As the society is evolving and the business world is changing its dynamics, the degree like MBA is a requisite of the organisation in whatever sector it is.

Every corporate expects to have MBA graduates as it help in building a strong team. Gone are the days when the business houses are primarily run by promoters with a strong backing and there used  to be a meagre place for first generation entrepreneurs. The age of managing directors have drastically fallen down.

In the era of information technology and internet you will find many entrepreneurs who have started a business with very small amount and in 2 to 3 year time they have become millionaires.

The traditional jobs are fading away and you will find a good percentage of MBA passout who are starting some venture of their own. There are MBA’s from elite business schools who were getting good Wall Street jobs have chosen to start their own rather than becoming employee of someone.

Even though in Jobs MBA surpass the other degree holders because the degree has a vibrancy of its own as MBA not only teaches to pass the exam but to understand the market dynamics, look into the alternatives and suggest the best possible arternative.

The few of the lead examples why MBA is a smart degree of 21^st century are as follows

1. MBA degree reduces the risk. – Getting an MBA degree can significantly reduces the job instability because it imparts an advanced skillset and education which keeps them above the waterline when it comes to layoffs and pink slips. Most of the layoffs generally happen at the lower and at the lower middle level which are primarily cost centers and fortunately MBA are above the cost cutting efforts.
2. Waterproof from recession– As MBA is a diversified degree which makes the people learn the art of understanding the business scenarios and make then face any challenge they are the people whom the management wants to retain so that they can bring their sinking ship to a harbour. So many traits like finance, marketing, human resource are been taught in a small tenure of 2 years which given then a cutting edge in times of recession, they can easily accommodate in any job.
3. A great Alumni support – The passout from MBA college gets a rich alumni support as his seniors are well placed in the industry and representing the top positions of the corporate, so in times of distress new job is only a phone call away.
4. Mba offers more potential for upward mobility- MBA graduates have a broader knowledge base and applied skillsets in business administration than many of there co-workers working with them. There are generally desired for advanced and complex assignments and is more sought after degree for upper level senior positions.while MBA degree alone does not gurantee a promotion but certainly offers upward carrier mobility.
5. MBA degree offers Increased earning avenues- The good MBA college  attracts big corporate with handsome packages offerings . Though the fact remains that the premium and elite the college is the higher compensation their graduates command, as well as people in consulting and investment banking domain  earns a lot .Leaving aside the school and the carrier fields MBA commands more remuneration in comparison to its peers.
6. MBA degree offers great return on investment- One of the research conducted by “Percept Research” found that 97% of the MBA graduates report that their program exceeded their expectation and they have recovered their  investment in 2 to 3 years time.
7. Right degree for dynamic environment- As the world is moving fast, the consumers are shifting from physical market place to internet world or the web world. So the person with potential idea can start something of its own and can create a miracle . The learning done in MBA creates a gut in the heart to do something fresh and unique and take calculated risk.
8. Developing Leadership abilities – It helps in developing leadership ability as while doing MBA you have to do things in crisp deadlines, you have to surpass others as everything is percentile based. You have to manage your group in most of the activities and make yourself involve with others, you also become head of certain clubs and you have to deliver result to the best of your abilities.
9. Awareness – It helps in creating awareness about the business world and make you aware about the economy , business challenges, how to tackle adverse situations and how to create and how any business problem can be tackled as the students gets a lot of exposure through caselaws.
10. Good Mentoring by their mentors- During your MBA tenure the students are fortunate to get good mentors who have lot of experience in the corporate and teaching arena, they act as their coach to train them hard to face any challenge in their future course of life.
11. Industrial exposure- The students have to undergo Industrial training where they get a first hand view of the corporate world and they get an opportunity to look at the business houses from the bottom of the Pyramid, they understand what are the real life challenges are and what problem exist at the grassroot level.
12. Giving birth to entrepreneurs – Good MBA colleges are like nest where the entrepreneurs are born, the learning and the practical insight provided creates enthusiasm among the young turks for doing the thing in a most optimum manner and creates a charm of creating something new. See the promoters of companies like Flipkart, Snapdeal, Jabong, Make My Trip, Red Bus all are young and budding entrepreneurs they have created empire in a short span of time.

Better for venturing in different sectors: The best part of MBA is that it helps in creating a jack of all traits along with a master in one domain. In the first year the students are taught all the disciplines like marketing, finance, Human resource and Information technology and in the second year they are provided a specialization in one discipline, so an MBA get a flair of all which helps him/ her in his long professional journey as in his journey a person has to take various strategic as well as day to day decisions , his knowledge of all the fields help him in understanding the subject matter well and placing his thoughts in the best possible manner. For MBA the prospects are wide open they can join any industry there is no restriction, he can join an investment banking, merchant banking , banks, marketing companies, research based companies or an act as an analyst.

---

Contributed by Maneesh Srivastava ( Class of 2008, IBS GURGAON )

Every MBA graduate has a special story to tell about his journey as an MBA graduate and he or she never stops talking about it. Well, I too have a good story to tell about my life as an MBA graduate. The story of my pursuit of this most desired degree is really an interesting one and I got to learn a lot in my life during my MBA days.

After working as an IT trainee in a start-up, I decided to boost my career by getting a professional degree and take my career graph to a significant level where I always wished to.  The MBA was the best choice and I decided to go for MBA entrance tests. After one year of hard work and through a series of comprehensive tests, GD/PI, I managed to get a seat in the IBS, Pune. I learnt a lot from my life as an MBA graduate and would like to share some important things to be aware off before applying to an MBA entrance, my experiences and post MBA situation.

Time to pursue the MBA degree:

The most common trend in India to start an MBA degree is around 3-4 years of work experience and I also did the same. I discovered an MBA degree as a great way to change my career trajectory. Everyone has a different motive for pursuing an MBA and it is really important to know why you want to pursue an MBA degree. Some want to change their line of work, some want to build a strong business network to run their family/personal business and some want higher pay scale and want promotions out of it.

