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You clutch your course handout of a subject in your hand and wonder about the various titles written in the last column of it. These titles are the quintessential of your disciplines in practical world and are known as case studies. Ranging from a single page to a whopping figure of thirty or forty, case studies give you a new perspective to your book concepts. Written by Harvard’s as well as IBS’s professors, they appraise the practical scenario in which the application of the book concepts has been witnessed.

Basically, there are three broad categories in which every case-study can be divided into. First, there is the introduction part which gives you a brief history of the organization and outlines the main dilemma and problem points of the case-study. The second part consist the facts and information which could be crucial for solving the case and the last part focuses on a specific problem which the organization, mentioned in the case, wants you to solve to come to a decision and hence terminate the conundrum.

Of course, there are exceptions to the above mentioned ‘three parts of a case’ rule. Cases in the discipline of Economics, for instance, are mostly jotted down in a chronological manner. Throwing light on major economic crisis of the world, the students are encouraged to discuss on a “What-If” basis rather than asking them to solve a problem.

Again, there are three ways of solving any case study. Read the chapter first, read the case and the final step is to match the concepts of the chapter with the case. Since the first two steps are self-explanatory we would not go into the details but focus on the third and the trickiest step as it is of paramount importance when it comes to solving a case.

The golden rule of approaching any case-study is – “Stop getting scared of the size of the case and the number of pages, words etc.” On the contrary, the lengthier the case is, the better it is for approaching a conclusion. When it comes to subjects such as Quantitative Techniques, Accounting for Managers, Operation Management and other disciplines, lengthier cases aid you with more and more information and hence solving them becomes a walk in the park.

Initially, adopt the habit of reading the case completely. Try not to omit any part of initial cases from every subject. They are written very precisely in the start and this practice of yours might give you a clue as to what areas you can skip when it comes to further lengthier cases.

Though there is an incorrect notion among students that the focus on case studies should be kept until the last minute. In fact, it should be quite the opposite way. Overcome this procrastination and don’t take case studies down to the wire where it is just a tool to earn grade in class participation. A lot of thought goes into designing a case-study and the same is expected from the students while grasping the concepts from it.

‘Ask questions to yourself’ is the next rule to follow. Try to find the crux of every paragraph or at least every page and narrow it down in the form of a few questions. This exercise would help you in two ways. Firstly, you would be able to summarize the entire case and secondly, it would help you in the class participation too. However, you need to have an experience of three to four sessions to execute it perfectly. You need to know the areas where the professor emphasizes on while discussing the cases and once you grasp that, you will be able to form questions in accordance with that of your professor’s.

Note down the names of critical decision makers (they are mostly the top management of the organization mentioned) from the case and jot down their point of view regarding the dilemma mentioned. Sometimes it so happens that either the language of the case perplexes us or it is the diverse viewpoints of the decision-makers that add to the confusion. Hence, it is better to scribble the final stand of every decision-maker on the dilemma.

Not every case can be solved by a thorough reading. Sometimes, you have to look beyond the horizon for the answers. What lies behind the veil are the “Appendix” which has the balance sheet, growth chart of the firm since its birth and other significant numerical hints. Let’s say the dilemma of a firm lies in whether or not to foray into a new market. Just by reading the company’s history and other facts you cannot resolve this issue. This is where the appendix trumps all other facts and information. All you have to do is compare the preceding year’s profits and other important figures to help you reach the verdict. Try to give logical solutions backed by numbers rather than shooting in the dark without any evidence.

Now once you follow all the above rules and tag yourself a perfectionist in solving the issues of various cases, you can advance to a part called ‘Skipping’ some areas of cases. This would surely save a lot of time and make you to concentrate on more vital areas of the case-studies. Now, you might wonder which areas to skip without affecting the decision-making process. This would vary from subject to subject.

In Accounting, Quantitative, Marketing Research and other financial subjects you can skip the history and introduction of the firm and scan for numbers instead. While in subjects such as principles of Marketing, Service Marketing, Integrated Marketing Communication, Business to Business Marketing etc. try to look for the four (or seven) P’s first and then the STP (Segmentation, Target market and Positioning) of the firm.  When it comes to micro (and macro) economics, try to represent the problem of the case with the help of a diagram (a graph) and then understand it on a broader scale. Solve the IT related subjects’ cases such as ISM directly over your computer. Make sure you input the data in your computer as and when it appears in the case.

