Friday, August 29, 2008

Out-of-the-box thinking is need of the hour

Innovation is the key to success, said Dr Vijay Govindarajan, professor at Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth, US, and chief innovation consultant at GE, exhorting Indian educationists to encourage out-of-the-box thinking among management students. “Our innovation gap is huge. As management educators, what are we doing to help youngsters close the gap? What are we waiting for,” he asked. Govindarajan was speaking at the 20th Annual Management Education Convention of Association of Indian Management Schools (AIMS) in collaboration with Welingkar Institute of Management Development and Research on Wednesday. “Nurturing Thought Leadership through Management Education” is the theme of the three-day convention (August 27-29) that will see luminaries like industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla and entrepreneur Kishore Biyani of Pantaloon Retail address the gathering.

Govindarajan said that India has the ability to become the world leader and this can be achieved through lateral thinking. “We need to encourage our MBA students to come up with out-of-the box solutions,” he said.

Stressing upon the need to innovate instead of merely aping successful policies, Vijay said it is high time the country re-invented its curriculum. He advised MBA students to become entrepreneurs. “We need to look at ways to reinvent our management education and bring in new, innovative concepts,” he said. Citing the example of Tata Motor's small car project Nano, Govindarajan said, “By launching the Nano, Tata Motors has is trying to convert non-consumers, comprising those who currently use two-wheelers, into consumers. This is out-of-the-box thinking. This is how we must think if we want to establish ourselves as a global leader,” he said.

To attain this, he said, one must set unrealistic and ambitious goals. “Transformation begins with high ambition. Tata Group set before itself the uphill task of getting the two-wheeler users to switch to a four-wheeler, he said. While managing the present and selectively forgetting the past, “we need to create the future,” he said.

Uday Salunkhe, Welingkar director and AIMS president further reinforced the need to have an “innovation overdrive”.

K V Kamath, managing director and CEO of ICICI Bank Limited and president of
Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), stressed the need to constantly look back and forward in order to design the future.

“For our country to progress, we need foundation building in terms of people development and management schools have a huge role to play in this. The industry is rooted in the past, but the future beckons us. So, are we preparing a course for the young demographic cut? Have we geared ourselves for the 10% growth paradigm?”

Kamath said that the country’s booming job market will soon require 10-15 million. “Is our our education system is responding to that stimuli,” he asked. “Ten years from now there will be a dramatic change in the real world. Will there be a corresponding change in our education system?”

Saying that the country requires thought leaders and a “renaissance” in vocational education, Kamath said that he will push the agenda with CII for having active academia-industry collaboration. “This is the way forward. We need to have co-creation of curriculum along with academia right from the kindergarten to undergraduate to vocational to professional education,” said Kamath.

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Wednesday, August 20, 2008

IIMs see no slowdown in pre-placement offers

The premier Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) expect a 25 to 50 per cent increase in pre-placement offers (PPOs) this academic year. This, even as other prominent B-schools anticipate a 25 to 30 per cent drop in placements this academic year.

The IIM PPO process begins every July and goes on till final placements conclude in February. This academic year, too, the offers came from prominent investment banks and consulting firms. IIM Calcutta (IIM-C), for instance, has received 33 pre-placement offers (including 15 international offers) so far, and expects the numbers to go up by 25 per cent over last year, when it received 90 PPOs. So far, most of the renowned global consulting giants including McKinsey & Co, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers, J P Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Barclays Bank have offered PPOs to students at the institute.

“I don’t think the economic slowdown have any will impact on the best B-schools in the country. The final placements, too, will be smooth,” said Prafulla Agnihotri, professor in marketing, and chairman (career development and placement), IIM Calcutta.

IIM Indore has so far received 21 PPOs and expects the numbers to jump 50 per cent. Last year the institute received around 63 PPOs. “The 2009 batch, which underwent summer internship this year, is more experienced than the previous batch,” said a placement committee member at IIM Indore.

IIM Kozhikode, on the other hand, has received 17 PPOs so far and expects the offers to go up to around 90 this year. Consumer goods companies like HUL, Coke and ITC, and financial firms like Citibank and JP Morgan have already committed themselves to the institute.