It is my advice to earn at least 3-4 years of experience before you apply for an MBA entrance because it is really important to formulate an MBA goal before you start thinking to pursue it. I experienced that the students who had a good experience of job before MBA were really confident attending the lectures and could relate the lessons to the real time work environment. Attending the MBA lectures with practically zero experience in the industry is like attending a French class without knowing a word of French!

While in group discussions and person meetings during MBA days, your practical job experience matters a lot and you will be able to have a very well educated conversation with your colleagues and understand their viewpoints well. So it is really advantageous to have at least 3 to 4 years of prior work experience before you apply for an MBA degree in professional colleges.

Right Selection of college is important:

Studying abroad in foreign universities requires a big sum of money and it can be anywhere around 80 lakhs to one crore of Indian rupees. Many students have common criteria for selecting B-schools which is based on the rankings and placement history. But based on my experiences during MBA, I found that the basis of selecting an MBA college should be quite different. It should be a well planned and rigorous curriculum, faculty interaction, chances of networking, a sense of community and the quality of the course work. These all things can be done only when you make the extensive research, meet alumni of the different schools and the education counselors.

At IBS Pune, I found that a lot of value addition can be done through pursuing an MBA program. There is a full opportunity to interact with faculty and students and alumni from a wide variety of cultures and industries. This helps you to build a strong industry network with the right people and you will able to develop insights to many things like problem solving, industry metrics and future business partnerships too.

The other criteria like placement records, type of companies/industries providing placements, average pay and rankings are also important but the core benefits for your personality improvement are judged on the basis of the measures  as explained earlier.

MBA myths:

After attending IBS Pune, I found that a number of misconceptions were there in my mind and they were actually the myths of MBA and they all were gone from my mind.

It is better to complete your MBA before you marry–  No, it is not a good belief and I found many students who enrolled into the IBS colleges were married already and quite a good number of students had kids too! This made me believe that marriage is not an obstacle in the path of an MBA program and anyone can pursue MBA after graduation who has willingness to do it!

MBA guys earn a lot of money– Doing MBA does not guarantee you a high earning job. It only creates a great way to enhance your skills and expertise through which you can make a good career. It can be a belief that MBA guys earn a lot of money with guarantee but the fact is that only those get full success who grasp the necessary skills and learn well during the MBA days.

All persons pursuing MBA are from the similar background and mindset– This is a misconception and the fact is that nearly all the MBA colleges across the country grant admissions to students coming from a wide variety of backgrounds. The aim is same which is to achieve a better job and career but the attitude, priorities, experiences and outlooks can be very different.

Post MBA life:

After completing my MBA graduation, I got a job as Quality Analyst in a multinational company. I got this job due to my IT skills and also because of the good communication which was required to be able to deal with the overseas clients. During the MBA days I got a number of opportunities to develop my communication skills and I got the benefit of it during my interviews and the job. I got to know what are the things expected during job interviews and I was able to crack interviews. So I can say that I understood well what I wanted out of the MBA program and was able to make the most out of it. In my opinion MBA is really useful for you if you can figure out what you want to use it for. The most coveted MBA degree is not to be taken as a simple add-on degree in the wallet of your qualifications but has to be well-grounded in order to achieve the best out of it.

---

Contributed by Ashish Singh Parihar ( Class of 2008, IBS Pune )

Pink. An unusual name for a certain type of newspapers.

Now before you get your mind racing, let’s roll up our sleeves and start reading the newspaper.

Great. Now that you have decided that getting an MBA is the next level of education for you, you go about mastering QA techniques and practicing interview questions.

Usually students spend on an average spend around seven to nine months in a year to prepare for various entrance examinations.

One of the most important things for all aspirants to realize is that an MBA is unlike any course they have ever studied or memorized just to pass exams.

When you to finish the course, the world wants a well-rounded individual who can think out of the box, and have an understanding of well, business.

For most of us, reading a newspaper is confined to looking at the single photograph on the back of any newspaper supplement.

Starting to read a newspaper, leave alone a business paper is a chore-but few realize how essential it is.

A business paper like the Economic Times can be a good starting point for beginners, taking their baby steps into getting a MBA.

Start with the headlines, (if you are appearing for MBA examinations this year, then the headlines will be screaming about GST-a heads up for GD topics!!).

The most important pages are the ones inside, usually the central page which contains a snapshot on the indices for India-the Sensex and the Nifty. Start a diary recording the daily closing figures for both, and compare it with the figures when you finally finish your course-it will be one hell of a historical recording of data, I assure you!!

The moment you start writing down, and analyzing these figures, you will find that a whole new vista of opportunities has opened up. Analysts no longer sound Greek and you can actually start making sense of varied factors and features affecting an economy.

By getting into the world of business newspapers, you get a better understanding and perspective of your own MBA course and syllabus- how much of your study is theoretical and how much is practical is immediately known when you start reading.

Also, let me make it very clear that reading a business paper is not for only CA’s, CFA’s and other hot shot honchos. Its for you, me and the common man!.

Who doesn’t want to know his/her’s tax liability properly in a financial year? And yes, to everyone’s embarrassment, some MBA grads do not even know the difference between financial year and Assessment Year-Potential pitfalls while facing a job interview. No rocket science, just simple testing of the course and stream which you have studied.

As long as your employment is in India, you will come to appreciate that these central spread pages will affect your pay, your bonuses and even your promotions. Well, you got the point about the need.

More than that, reading a business paper, otherwise known as pink papers also gives you a fair idea on how interest rates move up and down, and the mayhem they cause when they do so. I only say a “fair idea”, not a complete idea mind you. Finance and Markets usually require a lifetime of pursuit of number crunching and analysis-you read the pink newspaper for getting a brief snapshot, an overview or rather a bird’s eye view of the on goings in an economy.