What if a professor of a financial subject asks you about the history of the firm? The answer is ‘Trade off’. Diversify the risk in such a manner that even if you miss the intro and history of the case, you still have the middle and last part (which is the solution) to discuss at the time of case discussion in the lecture.

Lastly, never ever put a cart before a horse. Read the chapters first before even touching the cases. Regardless of the subject whose case you are studying, always keep in mind the industry in which the firm belongs, the target group and definitely the dilemma that you need to focus on. Just in case none of the above rules work for you, remember that the professors are always there as a last resort. All you have to do is to approach them and clarify your doubts with them.

All the best!

Contributed by Hasan Ali Gumani ( Class of 2012-2014, IBS HYDERABAD )

In today’s fast changing and ever evolving world of business, the importance of management/managerial skills is of paramount importance. To address today’s topic I would like to first briefly elaborate on “What is a Management Skill” and how and why it becomes essential for survival of today’s enterprise.

Management Skill can be defined as an attribute/characteristic in a person which enables him to make most of the available resources in an efficient manner.

There can be many skills a management or a manager should posses to effectively and efficiently run an organization. I will pick only few of them which are actually the game changer.

1. Time Management
2. Self Confidence
3. Knowledge
4. Effective Communication
5. Result Oriented
6. Persistence
7. Self Motivation
8. Proactive
9. Empathy
10. Goal Setting

For a manager the above mentioned skills along with a few more are very important to succeed. I would like to elaborate particularly on these 10 skills and explain how they prove to be a game-changer.

1. Goal Setting: For a manager setting up the correct, precise and smart goals is very important. If goal setting is done with due care and proper introspection, anything is achievable. To ensure that this task is done with perfection a manager should be cautious, aware of himself, the marketplace, and his team/organization, and should know the product/service thoroughly.

2. Time Management: This is perhaps the most talked about skill a manager should have. Why is it important to manage time? Because it is the only resource which is free. Have you ever paid anything to buy time? You haven’t right, then how is it the most expensive resource? It’s the most expensive one – because you pay for it after you spend it. If you spend it wisely you reap the benefits and vice-versa. A manager who manages his time well usually achieves his goals on time and with a better success rate.

3. Persistence: In business and in life one is bound to fail sometimes. It’s the persistence in a person which helps him achieve the impossible. ‘Never Give Up’ spirit and coming up stronger after each time you fall will make you a stronger and more successful person in life. As Thomas Alva Edison said – Success is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration. So, be persistent in all your endeavors.

4. Empathy: A leader/manager should be empathetic to his team and to himself. There are targets which are going to be missed, there are going to be missed deadlines, there might be failures in relationships (personal and professional). But these are the moments when one should be patient, strong and empathetic to overcome the situation. Displaying empathy would create a stronger bond between the team, enables one to understand other’s point of view and analyze situations from a different angle.

5. Effective Communication: This is the most important skill a manager should possess. Today there are numerous courses in colleges and in corporations to make their folks more effective while communicating. This actually helps the organization cut costs, prevent repetition and achieve customer satisfaction. Effective verbal, non-verbal and written communication is the need of the hour and should be paid attention to.

6. Knowledge: Today information is on the fingertips of every individual. We can search for any information at an unprecedented level with an unbelievable accuracy. But knowledge is different from being informed. Being knowledgeable and an expert of one’s subject/field will earn him/her respect and accolades. In this economy, the most lucrative jobs are given to a person who is well informed, knowledgeable and is updated about the current events. It further helps when someone is well versed with technology and also knows how to maneuver it.

7. Self Confidence: With knowledge comes confidence. Self Confidence is very important in today’s world of business. It is you who should first believe in yourself before anybody else does. To believe in their capabilities and have a strong will makes a manager or organization successful. But you should be very careful when being confident it should not be false/overconfidence. Just remember that if the confidence is coming from knowledge, preparation and hard work, then it’s genuine; otherwise check once more before you hit a roadblock due to complacency.

