Career in Academics: Teaching MBA

Posted on March 30, 2015 by IBS India

Shruti is a 35 years old freelance corporate trainer. In her 10 years of corporate career, she has trained service line managers to top level executives, on various aspects of doing better in the B-world. From teaching soft skills to business communication, Shruti has fared quite well professionally. After finishing her MBA in HR, she gradually moved from recruitment to make her mark in training. With her passion for teaching, she now feels, it is time for her to go back and return the favor and use her experience of corporate training for teaching MBA-HR students.

Being a teacher in India is mostly perceived as a “fallback” career by most of us. This post, however, is intended to clear some of the misconceptions about taking up teaching as a profession. With no constant pressure and strain of achieving targets, I’d say, this is one of the most stress free professions. With increasing competition to excel in the corporate world and mad race for earning the highest incentives, work place stress is a very common problem among those who have just moved into the professional work zone, especially in IT, sales, marketing and finance. Therefore, many decide to take up a career in academics, in search of a better life, after working in the industry.

In order to be able to teach, one needs to possess thorough knowledge of the subject, clarity of thought, confidence, ability to articulate and passion for the profession. An MBA is one course where the class of students is most diverse. We all come from different background of education, experience and age. Everyone has a different approach and thought process. Therefore, equally diverse is the need of the faculty. A B-school faculty may comprise of from retired corporate executives, sharing their knowledge and wisdom earned during years of industrial and corporate experience, to specialized and well trained faculty with expertise on the particular subject.

The very first requirement to apply for faculty position in a college is a Masters. Most institutes prefer NET (National Eligibility Test) qualified candidates. NET is conducted by UGC (University Grants Commission) twice a year. Depending on your specialization or master’s degree, you can choose your subject to appear for NET. Preference is also given to M.Phil or PhD candidates.

One of the reasons, the young brigade hesitates from taking up teaching as profession is because of the low salary offered. However, with the pay commission, teachers these days get salaries that are comparable to the industry standards. Even private colleges these days have handsome salary packages to offer.

Another inhibiting factor for most of us is slow career growth. Although different institutes may have different ranking levels, usually the hierarchy is Assistant professor > Associate Professor > Professor/Reader.

B- Schools hire both visiting and regular faculty. Depending on your interests and choice, you can make yourself eligible for both. The current scenario of teaching at good B-schools these days however has changed. The eligibility criteria and qualification norms for faculties at B-schools have now become more stringent. Management now looks for a mix of experience and qualifications. This is due to the reason, that teaching MBA curriculum is different from the conventional mode of tutoring because of the need of equal emphasis on both theory and practice. It calls for using a variety of teaching methods like case studies, seminars, simulations, guest speakers and group projects to facilitate the learning process.

Some institutes, prefer hiring people like Shruti (at the beginning of this post) as part-time/visiting faculty. For those who do not want to leave the industry as well as hold a passion for teaching, working part time is a good option. They rely on their industry experience to teach and bring in fresh ideas from the field, offering students a more hands on experience of learning about the corporate world.

This is true that for some core electives, like economics, quantitative ability, accounts etc, institutes prefer more conventionally qualified faculty. Usually a master with PhD or NET qualification is the gateway to the academic field. Yet there are some electives, like business strategy, business ethics, business communications, sales and marketing and some components of human resource management that demands the insight of someone from the industry.

Teaching is a continuous learning process. In due course of time, it has evolved from being just an art to a more professional stage that today holds the potential of catapulting you to a different level academically. If you have the patience and willingness, you don’t have to restrict your academic ambitions to just tutoring. There are many opportunities these days that are out there for academicians to consider. For instance, many lecturers and faculty members have their doors opened to the field of consulting as well.

Often, institutes have industrial tie ups to facilitate faculty research, consulting and technology exchange programs. This way a faculty member may get exposed to doing something like his/her industry counterpart and also get appropriately paid apart from the salary. Although this calls for some experience and time in the career and has limited scope of vertical growth, yet it gives you a chance to work independently as well as stay in touch with the ongoing development in the corporate world.

Another highly potential field for teachers these days is in corporate training. The way, institutes call executives from the industry to conduct lectures and seminars for their students, likewise, companies sometimes ask senior college faculties for organizing training sessions at a corporate level. They are asked to conduct sessions on topics that employees might not have learned during their formal education, like presentation and communication skills, business writing and other job specific functional and technical skills. There are also training certifications offered by academic bodies like Indian Society of Training & Development and XLRI Jamshedpur. With absence of too many academic programs to train the trainers in soft skills and personality development, there is a huge dearth of corporate trainers. This leaves the companies to invite B-school faculties and help them conduct such programs for their employees. To embark in the field of corporate training, however, one needs to be well aware and updated, confident, spontaneous, mature and creative.

The field of research also offers great opportunities to those in the field of academics. Many universities now conduct Faculty Research Programs encouraging faculties to engage in research activities. Although one might have to put up with stagnant growth and low salary, the satisfaction lies in the ability to think out of the box and contributing to the knowledge pool by getting the chance to get your research work published.

We have seen that how being a faculty these days is not just restricted to classroom teaching, thus breaking the stigma of stagnation and limited learning curve, that was once associated with the field of academics. Today’s educationists diversify their portfolio by venturing into new avenues. They work as freelance academicians, offer online tutoring, conduct career counseling at a professional level and much more. With the high demand of well qualified and deserving candidates in India, this field is full of opportunities which are also always unaffected by the state of economy or recession. If you have the zeal and commitment towards your passion to teach, then there should be nothing stopping you.

Contributed by Isha Jajodia (class of 2010, IBS Gurgaon)

Balance between Creative and Commercial- Management Professional.

Posted on March 27, 2015 by IBS India

Management- The word says it all. What I perceive beyond all the intricate definitions given by some management scientists is that Management in normal laymen language means to manage. Manage anything in a manner that there is no chaos and certain value in terms of satisfaction is generated. We all come across various instances in our daily lives. Weather its dealing with our parents, lying at the time of late night outs. Managing our super complex love life maybe by showing it up on facebook, going out on dates, pampering and can either be by giving the space to our partner. And imagine its you who is playing all these different roles taking different steps with different people just to make them happy and balance your life. That’s so creative. On the contrary, we see some of us who cannot convince our parents, break ups is a regular thing for them and not that socially sound in making friends even when they want to. It is nothing it’s our creativity quotient which is very individualistic and shows up in our regular life.