More importantly, your first brush with a business paper will teach you to be patient, in your first reading you might be even tempted to fall asleep, but mark my words, once you get started, you will yearn to read the paper daily.

A common misconception usually floating around is that only students specializing in Finance need to pore through a business newspaper. Nothing could be further from the truth. Companies usually announce big time hiring plans while announcing quarterly results. HR students need to keep their eyes and ears open as well as marketing students when they read reports of their favorite brand being sold off and bought by another company.

To start reading a newspaper and a business newspaper at that also equips you with possibly the best tool -you gain the virtue of being patient and develop the ability to sift through vast troughs of information, store important facts and figures.

Very often, the economy in general and the industry you get placed in particular would be caught cyclical trend. You will be better placed if you clearly understand the problems your company and industry only by a thorough reading of the business paper.

An MBA is expected to handle sales, marketing while being careful with finances and have the ability to take other colleagues on board in a team. This requires a broader understanding of employee relations, finance and other nuances which can come in only after consistently going through a business paper for some sufficient time.

Reading as a hobby is unfortunately missing in most of us-our childhoods are too busy with homework etal. to actually develop a reading habit. In hindsight, the ability to read, understand and synthesize large amounts of information easily is something which is very useful, and it is something which people look for in a candidate.

The faster you get down to reading, the better it is, since the much awaited interview season is almost around the corner, and you would not like to be caught with your pants down.

So, in case i have sufficiently moved you, then you better start scrounging around for a good business paper and take the first steps towards enlightening yourself.

Marketing enthusiasts can find things of great interest in a paper like Business Standard, while those concerned with Finance can start of with the Economic Times and then maybe graduate on to -something like Business Line-which is very insightful and deep-it might take some time for you to develop the patience and skill to go through a very heavy paper all at once.

While on business papers, its also important for you as a student to get acquainted with quality journals like The Economist, The Wall Street Journal and the Harvard Business review. Students of all streams be it Finance or Marketing or HR will definitely find some food for thought across these.

You have taken the first step by reading this blog; now get down to reading a paper. Basic and Simple!

All the Best!

---

Contributed by Sunil Iyer ( Class of 2008, IBS GURGAON )

Most of us come across the noun ‘stress’ during our school days in the physics classes. During that period we only understand the scientific or the technical meaning of stress. However, as we move forward in our academic life the other meanings associated with this word starts surfacing and poses a lot of roadblocks in our life’s journey. It is at that point when we start saying, “our lives have become very stressful”.

Stress implies the mental or physical response of a person to a particular situation. We often have a tendency to associate stress with negativity or pessimism. However, we should understand that a certain amount of stress is inevitable and useful for our academic lives.

As per experts in the field of psychology, there are two kinds of stresses- good stress or eustress and bad stress or distress. Research proves that a certain level of stress is required for achieving desired levels of success at work and study. But when it crosses the threshold limit then the performance of a person declines and the desired output is not achieved.This threshold level varies with individuals.

As students, certain signs can help you realize that you are entering the threshold limit

• You are unable to study further
• Simple concepts start taking a long time to understand
• You start multitasking and achieve no results
• You start taking frequent breaks from your study
• You try to relax but cannot
• You start procrastination

Students can stay away from reaching the threshold limit by learning to manage stress and by keeping it under their control.

Below are five effective ways of managing stress.

1. Maintain the Right Balance

In football, the average distance run by a striker is between nine to ten kilometers in a ninety minutes match. A much of this distance is covered by sprinting or high intensity pace. However, football strikers do not keep on continuously sprinting. The most logical way to achieve this is to take interim periods of pause to conserve the energy for the right moment. The whole idea is to pace themselves correctly for the right opportunities. It is the same with studies.

There has to be a balance maintained between studying and not studying. It has to be understood, that a holistic development of a student can only happen by combining both study and non-study activities. Often, a feeling of guilt overwhelms students when they indulge in non-study activities. They go though conflicting emotions of wanting to do something but unable to do it due to the feeling of guilt. As a result of this conflict they land up in a dilemma unable to do anything properly.

Hence, the first step in managing stress for students is to identify the study and non-study activities and allocating time to both without feeling guilty about it. After all goes the saying “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”.

Some of the examples of non-study activities are below.

Sports: Spending time in sports or physical activity can be an excellent non-study activity. It nourishes the mind and body and helps to ease any tension or stress created due to studies.

Entertainment:Watching a favorite television show, a sports channel, news or listening to music provides relaxation to many people. It is not wrong to spend time in entertainment. However, care should be taken not to get carried away and waste time.

Hobby: Spending time on your hobby is another useful study activity. It should be remembered that having a hobby that adds value to your overall self is a good thing.

Spending time in your non-study activities provides you the necessary break to return to your studies focused and refreshed.

2. Manage your time

Most students complain that they do not have enough time. But the reality is that there are only twenty-four hours in a day and it has to be used effectively.

Time management is one of the most important skills for students. Mastering the skill will help the student to get organized, flexible, goal oriented and good time managers. With it students will be able to use their time more effectively in studies as well as recreational activities.

Most students fall victim to procrastination. It is the process of delaying a task that is something urgent, difficult, complex or important. There can be multiple reasons for procrastination like the nature of the task, the time limit associated with it or due to the lack of motivation on the part of the doer. Procrastination increases the stress levels of a person and the results of it are disappointing. Effective time management will eliminate procrastination and the stress associated with it. Also, time management will help students to plan, prioritize and perform all the study and non-study related activities.

