2, TAFE | Farm Equip-ments – 1, John Deere | Crop Solutions - 1, Agribusiness Organisations and CSR - Metro Cash & Carry | Neev – 5, ITC | e- Choupal – 2, CSR – 5, ICICI Foundation | Center for Elementary Education – 4, TATA Steel CSR - 1, Health Care Institutions - Charotar Arogya Mandal |Shree Krishna Hospital – 3, Sankara Eye Care Institutions India - 1, Rural/Social Research & Consulting Agencies - Ernst & Young | Govt Advisory Group – 2, IWMI - 2, Livelihood Promotion/ NRM /Grass root Organisations - FES – 1, AKRSP ( I ) - 1, e-Governance Solution Providers - Sahaj SREI E-Village Solutions - 2, Rural Energy Access Providers - Schneider Electric | BIP-BOP - 2

Daily and Allied Services - 26%, Rural Financial Institution - 22%, State Govt Ru-ral Development Agencies - 16%, Farm Solutions Providers - 9%, Agribusiness - 7%, CSR - 5%, Health Care In-stitutions - 4%, Rural/Social Re-search & Consult-ing - 4%, Liveli-hood Promotion/ NRM /Grass root - 2%, e-Gover-nance Solution Providers - 2%, Rural Energy Ac-cess Providers - 2%

No of Students Opted Out - 4

Marketing/ Sales: Sales, Corporate Strategy, Business Development,Branding, Product Management, Distribution, Pre-sales and Business Analysis.FMCG: Sales & Marketing and Brand ManagementConsulting: Strategic Consulting, Operations consulting Information Technology: IT Sales, Corporate ITTrade and Logistics: Core Trading and Logistics

Placement Report

FINANCIAL DYNAMICS


Fees in Indian B-schoolsIndia is home to over 16,000 B-schools that have their own independent fee structure. The fee structure of different colleges regarding the MBA course varies partially on the larger picture. The cost of the two year post graduate program also varies depending on the quality and reputation of the institute. Here, we offer you a glimpse of the fees charged at a few prominent B-schools.

Name of the Institute FeesFMS Delhi Annual fees - Rs 10,500 approximately

IIM Ahmedabad* PGP 2010-12 batch fees - Rs 13.70 lakh excluding food

IIM Bangalore Total fees for two years - Rs 13 lakh

IIM Calcutta Fees charged for the 2010-2012 batch is Rs.13.50 Lakh in two years

IIM Indore Programme fee for two years is Rs. 12 lakh

IIM Kozhikode Rs 10 lakh for two years

IIM Lucknow PGP-I (2010-11) - Total fees - 3,95,000 and PGP- II (2011-12) - 4,05,000. In addition to this the students will be required to pay the Placement Fee, Alumni Membership Fee & Refundable deposits for PGP-I (2010-11) - Rs 13,500 and PGP- II (2011-12) - 13,500

IIM Raipur Rs 6 lakh for 2 years

IIM Ranchi Rs 6 lakh for 2 years

IIM Rohtak PGP (2010-12) - Rs 6.1 lakh and PGP (2011-13) - Rs 9 lakh

IIM Shillong The Fees and other charges payable by the PGP students of the 2010-2012 batch for their first academic year is approximately Rs. 4.83 lakh, including hostel, food, etc. Laptop computer, personal expenses on boarding, travel, and clothes are extra. The fees and other charges for the 2011-2013 batch will be based on the fees and other charges for the 2010-2012 batch, adjusted for inflation.

IIM Kashipur Rs 8 lakh for two years

IIM Udaipur The programme fee per year is Rs. 4 lakh includes only tuition fee and academic material per year. Living expenses and other charges are separate. Programme fee does not include medical expenses etc.

IIFT Delhi Annual Tuition fees payable is Rs 4,15,000, Other charges - Rs 21,500 for first year and Rs 16,500 for second year. Hostel fees - Rs 31,000 per student p.a. on triple occupancy, Rs 43,000 on double occupancy basis for Delhi centre and Rs 45,000 for Kolkata centre.

IMT Ghaziabad Total fees - Rs 11,05,000

IRMA The total programme cost over the period of two years (inclusive of boarding, lodging, and field expenditure) is estimated to be about Rs 4,17,700.

NITIE Total Fees for 1st year - Rs 2,66,000 and Total fees for 2nd year - Rs 2,40,500

NMIMS Total fees for two years is Rs 7,86,000

S.P.Jain Institute of Management and Research, Mumbai

Program fee for PGDM 2010-12 is Rs. 4.10 lakh per year (excluding hostel fees of Rs. 40,000 per year)

SJMSOM Total Fees 2010-12 batch General Category - Rs 8,86,902 and Total Fees SC/ST Category - Rs 4,86,902

TAPMI Academic fee is Rs. 8,25,000 inclusive of course material and academic resources. Hostel Fee is approximately Rs. 1,46,000 for the two-year period. Monthly food bill is approximately Rs. 2,500 per month.

VGSOM, IIT Kharagpur Current fees - Rs 1,25,000 per semester, The tuition fee is likely to be revised to 1, 50,000 per semester from 2011-2013 batch.

Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar

1st year - Rs 3,59,500, 2nd year - Rs 4,51,500, Hostel Fees (1st & 2nd year) - Rs 45,000 (single room rent for 2 years)

XLRI Jamshedpur The fees and other charges payable for Business management (BM) and Human Resource Management (HRM) programmes for the batch of 2011-13 is approximately Rs 6,00,000 for the first academic year (2011-12)

IIM Ahmedabad*: The course fees for PGP will be approximately Rs 14.50 lakh from the next academic year

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

FINANCIAL DYNAMICS


REGION FOCUS


Move over Uncle Sam!!The tigers and the dragons

are coming!

As a successful banker from California, USA, Densie Pu witnessed the development

of the Asian economy first hand and was amazed by its growth potential, specifically China. Densie decided to tailor her career in Finance to a China focussed one. While Densie had experience in servicing Chinese clients in the US, she knew that this was not enough to prepare her for her future career plan. She looked at many top MBA programs in the States, which have Asia related courses and concentrations, but the teachings were mostly conducted from Westerner’s perspective. “To work with China’s new generation of rich individuals, comprehension of the Chinese culture and the financial traits was a must for success. “Being the top ranked program in Asia, CEIBS has the resources to prepare me as a finance professional in China. Intellectually, it also broadens my horizon in viewing the world from China’s stand point which in turn helps me understand

current events from an international angle,” says Densie while supporting her decision to study at China Europe International Business School.

Similar was the case of Susan Tong from USA. “In the midst of a weakened US economy, the opportunities that would accompany Asia’s robust growth made me want to pursue my MBA in Singapore, a

country many companies deem to be a gateway into Asia. The NUS MBA’s curriculum, which offers a specialization in strategy, along with its diverse cohort and strong reputation in the business community made it an ideal fit for what I wanted out of a programme.”

There are many like Densie and Susan who are moving away

from their home grounds and choosing to study their MBA from schools in South East Asia. Though the number of international students streaming into schools in South East Asia is low, the trend is promising and definitely on the rise each year. “The Go East mantra is the acknowledgement of the rising influence of Asia in the world economy- you need to be here to get that global perspective and Asian understanding –this is soon to be the biggest market or economy,” says Nick Sonario from the MBA Office of Nanyang Technological University’s Nanyang Business School (NTU).

‘Go West’ by Pet Shop Boys was a chartbuster in the 1990s. The song’s lyrics aptly described the sentiment of the days. The West was considered a land of opportunities, intellectual freedom and economic prosperity. The economic wind however, changed in the direction of East in the new millennium. Countries like India, China, Thailand and Singapore play a major role in the world markets these days. The astonishing growth rates that these countries are experiencing today have made the G8 wake up form their stupor and consider these countries as major economic powers of the future. Undoubtedly, ‘Go East’ has become the new mantra with corporate, governments and individuals looking at a share in the Eastern markets. The Management Education Sector has also taken the same path with more and more students seeking out schools in the East to pursue their Management education than the traditional destinations like US and UK. Gauri Puranik looks into some of the factors that have contributed to this shift in preference.

The famous Merlion fountain in Singapore

REGION FOCUS


The MBA Scale Tips towards the EastWith Asia accounting for 60% of the world population, the Asian continent has become a market that cannot be ignored. China (including Hong Kong) , India and Singapore are at the forefront of management education in the South Asian Continent. Lim Yue Wen, Director of Graduate Studies, NUS Business School, shares with us the reasons for Singapore’s success. “The world is now looking towards Asia as the new growth engine for the global economy. With the burgeoning Asian economy, we have seen more MNCs’ setting up their regional Head Offices in Asia, and in the process, the need for talent has risen accordingly in Asia. Thus, it is not surprising that students will want to be in Asia, where the action is! Singapore is a dynamic city and a

well-known financial hub strategically located in the heart of Southeast Asia. With its mix of cutting-edge infrastructure, world-class education system and a dynamic cosmopolitan vibe, thanks to a blend of Eastern and

Western cultures, Singapore is one of the favourite MBA destinations of international students.”

