Education should instill spirit of inquiry: Kalam

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Bangalore (PTI): The education system should instill in students’ minds the capacities of inquiry, creativity, technology, entrepreneurial and moral leadership, former president A P J Abdul Kalam has said.

Addressing 4,000 children from over 100 schools during `Rennaissance 2007-The New Generation Conference’, organised by the Rotary organisation, he said the “development of these capacities would produce the `autonomous learner’, a self directed, self controlled lifelong learner, who will have the capacity to both respect authority and question it”.

“These are the leaders who would work together as a self organising network and transform India into a developed nation in a time bound manner”, he said at the conference, which aims at inspiring students to shape the future of India.

Setting a mission for students to participate in the environmental ecological upgradation, he said they could undertake “mapping of the neighbourhood”. Through mapping, the students could provide vital civic services information to the municipal and urban development authorities.

Spelling out the integrated action to transform India into a developed nation, he said there are five core competence areas for integrated action– agriculture and food processing, reliable and quality electric power, surface transport and infrastructure, education and healthcare, information and communication technology and self reliance in critical technologies.

“These five areas, if developed, can lead to food, economic and national security,” he said.

Education: Role of technology

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By: Azim Premji, Chairman, Wipro One of the few things on which there is consensus across the entire ideological spectrum in economics and politics is that literacy and education are perhaps the most significant drivers of development and democracy. For societies to improve their literacy levels and the quality of their education, multiple complex factors must be worked upon. Information and communication technology (ICT) can facilitate improvement on several of these dimensions. To me, use of ICT for literacy is almost intuitive, given the challenge of reaching out to large numbers which a country like India faces. ICT provides us an effective tool for connecting with a large number of remotely located learners at a low cost.

My perspective on the use of ICT for education and literacy is based on our interaction with the parents and schools in over 1,300 villages in 2000, through the Azim Premji Foundation. Through these interactions we gained the following perspective: Parental feedback indicates strong demand for computers; they also consider computer interface as an enabler for knowing English; ICT can strengthen our efforts for universalising primary education and; ICT could also be the solution to a uniform high quality of instructions without replacing teachers. But more than that, we learnt that ICT also has a huge role in attracting children to the school, and creating excitement in and around the school.

To me ICT is not about the computers or the educational CDs or the Internet or the specific device or medium we use. It is really about a different process that we deploy for the purpose of enhancing the quality of education. It is about providing alternative learning experiences to the children who currently do not have options other than text book as a learning tool.

If someone asks me what we should try through ICT in the schools, I would have the following response: A change of culture – openness, responsiveness and opening windows for new thinking, an atmosphere of innovation; an alternative paradigm in pedagogy – interactive, away from the chalk and talk, self paced and contextualised learning; an attempt to achieve equity and; bringing excitement and motivation.

Mere introduction of ICT will not automatically create the kind of impact or change that we intend to cause. Technology will induce change only if accompanied by changes in ideas, processes and way of viewing things. Technology is likely to create bigger transformation where the current situation and culture are considered to need improvement.

Based on our experience with the schools, I would suggest that we must address the following critical issues to enhance the effectiveness of ICT in literacy and education.

First is the challenge of making teachers a partner in this effort. If teachers do not see that ICT is helpful in their work, there is no hope for it turning out to be an effective tool in our mission for education and literacy.

Second is the challenge of deciding what to, and what not to, deliver though ICT. The usual tendency is to try to deliver every learning item through ICT. It amazes me when governments roll out a large-scale programme to introduce ICT in schools and villages without an adequately thought out long-term plan of how it will be utilised. There is no point in using an expensive computer screen as a replacement for the blackboard.

Third is the challenge of enhancing the vision of a typical teacher of what learning experience could be. The challenge is to ensure that an average teacher relates to the broader definition of literacy and education, and not merely reading and writing.