IIM Bangalore did not disclose the number of PPOs it has received so far, but said it expected a good increase owing to the tremendous rise in the number of companies that visited its campus every year. IIM Ahmedabad, on the other hand, did not wish to disclose the number of PPOs it has received.

Compared to last year’s figures, though, the initial figures indicate a dip in the growth percentage. “Even if the PPOs remain at the same level as last year, we would be happy. Considering that most international recruiters are from the banking and financial sectors (hit by the US sub-prime crisis), we do not expect an enthusiastic response even at the final placement stage,” said a prominent IIM official, who did not wish to be identified.

Nevertheless, the IIMs have decided to pull up their socks and are looking at hosting new companies on campus. Many institutes have decided to invite more diverse firms such as smaller private equity players and wealth management firms. Unlike most years, the Banking and Financial Services (BFSI) sector is not expected to be the best performer on campus this year.

The FMCG, trading and services sectors might take the lead instead. “We know the US economy is going through a rough phase. We have told our students that consulting and investment banking is not the only option one should look at. They should also look at marketing,” adds Agnihotri of IIM-C.

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Sunday, August 17, 2008

IIMs prefer students with work experience

KOLKATA: In line with what has long been a trend across global B-schools, the IIMs are looking at more experienced candidates for their MBA programmes. These students, the institutes claim, bring in important attributes like out-of-the-box thinking and communication skills to the table.

At IIM Lucknow (IIM-L), the total number of students with work experience in the 2008-10 batch is 274 out of the batch of 307 or 89.25% against 50.41% last year, when 122 out of 242 students came with some experience.

“Experienced students change the entire dynamics of learning,” IIM-L director Devi Singh told ET. This time around, at IIM-L, 16 students have experience of less than a year, 67 between one and two years, 82 students between two and three years and 83 of over three-and-half years. Only 33 students have no work experience.

In IIM Calcutta’s 2008-10 batch, 40% of the batch have work experience of up to two years and 23% above two years, aggregating 63% against 60% in the 2007-09 batch.

“We are paying increasing importance to people with work experience,” said IIM-C dean (programme initiatives) Saibal Chattopadhyay. “Ideally, only 15-20% of an MBA class should comprise freshers. Though we have no intention of cutting down drastically on the number of freshers, over time we intend to gradually move towards a far higher proportion of experienced people.” He added, “Feedback from recruiters suggest we should have more students with some degree of experience. However, more than three years of experience can be a problem, as those students are difficult to mould.”

At IIM Bangalore, it’s the same story. Experienced students account for about 75.3% of the 2008-10 batch compared to 71.8% in case of the 2007-09 batch.

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Saturday, August 16, 2008

Change in IIM fee structure unlikely

NEW DELHI: The RC Bhargava committee, appointed by the government to look into the overall functioning of the Indian Institutes of Management, is unlikely to recommend lowering of fees in the institutes.

After visiting various IIMs, Bhargava said on Monday that the committee had finished its tasks about administrative system of these institutes as well as excellence.

There have been repeated demands that IIMs should lower their fee. Bhargava, however, said the committee is of the view that fees should be finalised by the boards of each IIM. "What is the use of the board if we have to decide on the fee structure," Bhargava said. "The basic thrust of the committee is to study and suggest the roadmap on how to create excellence and expand management education," he said.

He also said, "The IIMs are giving the required training to the people no doubt. But we will examine if they need to expand their activities and perform a larger role to impart required skill to people and enhance the human capital."

IIMs have already hiked their fees from this year. IIM-Ahmedabad had announced an increase of 175% in the fees of its first year post-graduate programme from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 5.5 lakh. Similarly, other IIMs have increased their fees.

The review committee would submit its report next month, Bhargava said. The panel is studying the functioning of IIMs and will recommend the changes required in view of the demands of the growing economy. The committee will make also make recommendations on how to attract funds from abroad. "IIMs have to raise funding from outside. In the US, the B-schools get funding from corporates. The IIMs can look for similar things here," he said.

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Private equity lures B-schools

Special lectures, courses planned for aspiring entrepreneurs.

