As a student, I made multiple decisions and choices to direct myself toward my goals. The decisions made during student life are very crucial. A decision can lead you towards the goal or away from it. I took multiple decisions which proved to be either effective or less effective. Generally, everyone puts an effort to make the right decision. The concept of decision or choice-making is logical, and various scholars define it in multiple ways.

“Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.”        Henry Ford

“I don’t believe in taking right decisions. I take decision and then make them right”

Ratan Naval Tata

I was a student of a humanity background. And I had a dream to join the Corporate World. I was wondering about the ways to join it. Then I came to know about the Master of Business Administration. Initially, I thought that only the students of science background or commerce background apply to it. But after going through the eligibility criteria, I was ensured that humanity background students can also apply. Now the next thing was to get admission to the best Business school. Eventually, I had information about Common Admission Test and other tests taken by the Business Schools individually.

I had applied for the Common Admission Test-2021 and for other admission tests conducted by various Business Schools. One of them was ICFAI Business School Aptitude Test-2021 commonly known as IBSAT. ICFAI Business School Aptitude test offered me admission to one of its nine campuses across India on the basis of merit.

After the entrance exam, my result was declared, and I qualified for admission to three Business Schools. But I have to choose one of these schools. So, I was looking forward to meet the students of these B-schools and their alumni. I asked them about faculties, environment, and general or special facilities, placements scenario. And most of them helped me a lot in making a choice based on their reviews and recommendations.

After a brief discussion about all these three Business Schools, I was sure to join ICFAI Business School. It is not the end of choices and decisions. I had to fill in the campus preferences among their nine campuses. I choose Gurgaon as my first preference, Jaipur, Mumbai, Bangalore, Dehradun, and so on. Fortunately, the administration allotted me the Gurgaon campus on a merit base.

Now it is time to assess my decision of deciding this campus of ICFAI Business School. In the first few weeks, I was confident that this is the best Business School which I was waiting for. I admire the culture of this campus and the facilities I get, such as campus size with a large playground, Wi-Fi coverage, digital access to the library, smart classes, mentoring sessions, modernized computer lab, etc.

These are the essential facilities for me including their learning environment having curricular and extracurricular activities. It offers multiple cells of different domains, and I may choose any one of the cells best to enhance my personality, communication skills and knowledge through participation in various events.

Now, I can say that I got more than what I was expecting from a Business School. Moreover, the Personality development program, English language proficiency workshop, one-on-one mentoring sessions, guest lectures, mock interviews for placements, and special classes for relevant software or tools are a cherry on the top.

I also get to know that ICFAI Business School also provides a 14-week summer internship program, at least one certification course related to domain, formal visits to multiple organizations, and many more. The overall working structure of ICFAI Business School is student-oriented in reality. It diligently focuses upon the needs and requirements of the corporate world regularly and delivers the same by preparing every student in multiple aspects.

Therefore, I can say that I got more than my expectations, and my choice has proven to be the right choice. I believe this B-school will help me to get a placement in a well-deserved organization and make my dream come true.

“Most of the world will make decisions by either guessing or using their gut. They will either be lucky or wrong.” – Suhail Doshi, Chief Executive Officer, Mixpanel

“Data is raw information provided by or to a user. Analysis of that data and making conclusions out of it is simply termed as Analytics”. 

Data Analytics is the process of pulling out raw data or information, cleaning it, transforming it, and finally putting in front, the meaning out of it. Data is indeed everywhere, anywhere you look will consist of a particular data and those who know how to handle it are in a very powerful position. Top CEOs and Entrepreneurs from around the world have emerged as successful because they have mastered the art of handling data and using them for raising wealth.

Technological development has seen a boom and is keeping up today by developing new software, hardware, and applications to make meaningful insights and provide better solutions to consumers. After COVID in 2020, the rise of technology was seen around the world and especially in India.

With the rise of start-ups in India after the lockdown, a trend of the rise of data analysts too has been observed. With time to time and innovation, Data Analytics has developed into a wide aspect of all branches and sectors in the development industry. 

