Before Joining MBA What You Should Know?

Compiled by

AQME (Association for Quality in Management Education)

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What is an MBA?

The MBA (Master of Business Administration) is an internationally recognised and geographically portable post-graduate, post-experience academic course in a number of subjects that together can be said to constitute the science of management.

It is all about understanding the each and every aspect of business dynamics.

An MBA is about learning to work with people, because it is the people who run businesses.

Genesis of MBA / PGDM

The MBA designation originated in the United States, emerging from the late 19th century as the country industrialized and companies sought out scientific approaches to management.

Management education in India started in 1961 with IIMs. Since IIMs were not having status of universities , they were not authorized to issue MBA degree. PGDM (Post Graduate Diploma in Management) was coined for students completing management programmes in IIMs and was later followed by all institutions (other than universities that can give MBA degrees).

Origin of B Schools

The world's first business school, the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Paris, France, was established in 1819.

The first business school in the United States, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, was founded in 1881.

Anecdotically, top French business school HEC was also created in 1881, while Harvard Business School, founded in 1908, was born just one year after France's prestigious ESSEC Business School.

MBA in India PGDM (Only in India) – Govt. of India started

IIMs in 1961 – IIM Calcutta was the first IIM to be set up in collaboration with MIT Sloan School of Management, followed by IIM Ahmedabad in collaboration with Harvard Business School during initial period.

The Faculty of Management Studies (FMS) of the University of Delhi which came into existence in 1955 launched its MBA programme for fresh graduates in 1968.

What motivates you to do MBA?

Improve Career Prospects Learn new skills Build professional network Career change Better pay Upgrade educational qualifications Start own business

What type of course to select?

Full Time and ‘Industry Accepted’ course (AICTE / UGC Approval alone doesn’t help much) Regular Two years / One year Executive MBA Part Time, Week end and On line

Programmes Distance Learning / Open University courses Finishing School Concept (Experiential

Learning for developing right attitude, skill & Knowledge)

What Specialization to select? (For Normal B Schools) ‘General MBA’ is the best with normal or functional specializations

like Marketing, Finance and HR . IIMs and other top B Schools don’t lure students by offering too many electives.

Maximum jobs opportunities are in Marketing (70%) followed by Core Finance and HR(each 10%), rest by all other specializations.

Dual & Twin specializations have no added advantage. At all costs, avoid new specializations in low budget courses of

universities and its affiliated institutes (good faculty is problem). For specialized courses select ‘specialized’ institutes. For ‘Foreign

Trade’ - IIFT (http://www.iift.edu), for ‘Rural Management” – IRMA (https://www.irma.ac.in/) and so on.............

Any private institute charging less than Rs 6 – 7 Lakhs fees can’t afford to provide quality education in specializations like International Business, Entrepreneurship, Media Management, Healthcare, NGO & Rural Development , Tourism & Travel etc.

Begin with Questions (Before joining any MBA Course)

What - What type of institutes you can get admission?

Why - Why you want to do MBA – for getting good job , starting your own company as an entrepreneur or getting one more degree?

Where - Where can you afford to do MBA – Foreign Country, any reputed institute in India or any institute with low budget ?

When - When you want to do MBA – Just after graduation, after getting 4 -5 years experience, or along with your job?

How - How will you pay back your fees and ROI for the same?

Which - Which specialization attracts you or can get job for you?

How Overseas B Schools select students

Most programmes base admission on the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT), TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) and IELTS (International English Language Testing System)

Significant work experience Academic Record Essays References or letters of recommendation Personal interviews Experience in Social work & Society upliftment (Please don’t join any foreign B School that is not highly

ranked. You need to spend minimum Rs 30 Lakhs with no guarantee of good placement in India or abroad)

Ranking of B Schools

International Rankings by Bloomberg Businessweek, US News & World Report, Eduniversal , The Economist and FT.com

Eduniversal has started ranking B Schools in India (http://www.eduniversal-ranking.com). D & B is also giving the listing of all B Schools in India and related interviews (http://www.dnb.co.in/IndiasLeadingBusinessSchool/)

Rankings by various agencies in India are authentic and genuine at least up to first 10 or 20 ranks, but beyond that could be manipulated to favour the institutes which advertise or financially support them.

Are you qualified to do MBA? Can you score ‘minimum cut – off marks’ of admission tests like CAT etc to qualify

for admission? Check the admission criteria of top B schools. How good is your academic performance in 10th, 12th and graduate examinations?