Venture capital (VC) and private equity (PE) firms appear to have caught the fancy of business schools this year. Be it for creating awareness among aspiring entrepreneurs to raise funds, or merely understaning the operations of a VC/PE firm, management institutes have increasingly begun interacting with the industry.

While some have announced setting up of a PE club for aspiring entrepreneurs, others are planning courses, special lectures and seminars to create awareness about the booming sector.

Students of the Post Graduate Programme for Executives (PGPX) at Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A), will go through a course on PE in their last term between December and February.

The course, spanning 10 sessions, will be taken up by Arun Duggal, vice-chairman of International Asset Reconstruction Company.

Arvind Sahay, chairperson, PGPX, IIM-A, said: “Apart from number of venture capital and private equity fund companies queueing up during placements, the subject has also gathered interest in the wake of students opting for entrepreneurship.”

IIM Lucknow’s (IIM-L) Alumni Association, will organise India Private Equity Forum on September 19 at Mumbai. “This is for the first time that the institute has initiated such a forum. The forum will witness industry experts talk about VC/PE funds to alumni and aspiring entrepreneurs. If successful, we intend to continue conducting such forums in future,” said a member of Alumni Committe (Alcom) at IIM-L.

The Finance Club, a student run body at the Indian School of Business (ISB), is all set to come up with a Private Equity Conference on September 6. A unique PE event , it aims to provide the students an opportunity to gain greater understanding of the PE activities in India.

B-schools are also putting in effort to train students in raising funds. K J Somaiya Institute of Management Studies, which has been witnessing close to 10 per cent of students opting for entrepreneurship, has an e-cell which organises PE meets, workshops, VC colloquium, entrepreneurs meets (including some by the alumni), and guest lectures.

“The outside groups of VCs and PE managers and entrepreneurs have wholehearted and willingly supported the cause and in fact have become mentors to the new students. Students have the spirit of entrepreneurship, but they need the funding, mentoring and handholding for some time. The focus on PE/VC funds is important to give the necessary practical shape to the dreams and business plans,” says Suresh Ghai, director of K J Somaiya Institute of Management Studies.

Private equity and venture fund clubs function as the interface between students and financial institutions and regulatory bodies by organising various events.

Finance clubs across B-schools bring private equity players and industry leaders to the campus with an aim of lending a platform to students and faculty to interact and discuss the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead in the field of private equity and venture funds.

Recently, PGP students of IIM-A set up a Private Equity and Venture Capital club to help students get hands-on experience by involving PE/VC players from India and abroad.

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Friday, August 15, 2008

Next placement season may not be as good

Only those B-schools that have a strong industry interface will be able to manage good placements for their students

The last five placement seasons have brought in good news for B-schools. Every successive year has seen an average growth of about 20-30% in salaries that students from top B-schools get. However, the coming placement season may not bring much cheer for them.

As in some B-schools the placement season begins as early as September, their pre-placement communication with prospective recruiters is already on and the industry’s pulse is registered. Having visited quite a number of B-schools this year and having interacted with their directors and placement officers, the message I got is that the economic downturn in the economy is going to be mirrored in the placements.

Says H. Chaturvedi, director of a top-ranked B-school in Greater Noida, the Birla Institute of Management Technology, or Bimtech: “Barring about top 25 B-schools, there won’t be 100% placement in campuses. Even pay packages will drop by over 20% in most campuses.”
A.K. Sengupta, director of SIES College of Management Studies in Navi Mumbai, whose students have been getting good placement offers for past few years, echoes the sentiment. According to him, some of the companies that recruited from their campus last year are showing concern this year.

Some companies are even finding it difficult to honour their commitment during last placement season. In one B-school located in Noida, for instance, a general insurance company belonging to a big Indian industrial house has tripped up on its commitment. The company had offered students jobs for a package of Rs5.65 lakh per annum. First they deferred the joining date of students by three months, then they offered them jobs in another group company with a reduced package of Rs3.5 lakh per annum.