8. Self Motivation: When you go up in the ladder there are fewer people who motivate you than the people who discourage you. You should be a self-motivator to take initiative and encounter failure. One should be brave enough to take on challenges with a positive and an optimistic outlook. Self-Motivation is very important when one is leading others. It’s the most important aspect of one’s personality to come up victorious every time.

9. Proactive: This is most one of the most desirable managerial skills in today’s world of rapid change, but unfortunately it is found very rarely in students, managers and leaders. Being proactive means preparing for the challenges are yet to arrive. Being proactive means to be able to envision the future and prepare for it or rather create the future on your own terms. This quality ensures better results, higher customer satisfaction and an increased customer loyalty.
10. Result Oriented:Everybody wants an employee or a manager who can produce great results.
    All of us expect good results from ourselves in all the aspects of our lives. Any person would like to become a better son/daughter, a better spouse/friend, a better parent etc. Being result oriented does not mean to exhaust oneself while working or pursuing a cause, it does not even mean to be a fanatic and end one’s life in a lunatic asylum. But being result oriented means that one should always be focused and oriented to his results, while maintaining a balance between the personal and professional life. One should not be distracted by external/internal factors.

    These management qualities are vital to run an organization successfully. Each of the above mentioned skills enables a person to effectively manage resources at his/her disposal. In today’s turbulent times, the importance of these skills cannot be underestimated. These are the qualities each manager/leader/student must possess in order achieve great success.

    Apart from being successful in professional arena, these qualities also make a person a better human being which is more important that having a promising career. Since an average person works for about 30-35 years in his life, the rest of the time is dedicated to the society, family and his friends by interacting and exchanging ideas and values. Each of above explained qualities makes him a better character to play his role more efficiently and more satisfactorily.

Contributed by Avdhesh Shukla ( Class of 2009, IBS BANGLORE )

Master of Business Administration (MBA) is just not a qualification or a degree which many applicants apply for. It is a means to a purpose, then a purpose in itself. Your motto would never be just to get an MBA degree but to utilize the skills learned during the course towards the area of interest. One has to understand that MBA is a classroom program which has different transformational aspect towards an individual’s growth and career enhancements. It acts as a catalyst to one’s career.

A majority of the candidates pursue MBA to land a respectable job but is this right attitude towards their career? Of course NOT! Instead, they should think that they are not just pursuing MBA but rather, chasing their dream.

The contemporary MBA era is over where one would get an MBA to get a job. MBA has evolved through the years and it has now become the roadmap for Entrepreneurship. MBA has been extremely helpful in seeding the minds of the individuals with new business models, new viable plans, new strategies and have sown the seeds of creating new jobs. Gone are those days when one would applaud a fat pay-check when now people take pride in starting a new venture. It brings a sense of accomplishment and the ideas are worth millions against a hefty check. So, MBA plays a crucial role in streamlining these thoughts and ideas.

One of the most important aspects of MBA is the learning that it provides. Various domains such as Finance, Marketing, Human Resource, Project Management, Information Technology, Business Communication, Business Ethics etc are imparted to the candidates. Various methods are adopted to ensure that the individual is getting the cutting-edge knowledge and is right on track with the latest developments. This includes PowerPoint presentation, class-room training, industrial visits, team projects, individual assignments and most importantly, an internship. With this multi-prong strategy, teaching and learning goes hand-in-hand and is the most undisputable fact of the course.

MBA centers on multiple semesters with each one divided into several subjects which spread out from basic to intermediate to specialized knowledge level. The complexity and the rigorous assignments backed by empirical case studies provide an outstanding experience which otherwise would have been left unexplored. These projects and assignments fill the void which a contemporary course usually skips. In short, MBA is a structured program which strives in taking the best out in an individual. On the behavioural front, the individual evolves an analytical bent of mind.

It is one of the few courses which apart from imparting knowledge also build social-personal skills. It helps your harness skills right from professional communication to ethical behaviour. It teaches you to deal critical situations in a most positive and efficient way. Just not that, more than a course, it definitely roots the individual leadership quality and teaches how to get along in a social group. These skills are a by-product of the course and change the persona of every individual, helping him go a long way in his career.