China and India are not far behind. There is a consumer for every type of product in these markets. Lydia Price, CEIBS Associate Dean, Academic Director of MBA Programme, says. “As the world’s axis of commerce shifts to the East, MBA students naturally follow. Of course, a major reason for this is that growing economies create abundant opportunities for changing jobs and growing careers – the primary motives for MBA study. But there is more to the story. As the economies of China and India continue to

integrate with the rest of the world, it becomes essential for every serious businessperson, no matter where they are located, to understand the dynamics of these important markets, and to establish business contacts here. Most global industries today have substantial links to China – as a manufacturing site, a supplier of components, an R&D center, or increasingly as a key market for sales. So, no matter your career or industry, you need to know how China is involved.”

Survey results from the Graduate Management Admission Council, GMAC, clearly indicate that B-schools in India, China and Singapore

have consistently seen an ncrease in the number of GMAT score reports sent by GMAT examinees around the world. The table below shows a comparison between Testing Year 2006 and 2010 score reports sent to B-schools in South Asia by all GMAT examinees:

From the table it is evident that while B-schools in the West especially the US receive a high number of GMAT score reports, the B-schools in Asia (compared to schools in the West) have seen more than 100% increase in the number of score reports been sent to them. This is especially a significant number as the number of B-schools in South Asia accepting the GMAT scores is far less as compared to countries in the West.

Score Report sent to Schools in

Number of Score Reports

sent

% Increase

TY 2006

TY 2010

India 7228 17482 141.9%

Hong Kong 3346 7363 120.1%

Singapore 4568 12067 164.2%

China 1724 3252 88.6%

Japan 690 934 35.4%

USA 500948 606149 21.0%

UK 19227 34772 80.8%

Canada 22494 28166 25.2%

France 10664 20515 92.4%

Source: www.gmac.com

HKUST Business School, China

REGION FOCUS


School Name/ Website

Programme and Dura-tion

Average GMAT

Average Work Ex

Internation-al Students

Applica-tions

Ad-mits

App : Admits

Fees AvgSalaries

Fees: Slaries

Application Deadlines

China Europe International Business School, China

CEIBS' MBA - 18 months 691 5.4 years 36% Approx 1000

180 5 : 1 USD 49, 800

USD 61,631 0.81 Round 1 - Nov 15, 2010, Round 2 - Feb 12, 2011, Round 3 - April 06, 2011

HKUST Busi-ness School, China

HKUST MBA - 12 or 16 months option

Approx 650

6 years 93% _ 115 _ USD 64,000

USD 1,33,334

0.48 Round 1 - Nov 16, 2010, Round 2 - Dec 14, 2010, Round 3 - Mar 15, 2011

IIM Ahmedabad, India

Post-Graduate Diploma in Management for Execu-tives - PGPX - 1 year

710 10.3 years

8.14% _ 86 _ USD 44,672

International - Approx. USD 122000, Domestic - USD 58,737

0.76 Early August

IIM Calcutta, India

Post Graduate Pro-gramme for Executives (PGPEX) - 1 year

710 8.9 years N.A. _ 44 _ USD 31,507

Domestic- USD 41,409

0.76 August

Indian School of Business, India

Post Graduate Pro-gramme in Management (PGP) - 1 year

710 5 years Non-Indian passport holders - 5%

Approx 4800

577 8 : 1 USD 45,743

Interna-tional - USD 1,29,275 Do-mestic - USD 37, 067

Interna-tional: 0.35, Domes-tic: 1.2

International applicants May 18, 2011 to January 15, 2012 In-dian applicants: Round 1 Sept 15 2011, Round 2: Nov 30 2011

James Cook University Sin-gapore

MBA - 1 year Not re-quired

_ _ _ 40-50 _ USD 22,450

_ _ _

Nanyang Busi-ness School, Nanyang Technologi-cal University, Singapore

The NANYANG MBA - 16 months

672 5 years 87% Not availi-able for disclosure

100 _ USD 39,674

_ _ Round 1 - Oct 1 2011 - Dec 31 2011, Round 2 - Jan 1 2012 - Mar 31 2012

NUS Business School, National University of Singapore, Singapore

The NUS MBA - 17 months

667 5 years more than 90%

4600 104 44 : 1 USD 41,670

USD 60,022 0.69 Round 1 - Oct 8 2010 - 31 Jan 2011, Round 2 - Feb 1 2011 - March 31 2011

Disclaimer: The data given is subject to change as per the change in academic cycles. Though care has been taken to provide you with accurate data, students are advised to visit school websites for further updates.

Full Time Business Programes To

A Time to UniteThough schools in the East have seen a rise in the number of international MBA applications, they realise that there is a lot of scope to increase the enrollment numbers. For this reason, four of the top MBA programmes in Asia have come together to form a group to encourage international especially US and EU students to enroll in their programmes. The group titled TABS or Top Asian Business Schools includes the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS), Indian School of Business

REGION FOCUS


School Name/ Website

Programme and Dura-tion

Average GMAT

Average Work Ex

Internation-al Students

Applica-tions

Ad-mits

App : Admits

Fees AvgSalaries

Fees: Slaries

Application Deadlines

China Europe International Business School, China

CEIBS' MBA - 18 months 691 5.4 years 36% Approx 1000

180 5 : 1 USD 49, 800

USD 61,631 0.81 Round 1 - Nov 15, 2010, Round 2 - Feb 12, 2011, Round 3 - April 06, 2011

HKUST Busi-ness School, China

HKUST MBA - 12 or 16 months option

Approx 650

6 years 93% _ 115 _ USD 64,000

USD 1,33,334

0.48 Round 1 - Nov 16, 2010, Round 2 - Dec 14, 2010, Round 3 - Mar 15, 2011

IIM Ahmedabad, India

Post-Graduate Diploma in Management for Execu-tives - PGPX - 1 year

710 10.3 years

8.14% _ 86 _ USD 44,672

International - Approx. USD 122000, Domestic - USD 58,737

0.76 Early August

IIM Calcutta, India

Post Graduate Pro-gramme for Executives (PGPEX) - 1 year

710 8.9 years N.A. _ 44 _ USD 31,507

Domestic- USD 41,409

0.76 August

Indian School of Business, India

Post Graduate Pro-gramme in Management (PGP) - 1 year

710 5 years Non-Indian passport holders - 5%

Approx 4800

577 8 : 1 USD 45,743

Interna-tional - USD 1,29,275 Do-mestic - USD 37, 067

Interna-tional: 0.35, Domes-tic: 1.2

International applicants May 18, 2011 to January 15, 2012 In-dian applicants: Round 1 Sept 15 2011, Round 2: Nov 30 2011

James Cook University Sin-gapore

MBA - 1 year Not re-quired

_ _ _ 40-50 _ USD 22,450

_ _ _

Nanyang Busi-ness School, Nanyang Technologi-cal University, Singapore

The NANYANG MBA - 16 months

672 5 years 87% Not availi-able for disclosure

100 _ USD 39,674

_ _ Round 1 - Oct 1 2011 - Dec 31 2011, Round 2 - Jan 1 2012 - Mar 31 2012

NUS Business School, National University of Singapore, Singapore

The NUS MBA - 17 months

667 5 years more than 90%

4600 104 44 : 1 USD 41,670

USD 60,022 0.69 Round 1 - Oct 8 2010 - 31 Jan 2011, Round 2 - Feb 1 2011 - March 31 2011

Disclaimer: The data given is subject to change as per the change in academic cycles. Though care has been taken to provide you with accurate data, students are advised to visit school websites for further updates.

Consider in South Asia

(ISB), Nanyang Technological University Business School (NTU) and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). “The aim with this co-promotion is to raise overall awareness among potential students, as well as potential employers, that a key set of Asian business schools offer world class education with something extra – deep understanding of their own local markets. Our four schools are friendly competitors – each setting a high standard for the quality of education we deliver, but differentiated in our core focus. Professors and administrators at our schools are world class, having studied and worked at top institutes in the US and Europe. They’re also experts on their home turf. But MBA applicants don’t always know this. The TABS promotion has begun to close the awareness gap. Queries from international applicants dramatically increased at the global MBA recruiting fairs where we set up the TABS booth. Media interest also greatly increased. As a result, the number of high caliber international applications has also increased. The TABS promotion allows us to accelerate the process and attract stronger applicants to our schools,” says Lydia Price, CEIBS.

Asian Schools climb up the Rankings LadderTill about a decade ago, schools in the West dominated the world rankings. The scenario has not dramatically changed. But Asian schools are steadily scaling the ranking tables. IIM Ahmedabad and ISB were ranked at 11th and 13th position respectively in the Financial Times Global MBA Rankings 2011. Similarly HKUST (at 6), NUS (at 23), NTU (at 33) and CEIBS (at 17) were listed in the top 50 Global B-schools. Even the Economist Rankings for B-schools 2010 have Asian schools like IIM Ahmedabad and NUS Singapore in the top 100. No matter what the ranking methodology or the weightage of parameters – infrastructure, teaching or placements; many Asian schools are making their mark and are here to stay and prosper for a long long time to come.

China Europe International Business School (CEIBS)


SUCCESS STREET

Networks & social networks have been around for a long time, but only recently have

people started analyzing it and getting value out of it. This is a completely multi disciplinary field and various approaches are taken for analysis - some from computer science, mathematics, statistics, game theory or even empirical study.