So why Data Analytics is important? The answer can be given in a very easy way. Data Analysis helps in reducing extra efficiency required in a business and boosts its productivity and growth. It has shaped every sector and industry be its IT companies, school, colleges, telecom, airlines, medical, or any other. Different companies have also created business models that focus on cost reduction and also doing good business along with storing large data sets. Nowadays, in the services sector, there is a tremendous increase in data analytics jobs all over as new facilities or start-ups are coming up together.

In Education sector also, students are being taught the course of Data Analytics and its importance. Especially in management colleges, the students are being trained in analytical tools like Excel, Power BI, Tableau, Quicksight, and Alteryx, and software like R and Python.

Management colleges like ICFAI Business School or IBS have been successful in making students learn about data analytics from the very first year in their Master in Business Administration (MBA) or Post Graduate Program in Management (PGPM). In the 1st year, students are taught the subject of Business Analytics, and later on, in the 2nd year, IBS offers Analytics as a minor subject along with major subjects like Finance, Marketing, and Human Resources (HR).

Now let us understand, how data is collected and processed. There are a few steps before raw data is converted to meaningful information.

Data Requirement: Why is this data important? Is there any usefulness after the data is transformed? We need to answer these questions first before collecting any form of data. 

Data Collection: After knowing why data is required, it’s time to collect the data from sources. Sources can include case studies, interviews, surveys, questionnaires, direct observation, and focus groups. We have to make sure to organize the collected data for analysis.

Data Cleaning: Not all types of data we collect will be useful, so we need to clean them first. In this process, we need to remove any sort of white spaces, duplicate records, and basic errors like unorganized dates, columns, or headers. Data cleaning is mandatory before sending the information to the next level for analysis.

Data Visualization: Data visualization is a new way of saying, “graphically show your information in a way that even a layman can read and understand it.” We need to put the analyzed report using charts, pivot tables, bullet points, or a host of other methods.

Visualization helps us derive valuable insights by helping and comparing datasets along with observing relationships.

Data Analysis: Here we are required to analyze the data loaded after it is been cleaned and then load it using the Data analysis tools including Excel, Python, R, Looker, Rapid Miner, Metabase, Redash, Microsoft Power BI, Tableau, Alteryx, and many more.

Data Interpretation: Now that we have our results, we need to interpret them and come up with the best courses of action, based on our findings.

Coming to the next part is what are the type of data analysis that is generally involved in a dataset. There are four major types of data analysis methods:

• Descriptive Analysis: Whether the data type or dataset is describing something. An example can be, are sales good or bad for this month as compared to the previous month? Are there any sales metrics that have gone up?
• Diagnostic Analysis: Diagnostic analysis focuses on the data which tells why an event occurred and it requires a huge number of diverse datasets. An example can be, why there is so much increase in population.
• Predictive Analysis: Predictive analysis forecasts future events or what is going to happen in the future. For example, forecasting a product’s sales.
• Prescriptive Analysis: It suggests more of a course of action that will occur. An example can be an investment in stocks.

After discussing the types of data analysis involved, let us look at the types of Data Analytics Tools involved in processing data.

In earlier times, a dataset was processed majorly in the form of spreadsheets in Microsoft Excel. But now due to rapid increase in technology and innovation, there has been the rise of new data analytics tools in the market. Some notable mentions can be of Python which helps in transforming raw datasets and programs into feasible data. R is used for statistical analysis and graph modeling. Data can be visualized using tools like Power BI and Tableau where reports are generated and results are distributed on dashboards. SAS is an analytical platform tool used for data mining, whereas Apache Spark is used for processing large datasets. Now, there are many more tools and technologies available in the market which furthermore enhances the skills of an individual. Hence, in a nutshell, we can conclude the fact that data analytics is the new generation future of data gathering. Data Analytics is ready to change the future and the outlook that people used to have in organizations or either as an individual also. It is responsible to shape the generation of data to come.

In this ever-changing world, one has to do too many things to get an edge over peers. 

Management courses are becoming a necessity for students to understand the knowledge of the market and the economy. Most large corporations ensure that their employees have a certain management credential to their name.

There are a lot of students who opt for various master’s programs after working in various industries just to add a feather to their cap. However, there is a journey that a student lives while being in a master’s college to a professional in the corporate world. 

In this blog, I’ll take you through certain points to remember while in college so as to get the most out of your master’s. Being from a non-commerce background, the PGPM journey has been truly special for me. IBS Gurgaon has helped me a lot in developing my true potential. I am making these points from my own experience as a PGPM student at ICFAI Business School.