One of the forefronts in an MBA course is the ‘Brainstorming Session’ that the individual has to experience at multiple levels. This drives a person to not just put new thoughts and fresh ideas forward but also helps them understand various ideas of their peers too. Individuals start connecting the dots and respecting the ideas of others. The process is so effective that it enables one to think outside of the box which otherwise would have been untapped. The impact of this will be more visible when the person starts working in an organization.

The experienced lecturer who comes from different industry, background, knowledge and perspective makes MBA a different ball game altogether. Their experience and expertise would be a priceless aspect for students. Their way of imparting knowledge and the methodology of teaching is not something that one can ever get in books or learn on their own. Such aspects leave no leaf unturned in the learning process of the individual.

MBA provides a platform where you can maximize the available resources. You can have a mentor helping you get your skill-sets and concepts right. You can get in touch with your strong alumni-base to help reshape your ideas and guide you till your execution stage. Furthermore, you have the full support of a diversified group of classmates who can make learning more meaningful. In short, the quality of support one gets while pursuing an MBA is worth the time and money spent.

One of the primary aspects of the course is to make the individual efficient. This is not done just by taking sessions after sessions but through continuous monitoring and evaluation. The individual is subjected to rigorous time-bound projects which are done in small groups and thereupon a 360 degree feedback and appraisals are done. In each semester, the individual gets to know where he stands and measure his performance. More importantly, the peer competition further makes him burn the mid-night oil to get the correct CGPA. Eventually, a new mindset with a strong performer is what one ends up with.

MBA also incorporates on-the job training which is known as ‘Internship’. An individual who has already been made aware of theoretical knowledge is given exposure to the on-the job training in the middle of the course helps recognize his potential as well as weakness. It actually provides a reality check and the areas of improvement or the areas which the individual would have to further hone. It is a litmus test to the individual making him more serious about his career path. In short, this training may be of a few weeks but it provides SWOT analysis to the individual which brings crucial changes on an individual’s perception and brings the best out of him.

To call a spade a spade, MBA has been gripped into a misconception that it is a mere qualification. With so much to get from a professional course like what has been mentioned, one can only say that MBA is beyond qualification and a fat pay-check.

Contributed by Mitesh Agarwal  ( Class of 2009-11, IBS HYDERABAD )

An MBA degree not only gets you an entry into the corporate; it stays with you for the rest of your life. Your Alma matter defines who you are.  The college from which you graduate from helps you in your future course of journey.   So one has to be careful while deciding to join a MBA institute, as there are so many stakes (money, efforts, and future) involved, it is one of the crucial decision which can make or mar ones career.

There are around 3000 B-Schools/Management institutes in India which produce more than

1, 00,000 management graduates every year. Majority of them cater to students without prior industry experience. So why do companies pay lucrative 6 figures salary packages to only 10 % of the lot.  How do companies choose professionals for working in their companies when they know fresher’s have to be trained and worked upon before putting them into responsibilities.  And the million dollar question for the student here is how to select a college of repute why will lead them the entry into those 10%.

Well the answer to these questions lies here.

When a company chooses a college for campus it has different criterion based on which it makes decision.

Brand name – Brands play a significant role in choosing a product in  our daily life. Same is the case with companies. Companies shortlist colleges of high repute which are known in the industry to select their future professionals. Colleges with a long term perspective invest hugely on Brand building exercises.

Alumni: The reputation is build by a college due to its Alumni network and how it is doing in the market. The performance of professionals who are doing exceptionally well in the market reflects their quality of Alma matter. It also depends upon the differentiators which the college has created for itself which distinguishes itself from the rest of the lot. Colleges like MIT, HBS don’t worry about the placements as the Alumni itself suffice the requirement.

Teaching Pedagogy:  The distinguishing factors can be the pedagogy, industry exposure and the way learning is imparted in the students.   Universities like Harvard, Stanford and Oxford are famous for its case study style of teaching. Case studies are considered as an effective way of exposing students to managerial situations. It introduces and provides hands on experience to students of what is going on in the industry. Modern teaching tools and techniques such as simulation games, innovative class activities, learning through videos and role plays also helps Students understand the nitty-gritty and intricacies.