It has been found that the fundamental building blocks of a human social network are the egocentric properties of each individual in the network: the number of person’s contacts or social ties and in the likelihood that two person’s contacts are connected to each other. A wide variety of social networks can be constructed by altering the distribution of degree and the transitivity between individuals. The increased ability to delve into these innumerable social networking sites has seen a huge surge of

research. Despite the ubiquity of social networks and their importance in communication, we know relatively little about how opinions form and how information is transmitted in such networks.

Rumours are an important form of social communications and their spreading plays an important role. The spread of rumour is a complex s o c i o - psychological

process. Rumours can shape a public opinion in a country, greatly impact

financial market and cause panic in the society during wars and epidemic. The information content of rumours can range from simple gossip to advanced propaganda and marketing material. Rumour like mechanisms can form the phenomena of viral marketing, where companies exploit social networks of their customers on the Internet in order to promote their product via the so-called ‘word of email’ and ‘word of web’. The rumour is propagated through population by contacts

between spreaders and others in the population,

following the law of mass action. Any spreader involved in the pair wise meeting attempts to infect the other individual with the rumour.

According to Avik Sarkar, a social network analyst, “rumor spread is more

of a conceptual study with background in social sciences. There is no way to directly verify the extent

The power of social networking

In 1967, social psychologist Stanley Milgram performed an experiment to solve an unresolved hypothesis circulating in those days. The hypothesis was called the ‘small world problem’. The claim of the small world phenomenon is that the world is in a sense small when viewed as a network of friends, in only a few steps. Milgram asked a few hundred randomly selected people to send letters to a stock broker via intermediaries. Among the letters that reached the destination correctly the average path length was found to be six. This led to the phrase ‘six degrees of separation’. Imagine a situation where you have 100 friends and each one of them also has 100 friends. So at one degree separation, one connects to 100 people and at 2 degree separation one connects to 100 times one hundred. But there are chances that one may come up with many of the same people in one’s friend’s network. And this observation turns out to be a universal feature in all networks. This acquaintance is called clustering and is particularly interesting because clustering can lead to a lot of practical applications.

Reshmi Majumdar


SUCCESS STREET

of spread, other than to do a survey, which also have lot of limitation. This rumor-spread theory is used extensively in marketing/advertising. For example, few people may view an advertisement directly on TV, while others may get to know about it through other people in their friend’s network.” So it is possible to build an opinion about a product even before it is viewed. If extrapolated, it is easy to explain why some governments of this world (notably China) are apprehensive about this aspect of social networking. Since there are no proven ways to curb public opinions and rumours in the web, they have taken the path of banning it completely. Facebook China group, which has more than 60,000 fans following, has this statement on their page “Your publishing rights have been blocked due to a violation of Pages Terms of use”.

If web based communities act as vehicles to spread rumours, then according to Harvard Medical School report, networking seems to have a significant impact on the biological and behaviorual trait namely obesity. Such a research in itself is quite novel, but takes a long period to establish. In this experiment, a densely interconnected social network of 12,067 people was assessed repeatedly between 1973 and 2003. The body mass index was available for all the subjects. It was found that the obesity is a product of voluntary choices or behaviours, and also the fact that people embedded in social network are influenced by the evident appearance and behaviours of those around them. It suggested that having obese social contacts might change a person’s tolerance for being obese or might influence his or her specific behaviour.

The role of social networking as a conduit for information is as old as humanity. And with the recent social and technological developments like Facebook, Twitter, Blogs have further added to the complexity of network interactions. From marketing

perspective blogs are a very important form of social media because they help to access specific customer insights and opinions. A typical blog or a micro blog has one topic and multiple entries or posts. Influential bloggers may or may not be factual experts but nevertheless they can influence the opinion of others via their writings on the topic. For marketing personnel it is important to identify this set of bloggers since any negative sentiment they express could spread far and wide. So sites like blogpulse (www. blogpulse.com) are used to rank blogs based on the number of times it is cited by other bloggers in the past 30 days. With the increased participation among consumers and the growth of

technology it is now possible to put social applications on an equal footing with other business projects. This has resulted in the creation of blog resolution team in many companies, who can track blogs and resolve the complaints of disgruntled customers. The potential benefits that of direct and intimate customer relationships, that social network provides, are too compelling to be ignored.

Various modes of social media are perhaps a good way to promote customer centric thinking and marketing strategies. According to the India Head of a famous networking site, “the internet and social network allows the consumers to voice their opinions in support of causes and issues they feel are important to the society. Brands need to be quick to respond to consumer feedback even if it is negative to ensure

that consumer backlash does not spiral and impact the brand. FMCG behemoth Hindustan Lever was one of the first movers in this field having adopted social media to promote their Sunsilk shampoo. Having launched ‘Sunsilk Gang of Girls’ in 2005, the brand went on to build a community of women online who could strongly associate with women. In this case, online media empowered consumers with a sense of identity and belonging. More recently Aircel has used blogs, social networks and twitter to raise awareness about the fast reducing tigers in the world”.

In the telecommunication sector most of the organizations measure their success by the size and growth of their

profit margins. This implies that the operator must offer the right incentives, adopt right marketing strategies and place network assets appropriately to protect its customers. It is surprising to learn that the decision of a subscriber to churn out the operators’ network is dependent on the existing members of his social networking community!! A social relationship between two friends in this context is based on the duration of voice calls and call frequency etc. This indicates that social

ties play an important role in affecting customer mix.

The information we consume and emit today has a networked structure and has become crowded with varying perspectives and motivating intentions. Also, with our technological and economic systems becoming dependent on networks of enormous complexity, we can easily conclude that social networks are here to stay and will continue to influence our personal, social and professional lives. A lot of conventional thinking will be replaced by the new orders of the interconnected world. After all, as a research study has recently claimed, Wikipedia the peer-to-peer knowledge base collection, is considered as good as the 200 year -old Encyclopedia Britannica today! Reshmi Majumdar is a freelance journalist.

SKILLZ


Nurture your creative blocks

Our right brain, by its non-linear nature, isn’t one to follow our pre-set linear path; that is the

domain of left brain. Any whole-brain creative process includes both linear and non-linear engagement. The right brain also loves to imagine and create new practices as we follow any existing method or approach. If you have an impulse along those lines, go for it.

The following practices are not necessarily in a linear order, and you might go back and forth between them. It’s not as much about a sequence as it is about engaging and responding in the moment.

Widen your areas of interest Do not limit your areas of interest to your prospective career/profession only. Quite often we have found extremely intelligent young people to be narrowly focused. They switch off their involvement when a topic not of particular interest to them is under discussion. They do not realise that they would not lose out anything by listening to or participating in a session for an hour or two. However, they resist on the ground that it will be of no use to them. This is a major block to creativity. Increasingly people have found inter linkages between disciplines and have discovered that knowledge of an apparently unrelated area enlarges the knowledge in their chosen field. Real life problems can often be solved creatively if one looks at different perspectives to the problem, for example, problem of slums have social, economic as well as

psychological angles. If one tries to incorporate multiple perspectives as opposed to one perspective , the solution is likely to be more comprehensive and long lasting. Conquer your fear of failure Fear of failure is a very commonly found stumbling block to creativity. It would be useful to understand the origin of fear for failure. Parents, schools and society consistently reward success and punish failure. As a result of which most people develop an exaggerated and unrealistic fear for failure. This invariably gets linked to a fear of being evaluated. I urge you to check for yourself as to how many people other than your parents and very near and dear ones really care to notice your failures. All people who have done so carefully were surprised to find that either none or very rare souls feel sad at their failures and the rest have only noticed their gains and successes. There is a third category of people as

well who notice everyone’s failures except theirs and you couldn’t be worried about failing for such people. An easily identifiable symptom of this affliction is that a person who has excessive fear of failure avoids competitive situations or chooses either very easy or very difficult situations so that either one surely wins or can easily justify one’s failure. A profound quote from Thomas Alva Edison- “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work” reveals the need for a drastic change in your perspective towards failure. Success and failure are inevitable part of life. It would be useful to remember Sir Winston Churchill’s definition of success as “the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm.” The key is to persist with same energy and commitment despite failures. This approach has a cent percent success in enhancing creativity.

Increase your tolerance for ambiguitySome people have an excessive need for order and structure. They find comfort in routine and familiar. You can easily identify high intolerance for ambiguity in others as well as yourself. If someone gets extremely anxious, irritable and uncomfortable with situations where there are no instructions/guidelines and is often unable to maintain his/her calm, you can safely infer that the person has high intolerance for ambiguity. If anyone believes that every question has to have a clear-cut answer, (s)he lives in a dream world. The very act

Are you looking for a way to feel more creatively vital, more alive? Here are a few practices that can help you to cultivate your creative self.

Dr Shubhra P Gaur

SKILLZ


of creativity means dealing with unexplored areas and therefore the ambiguity in situations is a pre-requisite to possible creative solution provided the individuals who manage such situations do not get flustered by ambiguity. There can be no definite answers to questions which seek complete clarity, e.g., what will we achieve?, how will we achieve? and when will we be able to achieve?