3. Reward Yourself

In the organizations when we work over time we get paid more. The extra pay is the extrinsic motivation for working more. Students need to reward themselves for being on target and for working hard. Rewards can be in form of extra time off from studies or in some other form. Some of the ways in which you can reward yourself could be as below:

• Taking a day off in a week helps you rejuvenate and get back to studies motivated
• Buy yourself a movie ticket over the weekend once all your assignments are over
• Spend time with family, friends and relatives after your exams
• Buy yourself a good read
• Take a break after every forty minutes of study
• Buy yourself a good treat if you find yourself to be achieving your targets

Such activities ensure that you stay energized and at the same time it gives you the incentive to achieve your objectives. Such rewards are found to be excellent de-stressors.

4. Manage Expectations

The word ‘expectation’ has a great impact on a student’s life. The expectations from a student come from different fronts- academic, parents, relatives, peers and social. Continuous expectations from a person can be a very stressful thing for him. Hence for students, it is importance to learn the art of managing expectations. For a start expectations can be managed by being vocal about the problems and by being realistic while setting ones goals.For instance, if a particular student is not confident of doing well in his MBA entrance exams then he should carefully analyze his stand and be vocal about it to his parents and peers. Instead of getting bogged down by the problem, a better way out would be to seek support and counsel from family and friends. Also, during goal setting one has to be realistic and take into account ones development areas. Being realistic will help to set the right expectations and the journey would be far less stressful.

5. Practice Relaxation Techniques

There is a wide array of relaxation techniques to choose from:

• Yoga is an ancient Indian practice that involves relaxation stretching and breathing to rejuvenate a person.

• Deep breathing is one of the most common and easiest forms of relaxation. It can be practiced anywhere in a place of your convenience.

• To reduce stress one can use visualization techniques. Invoking mental images of beaches, ocean, beautiful sceneries etc. helps in eliminating distress. It brings in peaceful thoughts to mind.

• Progressive muscle relaxation, Tai Chi and Qigong are other techniques of bringing the mind and body into control.

Certain techniques like Yoga, Tai Chi and Qigong should only be practiced under expert guidance. For a start, students can practice easier techniques like deep breathing and progressive muscle relaxation.

The steps mentioned in this blog are very simple and easy to follow. In the beginning the students may fail to follow it religiously. But making a start is more important. Once the momentum is gained then the objective should be to make it a habit.

Stress is an inevitable part of our lives. It’s only a matter of how we manage it.

---

Contributed by Sanjit Das, ( Class Of 2005, IBS HYDERABAD )

Your MBA program will give you an opportunity to develop both.

Soft skills and domain knowledge – which is more important?

Domain knowledge refers to hard skills or technical areas that you learn by investing your time in professional courses, degrees etc.  These are measurable and universal. You are not required to modify them with every new situation. On the other hand, soft skills refer to how you behave in everyday life. These relate to how people behave, communicate and listen to each other; how they engage, give feedback or cooperate as a team member in solving problems and resolving conflict. Given the nature of these skills, they are hard to quantify and measure. Interestingly, they need to be modified based on the situation.

The good news is that an MBA will provide an opportunity to learn both these skills. You will be equipped with the concepts that will strengthen your domain knowledge. At the same time, you will have several opportunities to interact with a variety of people from different backgrounds and cultures that will give you a chance to build your soft skills. The decision, however, to build these skills lies entirely with you. Many people fail in building soft skills because of their ego or superiority complex.These are the people who face difficulties in the corporate world at a later stage.

A corporate generally requires an equal balance of domain knowledge and soft skills. Gone are the  days, when your ‘core job’ was the essence. Today, your behaviour and ability to deal with people at the workplace is of prime importance. Thanks to the tough MBA program structures, they make us ready for real life situations.

During my MBA from 2008-2010, I encountered various situations where both my domain knowledge and soft skills were put to test. Five years have passed and my MBA learnings still help me with my everyday life. I am listing down five situations that you will definitely encounter during your MBA.

1. Appearing for group discussion and personal interview

Someone will immediately throw a stat during the group discussion. If you are not aware of that, you may feel terrible. Even if that is not a right number, there are chances that this person has already impressed the panel members as he has partially proved his domain in the field. What do you do now? This is the time to use your behavioural techniques (soft skills) to put things in your favour. There are two options – agree with him or challenge him. How do you do it? Assertiveness is the key here. Try to conclude this discussion with an assertive remark.

Similarly, at the time of a personal interview, the panel members will grill you for domain knowledge. For e.g. if your CV mentions that you are an expert in understanding the macro-economic environment of India;they might ask you the interrelation between interest rates and inflation. If by chance, you are not able to answer this question to the panel members’ expectations, you have reduced your selection probability. Therefore it is very important to selectively disclose your domain to them. You do not want to be in an embarrassing situation.

2. Working on group presentations and case studies

Most of the time, you are not lucky enough to choose your group members for a case study and presentation. I remember preparing a presentation on ‘Feasibility of townships in Mumbai’ where one of our group members wasa four year experienced person from the real estate industry. This person was both an asset as well as a bottleneck for our collective assignment. Although he brought some good valid points to the table for discussion, he continuously bullied the group members for the lack of knowledge on this subject.

The result was that nobody wanted to work on a collective assignment with this person again. This incident taught me the need to maintain a robust balance between knowledge and the art of dealing with people. Acceptance comes only when you are humble in your communication. People are not willing to work for nasty leaders.

3. Making presentations to a large audience

This is the time you have to be ready with all the details of your subject. Although delivering presentations in a good style definitely makes a difference, there will be classmates who will ask you random questions. You have to gather every minute detail, facts and references to support your argument. You must maintaina confident expression and tone.

4. Sharing a common accommodation

Your soft skills are always at test here. Even though your flatmates become very close friends over time, please remember they are not your family. You may be required to deal with complex situations on a daily basis. For instance, negotiating with your flatmate to pay the electricity or food bill can be tricky or telling them to switch off the television can result into an argument.