Fourth is the challenge of building teacher capacity. For a teacher to translate vision into reality she needs to acquire capability in discipline area, teaching methods or pedagogy, and use of ICT. Our challenge is to build this capability in each of our teachers, which is a mammoth task given our large numbers. India has around 5.5 million teachers. Finally is the challenge of building teacher motivation. It is our challenge to create a motivating environment for them so that schools truly become centres of learning. I suspect that this is going to be our biggest challenge.

IIM-B to offer more executive MBAs

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The Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Bangalore may soon add more executive management programmes to its already existing list. Also in the offing is an international programme called Advanced Leadership Programme (ALP), which will be jointly offered by IIMB with INSEAD-Singapore campus, Lancaster-UK, and McGill-Canada.

Speaking about the new initiatives, Prakash G Apte, director, IIM-B said: “We are planning some more executive MBA programmes for 2008 which will be partly delivered through the distance education mode and partly through a regular campus.” About the international ALP programme, he said that the programme is built around the fact that working executives need to stop and reflect about their growth and how to use their experiences to upgrade their skills. “With three international B-schools involved in its delivery, it makes it an international programme,” said Apte.

The director also informed that the B-school is working on a postgraduate programme in software, commencing from 2008, as well as expanding its students and faculty exchange and research work. Regarding the mushrooming of executive MBA programmes across all B-schools, Apte said that since there is an increase in demand for skill up-gradation in every sector, the demand for executive MBAs is rising gradually.

On quality of such programmes, Apte said: “While witnessing such growth, not all players would care for quality, but will rather focus on profit-making. This is unavoidable unless the government takes some steps to strengthen the university B-schools with good compensations for faculty and infrastructure development.”

The two private management schools doing well in India currently, according to Apte, are MDI Gurgaon and ISB Hyderabad. “The schools are doing well and setting standards for others to emulate.” On the overall education system in the country, Apte feels that a lot of targeted subsidies are necessary to develop the education system in the country. “Unless we improve access to quality school education and provide financial incentives for school education right from the village level and attract and retain teachers, the complete education system will fail,” he opines. He went on to add: “Instead of populist subsidies, we should give targeted subsidies like incentives to teachers teaching in village schools and its students.”

India facing shortage of skilled manpower- FICCI

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New Delhi: A recent study conducted by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) has revealed that brisk growth in the globally integrated Indian economy has led to a huge demand for skilled human resources. However, lack of quality in the higher education sector has become a hindrance in filling the gap.

The survey, based on a study conducted in 25 sectors, also showed that currently there is a shortage of about 25 percent skilled manpower in the Engineering sector.

Addressing a pre-summit press conference on higher education, FICCI Secretary General Mr. Amit Mitra said, “The present day higher education setup needs an urgent makeover and private sector involvement needs to be encouraged in this regard.”

“Apart from making a solo entry, foreign universities must look to form joint ventures with the Indian varsities. Moreover, a one year benchmark must be set for this task”, he added.
MARCH Consultancy and Research Director Mr. Sridhar Chari said, “Only one in ten people in India is able to receive higher education. The Government’s educational grants are being used in promoting primary education rather than setting up more higher education institutions.”

The Net Enrolment Ratio (NER) for the primary education sector is 70 percent and 40 percent for secondary education. The figure is a dismal 11 percent in the tertiary or higher education area.

Global education and research

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India has a rich intellectual tradition of scholarship going back many thousands of years. India today encompasses not just science — the Indian space programme, atomic energy research, biotechnology — but also the social sciences and the humanities as well, including world-class centres of excellence in Indian universities and in the IITs. As in other markets, it is globalisation which determines the university education and research trends emerging today. We see greater student mobility. In 2003, global demand for international student places was 2.1 million; this will rise to 5.8 million in 2020.