There is one simple remedy to overcome allergy to ambiguity. One is to begin to face and enjoy ambiguous situations. When people find that they have managed an ambiguous situation well, they get the confidence to face similar situations as challenges and learning experiences. When one realises that the sky will not fall on their heads if they ventured into unknown paths, they begin to enjoy the exhilaration of exploration and its accompaniments. Identify the source of rigidity and nip it in the budIf you find yourself stereotyping a group of people on the basis of gender, region , religion or profession, BEWARE…as that is the first sign of rigidity. Stereotyping is the tendency to group people and attribute some qualities to all the group members without sufficient evidence and acknowledgement of individual differences. If taken to its extreme, this tendency limits an individual’s ability to assimilate new information and learn and change. It becomes a serious impediment to experimentation which is the essential precursor to creativity. The second sign of rigidity is holding extreme beliefs about ideal situations and people. This in effect closes the mind to all new information and the person sees, hears and reinforces only what fits in with the strongly held beliefs and not as per the objective reality. Information contradictory to one’s beliefs is either distorted or denied completely to suit one’s dogmatic views. Challenging one’s existing beliefs and opening them

to scrutiny is the only solution to this deep malaise. The third sign of rigidity is when people are unable to see multiple facets of an individual or multiple uses of a tool or available spaces e.g a lawn can be used to relax, hold parties, as a children’s play area. Rigidity limits a person’s ability to acknowledge the diverse ways of looking at people and things and hence creativity potential despite high intellectual capabilities. Be ready to be differentThere is comfort and safety in following the norms of society. Treading on an untrodden path creates anxiety and fear of being ridiculed and social criticism. The roots can be traced to our education system which emphasises on standardising behaviour and ensuring conformity. The hierarchical family system which employs emotional sanctions against deviance and disobedience further reinforces these societal demands This is beautifully illustrated in the film ‘Three idiots’. It requires great courage to be different but courage comes only to those who do not worry about social pressures, ridicule and sanctions. Although some conformity is necessary for harmonious social existence but extreme conformity hinders innovative and divergent ideation and prevents growth and self actualisation of individuals.

Incidentally, a large number of Indians are products of this education and social system and highly conformist thus we have very few role models who go against the flow of tide. This makes getting rid of conformity as a big challenge. Exposure to non-conformist cultures through movies, novels and television programmes wherein there are rewards for non conformity gives a strong blow to uproot conformity. People have benefitted greatly by being in the company of unconventional friends or by carefully following the life of great persons who questioned conventions that were harmful to small groups of individuals in particular and society at large thus paving way for

social change. One of the most widely found blocks to creativity is accepting the status quo on the basis of certain assumptions. Questioning the assumption is the beginning of creativity The maxim that no question can be stupid helps a great deal. It should be noted that each of the above mentioned blocks have some advantages as well but only if present in mild to moderate form. For example, focus on one’s career domain helps people to master and specialise in their chosen field and prevents distractions in many directions. Similarly, mild fear of failure energises rather than paralysing. Milder forms of ambiguity intolerance also clarifies doubts and enables a person to take clear and effective action. Rigidity, for example, simplifies life and has survival value provided mere survival provided the satisfaction of living life well. Moderate conformity to societal norms also gets acceptance for the person to bring about change in people subsequently. It is only if any one or more of them are present in extreme forms that they limit the creativity of individuals tremendously. 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


Brand experts have acknowledged the entrepreneurial instincts and

strategic vision of Sir Richard – along with his quality management teams, which are driven by a fanatical will to succeed – as being critical to the success of Virgin products. But it is argued that the Virgin brand is the ‘glue’ that holds it together.

The success of a brand is its ability to tell the market what it stands for without actually saying it. Virgin’s brand identity, according to the experts, stands for quality service, innovation, fun and value for money. Virgin has created more than 300 branded companies worldwide, employing approximately 50,000 people, in 30 countries. Global branded revenues in 2009 exceeded £ 11.5 billion (approximately $ 18 billion). The largest of these are Virgin Atlantic Airways, the number two airline in the United Kingdom; Virgin Holidays, a vacation tour operator; Virgin Rail, the second largest UK train operator; the Virgin Retail Group, which operates numerous Virgin Megastores, a retail concept featuring videos, music CDs, and computer games; and Virgin Direct, which offers financial services. Other Virgin businesses include beverage maker Virgin Cola, a record label, book and music publishing operations, hotels, an Internet service provider, movie theaters, a radio station, cosmetics and bridal retailing concepts, and a line of clothing.

The ever-expandingVirgin brand

Virgin is a leading branded venture capital organisation and is one of the world’s most recognised and respected brands. Conceived in 1970 by Sir Richard Branson, the Virgin Group has gone on to grow very successful businesses in sectors ranging from mobile telephony to transportation, travel, financial services, media, music and fitness.

Brand Wagon

CORPORATE WORLD


Success mantraVirgin stands for value for money, quality, innovation, fun and a sense of competitive challenge. The company aims to deliver quality service by empowering its employees and facilitates and monitors customer feedback to continually improve the customer’s experience through innovation.

Further, when Virgin decides to start a new venture, the company bases it on hard research and analysis. Typically, it reviews the industry and puts itself in the customer’s shoes to see what could make it better. The team also asks fundamental questions: is this an opportunity for restructuring a market and creating competitive advantage? What are the competitors doing? Is the customer confused or badly served? Is this an opportunity for building the Virgin brand? Can we add value? Will it interact with our other businesses? Is there an appropriate trade-off between risk and reward?

It is also able to draw on talented people from throughout the Group. New ventures are often steered by people seconded from other parts of Virgin, who bring with them the trademark management style, skills and experience. Further, Virgin frequently creates partnerships with others to combine industry specific skills, knowledge, and operational expertise.

Contrary to what some people may think, the company’s constant expansion and eclectic empire is neither random nor reckless. Each successive venture demonstrates the company’s devotion to picking the right market and the right opportunity.

Once a Virgin company is up and running, several factors contribute to making it a success. The power of the Virgin name; Richard Branson’s personal reputation; unrivalled

network of friends, contacts and partners; the Virgin management style; the way talent is empowered to flourish within the group. To some traditionalists, these may not seem hard headed enough. To them, the fact that Virgin has minimal management layers, no bureaucracy, a tiny board and no massive global HQ is an anathema. The proof of Virgin’s

success is real and tangible.

In the newsWhen Sir Richard Branson recently unveiled the Virgin Oceanic submarine, he noted that “More men have been to the moon than have been down further (underwater) than 20,000 feet.” To that end, he and an explorer pal will take the submarine to the deepest trenches of the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Southern, and Arctic Oceans, feeding first-of-its-kind data and video to Google, to be added to Google’s Earth and Maps databases. The deep sea is truly the final frontier on our planet, and Branson wants to make it as accessible as possible.

Virgin Oceanic is a five-journey proposal, in which they’ll hit the Mariana Trench (Pacific), Puerto Rico Trench (Atlantic), Diamantina Trench (Indian), South Sandwich Trench (Southern), and Molloy Deep (Arctic). The Puerto Rico Trench is the deepest trench known, and has never been explored.

Their submersible, designed by Graham Hawkes, is one of the more interesting parts of the journey.

Shaped more like a dolphin than a traditional submarine, the Virgin Oceanic craft has an operating depth of 37,000 feet – about seven miles – which means it has to be able to withstand outrageous pressure, 1,500 times that of an airplane. Constructed of carbon fiber and titanium (with a quartz dome), the craft is currently undergoing tests – at that depth, the smallest crack would result in certain death for the pilots, both due to the immense pressure (13 million pounds) and the simple fact that there exist no other vehicles capable of a rescue mission. The submarine travels at a maximum of three knots, and can dive at 350 feet per minute, so a dive to the bottom of the Mariana trench and back would take around five hours.

The submarine is equipped with all the usual sensors and cameras, which should come in handy as this

isn’t – or at least isn’t only – a swashbuckling “let’s see if we can do it” mission. Knowledge of the ocean at this depth is, without exaggeration, at 0 percent--we have no idea what’s going on down there, which is why Virgin is working closely with both Google and the renowned Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and with a host of other scientists from some of the best

marine studies departments in the country.

Though further tests need to be carried out before the first expedition begins, Virgin Oceanic expects to dive the Mariana Trench sometime this year, with the remaining four dives spaced out throughout the following two years.

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Tell us a little about the Saratoga India Human Capital Effectiveness Survey.Saratoga is PwC’s human capital measurement and benchmarking business – the most extensive database of HR metrics available. Our aim is to assist organisations in evaluating their human capital and its contribution to bottom-line profitability.We offer a range of quantitative and qualitative tools which help organisations to identify the strategic impact of their people, as well as to benchmark themselves against peers in the marketplace in order to identify areas of risk or efficiency, and to evidence best practice and innovation.

This enables HR leaders to gain a clearer understanding of the effectiveness of their function, and of the HR programmes that they implement.

This also enables HR to demonstrate the impact that they are having on the business’ success, and to ensure and evidence the alignment of HR activities to business strategy.

What was the intent of the Human Capital Effectiveness Survey 2010?PwC Saratoga India team conducted human capital effectiveness survey 2010 for Indian companies. The intent of the survey was to help Indian companies to develop an understanding of their human capital contributions to business performance.

The survey conducted amongst 37 Indian companies across different industries provides detailed performance metrics and benchmark

data to help companies understand their employees’ contributions to business performance. It also allows companies to compare themselves with peers by industry, revenue size and employee size.