Good academic records help in getting good jobs. Have you got the basic knowledge of maths of 10th std. level to understand

Managerial Economics, Accounting and Quantitative Techniques during MBA programmers? This is required for all specializations.

How good are you in English Communication (both written & spoken) ? Are you good in Extracurricular activities like public speaking, debate etc? Can you work hard? Business school is an intense 16-hour-a-day kind of place.

After classes you need to study minimum 6 to 8 hours a day for two years. Have you got 2 to 3 years quality experience before taking up MBA ? Have you consulted any reputed coaching centre, students of good B School s or

any subject expert for complete information on MBA admissions? Have you necessary skills and proper attitude to do MBA? Please check the

famous article ‘22 qualities that make a good B-school candidate’ of Business Week - Excerpted from the book MBA Admissions Strategy by author A. V. Gordon published by McGraw-Hill –

http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/mbapremium/nov2005/bs20051111_2994.htm

CAT Admission Criteria

The Admission Criteria of Common Admission Test (CAT) - http://www.catiim.in/ conducted by the Indian Institutes of Management , the first step in the process of seeking admission to the IIMs:

Section I: Quantitative

Section II: Logical Data Interpretation

Section III: Verbal ability and Reading comprehension

MAT Admission Criteria The Admission Criteria of MAT-Management Aptitude Test (MAT) -

http://www.aima-ind.org/management_aptitude_test.aspx - conducted on a national basis by All India Management Aptitude Testing Service (AIMATS), 4 times a year i.e. December, January/February /May / and September:

Section I: Language Comprehension

Section II: Mathematical Skills

Section III: Data Analysis and Sufficiency

Section IV: Intelligence and Critical Reasoning

Section V: Indian and Global Environment

XAT Admission Criteria

The admission Criteria of XAT (Xavier Admission Test ) - http://www.xlri.net.in/ conducted by Xavier Labour Relations Institute (XLRI) on All India level:

Section I: Verbal Ability

Section II: Quantitative Ability

Section III: Reasoning & Decision making ability

Other B Schools’ Examination FMS Entrance Test (FACULTY OF MANAGEMENT

STUDIES) PG- CET (In all states) - common test for all

states under final stages ICFAI - IBSAT IIFT Entrance Test (INDIAN INSTITUTE OF

FOREIGN TRADE) JMET (JOINT MANAGEMENT ENTRANCE TEST)

for Post-Graduate Degree Programs in Management offered by the IITs & IISc.

NMAT (NARSEE MONJEE APTITUDE TEST) SNAP- Symbiosis National Aptitude Test

22 Qualities that make a good B-school candidate(Excerpted from the new book, “MBA Admissions Strategy”

by author A.V. Gordon published by McGraw-Hill)

Intellectual ability Quantitative orientationAnalytical mindset Success recordMaturity and professionalism LeadershipAmbition and motivation Career potentialPerseverance and mental

toughnessA strong, extrovert personality

Active orientation The killer instinctPersonal integrity Community orientationTeam player Diversity contributionIntercultural experience and

toleranceCreativity and innovation

Communication ability All-rounderRecruitability Likeability

How to select a management institute? (India)

A large number of management institutes in India give wrong information about their placement records, details of faculty and facilities of institute. Please visit the institute personally and thoroughly check all such details with students of the institute.

Most of MBA students at present get the job based on their Graduate degrees alone and there is no value addition on doing MBA. Please check that the institute you intend to join should have such programmes to give value addition over the existing graduate degree and experience .

Finishing School Concept (‘Industry Ready’ programmes) gives value addition in normal B Schools for better placement.

Brand Image (‘Industry Acceptance’) of the institute brings good companies for campus selection. Please check the details of previous selections including nature of jobs with its future prospects

AICTE / UGC approval is necessary but not sufficient . International accreditation by EQUIS, AACSB and AMBA is more reliable (only IIMA & IIMB have EQUIS accreditation till Jan 2011)

What is the significance of AICTE/UGC approved programmes?

Must for Government jobs Basic requirement for Research /

Doctoral studies Needed for Foreign studies and Job

opportunities Any degree that is not from UGC

approved university is ‘illegal ‘ Easy bank loans

AICTE/UGC approval is necessary but not sufficient

The two best management institutes of India namely ‘Indian School of Business’ (ISB), Hyderabad and ‘Great Lakes Institute of Management’ , Chennai are not recognised by AICTE and do not run UGC approved programmes , but are the most sought after B - Schools in India. However ,except a few ,most of ‘Non AICTE Approved Colleges’ also don’t provide decent internship or proper placement and don’t have good faculty , facility or infrastructure.