My recommendation would be to set the expectations very clear and lay ground rules of ‘operating at home’. These little things prepare you for a corporate career. You will see yourself applying these techniques (of course in a different context) at workplace while dealing with peers.

5. Appearing for your placement interview

The two years of your MBA life will equip you enough to crack this interview. As we know, this is the most important interview of the entire MBA program; you do not want to spoil this.  Remember that your CV clearly mentions your hard skills/domain knowledge. The hard skills mentioned on your CV can be less in number however they must be 100% relevant. On the verge of repeating myself, you must be ‘A-Z’ prepared for the skills mentioned in your resume.Avoid mentioning multiple skills as there are chances of falling into a cross-question trap.

Soft skills are also judged here. Remember to greet the panel with a smile. When you agree with them please nod; when you do not, be polite but confident. When you leave the room please tell them that you have learnt from them. It is not necessary that these things will guarantee your selection, but they will definitely leave a long lasting impact.

By now, you must have realised that both hard and soft skills are equally important to stay competitive in today’s dynamic environment. It is not ‘okay’ to have one of these. These skills are not substitutes of each other. They complement each other.  So, gear up and attain both!

---

Contributed by Virag Jain ( Class of 2010, IBS MUMBAI )

It is important for an MBA aspirant to have some insights on the current affairs so as to pass tests of GD and PI. Even if you are a shark in English, reasoning and math, it will be of no help unless and until you clear GD and PI to get into your dream college. So I am just discussing a few current affairs issues in brief which you may research further and prepare for it.

1. Crude oil prices

You might be reading about the drastic reduction in prices of crude oilin the global market and consequent price cuts in petrol and diesel in India. There are high probabilities that you may face questions for crude oil price fluctuations either in GD or PI. So it is better to have some information on this issue.

Crude oil, also known as black gold, is down by more than 60% from its high of USD 115 in 2014. Many predict that prices will further go down and probably reach to around USD 20 /30 in near future and it will stay around USD 70 for 2015 and 2016.

There are many theories behind such a huge fall in crude oil’s prices:

• Demand-Supply Economics – For the first time in history,the USA has become self-sufficient for its energy requirements and hence it has stopped importing crude oil. This has led to drastic reduction in the oil prices. Further, Saudi Arabia and OPEC are not cutting their daily production quantity with the fear that they might lose their market share to competitors like Russia. So, currently oil producers are producing more oil than its demand. Due to this, oil prices are at a historical low.
• Geo politics –I first time read in one of the articles of Thomas Friedman (‘author of the world is flat’) in the New York times[1] and then repeatedly read in other newspapers and magazines about the Geo politics at play behind fall in the crude oil prices. According to this theory, USA and Saudi Arabia have formed a cartel to bring Russia and Iran down. USA’s conflict with Russia for encroachment in Ukraine and protest against Iran’s nuclear program has led to deliberated and planned fall in the prices of crude oil. Globally, Russia and Iran are two main producers of crude oil and its exports constitute more than 60% of their revenue source.Iran is also facing challenges as the USA has put stringent restrictions on it. Probably, Mr. Friedman is right as there are clear signs showing Russia in deep trouble. Iran also must be in deep shit as its budget would have blown up.
• Terrorist-controlled crude – There are many oil fields controlled by ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, a terrorist organization) in Iraq and they sell crude oil extracted from these oil fields at cheaper price. I do not think that it would impact prices significantly but yes it is adding quantity on supply side which leads to an impact on prices.

2. The State of Indian economy

Some macro insights on recent developments on the economy front:

i. Rate cuts by the RBI

In its fourth quarterly review meeting, the RBI has reduced Repo rateby 0.25% from 8% to 7.75% in a surprise move. This indicates that inflation (Consumer Price Index) in the country has reached to manageable level of 6% to 7% and fiscal deficit is likely to be under control. Keeping this in perspective, now, the central bank is looking for easing out monetary policy. This further will make credit available cheaply which will lead to spur of economic activities.

ii. Amendment through Ordinances

Recently, the government hasissued at least eight ordinances to fast track the much needed reforms. As the opposition did not allow the government to run the parliament, it took the ordinance route to implement key policy measures; however it raised eye brows of many including the President, but Mr. Modi went ahead and gave clear signals that reforms in key sectors is the top most agenda of the government. Here is the list of key steps taken by the government in this regard:

• Insurance –FDI limit in the insurance sector increased from 26% to 49%.
• Coal mines – The government has issued ordinance that coal blocks could be e-auctioned including 214 coal blocks which were blocked in view of illegal allocation under coal scam. [2]
• Land Acquisition Act – The government has amended the‘Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013,’ enacted by the UPA government. The amendment aims to make land acquisition an easy and simple process rather than a cumbersome one.[3]

iii. NitiAayog – The government has abolished 65 years old and obsolete‘planning commission’ and has set up a ‘NitiAayog’ (National Institution for Transforming India). The PM will head the new institution which will formulate policies and provide direction tothe Government. Its Governing Council will comprise of Chief Ministers and Lt. Governors of Union Territories. The PM has appointed well known economist and Asian Development Bank’s Former Chief Economist Arvind Panagariya as its first Vice Chairperson.

The Aayog will recommend a national agenda, including strategic and technical advice on elements of policy and economic matters. It will also develop mechanisms for village-level plans and aggregate these progressively at higher levels of government.This step clearly indicates that as the Indian economy is changing rapidly, it needs an institution to support such growth momentum and not to hinder it which planning commission has done for so many years.

The above is just a discussion on couple of issues. But the students should try to undertake further research on them to get a grip. The students should also read magazines like The Economist, Readers Digest, Forbes,  Economical and Political weekly and read  The economics times, The Financial express, Live Mint, Business standard to be updated with the current happenings in the financial  world.