For instance , the number of Indian students coming to UK for higher education has risen from around 4,000 in 1999 to 23,000 in 2007. Alongside this, we see the rise of transnational , or ‘borderless’ education, made possible by the huge advances in electronic media. Collaborative higher education provision is delivered in many ways: branch campuses set up by universities in other countries — even other continents; distance and e-learning , franchising and validation.

Pundits predict that the demand for such sources of university education will expand even faster than the increase in ‘international’ students. To date, some UK universities have set up campuses overseas — the University of Nottingham in Malaysia and China, for example, while Glasgow Caledonian has an engineering campus in Oman; the University of Liverpool has formed a partnership with Xi’an Jiaotong University to set up an entirely new institution in China.

Several US universities have established bases in London while Monash has campuses in South Africa, Singapore, the US and London. However, global education isn’t just about where students go to learn and the methods by which we teach them: it’s about what they learn and how equipped they are at the end of their degrees to enter the marketplace . Academic knowledge is no longer enough. We need to think seriously about developing our students’ employability, equipping them with the skills they need to succeed — and which their countries need to flourish — in the world of work. And yet, this too, does not go quite far enough — we need a new global knowledge infrastructure to encourage research, development and education.

For too long, I think, universities have operated as national servants to national ambitions . Today, however, it is only by ‘going global’ that universities can meet the challenges of globalisation and tackle the big issues such as energy, global security and the global environment. This requires collaboration and partnerships, especially in research. This is simply practical common-sense — this kind of vital research infrastructure can’t be set up in one university or even in one country

Appearing for CAT? You have a 1:100 chance

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If the numbers are any indication, more and more aspirants are lining up for a career in the managerial ranks instead of sweating it out on the shop floor.

Around 230,000 candidates are scheduled to take the Common Admission Test (CAT) — one of the most competitive exams in the world — next month.

This translates into a 21 per cent increase in the number of CAT aspirants over last year, when the total number of candidates stood at around 190,000. In contrast, the number of aspirants for the CAT exam a decade back was only 40,000.

The increasing numbers are indicative of the importance of CAT as the premier management entrance exam as well as the growing economy, which has seen an explosion in the creation of managerial jobs.

CAT VISION
Total CAT aspirants in 2007 : 230,000
Total CAT aspirants in 2006 : 190,000
Total number of seats available through CAT* : 5,000
No. of seats in IIMs* : 1,600
No of seats in 99 other B-schools* : 3,400
(* Figures are approximate)

The country’s seven Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) use only CAT scores to shortlist candidates.

The IIM’s annual intake is 1,600 students, including IIM- Shillong, which starts operations from academic year 2008.

In effect, the ratio of aspirants to the number of IIM seats available is 1:125. If one were to take the total number of 3,400 management degree seats available across schools (99, not including the IIMs) that use CAT scores to select candidates, the ratio stands at 1:59.

CAT is as competitive as the IIT engineering qualifying test, the Joint Entrance Examination, which saw as many as 200,000 candidates appear for just 4,193 seats spread across the seven IITs in 2007.

The numbers also hide the growing gap between the demand and supply of seats in the top management institutes across the country.

The top 10 B-schools accepting CAT scores, barring the IIMs, have a capacity of only around 2000 seats.

These include reputed ones like the Institute of Management Technology (IMT), Ghaziabad, Management Development Institute (MDI), Gurgaon, S.P.Jain Institute of Management and Research (SPJIMR), Mumbai, Mudra Institute of Communication (MICA), Ahmedabad and others. The ratio for them works out to 1:100.

“Competition is bound to remain fierce because of the increasing number of MBA aspirants. Even though, premier institutes like IIMs and others have increased the number of seats, it is not sufficient to meet the ever- growing demand,” said Sharad Awasthi, chief operating officer, Career Launcher, an MBA test preparing institute.

“Competition getting tougher has two reasons for it. First, people with experience know that they need to upgrade. These could be people who have spent three to seven years in industry and could either be looking for additional qualifications to switch to management, or may be even a second MBA. Secondly, people who earlier had never even heard of an MBA, today know what it is and what the ‘benefits’ of doing one are, increasing the sheer volume of people who take the exam,” added Jaideep Singh Chowdhary, senior member academic team, TIME, another test preparing institute.