Some of the Unapproved Institutions Running MBA Programmes With Foreign Collaboration without AICTE Approval (http://www.aicte-india.org/unoreigninstitutions.htm) are able to place their students in reputed MNCs and International organisations at very high salary. But the same is not true for all.

Students should be doubly cautious and check the AICTE website for ‘Unapproved Institutes’ (http://www.aicte-india.org/misunapprovedinstitutions.htm ) especially under category of ‘General Institutions’ . ‘All that glitters is not gold’.

B Schools that fool! [BBC – ‘Bewqoof Banao Colleges’?]

Check their advertisements: Job offer letter of companies to all on the first day of joining the institute itself 100% Job Guaranteed with Average Salary of Rs 8 Lakhs and above, Foreign Jobs to

all (more than even IIMs) – Check their placement letters that could be fake also. Direct / Spot admission, Scholarship to all , offer of discount in fees etc. Latest subjects without proper faculty (hospital, retail, entrepreneurship, foreign trade

etc.), dual specializations in almost all latest & attractive combinations Compare themselves with IIMs or foreign B Schools established 50 -100 years back Ultra Modern Infrastructure, swimming pool, Wi - fi Campus, laptop etc. AICTE / UGC Approval for only publicity purpose and not for quality programmes Foreign tour as a tourist or collaboration / student exchange with tier 3 universities International class brochures and websites Doctorate (PhDs) in irrelevant fields or subjects Amongst top 20 B - Schools of country & A++++… Ranking of their own Use ranking of main campus to other branches of the institute

Normal Background of business groups running ‘Low Quality’ B Schools in India

(Whether approved by AICTE/UGC or not)

Started by: Failed Industrialists without any principles & values

(To recover their losses and to earn a lot at the cost of students)

Unsuccessful Business Executives (To get undue mileage from their previous qualifications and posts held)

Corrupt Politicians & Education ‘Mafias’ (To convert ‘Black Money’ into ‘White’ by huge investment in infrastructure)

Knowledge Based Academicians (Those who treat MBA qualification as ‘just another degree’)

(In India MBA is often called as ‘Money+ BA’ degree. Money is taken away by the

‘Management’ of Institutes and students get not even BA equivalent qualification ,

competence and salary)

Why MBA institutes have failed in India?

Enrolling large number of low quality students who are not trainable / teachable and have no interest in studies

Commercialization without care & concern for quality of teaching, students’ needs and industry expectations

Low quality faculty (doctorates for namesake, author of books & articles surviving on ‘copy and paste’ philosophy, irrelevant industry experience, superficial knowledge of subject and poor delivery & lack of communication skill )

Lack of ethics, values and sense of commitment on part of students, faculty & management (e.g. lack of passion for excellence, proper attitude of ‘service before self’)

Poor leadership and failure to create proper environment Assuming that AICTE / NBA / NAAC approvals are sufficient

FEES STRUCTURE of B Schools All reputed B Schools of North America, Europe and Oceania are very

costly – Fees & Stay costs varying from Rs 30 Lakhs to 60 Lakhs (all inclusive)

The popular institutes like ISB (Hyderabad), IIMs etc normally charge between Rs 7 Lakhs to Rs 20 Lakhs (New IIMs and management institutes of IITs charge less).

FMS Delhi charges very less fees for their high quality education, but most of other institutes approved or run by Govt. Universities charging very low fees are other type of FMS (Factory for Management Studies!) giving very low quality education, without proper faculty, facility and infrastructure.

Any private institute charging less than Rs 3 or 4 Lakhs fees may not be in position to impart high standard education.

But private B Schools charging high fees and comparing them with IIMs, also may not be providing good quality education . These could be other type of IIM – ‘Interested In Money!’ only.

Complete Information

For complete information on all MBA /PGDBM Programmes in India & Abroad Please visit the website www.marcbschool.com

Director AQME (Association for Quality in Management Education)

AQME supports ‘Finishing School’ concept and develops courses & programmes that are carefully geared to respond to the diversity of corporate needs ranging from sharp functional expertise and evolved strategic perspective , to the ability to manage change.

Contact Us:Management Academy and Research Centre (MARC)No. 29 / 3 & 32 / 2, Kalena Agrahara, Next to Purva PanoramaBannerghatta Main Road, Bangalore -560 076, IndiaMobile: +91 96633 16590, 96633 16591 Phone: 080-2648 0855Email: adm@marcbschool.com, info@marcbschool.com | uks@marcbschool.com

Website: http://www.marcbschool.com/