In the same manner, being a Management Professional is nothing its just an appropriate mixture of being creative and commercial sound. Every spender from various society strata has a budget to spend which is called his/her purchasing power. Even if you take up your own venture or join any company, your life will revolve around the client’s budget and spending pattern. It is very important for one to know about the clients spending pattern so as you can make your own strategies that when do you expect monies to flow in to your systems and from where. Till the time you do not have these things in place, the working strategies are chaotic. For an example, we know that a brand of beer would spend on advertising in summers. So a Tv channel would plan meetings with the clients, Media agencies of such beer brands in late winters and make sure they get some business. After the channel gets the surety that the beer brand is surely spending some monies with them, they will then project it in the projections for the summers. This is called commercial planning and being commercially sound. In case the channel gets to know at the end moment that the client is spending and starts running to meet the client at the end moment, that shows that the strategic planning has not been done and the client is not tapped by the concerned person, that means that the planning is not commercially sound.

Management Skills

As we spoke before about the differing creativity quotient, today earning money has two main roots. As the spending pattern change every other day alike past, to have a great brand loyality one has to be creative. Creativity is an open term but in actual it is always bordered by ones budget. Right from a Brand Manager to sales Manager, HR, and all the possible profiles the world is all about being creative in what you do. Lets carry forward the last example we talked about, post when we know that the client has a budget to spend on the TV channel and ask the channel to provide him the best deal in an average amount say XXX and also adds that the client will only spend if he finds the deal better than the competing channel deal. Now it’s the sheer creativity which can get monies, the sales person needs to figure out how is the channel delivering in the clients target audience and which time bands and shows are doing well. The sales person also needs to check with the production team that if there are any restrictions on airing the alcohol brand. Beyond this the sales person needs to figure out the taste of the decision maker like if he is the consumer of the channel? What is his favorite show? If he likes glamour, if we can send him at the shoot or any award function in case he takes the deal. Before being creative we need to have our strategic plans in place else it is like rolling behind the bush. Now when we make the deal for the client against the ratings in the clients Target audience we will see which show is the best as per the clients ratings and will give him the Fixed commercial time as per the client’s liking and the ratings. Beyond this, if in this budget we can offer him a sponsorship on certain show and decrease the Commercial time on the other shows. So it is all about once creativity in getting the monies. We see amazing tag lines and continuously changing visual merchandising at the clothing brands like Zara, Forever 21, M&S and lot more for the fact that brand managers are taking creative strategic call for increasing the footfalls and the revenues. We see the Human Resource Managers managing the employees so effectively and continuously moving the employees in various departments to make sure they retain the valuable sources is all creativity.

Every move that a brand takes that we find creative and extra ordinary amazing, right from the coca-cola’s India Pakistan campaign, Swedesh Cancer patient Campaign, OLX on-ground campaign, dabur vatika’s cancer Patient Campaign(don’t know them all? Youtube it or follow my facebook) has various levels of strategic positioning decisions and creative brain storming of the advertising agencies and the brand managers involved. I remember while my internship with Ogilvy and Mather, my Manager told me that first 20 ideas are always done before and non acceptable, dump them! And this is actually true the more we challenge our selves, the more we dump, the more we read, the more we read and find the more our brain works. So to be creative get your commercial strategic planning in place, read about what’s happening around about the industry you plan to get in to and have your personal view point on everything. Yes please disagree with lot of things because that we will evoke you to do something of your own. Be the one in making PPT’s while presentations , collect data. Change things, colors, fonts, hairstyle, clothes. Life is too short to live it boring, stay creative!

Contributed by Rahul Wadhwa, (Class of 2013, IBS GURGAON)

Origin of MBA in India

Posted on March 27, 2015 by IBS India

Arguably, Masters in Business Administrate aka MBA may be termed as one of the most valued and inherently adopted degrees across the globe. But did you ever think which University or College actually began the practice of imparting formal education in Business Administration in the world and in India? Did you ever wonder how the MBA phenomena started or what the first MBA program was? Top global and one of the oldest Business Schools around the world are London Business School, Harvard Business School, Stanford B-School, Columbia Business School, IE Business School in Spain and also the prestigious Indian Institutes of Management and XLRI Institute in India.

Take a wild guess. Which B-School amongst them do you think actually initiated the concept teaching modern business concepts to students to make them highbrow managers and risk-loving entrepreneurs. You’ll be surprised to know that the answer will be astonishingly different and its nowhere close to the afore-mentioned list of B-Schools. Incidentally, the United States can be accredited for the origin of MBA degree, in the nineteenth century.

The commonly known history of the MBA degree dates back to the year 1908 when it was offered as a degree by the renowned Harvard Business School. Its first batch had around 80 students tutored by highly qualified faculties. If you dig deeper, you’ll find that this common knowledge is marred by factual inaccuracies. Don’t blame yourself for this forgivable ignorance. 90% of the people are oblivious to the veracity of this piece of information.

To put your curiosity to rest, Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania, which was founded in the year 1881 by an American entrepreneur Joseph Warton, started giving Bachelor of Finance Degree to aspiring entrepreneurs and managers. Mr.Wharton’s vision was to technically equip young graduates with elementary business knowledge to face the complex economic situation that he thought was unfolding. Subsequently, it started an International MBA course as well.

Masters in Business Administrate aka MBA Nearly 20 years later in the year 1900, Tuck School of Business (working under Dartmouth college) was founded by Edward Tuck. It was the first legitimate B-School which awarded a one of its kind advanced business degree known was Master of Commerce. It was the undisputed predecessor to the present-day MBA degree. The MBA degree soon began to spread around the US. In 1921, Shanghai University of Commerce became the first Chinese Business School to offer MBA. By 1930, the number of schools in the United States reached 30.