Contributed by Janmang Mehta ( Class of 2010, IBS AHEMDABAD )

---

[1]http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/15/opinion/thomas-friedman-a-pump-war.html?rref=collection%2Fcolumn%2Fthomas-l-friedman&_r=0

[2]http://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/ordinance-to-douse-coal-fire-enable-e-auctions-              114102100049_1.html

[3]http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2014-12-29/news/57495164_1_land-acquisition-act-             resettlement-act-consent-clause

I am driving my car on a warm, breezy Sunday morning to a vacation spot I had planned to go. I have thought about this trip thoroughly and packed all the necessary items I needed to make my journey a memorable one. As I am speeding towards my destination and listening to my favorite track on radio, I can see a gathering in front of a building just before the city limits. Always a curious person, I stop my car and enquire to find that it’s a free 30 minutes session on vacation package by a leading holiday provider. That’s not much time and I decide to sit through this session. Well, it didn’t take much time and I did go to my desired vacation spot, but I realized something that day. In life, we are constantly changing our goalposts so that we can experience the satisfaction of achievement in things that matter to us. After I came out of that session, I instantly knew I had to make fresh plans and upgrade my vacation next time.

We often ask ourselves what I want out of an MBA program. Some of us focus on being competitive in the job market and aspire those lucrative and rewarding managerial positions in organizations. For such, there is a need to acquire knowledge on running a business and specialize in certain areas like finance or marketing. As future managers, one has to know most aspects of a business and master in a few of them which would identify as expertise. And, there are others who dream to run a business of their own because that’s what they believe they are good at. For them, in addition to learning the ropes of running a business, they also nurture their skills of risk taking, passion for an idea and curiosity to solve a problem. These skills are conditioned in the personality of those who wish to become an entrepreneur.

Businesses are not getting any simpler, there are many more external influencers and internal complexities that make up in running a business than there were before. Learning things through failures will provide lesser probability of reaching success these days. The business environment changes quicker nowadays, so what is learnt through mistakes may not offer another attempt at redemption. Say, a person has this innate ability to take risks, and when he understands the principle of diversification or the long-term returns from equities, he as an investor will create a riskier portfolio. So, his risk taking skill has been channelized into a sound decision based on correct fundamentals. The same can be said for people with entrepreneurial abilities who go through an MBA program, which will teach the basics that help answer questions on how to set up a pricing plan, motivate employees or raise capital from the market. Add to these, the skills already in possession, the entrepreneurs only get better. The time in an MBA program will help apply these skills in a context and with broader understanding of subjects will enable one to make informed and superior decisions when running an own business.

On the other end, those looking for the attractive jobs post MBA, have their plans cut out. The target is to be the best in the selected domain, with a holistic understanding of other areas as well. Many in this block of students may not have the appetite to shoulder the risk and insecurity that comes with pursuing a passion to create something of their own. The need for independence is not a burning desire in their lives, instead their preference is a secure environment that helps them to remain creative or deliver results day after day. It is okay because it works for such a scenario.

Before we put an end to this debate between job and own business, let’s take a step back and question ourselves if we even need to make this distinction when enrolling for an MBA programs. There are institutes and programs that favor entrepreneurial inclinations in the curriculum. So there are no dearth of options, but what is significant is are we sure that we can judge ourselves as having or lacking the entrepreneurial skills. There is never an end to discovering ourselves, so an intelligent decision would be to start with a goal and adapt along the way to refine the goal into a reliable and secure outcome. This is where we need to change our goalposts as we discover more about our abilities.

A student wanting to be an entrepreneur could benefit from a few years in the job before starting out an own venture. Besides having a real-life experience of seeing a business in operation, the person’s abilities would also be tested in the work environment. This will in turn provide confidence when he makes the jump from job to his own venture. In the same vein, a student whose objective was to get into a job after MBA, may discover that his career has not taken off the way he envisioned. Or he may be feeling suffocated by the lack of independence to pursue his ideas. Changing track at such a point in his life can certainly be beneficial. He may actually be very successful in following his dream to make a difference. Strangely, he discovered it only because he was willing to change his goalpost.

Companies do give opportunities to employees who can take initiatives and run divisions independently. So having a baptism in running an independent business can certainly be an advantage when such offers are available. We need to realize that it is never difficult to alternate between working for a company and running an own show. Hence, it should not be too hard a task to decide what to do after MBA.

MBA programs provide future managers and entrepreneurs important lessons to understand overall business principles, mitigate risk, communicate ideas clearly and increase the probabilities of success. However, whether we execute this learning to launch a new business or make an existing business prosper, it entirely depends on us.

---

Contributed by Amitava Kundu (Class of 2002, IBS BANGLORE)

Your MBA interviewers and college professors are not your family members.

How many times have you had to say, “I did not mean this”?Do you think what you say is also understood exactly the same way? If yes, you could be living in a myth.

It is possible that your message is interpreted differently by others. You may wonder how and why. We all come from different backgrounds, families, cultures and experiences, and therefore there is a probability that we interpret things differently.

You have to deal with several people in life. Currently, the most important ones could be the judges on your group discussion and interview panel, and the professors in college. Before we deep dive into the techniques of dealing with people (who have different personality and behavioural traits), let us understand some basics of verbal communication.

According to industry estimates, in any verbal communication, words (the literal meaning) account for 7% of the overall message, tone of voice 38% and body language 55%. So who wins? Of course body language, right? But I feel it is not only your body language that makes the communication impactful. What is more important in any communication is to judge the other person’s body language and behave accordingly.