C.S. Somu of SDM Institute of Management Development in Mysore, where information technology, or IT companies, were the major recruiter last year, also opines that the going won’t be good this placement season as most of the major IT companies are planning to cut their manpower requirement drastically. B-schools such as his are now looking for new recruiters.
There are also some who don’t agree that the downturn in economy is going to hurt placements in a big way. A. Balasubramaniam, CEO of Balaji Institute of Modern Management in Pune, who is known for getting good placements for his students, says: “The jobs in IT sector would be hit but it would be compensated by other growing sectors like telecom, insurance, retail and banking.”

Mani Bharadwaj, senior director in Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, an audit and consulting firm, also believes that the downturn in the economy is a temporary phenomenon and will, at best, have marginal impact on placements. His company, which recruits from different campuses in the country, is not planning to cut down on its manpower requirement.

“The problem with most B-schools here is quality. We are looking for MBAs who can get into the act very quickly. For those B-schools which are proactive in moulding their students according to the needs of industry, placements won’t be a problem,” says he.

For the past five years, many B-schools had a good time as the demand-supply gap was huge and placing students was not a major issue. Many companies blindly picked them up as they had not much option. Now they are going to be choosy. Only those B-schools that have a strong industry interface will be able to manage good placements for their students. One recent positive development has been that some companies such as Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, Infosys Technologies Ltd, HDFC Bank Ltd, Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd, ICICI Bank Ltd, Satyam Computer Services Ltd, Polaris Software Labs Ltd and Cognizant Technology Solutions are now tying up with some B-schools and engineering college to have a more meaningful relation than just picking students during placement season. In Bimtech, for example, HDFC Bank has offered a special module in banking for final year students. Some 43 students have enrolled for the programme. HDFC Bank officials are conducting the programme to train students according to their needs. After the programme, the students will have to undergo a test based on which they will be recruited.

In 2000, a similar downturn happened and it lasted for more than two years. So my advice to students who are thinking of joining a lower-rung B-school is that they should carefully check its credentials and not go by misleading advertisements. Some B-schools are giving false placement figures in their advertisements and also using “motivated” ranking surveys as a bait to lure prospective students. The fee they charge is between Rs6 lakh and Rs8 lakh for the full course. For those taking loans, the repayment instalment ranges from Rs10,000-20,000 per month. From the point of view of return on investment, it is not advisable for students to join any B-school that doesn’t promise them at least Rs40,000 per month in salary when they graduate.

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Thursday, August 14, 2008

Recession hits tier-II B-schools harder

MUMBAI: Recessionary trends seem to have hit Tier II B-schools harder than the top rung management schools this year. While offer letters from top corporates were revoked at some of these campuses, others were not assigned duties promised earlier.

Sources say that corporates cite reasons of downsizing and restructuring for the changes made Says a student from Pune based Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies (SIMS), “Had such developments happened at the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), these companies would have been black listed.”

Says Parag Singh (name changed) who is working in the KPO division of Infosys BPO in Bangalore, “We were offered job profiles either in the equity research or the fixed income research department. After we arrived, we were told that there is no such profile and that the only client, i.e. Deutsche Bank was gradually pulling out since the bank had a captive in Mumbai. We were thereafter given an option to move to other departments. Also, at the time of hiring we were told that if we quit within six months, we would have to pay back Rs 50,000 sign on bonus. But now we are being told that this period has been extended to a year.”

When contacted, an Infosys official called it “differences in opinions” and refused to divulge further information. Infosys BPO had visited Pune based Symbiosis Institute of International Business (SIIB), SIMS, Chennai based Great Lakes Institute of Management and Mumbai based Welingkar Institute of Management among others B-schools .

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Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Chances of IIM seat get slimmer

Only one out of every 175 students who take the Common Admission Test will make it to the Indian Institutes of Management this year. The logic, note experts, is simple. Around 300,000 students are slated to appear for CAT this November.

Only 4,000 to 5,000 get an interview call going by the last few years' data. However, there are only 1,700 seats (last year, it was 1,500) for the next two-year management programme (2009-11), which warrants further elimination.

Despite such slim chances, industry players believe more students will try to crack CAT as the job situation is not at its best. The increase in the number of students taking the CAT exam this year will be around 20 per cent over last year when an estimated 250,000 students appeared for the exam.