Ivey School of Business in Canada was the first B-School to be established in 1948 outside of the US. Afterwards, the now-famous MBA degree made its way to South Africa and Pakistan (Yes, you read it right. That was before it was introduced in India). Pretoria, one of South Africa’s three capital cities in the Gauteng Province introduced an MBA program in 1949. Six years later, the degree traveled to the Institute of Business Administration (University of Karachi) in Pakistan in collaboration with Wharton Business School. As a matter of fact, it became the first institute in Asia to offer a formal MBA program (according to IBA’s website).

It was only a couple of years later that the pre-eminent multinational B-School INSEAD located in Paris launched a unique 1 year MBA course for the first time in Europe. The inceptive batch comprised 50 students from 14 different countries. Eventually the degree became well-accepted across Europe by 1960. Then, in 1963, the degree marked its arrival in Australia through the reputed Melbourne Business School.

MBA’s tryst with India

S.No	College	Establishment Year
1	Xavier’s Labour Relations Institute, Jamshedpur	1949
2	Indian Institute of Social Welfare & Business Management (IISWBM), Kolkata	1953
3	Faculty of Management Studies, New Delhi	1954
4	Indian Institute of Management (IIM-C), Kolkata	1961
5	Indian Institute of Management (IIM-A), Ahmadabad	1961
6	Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT)	1963
7	National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE), Mumbai	1963
8	Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies (JJBIMS), Mumbai	1965
9	Institute of Marketing and Management (IIMM),New Delhi	1969
10	Christ University of Management (CUIM), Bengaluru	1969

The above list is about the earliest instituted B-Schools established in India in the order of their year of establishment. You may observe that although the highly prestigious IIMs are assumed to be the best and also the oldest institutes offering an MBA program, they were not the first to offer MBA programs. After scanning the list, it may apparently be perceived that XLRI, Jamshedpur was the first college to confer an MBA degree.

But the truth is that even though Xavier’s Institute was founded in 1949, it was Kolkata-based Indian Institute of Social Welfare & Business Management (IISWBM) which was the first to offer an MBA degree in India. XLRI did not offer MBA degrees since its inception. IISWBM was set up in collaboration with the the University of Calcutta. This undervalued B-School was once a mentor to the highly rated IIM Kolkata. Indian Institute of Management, Ahmadabad was the second IIM to be set up after IIM-C in 1961 itself.

IISWBM was founded at a time when the concept of management degree was alien to the educational fraternity of that period. Presently, in addition to its flagship programs including MBA, MHRM, MPSM, PGDBM, the institute also conducts full time programs in Sports Management,Telecom Management and Retail Management.

Takeaway: Some of the oldest institutes providing Management education in India including the celebrated IIMs are still considered to be the best. However, it certainly does not imply that the next generation B-Schools are inferior or impart a second-rate learning experience to aspiring managers and wannabe entrepreneur alike. There are numerous institutes under the top-25 rated B-Schools in India where infrastructure, faculty, industry exposure, placements and package are the enticing factors when it comes to joining a B-School. ISB, ICFAI and Symbiosis business schools are live examples of institutes who epitomize exemplary education keeping in mind the Indian industry culture.

Contributed by Pranshu Awasthi ( Class of 2007, IBS GURGAON )

How MBA Helped Me Become A Better Homemaker

Posted on March 26, 2015 by IBS India

When I entered IBS to pursue my MBA, little did I know that I am enrolling into a lesson full of real life significance. We all learn big and small things from our academic lives, both professional and personal. We pick key things from our education that help us move ahead in life not just in our work but also at home.

An MBA program is meant to impart not only theoretical knowledge but also a set of important skills highly crucial for your career. At a macro level it exposes you to the ways of the business world, whereas at a micro level it teaches you to be an invaluable part of that world.

It is always said, that learning begins at home. It is also true, that your home is your first office. From cooking, cleaning, laundry to expenditure, all household chores demand equal amount of professionalism, as do our actual workplace. Homemaking is a profession just like any other with its own set of skills, knowledge and abilities. There are 9 important traits that I learned during my MBA program and at my work after that, which I feel have everyday application in my life.

Time Management: like your workplace, your household is also run on deadlines. Not just you are supposed to multitask, but you should also know what to prioritize and when. As a homemaker, you are supposed to get up early, prepare breakfast, get ready yourself, arrange the house and all this on time with your own and your family’s work schedule. You are also expected to keep track of appointments and activities, important events etc. Managing your time is the most important part of your job as a housewife.

Efficiency And Productivity: The efficient use of resources is one of the key tools of best management practices. You have to be constantly engaged in the process of saving time and increasing productivity. You are a part of fast moving life style which demands quick and prompt actions before you start lagging behind on the requirements of your household. Your chores have to be aligned in a way that each gets a dedicated time to be finished. Running a house is like working on a forever long project. Through measurement, planning, tracking and consistency, homemaker’s focus on time, energy, finances helps keep the family on track to accomplish goals that make a good life.

Human Resource And Recruitment: Though at a small scale, but from maid servants to milk vendor, hiring and managing human resource is an intricate part of being a homemaker. Monitoring their work, holidays, salary, festival bonuses and gifts, all brings in the traits of an HR manager in a housewife.

Capacity Planning And Inventory Management: This is one of the many important chapters of operations, taught during MBA that is very relevant to being a homemaker. You should be able to plan in advance, track your groceries for the month, what and how much is needed, foresee the demand and calculate the supply. Whether expected or un-announced visit by a guest, as a housewife, I learned that your house should be well equipped with sufficient resources.

Cost Cutting: Just like your business, money plays an important part in personal life as well. Maximizing your savings with minimum cut down on your expenditure is one of the key agendas of a homemaker. You are always thinking of ways to reduce unnecessary expenses. It is not just your organization affected with inflation and economic crisis, your household budget and finances are equally brought on the edge. Sudden increase in your home loan interest, raised prices of fuel and high food inflation can throw your domestic balance sheet for a toss. As a homemaker you have to be smart enough to manage such situations. It is important you understand the basic financial requirements of running your household, prioritize the outflow of money and sometimes even bring changes to your lifestyle.