Let us discuss some real life situations you could face and how you could emerge as a winner from those:

• Your group discussion has the following panel members:

• An aggressive manufacturing industry tycoon
• A theoretical academician in philosophy
• A lawyer

The first thing you would want to do is to enquire about the panel. The industry tycoon and the lawyer on this panel may appreciate valid, hard core facts in the discussion; the philosophical academician may expect some human aspect in your arguments. You have to build a discussion with a mix of facts and theory. Remember that you will never be able to please 100% of your audience. But try to make it at least 70-80%. However, it may happen that you are not aware of the panel members. My advice in that case is to reach out to the college and get this information. You should do this much in advance so that you have ample time to prepare. Read about the panel members’ achievements, their style of working, and their hobbies. This background check will help you behave in a manner that increases your chance of selection.

• You have a personal interview with someone who thinks he knows everything:

This is a tricky one. When a person feels he has all the knowledge in the world, he is never happy with your answers. This person will try to bully you, add more facts to what you say andconsider your arguments as ‘not so good’. He/she will try to make you very uncomfortable in the interview. How can you  tackle this situation? The best strategy to deal with such people is to ask logical questions. Even if it is your interview, ask questions. But these questions should sound like a discussion rather than actual questions. One question should lead to another. This way, you are putting this person at parwith you. It is possible that your interviewer gets upset with this strategy, so you need to careful, polite and humble. Your interviewer should feel that you are eager to learn from him and that is why you have these questions.

Not knowing everything is better than knowing all. You have more scope to learn.

• You are misunderstood and you know it:

When you know that people have misunderstood you in any conversation, you have already created a gap with who you are dealing with. How do you bridge this gap? If you are in a group discussion or an interview, there are chances to lose your opportunity, so you must immediately clarify what you meant and why you meant so. One of the ways you can do so is even after the discussion/interview is over, you clarify and leave. Your behaviour can sometimes play a greater role than your actual words. However, if you are misunderstood by a professor, or a fellow student, you have enough time to clear the misunderstanding. The most ideal way of dealing with such a situation is hold another separate conversation after a time gap. Remember to gather facts before you enter this separate conversation. Be polite, friendly and understanding to make better relations with this person.

Remember, you do want to prove your point, but not at the cost of your relationship.

• You are either with people who say “yes” to everything or “no” to everything:

When you are preparing a group presentation or a case study, there are chances of encountering ‘yes’and ‘no’ behaviours. These are people who generally lack point of view. They have a single agenda —‘join the gang’ (yes people) or ‘I do not belong here’ (no people). Both these categories are not team players. ‘Yes’ people are looking for shelter, while the ‘no’ category wants todisrupt your plans without a reason. The best way to tackle such people is making them feel important and creating accountability for their decisions and actions. Once they feel empowered and accountable, they are willing to participate for a common purpose.

Reading people’s mind is the most difficult task and to do that is an art.

• You are among the‘traditional minds’:

In your college life, you will meet people who work with traditional mindsets. They admire models that are already successful. They are most willing to replicate success, rather than trying new things or doing things differently. Sometimes, you want these people in your group for the experience they have. The best strategy to deal with such people is to have them in your group. While they continue to work with a traditional mindset, you do things differently and showcase your success to them. This gives them confidence in new ideas and new ways of doing things. And you have the best team that has both — experience and innovation.

Experience clubbed with innovation is your journey towards making a difference

What does it mean for you?

Different people, different situations, different contexts – dealing with all is tough but achievable.

You will be required to act, behave and react with different people in different situations in different contexts your entire life. Your behaviour with a family member will be different from your behaviour with a friend orcolleague in a similar situation. You need to strike the right balance between politeness, facts and logic to have a meaningful conversation. This will enable you to build better relationships for the future.

Relationships are the key to building robust teams. You can build expertise through a course, but you learn the art of dealing with relationships only through experience.

---

Contributed by Virag Jain ( Class of 2010, IBS MUMBAI )

Once upon a time, there was a home on a footpath of London. In that home, a couple sued to live with their children. Unfortunately, the father of this family was a drunkard. He used to drink a lot and due to this habit, he died one day, leaving his family in bankruptcy. Hence, responsibility of raising the young kids fell upon the poor mother. But she had no money and consequently, she had to sell their house and family was rendered homeless.

The poor mother had no money or job to feed her children. The mother used to mimic people passing by and entertain her kids thereby making them forget hunger. Laughing kids and a crying mother – what an irony? She was a brave lady.

Days passed. The lady could find a job in a pub where her job was to entertain the audience with mimicry and dance. One day, she was too hungry but continued to perform in the pub. After sometime, she collapsed on the stage and died instantly due to hunger. Cruel owner of that pub removed her body from the stage and threw it out of the pub. Her 11 years little boy was watching all this sitting in a corner. Watching her mother collapse, he tried to awaken her mother. But mother was in deep sleep.

The kid had eyes filled with tears. But he stood up, took the stage and started to perform. By watching her mother doing mimicry, he did learn a lot. His performance made the audience roll on the floor laughing their stomach out.

Later on, the world would know that 11 year old boy as the great comedian Charlie Chaplin. The performance on stage on the most tragic day was his first live stage performance. And the rest was history.

Friends, moral of the story is that one should have the fire within him/herself. We have ample examples from within the country in front of us. Persons like Lal bahadur Shastri, Dr. Radhakrishnan, Dr.Kalam, Dr.Vikram sarabhai, Dr.Rajendra Prasad and so on. The list is long and goes on. They all confronted all the adversities in their life that we cannot even imagine. Some of them spent their entire childhood in abysmal poverty, some spent their youth in jails and some spent their valuable time serving the society and the country at large. But they did not bow down against the odds and instead, stood firm and fought bravely against them.

One great common thing among all of them was that they did not focus on any other thing except their motive. The only goal of their life was to get best education, serve the society and the country. They wanted to get alleviated from poverty, odds, and difficulties of the life. Further, they also wanted to bring their country and fellow countrymen out of difficulties. These individuals were not the ones who adopted any illegal or wrong way to achieve their goals. All these people raised the bar and became internationally recognized personalities and brought pride to the country.