Industry- Institute Interface: The Companies prefer to go to colleges for placements which they have interacted with. This interaction happens when a college has a continuous connect with Industry Professionals. This connect happens in the form of guest lecture from the industry professionals,  Invitation to industries for events happening at college, mentorship program from industry, Summer Internship and Winter Internship programs, sponsorship and other allied activities. The industry is also in a way want to get connected to Institutes to get the Crème – Del – crème of professionals for their companies. Many Corporate firms organize and sponsor events which help them understand the dexterity of students in the available market.

Well these are some of the traits which a company looks for in a college for campus placement. The end result is a win-win situation for both the company and the institute as the companies get the best of talent pool for their organization and the colleges get the best of packages for their students. When it comes to students to select a college these aspect should be definitely put into consideration.

Let’s try to see what are the advantages of graduating from a Premier MBA institute:-

A Lucrative career: – The fight for getting into the elite college is not just for the sake of getting into the best colleges of the country but to have a lucrative career ahead. The elite MBA helps you give you a head start over your counterparts who may not get the push from a tier 2 or tier 3 MBA. The chances of selection in interviews increases, promotions, switching from one company to other good company, when you have a tag of an elite Institute behind your back which gives you an extra edge over others.

Alumni Network: – Every good college has a strong alumni network which acts as a backbone of the institute. This not a known fact in case of a non premier, two tier colleges. The fact of the matter is that it is very important to understand how much the Institute is connected with its alumni. As education has been minted into a big business the college feels that the pass outs have no role to play and just act as liabilities to them. But a college of good reputation never lets its alumni lose its hope and faith in the institution and treat them as the torch bearers and messenger of their institute to the Industry and the society. The Alumni meets, mentorship program etc helps the Alumni to be connected with the college and the friend circle which he was part of during his MBA. The Alumni network also helps in career advancement, Job change, etc which makes thing easy for him in the latter part of his career.

Groomed persona: A good MBA program which has two years of rigorous hard work and development of smart work has an unusual effect on the persona of an individual. He/she gains not only presentation and communication skills but also analytical skill sets which helps him/her understand and solve complex situation of life and other issue with great rigor and enthusiasm. The MBA program changes the perspective of an individual towards life and its challenges.

Identity: – The MBA degree becomes an Identity of the Individual. When a person gets the tag of being a MBA from the Elitist of Institute he gets a special identity among his colleagues and staff. A different form of respect and admiration is shown towards the person. As it is rightly said that, “Respect cannot be bought, it has to be earned”.   The respect and adoration one gets because of being a part of an elite club has an aura of its own and which can be felt ones the person becomes a part of such club creating an exclusive segment for himself/herself.

Contributed by Roopesh Rao  ( Class of 2007, IBS GURGAON )

People think that doing MBA is all about getting a masters degree and receiving a handsome salary, which is true for most part. However, there is more to an MBA degree than just a promise of a great job. MBA creates a new dimension in life and makes you fit for every course of life. It is not about just learning Finance or Marketing or Human Resource. Once you take a plunge into the MBA world, you might start doing something which you have never thought of. There are people who have left their well paying Wall Street jobs to start their own ventures like selling tea, but in a redefined style while creating turnover in Crores. So, MBA is more about adopting a new and marketable personality.

There are few hidden jewels which a person can achieve after undertaking MBA from a good college.