Waste Management: One of the most critical management tools is to manage resources so as to minimize wastage and increase efficiency. With careful planning you can learn to deal with garbage, food scraps, recyclables. Not only you will be able to save money, but it can also help you get more organized.

Crisis Management And Conservation Of Resources: What if there is a medical emergency at your home? Or there is shortage of water or any sudden power issues? You are expected to be always prepared for any crisis. Such situations call for prompt action and advance preparation. As a homemaker I learned conserving your basic resources is so important. Storing water, saving electricity and having your emergency contacts handy are necessary steps to keep you ready to deal with any sort of emergency.

Presentation Skills: Who does not want to keep their house always clean and visually appealing? Like your work place cubicle is to be kept organized and clean, so is your house. Though mostly an ignored aspect of our lives, the way of presentation anywhere can be matter of admiration for you. It is not just about cleanliness, but how organized your house is. Do you always find what you look for in your home? Or things more often are lost? While I was enrolled in my MBA curriculum, there used to be a lot of emphasis laid on our presentation skills. I gradually realized the relevance of this skill in our everyday life.

Team Work: Finally, like your company, your home is run by mutual cooperation and contribution by all its members. The spirit of team work is very important for running your home successfully. In a busy world scenario, each member of the family should contribute some way or the other, by either helping in the chores or by participating in important functions of your house, like paying bills, buying groceries etc. This way, it is easier to erode the wall that once divided work and family.

Other than these, I feel, skills like, leadership, problem solving, decision making, organizational planning and controlling are also significant to home management. Although at a small level, I found all these skills to be an undeniable part of my job as a homemaker. Now, when I look back retrospectively, I realize how true the saying that our mothers are the best managers as homemakers is.

By approaching homemaking as a profession worthy of respect, bringing in best practices from the outside business world and cultivating a professional mindset, I feel, you can be more effective in your daily work, have less stress and better self esteem.

Having stated all this, I would like to stress the point that doing an MBA is not just a catalyst to your career, meant to offer you a highly paid job and accelerate your growth. Education is not just about learning, it also about making you wiser in your life and your approach towards everything.

Contributed by Isha Jajodia (class of 2010, IBS Gurgaon)

The pros and cons of group study for MBA entrance exam

Posted on March 25, 2015 by IBS India

MBA entrance exams that ensure admission to premier B-schools in India need the right mix of hard work and smart work. However, preparations for MBA entrance exams need careful planning owing to their complexity level. They don’t just test you on aptitude and knowledge but they focus equally on your social skills. To prepare for all kinds of assessments, you need to prepare in different ways. Some traits are honed at a personal level while others need practicing with your peers appearing at such exams.

Group study is a characteristic feature of entrance preparation. If you are preparing for MBA entrance exam, all you need to know about group study are its pros and cons to guide you how to balance it and get the most out of it. You must be able to discern when it is effective and when to avoid group study.

Best utilization of group study will definitely take you one step closer to your dream of cracking MBA entrance exam. To keep it simple, the advantages of group study in preparing for MBA entrance exams are listed below.

Keeps you motivated : Group study for MBA entrance exam will keep you encouraged till the last moment. Knowing the progress and improvement of your peer group will definitely motivate you to put in more hard work. All of you who get bored easily while studying or lose interest quickly can benefit a lot with group study for MBA entrance exam.

Easy help : Being hesitant in asking questions during a class is the most common issue encountered by students. When you attend a class in a coaching institute where students are cramped to the limit, you are likely to face difficulty in comprehending things easily or putting up a question to clear doubts. You can tackle this in a group study, where you can ask for help from the other members of your study group.

Different perspectives : While going for group study for MBA entrance exam, you can benefit a lot in all the sections by getting different perspectives on every question. Different ideas, perspectives, and inputs help all the students of the group in gaining better understanding.

Ease in erasing doubts : Any doubts you have about some of those complicated and confusing questions can be sorted outwith the help of other member students of the group. Quantitative aptitude will become slightly easy for you with a fellow group member explaining the solution with patience and in a casual way. You have the freedom to ask questions many times to clear ambiguity. The comfort level you share with the other students of the group makes it easy for you to come up with your problems and get them solved without any fear and apprehensions.

Keeps you updated when you miss any class : If you happen to miss any of the coaching classes for MBA entrance exam due to illness or any other reason, you can easily cover up in your group study. Help can pour in from any other student of the group who will explain the concepts you missed owing to missing the class.

Easy to get inputs on General Awareness : Studying in a group will help you get information on what all is happening in the world. Discussions with the study group members can hone your general awareness, especially for those who do not want to read newspapers. General awareness is an important section in all of the MBA entrance exams and it also helps to give good performance in Group Discussions and Personal Interviews. So, utilize the knowledge of the fellow members of the study group and get information on important things.

Relieves you of the stress and monotony : Studying in a group will keep you high spirited as whenever monotony or boredom sets in, a lively joke or narration of an adventurous experience will give you the much needed break. Rejuvenation in the middle of serious group study actually adds to the energy levels with every member getting back to studying with a refreshed mood.

But as every coin has two sides, so does every situation. Group study is vital and carries benefits but it might prove futile in a situation where the following disadvantages may act as spoilers.

Straying away from the motive : One of the biggest drawbacks of group study for MBA entrance exams is you might drift away from the motive due to several distractions. When students sit together for group study, it’s natural for them to engage in conversations which can take them away from their goal.

Idle- talk defeats the very purpose of group study : While going for group study for MBA entrance exam, you need to make sure the members do not indulge in idle-talk. Discussing everyday affairs or personal issues will create unfavourable environment for studying. Idle-talk, gossips, pointless conversations will mutilate the objective of group study, causing more harm than good.

Overt domination in a study group proves detrimental : Leadership is a good trait and having a strong headed leader is a boon for any group. But group formed to prepare for MBA entrance exam should be the last group to have a dominating leader. Avoid letting any student dominate the group or else you will always lack behind with no voice of your own. All the members are students and everyone should be equally treated and allowed to share views and thoughts freely.

Negative talks create unpleasant environment : Students have the habit of discussing their feedback of professors, or their teaching style or classroom happenings that might create a negative environment in the study group. The negativity will hamper your concentration and progress towards cracking the MBA entrance exams.