Business India Rankings 2007: IIMs occupy top slots; ISB, XLRI and MDI shine

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After Outlook and Business Today magazines, its now turn of Business India to publish its B-School Rankings.
In the issue dated October 21, 2007 titled ‘India’s Best B-schools 2007’, Business India has ranked three IIMs in the top three slots. Not surprisingly, while IIM-A is on the top of the rankings, IIM-B and IIM-C occupy the #2 and #3 ranks respectively. Indian School of Business, Hyderabad is ranked at #4.

The survey ranks institutes into a total of 10 categories: Top 20, and then nine grades A++, A+, A, B++, B+, B, C++, C+ and C. The survey is based on evaluation of parameters like ‘intellectual capital’, ‘learning ambience’, ‘corporate networking’ and ‘brand value’. This is the eight such ranking by Business India and was led by Mr A. Thothathri Raman.

Several other prominent B-schools occupy places in the Top 20 list. XLRI Jamshedpur is ranked at #6, MDI Gurgaon is ranked at #7 and ICFAI Business School, Hyderabad is ranked at #8. (See table below)

The survey is upbeat about Indian management education. Writes Business India, “If there was a B-school index, it would be giving the Sensex a good run for its money. The stockmarket isn’t the only money machine to make crorepatis out of middle-class people. Indian B-schools are churning their fair share too.”

While the list of top 20 B-schools and A++ B-schools, which includes 21 other schools, is in sync with management experts, interestingly only one B-school from IITs makes the cut. SJMSOM of IIT Mumbai is included as A++ B-school while IISc Bangalore, IIT Kanpur, IIT Kharagpur, IIT Delhi, IIT Madras, and IIT Roorkee also offer Programmes in Management. Similarly many specialized institutes like MICA, Ahmedabad and IRMA, Anand don’t feature in top 41 institutes.

Apart from the Rankings, the issue covers management education trends in great detail. Several features like ‘Red Hot and Rising’, ‘Great Show, but more to do’, ‘Time to reform AICTE’ and ‘Wooing the campus’ offer interesting reading. The issue also features columns by several academicians including: Dr Bala Balachandran of JL Kellogg School of Management; Dr BS Sahay, Director, IMT; Dr C S Venkata Ratnam, Director, IMI; AK Sengupta, Director, SIES, Navi Mumbai.

Business India B-school Ranking 2007

Rank. Institute

1. IIM Ahmedabad
2. IIM Bangalore
3. IIM Calcutta
4. Indian School of Business Hyderabad
5. IIM Lucknow
6. XLRI Jamshedpur
7. MDI Gurgaon
8. ICFAI Business School Hyderabad
9. SP Jain Inst. of Management Mumbai
10. IMT Ghaziabad
11. Faculty of Management Studies Delhi
12. NITIE Mumbai
13. NMIMS University Mumbai
14. International Management Institute Delhi
15. Jamnalal Bajaj Inst. of Management Mumbai
16. Xavier Institute of Management Bhubaneswar
17. Indian Institute of Foreign Trade New Delhi
18. SCMHRD Pune
19. Welingkar Institute Mumbai
20. LBSIM New Delhi

Source: Business India, October 21, 2007

Overseas offers pour in for FMS students

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NEW DELHI: With companies trying to make good the India opportunity as well as Indian companies announcing their arrival on the world scene, overseas offers are pouring in for students of the Faculty of Management Studies, Delhi.

The summer placements have just been wrapped up and over 20% of the batch has got the opportunity to work abroad with around 20 students getting foreign offers as compared to only four last year. The highest stipend offered this year was Rs 1.44 lakh by FMC Technologies compared to Rs 1.25 lakh last year.