• A new perspective – It helps in understanding any problem with a 360 degree approach i.e. what are the pros and cons of taking any strategic decision. It helps in analysing the issue and finding the alternatives based on the experience gained during the MBA course
• Leadership – It helps in developing one’s leadership abilities. While pursuing MBA you have to finish tasks within strict deadlines, you have to surpass others as everything is percentile based, you have to manage your group in most of the activities and involve yourself with others. You also get a chance to head certain clubs but you have to deliver the very best that you can offer.
• Awareness – It helps in creating awareness about the business world and how any business problem can be tackled as the students get a lot of exposure through case laws.
• Entrepreneurship – It helps in inculcating a sense of entrepreneurship as it evaluates your skill-sets on various parameters during the two years. It helps one get in touch with the right people and developing confidence.
• Better consolidated business network– As an MBA student, you have great networking opportunities. Through this course, you get to know and interact in a relevant manner (in a context that accentuates your business management capabilities) with colleagues (future high level managers), professors and the teaching staff (usually former or current potent business people, with great on-field experience). Furthermore, you have good chances of meeting potential employers through various internships that are a part of most MBA programmes. Last but not the least, you gain access to the extensive alumni network and professionals with key positions. This extensive, well consolidated business network is bound to pay off throughout your whole career, making you the first-hand recipient of all relevant information in the field.
• A good placement offer- Once you graduate from a good institute, various companies willingly make you a part of their team, directly at their middle management level. This is because they feel confident of your knowledge and skill-sets gained during the MBA course. The average salary for an MBA graduate is considerably higher than that of an employee with a regular Masters qualification. That is almost twice as much of what you can expect to earn with a regular University degree. In this case, you can get the return of your investments within 2 – 3 years.
• Self respect – It helps in developing self respect as you know that you come from an elite college and will always have a sense of pride about the same. Moreover, people around you would also appreciate the same and treat you respectably.
• Risk taker- After MBA, people are in a position to take some risks like starting their own venture or following one’s passion. MBA graduates develop risk-taking ability because, at the back of the head, they always have the comfort of knowing that their degree will help them get a job, in case their venture fails.
• Skill-set development –You may think that this point sounds quite trivial. You may wonder isn’t that what every study programme is supposed to do? The answer is yes, but an MBA education is usually pursued in a very specific situation by a young professional with a few years of work experience and sometimes even by senior employees. After a few years into one’s professional life, even as little as 2 years, it is in human nature to conform to a certain repetitiveness which leads to stagnation in a comfort zone. This limits your disposition for learning and the ability to acquire new skills due to by sticking to the comfort zone instead of trying to learn something new that may, in fact, help in elevating the professional growth. Pursuing a Master of Business Administration degree forces you to get out of your comfort zone, deal with the latest issues, apply the newest management techniques and just constantly challenge yourself, your practices and your approaches. And that will continue after graduation as well, as an MBA also provides you with the channels that will keep this challenge alive and push you to improve continuously. Knowledge imparted in an MBA program extends out in developing managerial skills for candidates. These skills provide the essentials for dealing with real-time situations pertaining to management and resolution of problems. You are not only equipped for being a better manager, but also facilitated to handle core responsibilities of an organization.
•  Practical Exposure – The MBA curriculum has a summer internship program and the students get a practical insight of the real time work experience in a corporate house.
• Career change – An MBA in general and a Dual MBA in particular, provides you with the cushion of switching your career. An MBA with particular specialization makes it easier for you to move across industries.
• Starting your own business – Once you get the right exposure in MBA with all the theories and practical approaches, people can think of starting a venture of their own. These days people are starting with little capital and are growing fast. This is how companies like Red Bus, Flipkart, and Snapdeal have started their journey.

As you have seen, MBA offers a lot more than one can expect from it. Earning a reputed degree along with the above mentioned qualities and advantages should certainly appeal to aspiring candidates. Step into the world of MBA and come out richer than you ever anticipated. 

Contributed byManeesh srivastava (Class of 2008, IBS GURGAON )

It’s been ages we had seen a courier being delivered at home. Not that we didn’t have many well wishers, but my father always insisted on giving his office address for receiving any mail. The joy of someone sending a package for me was enormous because it happened for the first time. It had something I have been waiting for since months. It was the reason I have been going to temples two times a day. It was the key to my future.  The brown post had my scores to one of the best B-schools in the country.

The scores seemed good. Along with the scorecard, came an invitation to the city of Nawabs as they say but, for me it was the city of V.V.S Laxman and Sania Mirza .The details of the further selection processes were mentioned with a topic that had to be prepared from the list which was to be presented to a panel along with a personal interview.

After working hard for months, I finally had my first expedition out of home. I cleared the selection process and results were usually given out in the evening in a brown envelope. It was exhilarating when I opened the envelope to see the invitation to one of the best B schools in the country, IBS- Hyderabad.

So how do you imagine your B School to be?  In my dreams it always appeared as a cold place, lined with old buildings with bell at the clock tower, a boring library and classrooms filled with half-asleep students.