Study group of friends might fail to serve the purpose : If you are forming a group to prepare for MBA entrance exam, having your close friends as members of it might deviate you from the aim. It is natural to end up chit-chatting with them, wasting the precious time. Having friends is not an issue, but stay focused and determined to achieve your goal as preparing for MBA entrance exams is not an easy job.

Remember, this is the most important phase of your academic life, where you need to put in serious efforts to achieve your goal. Securing admission in a good B-school requires a good score in MBA entrance exams. You have to put your best foot forward, so avoid all the distractions and take the best of everything to scale heights of success; this includes group study as well.

Contributed by Qais Mujeeb ( Class of 2001, IBS Hyderabad )

Startup!!! Is it a good place to start with?

Posted on March 25, 2015 by IBS India

End of final semester, within a short span of time you will be on verge of starting your career. You will be tensed and a bit nervous. Anxiety will make you more confused as, what to do? Where to go? How to go? Collage placements will be going on at a very high pace. It will be a tough choice for you, to sit in a company who has a good brand name or to sit in process of a start-up. All other students including your friends would have opted to sit in for a company with a good brand name. This will make you more confused.

“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”

It is very clear that you ask few questions to yourself, to be clear on how to go.

Are you looking for a long term career?
To get the basic knowledge of how industry works?
Looking to learn the most, in initial stage of your career?
Are you ready to take up challenging role?
Are you ready to give what is needed to get on the top?
Are you ready to work in an organization for long term?

If answer to the above questions is yes then probably don’t need to be confused as start-up will be the best place for you to work and start you career.

Start-up:

It is very essential to know what a start-up company is and to evaluate that it will have a better future or not?

Start-up Companies are the companies which are in its first stage of Operations. These companies are often initially bank rolled by their entrepreneurial founders as they attempt to capitalize on developing a product or services for which they believe there is demand.

Evaluation –

The Market – It is very important to know that which market the startup serves in. Who will be the consumer be and how big is the market opportunity.

Career prospect – If the market is big and competitive then it will be a good learning platform. It will provide opportunity to meet new people and work with them closely.

The competition – What current or future solutions, technologies or companies may compete with yours in the market? How is yours differentiated; what is the unique value proposition relative to the competition; why will your solution win?

Career prospect – It the startup is in competitive market, it has competitive edge towards their peers then it will give you chance to learn the skill which may be very rare in others and you will also be equally competitive. Learning most in the startup will get you an opportunity to get hired by their competitors.

The Team – Who is your management team, what is their background and why they are uniquely qualified to run this venture and deliver the solution to market? How do they plan to meet the goals of the organization?

Career prospect – If you are working with good team then you can learn various things from them. It will help you build your personality and sharpen your skills.

The Business – What is the business plan of the startup? Plan of expansion and how good is the business model?

Career Prospect – If business plan of the startup is good then you will get a chance to learn. If it will be your field of interest then you will work well and grow fast.

Benefits of working with a Startup:-

Getting Recognition –No matter what slice the corporation cake, working for a larger company pretty much does not guarantee you recognition. On the other hand working for a startup means you will receive instant recognition because everybody, including company itself is in an entry level position.

“I want my contribution to matter. At most big places you are just another brick in the wall.”

Having more responsibility– Responsibility is a good thing in the work place, as you are considered a valued employee with an important role to play in the company.
Bonding with coworkers-Most startup start small, this leaves plenty of room for you to get to know your coworker on personal level. Considering most startups have a specific mission in mind, whether it’s to create a new product or build a niche industry, the company’s goal will give everyone involved something in common from day one.
Learning from true innovators – Startups have innovation written all over them. If you choose to work for one, then you’ll immerse yourself in movers and shakers on a regular basis. If the startup is in the ground-up stages, chances are you’ll have the opportunity to work directly with the creators, founders and geniuses that are trying to change the business landscape.

“Desire! That’s the one secret of every man’s career. Not education. Not being born with hidden talents.”

Embracing new opportunities– Depending on your prior experience and qualifications, working for a startup might involve taking a pay cut. But don’t let that deter you from taking a position at a newly-founded business, because the opportunities it provides will far outweigh the paycheck. From the people you meet and the innovators you work with to having your name attached to a company that’s growing, working for a startup means you’ll attain skills and have experiences that you would never find in a corporate job with a cushy paycheck.
Working toward the money. A startup company comes with a startup budget, which means you’ll likely take a small pay cut. But like the professional opportunities mentioned above, working for a startup also means you may have future financial opportunities. Many startups offer a stake in the company’s stock and plenty of room to increase your salary. If you work hard and contribute your skills and knowledge to a startup, it’ll likely result in a larger salary down the line, which can be something that’s hard to come by in the corporate world.

“I want to look back on my career and be proud of the work, and be proud that I tried everything.”

Few successful startups which has given tremendous growth to employee-

Alibaba- Jack Ma

Net worth – Undisclosed

Xiaomi – Lei Jun

Net worth – 45 Billion $

Facebook – Mark Zuckerberg

Net worth – 33.3 Billion $

Uber – Travis Kalanick

Net worth – 18.2 Billion $

LinkedIn – Jeff Weiner

Net worth – 7.5 Billion $

Flipkart – Rajiv Bansal

Net worth – 1 Billion $

Although a career in the corporate world has plenty of benefits, working for an established company can sometimes result in a mundane 9 to 5 with little room for growth and a lot of bureaucratic red tape.

You need to give a thought to work in a startup. It can be a roller coaster of a ride, working on the ground floor of a new company can allow people to shine; “own” projects and possibly reap the benefits of the company’s success in the form of equity, while simultaneously learning a lot in a fast-paced environment.

“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.”

Contributed by Kandarp Gandhi, (Class of 2014, IBS Mumbai)

The Bank Job

Posted on March 24, 2015 by IBS India

So you have been selected to work for one of the ‘Big’ banks in India. What are they paying you?

6.5? 7? More?

Wow!

How was the interview? Did they ask you much about finance? Did they grill you on Marketing funda’s?

It was hard wasn’t it?