"We believe more students will appear for CAT this year considering the slowdown and the fact that jobs will be at a premium. We had seen a similar situation in 2001, when there was an almost 100 per cent jump in the number of students appearing for CAT," said Shiv Kumar, director, Career Launcher, an MBA test-preparing institute.

CAT is a gateway to getting admission to IIMs and other leading B-schools. There are 116 non-IIM institutions, which will use CAT 2008 scores. These management institutes offer 13,000-15,000 seats.

"A large number of people who take CAT are from the IT industry, which is maturing. As the growth rate slows, people understand that technical skills alone will not help," said Jaideep Singh Chaudhary, product manager CAT, TIME.

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Monday, August 11, 2008

B-schools to introduce women-oriented courses

Business schools are now focussing on budding women entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship programmes are tailor-made for women who are on the rise across B-schools. And some of these programmes are completely free of cost.

At 49, Saguna Bakhai a freelance travel agent jet sets between exotic hill stations every two weeks. Kashmir, Ladakh, Darjeeling, Sikkim, Manali, are just some of the places that she frequently visits.

However, her life was very different a few years ago. Saguna was a homemaker for 20 years and she decided she needed a change.

The women entrepreneurship course at Narsee Monjee Institute or NMIMS gave her a new lease of life.

"I decided, instead of joining a travel agency and taking up a job at this age, it's better to start whatever little I can do on my own," says Saguna.

Enterprise Training for Women's course coordinator at NMIMS, Sujata Mukherjee feels the course helps women come into their own.

"This course gives them the skill to do something on their own. It helps them to build their self-confidence and helps them to network with other people," she says.

IIM Bangalore too has been running a similar course for women since the last four years. Also the Indian School of Business (ISB) has recently tied up with Goldman Sachs to offer an entrepreneurship course for women starting from November 2008.

This course is absolutely free of cost and Goldman Sachs will provide the entire funding.

However, only those entrepreneurs are eligible who have revenue earnings between Rs 1,00,000 to 15,00,000 per annum.

"If you look at women, they form almost half of the gender population but if you look at their representation in terms of the workforce, in terms of entrepreneurial activity, that seems to be extremely low," says course coordinator, Women Entrepreneurship, ISB, Deepak Chandra.

"Keeping such factors in mind, this course is a way by which we can integrate or promote women into workforce and entrepreneurial activity, that would improve the productivity of the economy," he adds.

Women account for about 15 per cent of an IIM class. But now with institutes taking a keen interest in designing courses tailor-made for them, one can expect to see more women like Saguna Bakhai who are willing to take the risk and shine at B-schools.

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Sunday, August 10, 2008

MBA internship mantras

To a large extent, your final job placement will depend on how well you perform during your MBA internship, the first rung of the corporate ladder.

Selecting the right company to intern with, is as important as making the most of your internship stint.

Some working professionals may even wonder if they really need an internship. The answer: YES! This start-up kit explains how an internship will benefit you.

It also outlines strategies and techniques on how to choose a good company, manage your wardrobe, work with your boss, colleagues and clients, et al.

The idea is to make an impact!

This content is is brought to you by WCH Training Solutions, which offers corporate training in business communication, soft skills, managerial skills and corporate grooming.

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Wednesday, August 6, 2008

B-schools tailor courses for offbeat jobs

NEW DELHI: India’s rapidly-growing economy is throwing up demand for new skill sets. And educational institutes are introducing niche and unheard of courses to meet industry demand.

From Tata Institute of Social Sciences’ (TISS) PG degree (MA) in social entrepreneurship, J K Business School’s MBA in corporate social responsibility (CSR) and Indian Clinical Research Institute’s (ICRI) management course in medical tourism to Amity’s MSc in organic agriculture and Welingkars’ course in judiciary management, scores of institutes and colleges are offering specialised courses in a number of new areas.

Two years back, a buoyant clinical trial and pharma industry saw an introduction of a degree course in clinical trial. Take the case of social entrepreneurship. Sensing a trend, both globally and in India, TISS launched a two-year course that aims at training and developing leaders for wealth generation with social progress in social sectors and non-profit organisations.