What have been the key findings of this survey?Organisations with larger revenue base enjoy 2.2 times higher productivity compared to smaller organisations. However, smaller organisations have 50 percent more L&D resources per employees, 2.6 to 2.9 times higher L&D investments and higher average remuneration per employee, and yet witness almost 1.4 to 1.8 times higher resignation rate than larger organisations. Smaller organisations however deliver 10 to 15 percent fewer L&D hours per employee than larger organisations. The survey also reveals that smaller organisations recruit more number of graduates but struggle to retain them while large organisations are hiring 25 percent more talent from external market. Another finding was that the smaller companies focus more on compensation than on benefits unlike large organisations.

Then there is also a cause of concern in terms of turnover and gender diversity. With 18 percent termination and 15 percent resignation rates, turnover is slated to be a cause of significant concern for the country’s workplace effectiveness. Another area of concern was the poor representation of women in the Indian workforce, being as low as 9 percent compared to approximately 50 percent in Europe.

Could you provide us with industry-wise highlights?The engineering and manufacturing sector have the highest proportion of performance related pay relative to total compensation. Rationally so, these companies also earn the most revenue and profit per employee. Pharmaceutical companies however, spend the highest amount (Rs 10,000) on L&D per employee and delivered the highest number of L&D hours per employee. It also pays the high average remuneration and generates high return on its investment on its people. Contrary to general perception, IT/ITeS have the lowest spend on L&D per employee. This sector also witnesses the highest termination and resignation rate.

Is talent mobility good? What is your take on Indians taking up international assignments? What has been the reason for this trend?Yes, it is good. Indian managerial talent is being recognised globally which is a good thing. Global companies also use international mobility as a lever to attract and retain good talent as well as to build a leadership pipeline. Workforce diversity is another important driver of global talent mobility.

What according to you is the need of the hour when it comes to MBA education?The need of the hour is to produce good managers, by which I mean equipping students with the skills, attitudes and ethics required to become effective and well-rounded business managers and leaders.

“Indian organisations should focus on maximising employee contribution”

… says Sankar Ramamurthy, ED and Head – People & Change Consulting, PwC India, which recently released the PwC Saratoga India survey 2010 on human capital effectiveness. The survey findings reveal that organisations in India are making a profit of Rs 15 per employee on every Rs 100 of revenue earned from them. In this exclusive e-interview with Sarita Kutty, Sankar discusses the industry trends pertaining to human capital and the future of MBA education.

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How can India deepen its manufacturing sector?

The latest data on India’s industrial and manufacturing sector performance has been discouraging; the sector has slowed down to less than 4 percent during Feb 2011, as compared to 15 percent a year ago. An insight…

India’s manufacturing sector is currently weak and may not be able to support its dream to grow

at double digits over the next few decades! Industrial and Manufacturing sector contributes a mere 28 percent of its GDP in India while it constitutes 47 percent in China (Figure 1). Agriculture constitutes 16 percent in India and 10 percent in China, while Services sector dominates the Indian GDP at 56 percent while only at 43 percent of GDP in China. Although India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is dominated by the Services Sector, predominantly comprising the Information Technology Enabled Services (IT and ITES) sectors, its manufacturing sector has not been prominent and is not been performing to its potential. This has been a major concern; a deep and vibrant manufacturing sector will precipitate the country’s economic growth across rural and urban centers. However, a robust services sector will result in economic growth which will only be localised to the urban centers

and the growth will not cascade to the rural areas, both in terms of economic prosperity and employment generation.

Hence, it is inevitable that India needs to deepen its manufacturing sector. So, what are the issues with the Indian manufacturing sector? Before answering these questions, it is pertinent to compare India’s manufacturing sector with that of China’s, in order to understand the magnitude of the differential and thereby appreciate the mammoth efforts that India would require to achieve this important feat! While China’s GDP is close to four times that of India’s, its industrial and manufacturing sector is more than forty times larger! China’s GDP has been growing at more or less ‘double digits’ over the last three decades, commencing 1978.

Exponential growth in its manufacturing sector has been the primary driver for such sustained high GDP growth. China has achieved this through a combination of proactive

policies, and exploiting its surplus labor, attracting capital through Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and ‘cutting edge’ technologies that come together with it, forming clusters in the form of Special Economic Zones (SEZ) which become islands of industrial development and nurturing the entrepreneurial zeal of its citizens in developing their small businesses to global scale. There are abundant lessons for India to learn so that it can strengthen its manufacturing sector.

Policy changes needed to deepen India’s manufacturing sectorThere are a number of challenges that needs to be addressed; narrowing the infrastructure gap, a stable policy environment and superior governance, simplification of procedures for land acquisition and creating appropriate labor policies conducive for a strong manufacturing sector. Other challenges include developing a pool of skilled workforce and policies to foster innovation and capacity expansion. No less important

Dr Suresh Srinivasan

Figure 1: Structure of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) – India vs. China

Business Analysis

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would be the facilitation of technology infusion through collaborations and partnerships that would go to improve the employee productivity and quality of output.

Government policies and cluster development Chinese Industrial Policy framework is a key success factor; a battery of incentives for manufacturing was instituted way back in the early 1970s. What started off as creation of Special Economic Zones (SEZ) which was eligible for the 50 percent concessional tax rate, tax holiday for the first two years of operations and reduced taxes for an additional three years, laid down the foundation for the Chinese manufacturing policy. This initially covered the SEZs located along the Coastal China which were then diffused into the ‘main land’ China disseminating the economic and manufacturing success across the length and breadth of the country. In line with China’s initiatives, the Indian Commerce and Industry Minister recently announced that a radical new national manufacturing policy would be developed, with an objective to attract foreign investments and also create manufacturing hubs in line with that of China SEZs.

China’s policy frame work also proactively promoted industrial growth and a high investment rate, covering both public and private investments. The government and the country’s banking system facilitated the flow of private savings into the public investments through cross subsidization of interest rates and thereby recorded consistently high investment levels for many decades. One can call this government interference, but, the biggest strength in the Chinese system has been the ‘directive’ policies of the government which lays down as to what must be manufactured, who should manufacture, what should be the ownership of these enterprises, and how should these enterprises be funded. But for these interventions and planned achievement of targets, China’s manufacturing sector cannot be what it is today. Planning at such micro level is not the strength of India, it needs to improve here!

Small and Medium Size Enterprise (SME) focusIn order to achieve technology absorption, the Chinese have focused on developing SMEs, encouraging entrepreneurs to interact with world-class firms to understand and acquire technologies and network. Even today, India lacks on this front mainly due to the government’s ‘public sector’ focus for industrial development. The Chinese have nurtured SMEs, modeled them as a vehicle for scaling; once the SMEs attain a critical size the Chinese government provides various incentives for them to scale up and become larger firms. Contrarily in India, there are penalties for small companies scaling up where they loose tax incentives, do not get access to credit and have to pay higher interest rates.

Labour policies and skills developmentLabour reforms have been a key contributory for industrial growth in China; firms have the ability to ‘hire’ employees and not worry about retrenching them when the demand reduces; this is still not possible in India! The Indian Industrial Disputes Act of 1947 does not allow firms with over 100 employees from retrenching them without government permission and paying the staff very high and unviable ‘end of service’ payments. Hence many SMEs in India do not

want to grow and thereby cross the 100 employee mark. Drastic revision in such policies is required!

Lack of skills development is one of the biggest challenges for the growth of any industry in India. Despite the availability of surplus labor adaptability to industrial jobs is difficult, due to the lack of ‘training and development’ at the grass root level. Through this, the government deprives firms the supply of appropriate human capital that is essential for large scale industrial growth. The situation in China is very different; China has for years practiced industrial education at a ‘grass root’ level through establishing technical training institutes, which ensure supply of the required human capital to power the manufacturing sector. India needs to move leaps and bounds in this area.

Infrastructure gapThis is where India is unable to match the mighty China; India’s infrastructure gap is pegged at around 45 lakh crore. It lacks power, roads, bridges, ports and urban infrastructure to support a vibrant manufacturing sector. Experts assess that without such hard infrastructure the country’s GDP will fall short by 3 percent to 4 percent. India certainly needs to allocate more funds towards infrastructure creation.

The way forwardWell, the areas India is falling short in is fairly clear, we only need focused policy initiatives to bridge the gap. The government is definitely aware of these and are taking initiatives, but the question is, is it ‘too little too late’? It is inevitable that manufacturing sector needs to be deepened and strengthened; this will involve very focused attention and initiatives!

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.

Business Analysis

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Economic impact of Japan’s crisis

Japan recently encountered its worst crisis in its history, an unprecedented earthquake followed by a devastating Tsunami hitting its northeastern coast, and to top it all, a nuclear disaster! Analysts initially pegged the damage to around $ 150 to $ 200 billion. So, what are the economic implications of these gruesome developments? How deep is the damage to the Japanese economy? What will be its impact on the global economy? Will it have a bearing on the Indian economy? These are some of the issues discussed in this article.

Although there are divergent views on the magnitude of impact on the Japanese

economy, a dent on the current quarter GDP growth seems inevitable! The northeastern part of Japan that has been affected is reported to generate less than 5 percent of Japan’s overall GDP and hence one view is that the economic impact may not be that huge. However, with the lack of clarity on the Fukushima nuclear reactors, others

feel the magnitude of the damage is still far from clear. There are definitely global implications.