So you have a couple of days of vacation before you join? Or is the requirement immediate?

Either way, congratulations on your first ever taste of what it is going to be like to work for a bank and I wish you the best of luck.

Hold on!

Are you a bit curious on what your work will be there? Do you really want to get an understanding of your role as a Management trainee in the Bank?

Let me tell you a bit about the Banks and jobs in India. All these have been gathered from the vast experiences from my friends and classmates from all over India who have worked for various banks as part of their career.

There are basically two types of Banks who recruit management graduates from MBA institutes:

Indian private/public sector banks (ICICI, HDFC, Canara, SBI etc.)
Then there are the foreign banks. (JP Morgan, HSBC etc.)

So the roles in both of them pretty much are the same so I won’t classify the roles according to the sectors.

You could be given the designation/title of the following on your Letter of Offer:

Credit Manager/Loan Manger
Operations
Relationship Manger
Marketing Manager
Analyst/Traders

There are many others these days, and a good tip is to speak to the immediate pass-outs from the college to get an overview on the current job hiring trends.

So let me get into these roles one by one.

Credit/Loan Manager: The Role of CM/LM is pretty much similar. One is responsible for the entire credit/Loan granting process in the Credit/Loans department of the bank. These guys work closely with the Credit Card agents, and Credit rating agencies to keep a look out for potential clients, and also keep a vigilant check on the credit rating of the customers of the banks.

They can be assigned to either the corporate clients, like various corporates who have an account with the bank, so as to check their year on year ratings, liquidity, any public announcements and news on credit problems etc.

Or they can work with a list of clients/potential clients of the bank, to issue new credit cards/Loans (to bring new business) or to ensure the existing customers are good creditors to the bank. They keep a vigilant check on the individual rating of their clients and have to keep a check on the defaulters and the remedial actions for the same. The management bit of work comes in where they get to do a lot of analysis on the credit policies of the bank and make suggestions to the higher management. Provide relevant data and analysis of the statistics of the department. Handle relationship with various teams, investigate credit applications etc.

Operations: Most of the foreign banks in India have their operating wing based in India, as part of their strategic global policies. So they are always in huge demand for MBA grads. The work in operations revolves around handling the Back office operations of any section of the bank. Be it post trade processing, Middle office roles, settlements, Reserve calculations, paper work etc.

The reason why I would not elaborate much on the Roles in operations, rather just give an overview is due to the fact that when banks hire for operations, they put their employee under rigorous training and get them well acquainted with their roles before they go on the job. Some of the roles here are high risk. The jobs generally will consist of some amount of pressures with respect to timelines and work. But it is a great way to understand the actual working of the world of finance.

Relationship Manger: The RM has one of the most interesting jobs. They handle somewhat large corporate clients or a group of clients and get to interact with each one on a personal level. They help the bank with maintaining customer relationships. They get to analyze a client’s financial history and current portfolios and recommend various new types of instruments. They also get to research for potential and new clients and custom make portfolios. These guys have to be on their toes with the financial trading markets and any new instruments that are available. They bring new business and do a lot of sales to their clients.

Marketing Manager: The MM gets to join the Bank’s Marketing team and work with various external marketing agencies to use media and print as a medium for advertising the Bank. They have the responsibility to work and maintain the bank’s brand image and make any internal and external communications to the employees and public respectively. They work towards strategizing the Bank’s corporate vision and aligning it with its marketing campaign.

Analysts/Traders: I classify the Analysts/Traders for a bank in a single category as they have one thing in common. The designation given to the job in the Letter of Offer is either of the two. These guys get to see a lot of the Front office action. Their jobs revolve around the clocks of the markets of the world depending which markets a candidate is hired for. They do most of the Front office operations, like trade booking, fresh deals between counterparties, deals with other banks etc. The job is a fast paced and high in precision: ‘Time is money here’.

So, even though there are a lot more roles I hope you have an idea of the general categories. Almost all the roles contain selling, dealing with clients, calculating statistics, making reports, presentations, and handling teams of people. So keep an open mind and make the best use of the experience.

Contributed by Sujir Pavithra Nayak (Class of 2011, IBS Hyderabad)

Building your profile during MBA

Posted on March 23, 2015 by IBS India

One of the most frequently asked questions of MBA aspirants as well as students is how to enhance your skills and create a strong profile for the business world. A B-school profile is not just about getting good grades, meeting deadlines for assignments and making catchy presentations, but it is more about intangible qualities. A good B-school offers its students ample opportunities to help them build their overall personality and skill set; however, there is so much you can still do.

Let’s start by a talking about the basic steps. Internship, for example, is one crucial factor in your MBA programme. Choosing the right internship can have significant impact on your profile. Doing an internship in your preferred industry and function is considered ideal. However, an internship is a small yet important duration for you as an employee. It tests your theoretical knowledge and ability to implement it in the practical world. It gives you an opportunity to explore your areas of interest even further. You can find out the lag in your skills and knowledge and ways to bridge the gap. A good internship profile grooms you for the upcoming placements. The objective of an internship is not purely academic; rather it is more professional. For a recruiter, it is not very important what you wrote in your SIP report, but what you did to achieve the goals and targets you were assigned with, they test your approach, problem solving, time management and many such other skills like how you are as a team player and your ability to take decisions. You should focus on learning and picking such qualities and finding out where you stand with such attributes. If you are a MBA student with previous work experience, it is good to have an additional focus on your people and project management skills during your internship. Keep interacting with your mentor and supervisor to understand the performance expectations, do your research about the profile and try being a contributing part towards the growth of the organization.

Another step towards building up an influential profile is to identify your strengths and weaknesses; your passion and abilities that you can follow, what hobby do you have? All these questions and its answers can encourage you to take your interests a step ahead. Are you a tennis player? Why not coordinate with the authorities to start a tennis coaching club at college. If you are a dancer, singer, likes gardening, loves to solve crossword puzzles, read or write or anything that you are good at, try to do something at an academic / organizational level that cultures your hobbies and interests, like starting a new online subscription magazine at your college or launching your own entrepreneurial venture. It is always a strong point to know the answer to the question, “what do you do for fun?” Make sure whatever you choose to do should be in mutual interest of your college.