The average stipend was also up from Rs 22,000 per month last year to Rs 30,000 this year. A total of 73 companies participated in the summers making 170 offers to 91 students. Global companies such as Lufthansa, FMC Technologies, IKEA and KPMG Middle East participated in this process, while Indian heavyweights like Hindustan Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Tata Administrative Services, ICICI Bank and IDG Ventures made a host of international offers for a variety of roles overseas. This was driven by the companies which are looking at an India entry in a big way and others which are on a huge expansion drive globally.

Seema Rao, secretary, placements, FMS, says: “Indian students are sought everywhere today. It’s only logical for Indian companies to offer them overseas placements in areas they are on an expansion drive. They have known them for years. Besides, foreign companies which aim to capture the Indian market are doing this as they want to build the employer brand in the country through these students.” Other companies which visited the campus for summers included BNP Paribas, Capital Lands, Singhi Advisors, Zeus Infrastructure Funds, Ranbaxy, Vodafone, Frost and Sullivan, Britannia, EXL Services, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, Langham Capital, ABN Amro, Accenture, Motorola and Mercer.

A comparison according to the profiles, showed the highest number of students opted for marketing with 39% voting for it, beating finance which had the maximum number last year. This year 36% students took up finance in their summers. About 18% of the batch opted for consulting.

Tips for corporate recruiters and B-school graduates

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Here are a few tips for placement, which would help B-school graduates prepare themselves for corporate recruitment and help them get the best deals. It also tries to delve at what offers these young graduates expect from corporate recruiters.

IN THIS WAR for hiring from the B-schools (Business schools), most of the corporates want to hire the best from the talent pool. Here are some parameters on which the B-school graduates should work on to have cent per cent chances of being absorbed in the best organisations.
The B-school graduates need to keep a check on the increase in competition, which has made the hiring arena difficult. One should look at the number of colleges, students and then the number of jobs. More emphasis should be placed on the quality of students graduating than the quantity of students. Some of the graduates have unrealistic aspirations. They think that getting into a B-school guarantees a challenging career and lots of money, but they are missing out on one part of the story - the competition that they would have to face once they pass out with other B-school batchmates.

The graduates need to first understand that MBA / PGDBA is only an entry ticket and not a means of getting guaranteed success in an organisational set up. They need to understand that their performance would be measured initially, no matter which B-school they belong to. What lasts long is individual performance, skill set and knowledge that an individual has. It cannot be stolen. One needs to establish a bond and gel in with the organisation - the people, resources, culture and its character. To be spotted, the trainees need to have qualities like being humble, modest and being patient. They should develop a habit of making good and positive suggestions and make their way through instead of complaining and cribbing about the prevalent circumstances.

Some TIPS / Qualities

Out of the Box: A term that is very hot during the placement season and otherwise also, with all B-schools. This quality could be coupled up with common sense, which they say is uncommon. Something which is so unique and transparent but not cashable by others and thus helps you stand out of the crowd of graduates.

Dare to be Different: Every individual has a unique persona and qualities, which he / she is scared to tap or even explore. To discover it, one has to break the chain of routines and be different. One may conduct a very well known simple SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis.

Etiquettes: The way you present yourself - the way you talk and walk - makes a lasting impression wherever you go. One needs to polish oneself. Not talking too much and at the same time, keeping good body language to pass on the right vibes, helps the corporates in remembering you.

Unrelenting Drive to Win: A drive to win and win only should be cultivated, with no iffs and buts. The habit of being the best in whatever you do would helps you to make your mark and thus you would win the game whichever it may be.

Attitude - from ‘not possible’ to ‘Let’s make it happen’: Most of the B-school graduates have the so-called casual attitude and they are constantly complaining that the things are not possible or cannot be worked out. They need to cultivate a positive outlook and strong work ethics. They should strap them with loads and tons of adaptability, and have a proactive and open approach, with a desire to learn towards their job. They should remain focused and should not break under pressure.