The impactAs an aftermath of the crisis, many factories had shut down across the country, due to disruptions in transportation and power supply. Disruptions also resulted from damages to roads, building, airports and seaports. The investor perception

has been seriously dented; Japanese stocks experienced their worst drop ever seen in the last 25 years. Market capitalisation eroded by more than half a trillion US$, ie, an equivalent of more than 20 lakh crore, in just two days. Markets, however, did rebound swiftly and recovered a part of such losses.

Primary impact of the crisis stems from the loss of industrial output resulting from insufficient power. This also negatively impacted exports.

Dr Suresh Srinivasan

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Toyota, Nissan and other automakers had stopped production at many of their units, and some of them had also evacuated workers from their northeast production sites. Honda had even closed down some plants. Such disruptions are expected to carry on till June. A major source of power in Japan, is nuclear, which accounts for around 33 percent of the total electricity generated in the country. With almost all of the nuclear plants being shut down, the impact on power supply was significant. Due to the power crisis, 20 lakh homes did not have power and 14 lakh homes did not have running water. The economic impact seems to be around 1 percent of the GDP; the Japanese economy was forecasted to grow at around 2 percent during the current year, which will now reduce to around 1 percent. The slow down is expected to be only short term, but could steeply improve in the next quarter.

With more funds required to rebuild, Japan’s public debt is already twice the size of its $ 5,000 billion, economy, being the highest level of public debt held by any developed country. Hence, there would be concerns when Japan stretches itself. In order to overcome this liquidity crisis, Bank of Japan has infused funds to the tune of $ 200 billion into the banking system so that the Japanese local banks can freely carry on its lending activity. It has also initiated an asset purchase program to the tune of $ 120 billion to further ease liquidity.

The Japanese Yen has been steadily appreciating since the onslaught of the crisis primarily due to repatriations of funds into Japan by corporate and nationals. It scaled the dangerous mark of 78 Yen to a US$ and smartly recovered back to 83 Yen a US$ after the Central Bank intervention. Japan being a largely export driven economy, is already struggling with the strong Yen affecting exporters.

Impact on the global economyJapan still continues to produce a large section of high value added and high technology components for automobiles and computer chips, which it supplies to its subsidiaries and consumers across the globe. For

example, Japan manufactures close to 40 percent of the total global computer chips. Production disruptions at Japan could impact the output of these subsidiaries and the consumers across the world. The regions most likely to be impacted are likely to be East Asian countries, including Thailand, Korea, India, Philippines and Malaysia. With production loss in Japan for high end auto, electronic components and steel, it is expected that competing economies like United States (US), China and Europe could step in to take advantage of this opportunity. This could possibly create more jobs in such developed economies which are struggling to come out of the global economic slow down. This is a positive impact to the global economy.

A large-scale national reconstruction activity is inevitable and is likely to commence soon! This will be a positive development for not only the Japanese economy as it will involve large scale investments and

job creations that will go to stimulate the economy, but also a good news to the international community would all need to contribute to reconstruct the infrastructure in the northeastern parts of Japan.

On an average, close to 25 percent of the emerging nations in East Asia have their national debts designated in Japanese Yen. This means, if the Yen appreciates by say a percentage point, this could translate to an additional annual burden of debt service to the tune of a quarter of a trillion US$.

Japan is one of the major sources of FDI in East Asia; this includes countries like Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and India. Since

Japan is likely to pull back its funds from abroad, the possibility that it would maintain its FDI investments into East Asian countries at this juncture is low. There is hence a negative impact on Emerging Market FDI inflows from Japan in the short to near term future.

With Japan raising the severity of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant to a level 7, making it on par with the Chernobyl nuclear disaster shows the magnitude of the problem. Such a disaster has already started to change the perception of large nuclear power producing countries and is forcing them to take a second look at their nuclear power strategies; Germany, for example has already shut down a large number of its nuclear reactors.

Impact on the Indian economyIndian imports from Japan is around 2.3 percent while its exports to Japan is around 2 percent. Hence, from a trade perspective, the impact is not likely to be significant. The Indian auto industry could however have a significant negative impact; with Toyota postponing the inauguration of a new plant in Bangalore and Honda postponing the launch of the Brio, its new model. It is understandable that Japanese manufacturers are focusing their attention back home to sort out their output disruptions.

Japanese, have always been major investors into the Indian infrastructure sector. They have provided many loans to Indian infrastructure projects at subsidised interest rates. This includes projects like Delhi Metro and other Rail and Freight Corridor

projects where Japanese funding and commitment have been enormous. It is still not clear as to how this could be impacted, but analysts definitely expect certain short term negative impact due to their crisis at home.

Going aheadThough there has been a negative impact on the Japanese economy, the country is likely to quickly recover and move up in its growth path. Further, there will be a global impact due to production disruptions and nuclear catastrophe but a positive impact due to potential reconstruction activities. From an Indian perspective, the impact is not likely to be significant.

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Economic IndicatorsBusiness Analysis

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Business Analysis


WORLD VIEW

With the UPA-II regime reeling under a series of corruption scams, the Lokpal Bill is once again in the news. Gandhian social activist Anna Hazare began a ‘fast unto death’ on 5th April 2011 to exert pressure on the Central Government to pass a strong anti-corruption act, in the form of the Jan Lokpal Bill (People’s Ombudsman Bill), with more stringent provisions and wider powers as compared to the Lokpal Bill (Ombudsman).

Lokpal Bill

The Lokpal Bill provides for the filing of corruption cases against the Prime Minister,

other ministers and all Members of Parliament, with the ombudsman. The Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC) set up in 1966 recommended the formation of two-tier machinery consisting of a Lokpal at the Centre and Lokayuktas in the states.

The first Lokpal Bill was passed in the Fourth Lok Sabha in 1969 but it was unsuccessful in the Rajya Sabha. While it was pending in the Rajya Sabha, the Lok Sabha was dissolved, which resulted in the first death of the bill. The bill was revived in 1971, 1977, 1985, 1989, 1996, 1998, 2001, and 2005 and most recently in 2008. Every time the bill was re-introduced in the house, it was referred to a committee for improvements, and before the government could take a final call on the bill, the house got dissolved. The Lokpal Bill is pending since its inception for 42 long years.

The ‘India against Corruption Movement’ led by Anna Hazare contends that the original Lokpal Bill, even if it were passed now, would be insufficient to check corruption. The present anti-corruption systems in India are not enough, and the Lokpal is just another advisory body, with very little powers and overall reach to curb corruption.

The Jan LokpalThe Jan Lokpal Bill has been drafted by N. Santosh Hegde, a former justice of the Supreme Court of India and Lokayukta of Karnataka, Prashant Bhushan, a senior lawyer in the Supreme Court, along with members of the ‘India against Corruption movement’.

The Jan Lokpal Bill, drafted by the activists of the movement, aims to arm the Lokpal with supreme powers, to initiate disciplinary proceedings against any Government servant, including politicians, officials and judges, the Lokpal being an independent body.

The Jan Lokpal Bill proposes that the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), departmental vigilance wings and anti-corruption branch of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) be merged into the Lokpal. It will have a two tier structure with a Lokpal at the centre and Lokayukta in each state.

Investigations in corruption cases will have to be completed within one year and the trial will have to be finished within the next one year, so that the case is decided within two years. The loss to the government caused by a corrupt person will be recovered at the time of his conviction. The Lokpal may impose financial penalty on erring officers, which will be handed out as compensation to the complainant. Some have even suggested that the Lokpal be given its own police force and the complaints put in by the common man be also entertained. The Jan Lokpal Bill appears to be people friendly and a

major improvement over the original Lokpal Bill.

Hazare’s movement had been supported by eminent personalities from all walks of life. This includes names like, social activists Medha Patkar and Arvind Kejriwal, former IPS officer Kiran Bedi, Jayaprakash Narayan of the Lok Satta, spiritual leaders Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Swami Ramdev and Swami Agnivesh, and former Indian cricketer Kapil Dev. Common people from all

over the world and the Indian youth in particular, have lent their support to this movement, through online networking via social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.

Anna Hazare ended his 97-hour hunger strike on 9th April 2011 after the Government of India accepted his

Atasi Das


WORLD VIEW

demand and issued a notification in the Gazette of India, on the formation of a joint committee the same day. It accepted Hazare’s prescription of a politician Chairman and an activist, non-politician, Co-Chairman for the committee.

As per the notification, Pranab Mukherjee shall be the Chairman of the draft committee, Shanti Bhushan shall be its Co-chairman and M Veerappa Moily shall be its Convenor. The Joint Drafting Committee shall consist of five nominee ministers of the Government of India and five nominees of the civil society. The five nominee Ministers of the Government of India are Pranab Mukherjee, Union Minister of Finance, P Chidambaram, Union Minister of Home Affairs, M Veerappa Moily, Union Minister of Law and Justice, Kapil Sibal, Union Minister of Human Resource and Development and Minister of Communication and Information Technology and Salman Khursheed, Union Minister of Water Resources and Minister of Minority Affairs. The five nominees of Anna Hazare (including himself) are Anna Hazare, Justice N Santosh Hegde,

Shanti Bhushan, Senior Advocate, Prashant Bhushan, Advocate and Arvind Kejriwal. The Committee shall start its task of preparing the proposed legislation immediately and shall complete its work by 30th June 2011.