Many students volunteer for some activities outside B-school. It could range from participating in any extracurricular activities, organizing events, helping in family or a start-up business or even doing community service. The key thing to keep in mind is, being a part of some leadership role instead of just volunteering for the sake of catching the eye of the recruiters. It is to be noted that being a leader does not always mean holding offices. It is more about creating impact and showing results. Bring in new initiatives, for example, arranging blood donation camps, organizing a fund raiser. Constantly create new learning curves for yourself and keep an eye out for organizational opportunities that need business skills. Try being a part of something exclusive by working on some project that might have some strategic importance for the management.

Among a plethora of activities important for a strong MBA profile, equally important is your intellectual/academic ability. Measure of your academic ability is usually done by assessing your GPA and other relevant qualifications like CPA or CFA. For students who do not hold high GPA scores, they can compensate by enrolling for some additional courses. There is a whole new world of online courses available for open learning. One such website offering online learning programs is coursera.com. You can enrol for a certificate course relevant to your MBA specialization like labour laws and relations, Banking and insurance, introduction to operations management etc. Such courses offer a perfect platform for candidates who want to enhance their profile. It gives you a chance to experience teaching lessons from professors across the globe through audio visual mode. They also help you analyze your interests and goals and even refine them.

You go to a B-school not just to learn the functional aspects of the business world, but also to get groomed for your upcoming professional life. And hence, it is required to not just have a strong IQ, but also a good EQ. The aspect of emotional quotient is about being multi dimensional. Be passionate about your chosen field. An emotional connect is equally important. Many of us join a course to merely acquire qualification, but by the end of it, we start facing dissatisfaction with our choice and instead get obsessed with something completely different. Having the right emotional quotient can make you successful, efficient and confident. Before choosing any field / specialization check with yourself if you have the necessary skills to be successful in that area, how would you like people to see you, and what you would really want. Be humble, modest and consider the ethical aspect of building a strong profile. It is not just what the recruiters want to see in you, it is about what you really are capable of showing.

Other than all these, it is important to stay in touch with your Alma matter. Keep interacting and communicating with your seniors, have them share their experiences during the MBA programme. Expand your network through them in the business world. Get clarity on the set of expectations from a MBA holder in terms of their intelligence and emotional quotient. Remember, you don’t have to tell everything about yourself. Focus on the key aspects of value about you. You might have an array of strong points from extracurricular to various leadership accomplishments. But you don’t want to overpopulate your profile with too much of competing information. Everyone is not the leading star but all of us have some traits and qualities as our strength. You should be aware of what is important in your profile and how you could extract it and sell it. Building a strong profile is not done overnight. It is an evolving process and activity.

Contributed by Isha Jajodia ( Class of 2010, IBS Gurgaon )

Challenges for MBA students from vernacular (non-English) backgrounds

Posted on March 20, 2015 by IBS India

An MBA program focuses on inculcating traits such as leadership and innovative thinking capabilities in the students to help them meet the ever-changing demands of the volatile business world. Hence, the two-year post-graduate program in management attracts students from different backgrounds and varied cultural diversities. English is a widely-spoken language in India and the country has world’s second largest English-speaking population.In India, English is used as the medium of instruction in most of the colleges imparting professional education to students including management education. All those facts are making English as the most preferred business language for Indians especially for foreign trade.

India is a land of diverse cultures, values, behaviours and traditions. The students getting enrolled in the MBA program hail from different regions with their specific cultural and social backgrounds, therefore their medium of communication is the regional language of the region they come from. For example, a student coming from Tamil Nadu in South India will be Tamil speaking whereas students from Maharashtra and Gujarat will communicate in Marathi and Gujarati languages respectively. Quite a few of them would also have completed their school education from schools having Hindi or the regional language as their medium of instruction.

The difficulties that students from vernacular or non-English backgrounds face with respect to English language proficiency include the inability to comprehend lectures, reading comprehension, taking down notes, communicating verbally, and writing assignments and examinations in English.

In the beginning of the MBA program, the foremost challenge that one might face as a student of non-English background is in understanding the lectures delivered by the faculty members of the college as well as keeping pace with what is being taught in the classrooms.

As a student from non-English background, one might find it difficult to participate in educational activities. In India, all coveted MBA programs focus on exposing the students to business scenarios in the International sphere by inviting guest faculty from the industry as well as management colleges overseas. Here, discomfort with English language may act as a major deterrent since it may require good English-language skills to express personal opinion on a particular topic or ask questions. Someone who doesn’t know good English well may not be as confident to participate in interactive activities such as debates and group discussions, as the students proficient in English language.

Cultural diversity is also a factor that prevents students from non-English background from participating in group activities. They encounter difficulties in developing a social network and familiarizing with prevalent norms and customs among the peer group.

This language barrier further influences one’s interactions with the faculty members. They might come as too shy to approach the professors and discuss the problem areas to come up with solutions.

Coming from vernacular backgrounds, some students may have a tough time writing assignments and taking down notes in English language, which forms the core of the MBA curriculum.Since they are not confident of their English language abilities, they might always have this fear of committing mistakes. This further keeps them from getting actively involved in academic activities.

So far, we discussed the challenges faced by MBA students who come from non-English backgrounds. Now, let us focus on ways to overcome this language proficiency barrier. These remedies will help you in improving your English language abilities if you think you need some helpful tips.

One of the ways which will prove helpful in improving your written English language skills is through soliciting feedback from the faculty, senior MBA students as well as your peer group on your assignments and other written tasks. It will help you identify your problem areas, so that you can work upon them.

Forming small groups of students for the purpose of conducting group activities such as debates and discussions will help you gain confidence in your spoken English capabilities. Apart from improving your communication skills, it will also improve your tone and accent of delivery.

To enhance your comprehension skills, you must read many journals and text books in English language which will help you to get a command over the language. Thus, understanding the lectures of the faculty, irrespective of their accent or the speed of delivery, will not be a challenge for you anymore.

Besides these ways of improving your English language proficiency, audio and video CDs telling “ways to hone English speaking skills” will also help you in overcoming the language barrier.