They lived the famous lines from Allama Mohammad Iqbal:

‘Khudi ko kar buland itna ke har taqder se pehle

Khuda bande se khud pooche bata teri raza kya hai.’

The secret behind their success was that they tackled all the difficulties/problems in the best positive manner and started to solve them instead of cursing them. It is very clear that for doing such kind of work, there should be fire in the belly. And clearly, there was a big fire in the bellies of all these individuals. And the great thing was that that fire was not for them but it was for others.

At this point, I would like to further add that sometimes one should do some introspection. It is applicable to all of us. We should ask ourselves some questions:

1. What is the basic purpose of my life?

2. What am I doing to fulfill it?

3. How will I do this?

These are critical questions of self-evaluation. During one of the recent lectures that I attended where the speaker (Dr. Karan Singh) said a wonderful thing. He said – ‘life is not a journey from womb to tomb’ but there is purpose attached to it. Most of us spend life without achieving anything and spend a meaningless life. And hence, it is very important to know our selves and to know the purpose of coming here.

The second and third aspects are are what and how will I achieve my goal? The secret is that there is no great skill required to do great things. I believe what is required is some general awareness (not.General Knowledge), common sense and attitude towards life. There should be strong and positive attitude towards life.

If we develop such kind of attitude and start acting, no one can stop us from growing exponentially. No matter how tough is the situation, we will survive. When the going gets tough, the Tough get going!

---

Contributed by Janmang Mehta (Class of 2010, IBS AHEMDABAD )

In the chilly winters of January; I chose to appear for the interview of IBS in Hyderabad. Though the interview was scheduled in February, the preparation began a month back.

8 years ago I found myself standing at a cross road, whether to join an MBA institute or work straight out of engineering. The challenging aspect was to get into a MBA institute which lays the foundation of your career, and then building on the strong footing in future.

Friends, choose your battles wisely. Cracking into IBS Hyderabad is no joke, and for an average student like me, it was an uphill task. My goal was to perform best from rest; I went into interview thinking “I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become”.

The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand.

I would like to tell some aspects on which you can work to get into a good MBA institute. My experience says by working on following 3 P’s (perseverance, public speaking and positive attitude) before going into a group discussions and personal interview of any top institute, you may want to appear, will help immensely. I am sure by working diligently on these 3 P’s; anyone can make it to. Remember one thing, It’s not the gun which matters but the person behind the gun which matters.

These 3 P’s made me an altogether different person and I hope my experience will help you all to achieve success in life.

Perseverance:
Study shows, great work are performed not by strength but by perseverance. There is no substitute to hard work, planning your goal and persistently trying to achieve within a set time frame make you a different personality. If you think to perform well in GD/PI, do the following consistently.

Reading- Read your heart out, reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body. Reading is important but to remember what you have read is imperative. I always use to pen down the whole article into points, which I can easily recollect while having a discussion on the floor. Try to form points which you “like” and “dislike” about the article and use either of them as per the situation. Say if you have to talk for the motion, talk about points you “like” and vice versa. Read which you dislike the most, it sounds funny but this will get you out of your comfort level. We are so accustomed to the comforts of “I cannot”, “I do not want to” and “it is too difficult” that we forget to realize when we stop doing things
for ourselves and expect others to dance around us, we are not achieving success.

Tips- Bring variation in you reading, read as well revise the article you have read, read at least 2 business and 1 normal newspapers, keep the cutting of the article which are important and insightful, in your folder.

Public speaking:
99% of the population is afraid of public speaking and of the remaining 1%, 99% of them have nothing original and interesting to say. By reading you will have enough exciting content to offer but how to put your message effectively to viewers is not easy. It’s not that practice makes your perfect, but “perfect” practice makes you perfect i.e. practice to speak to the point, never beat around the bush in a GD/PI. Through public speaking you will improve your English, communication and speaking etiquette. Don’t be shy in talking in English to parents, relative, friends or others. By speaking in front of unknowns you will overcome hesitation, and will improve MTI (mother lounge influence).

Other important factor which most of us overlook is emphasizes on “Listening” skill. Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply. We have two ears and one mouth, so should listen more than we say. Patrice to listen, you will get to the skin of your competition, if he/she is speaking crap, your elegance will get the better out of you. Candidates who are good in listening and speaking are hit everywhere they go.

Tips- Take up a topic which is in vogue with your friends and start conversing. Take effective pauses to push your points, listen carefully to others, act as a mediator and smartly drift the discussion in your favor.

Positive attitude:
Out of all 3, this one is my favorite. A positive attitude causes a chain reaction of positive thoughts, events and outcomes. It is a catalyst and it sparks extraordinary results. On “D day” never let any thought, any ill or others, affect your attitude. Remember all your hard work, preparation, prayers, and blessings boils down to this day. Be confident in what you have done and going to do. You can do everything to try to stop bad things from happening to you, but eventually things will happen so the best prevention is a “positive attitude”. Don’t let vague fears hold you back from doing what you want. Try to calm your jitters, in your mind shout “STOP”.

Stay with positive people, they bring an aura with themselves. To be able to stay positive it is essential to have influences in your life that support you and lift you up instead of dragging you down. In fact if you have negative, sloppy friends, you may want to stop talking with them for a couple of weeks. The idea is to build an aura of positivity around you.

Tips- Stay positive, go through the selection process steps, revise your group discussion points and read through your CV carefully. On the day dress well, listen to music, take a deep breath, stay focus and relax. Everyone has a time of success and satisfaction; I wish everyone all the best and pray for everyone’s bright future.

Thanks!

---

Contributed by Vaibhav Chandra (Class of 2009, IBS HYDERABAD)