Anna has set a deadline of 15th August, 2011 for passing the Lokpal Bill in Parliament, failing which he has promised to launch a nation wide mass agitation in support of the movement.

ConclusionThe UPA-II era has seen a series of corruption scandals in the form of CWG, Adarsh and 2G scams and the public support in favour of Anna Hazare’s movement indicates that the common man is unhappy with

the state of affairs under this Central Government. The reaction of the Central Government seems to be proactive at this time. The Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ashwini Kumar has stated “The Government will introduce the Lokpal Bill during the monsoon session of Parliament, and once passed corruption cases will be handled by fast track courts for speedy disposal”. The minister’s statement seems to hold hope for the future, towards the creation of a corruption free India. Critiques have however argued that bestowing sweeping powers to the Jan Lok Pal Bill may only breed more corruption in future, as it is slated to become the “investigator, prosecutor and judge” all combined into one. There have also been demands of bringing the corporate sector, the central government employees and the non-governmental sector organisations under the ambit of the Bill. The author is a freelance writer and has contributed to various online business magazies and informative websites.

The Jan Lokpal Bill appears to be people friendly and a major

improvement over the original Lokpal Bill.

STUDY HOUR

A group of friends were engaged in silly banter when all of a sudden they

heard an ear-piercing clamour from a nearby turret. They were adventurous

and audacious, and decided to enter the turret. It was spooky and was strewn

with shards of glass and other sharp items. The dampness was depressing

but wonders do exist as was visible to the naked eye.

The walls were adorned with some beautiful canvas. They were by original artists

and each of the paintings was sui generis, but cloaked in dust.

The ambience was grim and supernatural. Suddenly, one of the doors

made a creaking sound and a black cat started to purr as if she were dogging the

footsteps of some presence. They followed the cat and saw a grotesque looking woman.

All of them gazed at her with trepidation. She manages to catch one of the girls and tries to

clobber her. The girl turns pallid, about to faint when the rest hear laughter.

They are then encircled by friends who are in splits. Later it turned out to be

an April Fool’s Day hoax.

An April Fool’s Day hoax

WORD DOSE Reshma Majithia

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WORD MEANINGS

Hoax (N): (hohks) scheme or plan

intended to deceive or defraud

Banter (N): (ban-ter)

an exchange of light,

playful, teasing remarks;

good-natured teasing

Ear-piercing (Adj):

(eer-peer-sing)

extremely harsh and

irritating to the ear

Clamour (N):

(klam-er) a loud uproar,

as from a crowd of

people

Turret (N):

(tur-it) a small tower,

usually one forming part

of a larger structure.

Audacious (Adj):

(aw-dey-shuhs)

extremely bold or daring

Spooky (Adj):

(spook-ee) Suggestive of

ghosts or a ghost, scary

Shards (N): (shahrd)

A fragment of a brittle

substance, e.g. glass small

pieces or parts

Canvas (N): (kan-vuhs)

a closely woven, heavy

cloth of cotton or linen,

used for painting, tents,

sails, etc.

Sui generis (Adj):

(soo-i ge-ne-ris)

unique or particular

to itself, only one

of its kind

Ambience (N):

(am-bee-uhns)

the atmosphere of a place

Creaking (V): (kreek)

to make a sharp, harsh,

grating, or squeaking

sound.

Dogging (V):

(dawg) to follow or

track like a dog

Presence (N):

(prez-uhns) a person or

a spirit you cannot see

but that you feel is near

Grotesque (Adj):

(groh-tesk) odd or

unnatural in shape,

appearance, or character,

ugly, frightening

Trepidation (N):

(trep-i-dey-shuhn)

tremulous fear, alarm,

or agitation

Clobber (V): (klob-er)

to batter severely;

strike hard whip,

thrash, beat

Pallid (Adj): (pal-id)

pale, wan

Encircle (V): (en-sur-kuh)

to form a circle around;

surround.

To be in splits (idiom):

to crack up with laughter,

to laugh uncontrollably

Word DoseSTUDY HOUR


STUDY HOUR

Reshma Majithia1. An American multinational

corporation that designs and markets consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers has sued Amazon.com for trademark infringement and unfair competition. Name the multinational corporation.

a. Microsoft b. Apple c. Yahoo d. Hewlett-Packard

2. Who has been appointed the new chairman of the State Bank of India (SBI)?

a. Gautam Talwar b. Pankaj Gandhi c. Pratip Chaudhuri d. Sandeep Lakhina 3. The Prime Minister of Portugal

announced his resignation on the eve of the EU summit on the eurozone debt crisis after parliament rejected his minority government’s latest round of austerity measures. Name him.

a. António Guterres b. José Manuel Barroso c. Pedro Santana Lopes d. Jose Socrates

4. An English-born American actress, she became one of the great screen actresses of Hollywood’s Golden Age, and one of the most famous film stars in the world. She starred in movies like ‘Father of the Bride, A Place in the Sun, Giant, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Suddenly, and Last Summer. She also won the Academy Award for Best Actress for Butterfield 8’. She passed away on March 23, 2011. Identify her.

a. Elizabeth Taylor b. Brittany Murphy c. Jane Russell d. Jean Simmons

5. Managing a Dental Practice: the Genghis Khan Way, is a book advising dentists on how to run their practices the Mongolian

warlord style. It has won the Diagram prize for oddest book title of the year. Who is the author of the book?

a. Michael Young b. Ana Castillo c. Alfonso Chase d. Ray Bradbury

6. Which of the following advertising agencies has won the media mandate of the direct response company Guthy-Renker, a direct-response marketer known primarily for selling products in the United States via infomercials? The agency has won the business for digital and print media. Name the agency.

a. Mudra b. Leo Burnett c. OMD d. Euro Rscg

7. Who was recently appointed as Assistant Administrator for Asia in the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) by US President Barack Obama?

a. Nisha Desai b. Farah Pandith c. Preet Bharara d. Anju Bhargava

8. Who has been appointed the vice-chairperson of Lowe Lintas India?

a. Raj Kamble b. Gautam Talwar c. Anwesh Bose d. Fali Vakeel

9. Who has won this year’s Orange Prize for Fiction with her sixth novel The Lacuna?

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.

STUDY HOUR


Word Dose

STUDY HOUR

a. Marilynne Robinson b. Barbara Kingsolver c. Rose Tremain d. Hilary Mantel

10. As per census 2011 the population of India has increased by more than _____ during the decade 2001-2011.

a. 120 million b. 181 million c. 180 million d. 150 million

11. Which is the most populous state in India followed by Maharashtra?

a. Jharkhand b. Haryana c. Bihar d. Uttar Pradesh

12. Who has been appointed the chairman of the board of governors of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur?

a. Lakshmi Mittal b. Ratan Tata c. Shiv Nadar d. Rahul Bajaj

13. Which of the following advertising agencies hogged the limelight, winning the only Grand Prix and five gold metals at the ABBY awards at GoaFest 2011?

a. Madison Advertising Pvt Ltd b. Ogilvy & Mather c. Percept Advertising Ltd d. Equus Advertising Co Ltd

14. Who won the Pantaloons Femina Miss India World 2011 beauty pageant?

a. Nicole Faria b. Ankita Shorey c. Kanishtha Dhankar d. Hasleen Kaur

15. Which of the following countries officially banned women from wearing full-face veils/burqa in public places?

a. France b. Germany c. Denmark d. Fiji

16. Who has been elected the new president of WAN-IFRA? (WAN-IFRA, based in Paris and Darmstadt, Germany, is a global organisation of newspaper editors and publishers, representing more than 18,000 publications, 15,000 online sites and over 3,000 companies in more than 120 countries.)

a. Ravinder Siwach b. Deepak Singh c. Rajat Gupta d. Jacob Mathew

17. He is an Italian film director and screenwriter, whose films include The Conformist, Last Tango in Paris, The Last Emperor and The Dreamers. In recognition of his work, he will be presented with the inaugural Honorary Palme d’Or Award at the opening ceremony of the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. Name him.

a. Roberto Benigni b. Martin Scorsese c. Bernardo Bertolucci d. Sergio Leone

18. Which among the following stock exchanges has developed its own computer application called “NOW” to enable mobile trading?

a. Bombay Stock Exchange b. National Stock Exchange c. Delhi Stock Exchange d. MCX

19. Which of the following telecom service providers has signed the most expensive sponsorship deal in the Indian Premier League (IPL) with Chennai Super Kings. The telecom service provider has paid more than Rs 85 crore to renew its sponsorship contract with the Chennai team led by Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

a. Vodafone India b. Idea

c. Bharti Airtel d. Aircle

20. Who won the Asian Billiards Championship at the Olympic Stadium of Kish Island, Iran?

a. Rupesh Shah b. Pankaj Advani c. Alok Kumar d. Geet Sethi

21. A Zimbabwe-based conserva-tionist who has taken a very direct approach to saving Africa’s Criti-cally Endangered black rhino has been awarded the 2011 Goldman Environmental Prize. Name him.

a. David Attenborough b. Raoul du Toit c. Matthew Hatchwell d. Chris Weston

22. An Indian chartered accountant, he was the board member of Infosys Technologies Limited and the company’s Director Incharge of the Human Resource Department. He resigned from the board and Infosys Technologies Limited in April 2011. Name him.