In this age of Information Technology, e-learning tutorials from the best of the instructors in the domain of English communication can also help you to master English language as well as overcome all your fears related with the language proficiency.

You can as well go for contact classes for enhancing English language skills where you will be trained for both verbal as well as writing skills, besides boosting your reading and comprehension abilities.

You can also seek the support of the faculty for helping you learn and get a hold on the language, thus doing away with English language inhibitions. It will also promote student-faculty interaction.

You can overcome these challenges by putting in extra efforts and hard work with grit, determination and perseverance. It is best that you get hold of the English language even before you start preparations for MBA entrance exams as your efforts will be rewarding enough to land you in a premium b-school of your choice.

In this post, we discussed the numerous challenges that students hailing from non-English background faced during the 2-year MBA program. We also tried to give an insight into the strategies that you can adopt to work on your English language proficiency. We hope that this will help you to foster greater participation in academic activities, allaying the fears of making language mistakes. It will help in increasing your confidence levels with your academic performance showing considerable improvement.

Contributed by Qais Mujeeb ( Class of 2001, IBS Hyderabad )

Career prospects after MBA in tier-2 and tier-3 cities in India: Opportunities and challenges

Posted on March 19, 2015 by IBS India

There are many questions that arise in the minds of MBA aspirants. The answers to which are crucial in our deciding to opt for MBA. Is MBA the passport to success? Does it make us more employable? Will I get the placement I deserve and where will I get it? Majority of talent opting for MBA education in India is raw/fresh, unlike the global business schools where people come for management education after working in the industry.

Most of us think of MBA as our entry ticket to lavish corporates, with jazzy offices and high salaries at MNCs. With globalization and entry of MNCs and the outsourcing culture in the Indian market, these were not very unrealistic expectations.

Generally, job market in metro cities like Delhi/NCR, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai etc. was flooded with opportunities in the fields of outsourcing, IT and IT-enables services, due to the presence of most of multinational corporations offering and attracting fresh business school graduates. Even now, these places are the hot spot of placements for MBA pass-outs.

In the last few years however, management educations institutes have rapidly mushroomed in tier-2 and tier-3 cities. And most students too prefer cheaper and AICTE approved programs rather than B-schools. This has led to the problem of plenty due to the increasing gap between good opportunities and deserving talent.

So what does an MBA degree has to offer to our career when we are not able to find the opportunity we want –grabbing our dream job with lucrative offer in a typical Indian urban set up. My article intends to throw light on our chances of a pleasant career after MBA in non metro cities, how different are the market conditions and opportunities there? What are the challenges we could face and how to overcome those challenges to move ahead and have a stable career.

I relocated to Goa, after working for three years in a KPO based out of Gurgaon. I had rewarding credentials, decent experience and diverse exposure. Although I did not expect to find a similar opportunity, I was confident of leveraging my experience of working in a MNC in grabbing a job locally. But I was wrong. There were many challenges I had to face during my job hunt in Goa. There is a dearth of jobs complimenting my previous experience, the compensation is de-motivating and the worst part was that I had to start from a scratch like a fresher. My previous job profile had so much narrowed down my career portfolio, that it was difficult to fit in any profile I was offered.

mba oportunities and challenges

It is true; an MBA degree with good credentials is not and should not depend on the city we want to reside. An MBA program is targeted to increase our potential to thrive successfully in our career. Whatever function we choose, our prospects of having a good life should not be limited by geography. But since the market conditions, economy, exposure, presence of industries is not the same everywhere, we are restricted by the opportunities we have at hand. So how do we find the most job potential sector/profile in tier-2 and tier-3 cities?

According to an Assocham survey, MBA pass-outs from tier-2 and tier-3 cities opt for Bank/PSUs jobs as these ensure job stability with lesser work stress. Out of the 30 sectors surveyed, in both the tier II and tier III cities, financial services sector provided maximum employment opportunities to the aspirants. The sector contributed a share of 19.5 per cent and 22.5 per cent in tier II and tier III cities respectively in terms of job openings. According to the survey, Ranchi emerged as the lead employment provider amongst tier-3 cities, it is Pune that is ahead amongst the tier-2 cities. One major difference in the opportunities available in metros and tier-2 and tier-3 cities is the absence of niche markets in the later. Services, research, outsourcing and consulting have enriched the job market in metros.

So if you could foresee that you might end up settling in a tier-3 town in India, due to personal or family reasons, then it is good to try your chances in financial services, banking and also to some extent education. Also, the potential of any industry could be dependent on the local market conditions. For example, service and tourism industry is well developed in Goa. Identify such potential markets and see where you can fit in.

One functional profile which is ripe everywhere is sales and marketing. Any business, small or big, irrespective of its presence, aims to expand. You cannot grow your business if you do not know the art of selling. Although, not everyone’s cup of tea and somewhat stressful, sales and marketing is one field, that has immense potential as a career field. It pays well, helps you grow as an individual, enables you to develop your network and is not restricted to what place you are working. If you are good at it, you will find ample job prospects for yourself in any city and town. Other fields like human resources, operations and manufacturing, even with decent number of jobs, are restricted by low pay grade in small towns.

It is important to note that in small town job market, retention is easy and encouraging. There is less competition and more opportunities to learn and grow. It is easy to come in the highlight with your work. One should not forget that tier-2 and tier-3 cities are ideal for small start-ups and businesses. You require smaller capital and lower overheads to start business and it is easier to organize a business in a small town where people know each other.

Looking at the future though, with new IITs and NITs coming up in tier-2 and tier-3 cities, these locations are poised for a major growth in academia infrastructure. There are many multinationals that are now expanding their footprints in emerging markets and towns. Companies are looking forward to grow in cities like Lucknow, Bhubaneswar, Raipur, Udaipur, Nagpur, Trivandrum and many others which will gradually lead these places to offer better infrastructure and quality of life. Not only it will provide fresh talent pool a better chance with their careers but will also be able to attract back a significant portion of installed talent pool in tier-1 cities that hails from tier-2 and tier-3 cities. But until that happens, the “dream of job-after-MBA” in these places looks dim and far, with narrow prospects.