Amity’s organic agriculture course, launched two months back, has many takers. Two years back, it launched an MBA in organic management and buoyed by its success it launched an MSc programme two months back. “There is a huge demand for professionals in this field,” says Amity University’s Savita Mehta.

J K Business School, which was launched in 2006, is running a course on CSR since last year. It’s a CII-JK business school initiative where students learn about CSR and work with companies specially SMEs, to sort out their problems. This year, students will work with 25 such companies including Sona Koyo Steering, Jindal Steel, Sahara India, Munjal Showa and JK Technosoft.

“Companies in the SME segment often confuse CSR with merely spending money in social projects and there have been issues with carrying out such efforts even when they want to do it,” says J K Business School director general Reena Ramachandran. “This initiative will help our students in understanding the space as well as support the companies.”

Welingkar Institute of Management, Mumbai, plans to roll out a diploma programme in judiciary management soon. ICRI recently launched a full-fledged course on medical tourism, besides inpatient services & ward management.

“There is a great demand for such modules as the manpower requirement goes up and the need for specialised roles arise.” says ICRI health service director Major General (Dr) M Srivastava. This could just be a beginning. As emerging new sectors throw up new challenges, India Inc would look for relevant skills to meet them. And there in lies opportunities for educational institutes.

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Saturday, August 2, 2008

IIMs trying to create eco-system

A few weeks ago, the Centre for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE) at IIM Ahmedabad organised a conference where alumni entrepreneurs were invited to share their experiences with the centre and with students interested in becoming entrepreneurs.

Most of us would assume that very few people showed up on either side, since the popular perception of IIMA is that it is the bastion of straight-andnarrow corporate executives, and not the breeding ground for off-the-beaten-track entrepreneurs who march to the beat of their own drummer.

Factually, the audience comprised about 150 alumni entrepreneurs and over 250 eager beaver students who came to learn whatever they could and to ask questions like “Is 5-6 years of work experience in a company a good thing before striking out on your own” and “how do you know when you are ready to take the plunge”.

At the conference the CIIE also released a book written by an entrepreneur alumna, Rashmi Bansal, titled Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish, covering the story of 25 alumni entrepreneurs who she divided into Believers (those who always knew what they wanted to do), Opportunists (who were hit by an entrepreneurship opportunity they couldn’t refuse), and Alternate Vision (people who became social entrepreneurs or ran boutique businesses).

Alternative Vision

The list of IIM-A Alumni entrepreneurs is very impressive and includes a heartening number of social entrepreneurs too — naukri.com, Subhiksha, Edelweiss, Mastek, Mphasis, Educomp, Makemytrip.com, India Infoline , IRIS, Gridstone, Orchid Pharmaceuticals , Give Foundation, Basix and Eklavya, to name a few.

Some of them went straight into entrepreneurship on graduating. Others first worked for a few years gathering experience in other companies. Sanjeev Bikchandani worked for a few years with a company before quitting to set up naukri.com and R Subramaniam of Subhiksha spent 15 days with a large multinational bank and decided that dealing with money markets and bonds would not give him the life skills he needed and then moved to Enfield for two years before setting up his own shop. Vijay Mahajan of Basix opted out of placement to pursue his alternate vision, but worked first for another NGO before setting up Pradan. Some were late bloomers and some even were ‘second innings’ entrepreneurs , having retired early form top corporate jobs. Rahul Bhasin did a buyout of the securities firm he was working with and Jerry Rao started Mphasis after an entire career with Citibank.

On an average, over the years, 25-30 % of every batch eventually ends up becoming entrepreneurs. The move was more gradual in the older batches but is accelerating in the batches of the 90s and 2000s. Last year, 11 students in a class of 200 or so did not seek placement and set off on their own entrepreneurship voyage — definitely a sign of the times, with easier funding and the comfort that today’s corporate world will hire them at any time, on par with their classmates.

I asked a sample of these successful entrepreneurs to evaluate IIMA course content and teaching in the context of creating more people like themselves. There is a fair amount of consensus that the concepts or tools of business management being taught are equally relevant whether you are an entrepreneur or in an established corporate set up — because after all, running an organisation, whether your own or someone else’s is more or less the same. Also, in the early stages, entrepreneurs have to take on a variety of managerial roles themselves, since they can’t afford to hire too many experts. That’s why several of them support the view of R Subramaniam (RS) of Subhiksha that a ‘work somewhere first’ route is helpful.