a. NR Narayana Murthy b. Dr. Omkar Goswami c. T V Mohandas Pai d. Srinath Batni

23. He is a business magnate and philanthropist and has been ranked as the world’s wealthiest man by Forbes magazine. He is also the chairman and CEO of telecommunications companies Telmex and América Móvil and plans to invest $1.5 billion over the next two years in Argentina’s telecommunications sector. Name him.

a. Warren Buffet b. Bill Gates c. Carlos Slim d. Larry Ellison

24. He is an American business entrepreneur and is also the owner of Kroenke Sports Enterprises, which includes the Denver Nuggets of the NBA, Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer, Colorado Avalanche of

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the NHL, Colorado Mammoth of the National Lacrosse League and St. Louis Rams of the NFL. Recently he bought Arsenal Football Club, which is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London for $1.2 billion. Name the business entrepreneur.

a. George Lucas b. Stan Kroenke c. Ted Turner d. Marc Rich

25. Who has been appointed the new global CEO of British consumer products giant Reckitt Benckiser?

a. Pratip Chaudhri b. Barry Salzberg c. Raj Kamble d. Rakesh Kapoor

26. Who has taken over as the new president of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for 2011-12?

a. B Muthuraman b. Rajesh Kamat c. Keith Alphonso d. Vijay Kumar

27. Who has been named as Wisden’s Leading Cricketer in the World for 2010?

a. Yuvraj Singh b. Gautam Gambhir c. Sachin Tendulkar d. MS Dhoni

28. The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry expects the Indian pharmaceutical industry to reach _____by 2015, making it one of the world’s top 10 pharmaceuticals markets.

a. $ 30 billion b. $ 15 billion c. $ 25 billion d. $20 billion

29. Which of the following actresses has been conferred with the French honour Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters for her contribution to the development of Indo-French cooperation in the field of cinema?

a. Shabana Azmi b. Nandita Das c. Sharmila Tagore d. Madhuri Dixit

30. Sachin Tendulkar has added one more feather to his cap by hitting his first ever century in the twenty20 format of the game in the ongoing IPL against which of the following IPL teams?

a. Team Pune b. Kochi Team c. Kolkara Knight Riders: d. King XI Punjab:

31. Which of the following business tycoons was the biggest wealth creator at the end of fiscal year 2011, doubling his wealth to Rs 33,211 crore?

a. Gautam Adani b. Mukesh Ambani c. Lakshmi Mittal d. Ratan Tata

32. Aditya Birla group company, Aditya Birla Chemicals (India), is all set to acquire the chloro chemicals division of Kanoria Chemicals & Industries Limited (KCIL) for a cash consideration of _________.

a. Rs 250 crore b. Rs 550 crore c. Rs 225 crore d. Rs 830 crore

33. Who won his seventh Monte Carlo Masters title? The Monte-Carlo Masters (currently sponsored by Rolex) is an annual tennis tournament for male professional players. The event is part of the ATP Masters Series on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Tour.

a. José Acasuso b. Rafael Nadal c. David Adams d. Andre Agassi

34. Which of these is the first foreign country has launched a website in Hindi aimed at providing better information access to families of prospective Indian students in its country?

a. Australia b. Canada c. Brazil d. New Zealand

35. India’s Supreme Court has granted bail to leading public health specialist and human rights activist___________

a. Dr Binayak Sen b. Abdul Jabbar c. Gautam Navlakha d. Anna Hazare

36. Aditya Birla Group has acquired Sweden-based speciality pulp and bio-refinery company Domsjo Fabriker for about _________through its international subsidiaries Thai Rayon Public Company and Indo Bharat Rayon (Indonesia) from a consortium of six individual investors.

a. Rs 1, 800 crore b. Rs 900 crore c. Rs 1,200 crore d. Rs 1,500 crore

37. Name the Indian-American doctor and non-fiction writer whose acclaimed book on cancer, The Emperor of all Maladies: A Biography of Cancer has won the prestigious 2011 Pulitzer Prize in the general non-fiction category.

a. Siddhartha Mukherjee b. Tapan Thakur c. Sanjay Dabral d. Piyush Tiwary

1.b 2.c 3.d 4.a 5.a 6.c 7.a 8.d 9.b 10.b 11.d 12.c 13.b 14.c 15.a 16.d 17.c 18.b 19.d 20.c 21.b 22.c 23.c 24.b 25.d 26.a 27.c 28.d 29.b 30.b 31.a 32.d 33.b 34.a 35.a 36.d 37.a

Answers

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Answer to the Sudoku

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International Conference on Enhancing Organizational Growth through Innovation and Creativity - Amity University HaryanaDate: May 5-6, 2011Venue: Amity University Haryana, Gurgaon (Manesar)Objective of the ConferenceThe present International Conference intends to focus on various dimensions like how innovation processes stimulate and enhance growth and enable an organization to achieve competitive advantage in the global market place. The Conference will witness experts brain-storming on key issues on innovation and will provide path breaking insights from business leaders and academicians on the development of strategies leading to global competitive advantage and enhancing growth.Website: http://www.amity.edu/gurgaon/AUH_Brochure.pdf

Conference on “Winning Strategies for Sustainable Development” – All India Management Association Date: May 6, 2011 Venue: Hotel ITC The Maurya, New DelhiObjective of the ConferenceThe Conference will strive to discuss the ingredients of successful strategies for sustainable development and will present leadership examples of sustainability initiatives effectively implemented by various organizations.Website:http://www.aima-ind.org/national_events/WinningStrategies-SustainableDevelopment.html

XIII National Seminar: Hospital, Health Care Management And MedicoLegal Systems - Symbiosis Institute of Health Sciences (SIHS) Date: May 6-7, 2011Venue: Symbiosis Lavale campus, PuneObjective of the ConferenceAround 1200 doctors, lawyers and other health care professionals from all over India and abroad attend this mega event. Officials of institutional/ corporate hospitals, government officials, NGO’s & representatives of the health care sector also mark their attendance for this event. The National Seminar is preceded by a number of concurrently run, day long workshops which are attended by delegates as an event separate from the main Seminar. Website: http://sihspune.org/sihspune.org/natsem/index.html

14th Energy Summit - Indian Oil & Gas Sector – The Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM)Date: May 10, 2011Venue: Hotel Le Meridien - New DelhiObjective of the ConferenceThe objective of the Summit is to provide an excellent networking platform to the representatives from local and international oil & gas companies, technology and equipment providers and other industry players for a meaningful B2B dialogue. The theme of the discussion will be centered around evolving and exploring business opportunities in hydrocarbon sector, which lay emphasis on sustainability and security aspects. Website: http://www.assocham.org/downloads/?filename=14th-Energy-Summit-Brochure-Details.doc

4th National Conference on Contemporary Management Research (NACCMAR 2011) – Apeejay School of Management, New Delhi Date: May 13, 2011 Venue: Apeejay School of Management, New DelhiObjective of the ConferenceThe 4th National Conference on Contemporary Management Research (NACCMAR –2011) aims at capturing emerging trends in management practices and their subtle expositions in current researches in general and sustainable management practices in particular. This event endeavors to bring all academics, researchers, practicing managers and students together to share their ideas and research findings, discuss contemporar y issues and challenges in business and industry, and above all, nurture and consolidate a culture of research in various domains of management as well as inter-disciplinary studies in India.Website: http://www.apeejay.edu/asm/doc/naccmar2011.pdf

3rd Conference on Excellence in Research & Education – IIM IndoreDate: May 13-16, 2011Venue: IndoreObjective of the ConferenceThe conference aims to provide an ecosystem for doctoral research that strengthens the foundation of the discipline of teaching, publication and practice. The purpose of this conference is to provide an opportunity for individuals with various research philosophies and interests to get together and promote the development of doctoral research in academic institutions. It will be a forum for sharing research work and will provide a platform for new initiatives and partnerships.Website:http://www.iimidr.ac.in/iimi/pages/posts/excellence-in-re-search-and-education-conference--13-16-may-2011176.php

South Asian Youth Conference 2011 - Blue Ribbon Movement and supported by Peace Child International, the International Year of Youth (August 2010-August 2011), RM2012 (Rescue Mission Planet Earth) and the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB).Date: May 23-28, 2011Venue: BangaloreObjective of the ConferenceThe theme for this year’s conference is “Peace: within ourselves, with others and with the environment.” The conference draws its objectives from the broader objectives of SAARC and the United Nations (UN) which both aim for a global partnership for development. The conference aims to facilitate interaction, dialogue and mutual understanding between the young delegates of the SAARC countries with the hope that this would create networks and relationships that will influence all our futures in a positive way.Website: http://www.iimb.ernet.in/node/2467

National Conference on “Best Practices in Corporate Social Responsibility”– IPE HyderabadDate: May 26-27, 2011Venue: IPE HyderabadObjective of the ConferenceThe conference aims at discussing Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the existing perspective and future outlook with focus on lighting up the challenges and the best practices in CSR. It will also highlight the ‘Best Practices in CSR’ in the context of business sustainability and to create awareness of the latest thinking on CSR and governance issue as a driver of change, innovation and sustainable profit. Website: http://www.ipeindia.org/KenticoCMS/getdoc/373a6794-1a40-44aa-8b74-ac50c967a7d8/csr-new-5-1-.aspx

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