Multitasking: Business today cannot be compartmentalised; it is an integrated unit. Managing multiple departments and multi tasking is always applauded. More departments would add on to more people within each department. Therefore to cut into this one could combine time management skills with efficient networking and reporting, which would rule out the physical presence of the CFO (Chief Financial Officer) everyday in the company.

Creativity: Add some creativity to your daily routine and make it more joyful and entertaining. This could be tapped immensely through your hobbies, which you inculcate as stress busters.

Work Experience: A B-school graduate who is already exposed to the business environment has an advantage. Plain graduation can never give them that edge. A good amount of work experience in the business environment would help the corporate know on which skills he could cash upon, for maximum returns to the organisation as well as the individual.

Waiting for the Ideal Job! You would miss the bus then: Like all other careers, one might not get what one demands right at the start. Therefore, sitting and waiting for the ideal job to fall into your lap would make you miss your bus. Take up whatever comes your way and then use that experience to specialise and move towards what you want to do.

Neither the industry nor the B-schools are doing a favour to the students by inducting them as trainees. It is the need of the industry, and B-schools are helping them by providing them with a pool of resource. However, this resource is not ready for deliver from day one.
Therefore, it is an investment made with great potential for future returns.

What the B-school graduates want from the corporates?

What does the B-school graduates want from the Industry when they come for campus placements during the season of placements.

In the globally competitive world when every year new B-schools are being added to the existing ones, the competition becomes more fierce than ever. Everyone wants the best of talents available. Some of the things, which the B-school graduates feel, should be incorporated during the Placement season are as follows:

Make a common process for selection for all B-schools: Whether it is a new B-school or one existing for long time, let both be given equal opportunity. This happens in the placement process for MCA (Master of Computer Applications) and Engineering. The companies call up all of the Engineering colleges under one roof and conduct a common placement. Here the companies could decide on the cut off percentage. There would be huge pool of students with diverse skill sets available for the selection process and obviously the best would get the opportunity. This would help the new B-schools enter the competition. Also, it would make the grading depend upon the capabilities and competence, and the talent showcased.

A professional approach, which is transparent and clean:

The industry needs to have a more transparent and clean process, when conducting the recruitment drive in terms of job profile, designation, salary, probation and training. Students do not want the rosy picture of CTC (cost to company) and designation and later find the opposite to be true.

Reliable Placement Process:
Whether the interviews are conducted on campus or off campus, the whole process needs to be professionally coordinated. When the industry expects the graduates to be punctual and have professional etiquettes, then the students at their end have the right to expect the same. The industry can -
a) Call or send an email to the concerned college by stating the company’s profile, manpower requirement in concerned area of specialisation, job profile, location, designation, pay package, how many rounds of interview would be conducted during the selection process, and whether the company would be interested in conducting a Pre-placement talk in the campus.

b) Resumes could be asked for in soft / hard copy, they could be screened and only the short listed names could be called for an interview at their place or at the campus on a particular day. Though the resumes are being sent, the resumes are constantly being asked for again. This increases the time span of the process.

c) Following etiquettes of time and discipline at both ends.

d) Finally the offering - through the offer letter, after the selection process comes to an end, intimate or put an email to the B-school to make them understand who is being offered the positions.

Keep the Promises!
During the placement weeks, firms that participate in the process should keep up their promise, or refrain from painting a rosy picture.

Industries should follow the ‘3 C’s’(clear, concise and concrete) when making promises.
Probably, by following these broad principles, we could ensure a placement process that is reliable and would also leave a lasting impression in the minds of the students (practice what you preach), as the taste of professionalism for the students would begin here.

Summer Placement scene hots up at JBIMS

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Summer placement activity at the Mumbai based Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies (JBIMS) is in full swing.