However there is an equally emphatic agreement that the contexts / perspectives in which these tools get applied could be totally different in the world of entrepreneurship and more attention needs to be given to making that point.

The prescriptions on how to do this are varied. RS of Subhiksha feels that the way entrepreneurship is currently being portrayed in most B-Schools is much too romantic; and there is a need for highlighting the classic pain — it takes 10 to 12 years of struggle to build anything of significance. There is a real need to understand and control risk better and know what foolhardy and romantic risk is and what well gauged risk is. His prescription to do this is a ½ unit course “somewhere between OB and strategy” to sensitise would-be entrepreneurs to this.

Sanjeev Bikchandani of Naukri.com feels that B-Schools need more case studies on start ups and entrepreneur driven organisations in order for students to see alternate contexts and alternate views of the world. There must also be more successful and failed entrepreneurs invited to talk to the students to provide different role models of managing businesses. Taking Sanjeev’s thought further, I must say that having worked with both typically corporate CEOs and entrepreneurs, even the way management tools are applied are quite different.

For example, market research to scope business opportunity done for an entrepreneur ends up revealing different things than that for a protocol driven “current market and its rules” obsessed corporate CEO. An entrepreneur once said scathingly to me in reply to my question on how much he had leveraged his balance sheet to grow, “only you B School types think that one must leverage ones own balance sheet to grow. There are several other balance sheets you can leverage to grow” . And in fact he had done just that, all totally kosher and legal! Vaidy of Alchemy Capital says that the brain is meant for thinking, reasoning and memory.

He feels that a lot of what he was taught at IIMA is more connected with reasoning than it is with thinking; and also that the memory bank built in student’s heads of things that went wrong and right with entrepreneurial ventures is still quite lightweight compared to that of corporate behaviour. This again points to more exposure to people and case situations from the world of entrepreneurs. There is near total agreement that courses which “help give courage”, “strengthen resolve” , “are inspirational” , “accelerate the seed of entrepreneurship inside us” are very valuable.

A 20 year old course at IIMA that does this and that most of our entrepreneurs remember fondly is LEM - Laboratory in Entrepreneurial Motivation. For the past six years it has been offered by alumnus visiting faculty Sunil Honda, a pharma-turnededucation entrepreneur. His students say that it instils confidence, makes you interact with small shops in industrial estates who earn more than most corporate executives do, and it begs the question “why can’t we, with more education and privileges of intellectual exposure, do it too”? In fact, in the bidding system that students at IIMA use to get a course of their choice, this one comes near the top of the list.

Venkat, a social entrepreneur and founder of GIVE India says that while LEM inspired him to pursue his dream, he also found that the system of IPs (2 Credit Independent Projects) also helped him progress his future business ideas in depth, while getting him the credits needed to graduate.

The CIIE at IIMA was set up six years ago, with the coming together of seven faculty members from different areas, interested in doing research in entrepreneurship . Its chairperson Prof. Rakesh Basant, explains the IIMA philosophy that research centres be integrated with other areas of activity of the institute. One arm of this integration has been the creation and offering of a wide range of entrepreneurship relevant courses ranging from private equity all the way to social entrepreneurship, supported by custom created case material and designed to include project work on the companies being incubated by the centre, on managing the seed fund, in mentoring start ups, vetting their business plans and so on.

The Centre has also worked with the placement office to enable summer internships with start up companies, for a permanent placement slot just before the main placement activity begins, for start ups who want to come and recruit, and for those who want to be entrepreneurs straight after they graduate, a safety net scheme by which they can participate two years later in the campus placement process.

Clearly the mental, the environmental and the emotional aspects of becoming an entrepreneur are what BSchools ought to address. And even if concept learning stays the same, there is a necessity for context learning through greater exposure to entrepreneurs and start up case situations. Ramâ Bijapurkar is a management consultant and visiting faculty at IIMA.

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