But here I was, and I felt like Alice in Wonderland, a place unimagined. It had a grandiose resort like feeling, lush green campus with gardens at the centre giving a feel of a new-age-management temple.  Indeed, it was a place to heal and nurture the skills of value to a person who can be considered as having half baked skills. For the first two days I explored the campus, observed the place and wrote down all the available facilities on a paper

This list gave a taste of a weekend holiday place but this was going to be my home for next two years. I had a feeling that this was going to be one of the most exciting phases of my life and indeed it happened too.

The session began with foundation classes which ensured some basics of general aptitude, quant and logic being developed in students as everybody came from different educational backgrounds. This was how the university brought the entire student pool on the same page before the session began. When I caught up with my friends at other B schools, I came to know that there weren’t any prep classes and this made me love my college even more.

The campus was like ‘mini-India’. Students from all over the country hailed and what a diversity they brought with them. I had never seen a Punjabi mingle with a Malayali guy, Assamese students having dinner with Gujarati students, Bihari students and Marathi students playing sports and Coffee lovers drinking tea. The place looked like a man-made attempt to create a perfect India where everybody stayed in harmony with equal opportunities. There was no discrimination on the basis of sex, cast, creed or religion. Everyone respected each other while maintaining a competitive spirit.

Initially, I was told that it would be a challenge to study along with 900 students and that this would be one of the disadvantages of studying in IBS Hyderabad. But let me tell you, this very thing turned out to be a lesser-understood-boon rather than a curse. I realised this once I joined a corporate.  The larger the crowd, the more exposure you will get, more competitive you become, more you learn and you become a better manager.

The first two semesters were of exploration, mostly of self. The students were divided into different batches and each batch had different schedules at all times. The class rooms have wooden desks which will make you feel like being back in school. It was combined with a perfect theatrical sitting arrangement towards a podium and board where the professors were our coaches as well as umpires.

The year we joined the college was when they had changed the curriculum and made it mandatory to have case study lectures where scoring was based on the participation in the classroom. Indeed, this became a successful method as it helped even those students who had weak communications skills. They were able to focus on it and improve as they were presented with an opportunity to voice their opinions, which otherwise died due to their lack of confidence and communication.

In this semester, students had learnt various fundamental subjects of management and it helped them develop an affinity toward the subject which would shape their career. Initially, everyone was absorbed in their textbooks but MBA was not just about bookish knowledge but it was about how to use this knowledge practically. Books developed the thought process but we live in a world of humans and not books. Any scenario with people comes along with its share of differences and problems which in turn require smart solutions and methods that need to be dealt in an effective manner.  These skills were developed in workshops called ‘clubs’.

There were over 20 clubs running on the campus, each being run by senior students with proper hierarchy of order, a set up which simulates the corporate world. Juniors were taken into these clubs based their interest and knowledge of the subject which was judged through an interview empanelled by the seniors. I opted for a club- Stu-Z, a student online portal that connected the entire campus at one place, giving a dose of weekly entertainment and values as I was highly creative and had some experience in the online domain before I got in the college.

The clubs taught me how to improve my interpersonal skills, work teams, how to dilute one’s ego for a greater cause, handle people, be a good listener and other traits which helped me adjust to the corporate environment later in my career.

Before the third semester began, we had a compulsory internship which gave us a superficial yet effective experience of working in a corporate. I worked with O & M advertising agency, which is one of the best creative ad agencies in the world. At the time, the Zoo-Zoo campaign of Vodafone was a huge success and we were extrapolating it. Working with stalwarts of the industry was fun and a great learning experience.  Every student could see a change in their personalities and attitude from when they first joined the college.

The third and fourth semesters are more of an independent semester as they revolve around specializing in the management area with simulations and research reports. These semesters are very important in preparing the students for the campus placements which starts at the beginning of 4^th semester and mostly ends with it. Our batch had one of the best placements IBS has ever seen with more than 110 corporate visiting the campuses. I was lucky enough to get a job in my hometown.

The institute’s extreme focus on soft skills was now realised by the students when they had handsome offers in their hand. Soon after the semester ended all of us said bid adieu with moist eyes promising to stay in touch with each other. At this time we realised that this university has not only created future managers but the people who will care and grow.

Contributed by Apurva Singhi (Class of 2011-13, IBS HYDERABAD)