The coming week at JBIMS would be packed with activity related to summer placements for the junior batch. Institute expects that this year’s summer stipend to touch an average of Rs 100,000 in comparison to last year’s highest stipend of Rs 60,000.

This year so far over a hundred companies have already registered for the placement process for the batch of 120 management graduates. In comparison, last year, only 60 companies participated in summer placements at JBIMS.

Sharing information with MBAUniverse.com, JBIMS says, “This year’s summers are expected to be dominated by consulting majors and investment banks such as KPMG, Price Waterhouse Coopers and Ernst & Young. The institute is also set to have international offers this year.” It adds, “Closer home, the FMCG companies like P&G, HUL, ITC, Nestle, Colgate Palmolive, Coca Cola and Cadbury’s are expected to participate.”

Calling JBIMS as preferred choice by leading banks and financial services media representative at JBIMS said, “JBIMS continues to be a favourite amongst leading banks and financial services with companies such as Citibank, HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, and ICICI confirming participation for the process.”

"CAT is the toughest, but not the only one," TIME Education advices students not to lose a year

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Some aspirants who are not finding their CAT 2007 preparations up to the mark are getting nervous and searching for experts help.

When their mock-test scores are not shoring up, they are asking: “should I start preparing for CAT 2008.” Mr Sai Kumar, Course Director at Triumphant Institute of Management Education (TIME), one of leading MBA test prep companies, answered this query and said, “Students should realize that what they are working towards is a seat at a top notch B-School and not necessarily ‘doing well in CAT’. CAT is the toughest B-School test anywhere in the world, but it is not the only one!”

Given that there is no guarantee for doing well next year, Mr Kumar advices students not to give up on CAT 2007 and wait for next year. Said Mr Kumar, “The moot point is that one should not lose a year in the hope of doing well in CAT 2008. Rather one should take the best possible option available to them currently as one can never predict that performance will ‘certainly’ improve in the next year.”

A few top B-schools other than Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), who run their own entrance tests, are also offering good quality education to the students. Emphasizing this point, Mr Kumar says, “The so called ‘gap’ between the world class IIMs and the other top 20 B-schools in the country is decreasing year after year and currently all of them are within striking distance of the IIMs.”

Apart from CAT, its time aspirants also put other entrance exams into their plans to hedge their risks. Said Mr Kumar, “Students should hedge their risks by also writing other major entrance tests in India like Xaviers Aptitude Test (XAT) for XLRI, Symbiosis National Aptitude Test (SNAP) for Symbiosis Group of Institutes, National Management Aptitude Test (NMAT) for Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, ICFAI Business School Aptitude Test (IBSAT) for ICFAI Business School etc. These exams are not as difficult as the CAT and as such students tend to perform better in these tests. Thus more opportunities open up to the students who diversify their risk!”

Students can appear in other important management entrance exams include XAT on January 6, 2008; FMS Entrance Test for Faculty of Management Studies, Delhi University on January 13 2008; IIFT Admission Test for Delhi based Indian Institute of Foreign Trade on November 25 2007; Joint Management Entrance Test (JMET) for Indian Institute of Technology (IITs B-schools) on December 9 2007; NMAT on December 30 2007; SNAP and IBSAT on December 16 2007.

Emphasizing the importance of not losing a year, Mr Kumar says, “Thus aiming to get into a good B-School in 2007 itself should be the aim and any thought that one entertains of cracking the exam in 2008 would only weaken the preparation and not strengthen it.”

Concludes Mr Kumar, “The way forward is to steel yourself and take CAT 2007 as if it is the only attempt you have got in your life!”

Final Placement ‘08: IMI Delhi bags 9 PPOs, expects increase in international companies

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Delhi based International Management Institute (IMI) has set its placement process rolling with 9 Pre Placement Offers (PPOs) from five leading companies: Genpact, Asian Paints, Dr. Reddy’s Lab, DSCL, Grail Research, MB Holding ( Oman).

IMI is expecting more PPOs in coming weeks. Says Mr Amrish Sharma, Administrative & Placement Officer, IMI Delhi, “We have already received 9 PPOs. We expect 7 to 8 more companies, including International Companies, to make PPOs to our students.”

At IMI, the placement season will formally begin from January 3, 2008. The placement process is divided into two phases: lateral and final placement. The lateral placement process will start on January 3, 2008, while the general placement process will be held between January 15-19, 2008.

Some of the companies that are expected to visit IMI for final placements ‘08 include RPG Group, ITC Ltd, UBS, HSBC, Asian Paints, Jumbo Electronics ( Dubai) and MB Holding (Oman).

Overall batch strength at IMI is 186 students. Post-Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) has 112 students, Post Graduate Diploma in Human Resource (PGDMHR) has 44 students and Executive PGDM has 30 students. According to IMI, 54 % students in PGDM batch are of engineering background while 22% of commerce background.

Use engineering strategies for management goals

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BHUBANESWAR: The management professionals of today should think and rethink on pioneering engineering strategies for optimum utilisation of resources, said experts at a management seminar organised by city-based Asian School of Business Management here on Saturday.

Inaugurating the seminar, advisor to Prime Minister’s National Advisory Council Swamy Parthasarathy stressed development of intellectual capital through promotion of puritan and value-based model in place of globalised business model.Managing Director of State Bank of Indore C.Narsimhan emphasised on the changing priority of the banking sector addressing both internal and external customers through emotional engagements.

Parthasarathy’s book titled ‘Practice of management in the light of Bhagabat Gita’ was released on the occasion.Institute’s founder director Prof. Biswajeet Pattnayak, MP Prasanna Patsani and others also spoke. The seminar was based on sub-themes like value creation through HR, financial performance and e-governance. Heads of several corporate houses attended the technical sessions.

Pre-placement offers for IIM students touch new highs

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MUMBAI: During the placement season in March 2006, Bangalore-based software company Reach Technologies pitched hard to hire some students from the Indian Institute of Management (Ahmedabad), offering starting salaries of over Rs 8 lakh per annum. Yet, Reach, which specialises in software for the garment industry, found it tough to get even one student. These days, even marquee names like Ashok Leyland and L&T sometimes find no takers at premium institutes because they don’t pay enough to make the cut.

A fast-growing economy and the spurt in new businesses started by foreign firms are driving up demand for management graduates and raising the bar for high salaries. Pre-placement offers (PPOs) in the middle of a term have now become the norm to net students before they are snapped up by competitors. They are offered on the basis of a student’s performance during a summer internship which students undergo after the first year of the MBA programme. The brightest are thus being booked with offers of well-paying associate positions by August-September.

“It’s one of the best ways to secure quality people,” said a faculty member at IIM-B. While IIM-A has so far received nine associate positions from investment bankers for the class of 2008, IIM-Calcutta has received five such offers, up from the three associate positions they got last year, said Pratyush Mulukutla, a placement committee member. An IIM-A official said, “To date, nine students have been extended associate offers this year__the highest across all B-schools in the country. With more than six months to go for actual placements, this number represents a record of sorts.”

The number of associate offers during final placements 2007 at IIM-A was eleven. While the IIMs refused to give out information regarding compensation, it may be noted that students of the class of 2007 at IIM-C who received such offers were offered salary packages of over Rs 1 crore. “While two students were offered US $2.5 lakh, the third student joined a UK-based firm where his compensation amounted to Rs 1.1 crore (converted),” added Mulukutla. One IIM-C student has also been offered a position by UBS at its London desk.

He is the only student from any Indian B-school to have been made an offer so far. At IIM-B, placement officer Sourav Mukherji said the class of 2008 with a strength of 250 had already received about 70 PPOs. Besides, Vikram Balan said all 17 students who interned with top-notch firms like McKinsey & Co, Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Bain & Co, A T Kearney and Triology have been offered PPOs.