IBS was established in 1995 and since then it has nurtured many students’ dreams. The college offers a variety of management courses from marketing to finance with an army of faculty working round the clock and mentoring each student.

Do’s of a Master’s program:

1. Patience

2. Internships

3. Career over job

4. Discipline

5. Calendar

6. Responsibility 

Don’ts of a Master’s Programme:

1. Attendance

2. Late submissions

3. Missing out on college activities

4. Lectures

Further let’s discuss each point one by one.

Do’s of a master’s program

In this section, we will explore these points so that students can have an outlook on college life in masters.

●      Patience

It is a point not a lot of people talk about. Post-graduation differs a lot from graduation. It is a new experience for students as there is a lot of diversity in terms of educational backgrounds. Numerous activities are happening in college regularly, guest lectures, seminars, classes, and so many other things, and sometimes trusting the process is all you can do.

It might seem like a lot initially, but its purpose is to prepare you for all that life has to offer. Be patient and learn to adapt to new adventures.

●      Internships

IBS offers a variety of internships to its students in addition to the help of online certifications. While pursuing your master’s make sure that you register yourself in the certification relevant to your subjects to attain a practical understanding of the courses. 

Internships help you understand the functioning of corporates and a clear perspective for choosing your idol career.

●      Career Over Job

One of my professors at IBS Gurgaon told me to always look for long-term opportunities rather than get short-sighted by jumping onto anything that just doesn’t help me in the longer run. Yes, placements are the most crucial part of a management college however we must always look forward to making a career. Look for opportunities that help you elevate your skills and develop you altogether. 

Jobs might not be steady but a piece of strong domain knowledge is, to get the most out of the experiences with the professionals you connect with to acquire perspective.

●      Discipline

One wise man said, “You cannot be motivated every day and that is why you need to be disciplined.” Post-graduation requires a great amount of discipline to take the most of it. With academics, other activities help students develop soft skills as well as a sense of accomplishment after every successful event.

●      Calendar

Maintaining a calendar is crucial for post-graduation. It allows you to meet all the project and activity deadlines. It assists you with all the tasks and you don’t get in a situation where you are unaware of any maneuvers.

It also gives you time for yourself so that you can spare time to enjoy the things you like doing. It organizes your tasks keeping your stress away.

●      Responsibility

IBS has numerous cells and clubs to enhance students’ skills. With various undertakings, students create a path to new opportunities for themselves. Don’t be afraid to take up additional responsibilities as it allows you to manage your time in the best way possible. It also helps in brushing up your skills regularly. It provides you with a certain confidence in yourself.

There are minor things that students tend to overlook constituting major stress later on. Let’s explore what you need to be careful about while pursuing your post-graduation in management.

●      Attendance

Many students tend to not keep an eye on their presence in college, being present in class has a lot of benefits. Professors discuss many instances while teaching that help in gaining an understanding of various industries. Just being attentive in class is individually beneficial to students.

●      Late Submissions

Always be aware of the tasks that are being assigned to you, whether it be reports, presentations, or speeches, refrain from late submissions as it does not give a good impression of your work ethic. Keep a track of time with the tasks you’ve been assigned. Use a calendar to organize your submissions.

●      Missing out

IBS offers a lot of extracurricular activities and it truly helps me live my best college life. Always take up on various non-academic things that come along the way. These help you in forming new connections with like-minded people and get a grasp of knowledge while having fun.

●      Lectures

There are various guest lectures in IBS that allowed me to comprehend numerous industry leaders. I gained a clear perspective of my goals and the steps to achieve them. 

Make sure you interact with the guests and ask questions with an intent to learn and I promise you will get to know something new every single time.

With a lot of sleepless nights while catching up with college comes a sense of fulfillment and achievement. I hope that with these pointers you will gain the most out of your college life. Although it is crucial to get wise to the fact, make sure you are having fun.

Human interaction is the key to how others perceive us, and we all, at no points of time should undervalue the importance of social etiquettes. Be it our workspace or personal space, soft skills prove to the blueprint of our sincerity. It becomes a very intricate area of our personality. To grow as a professional or as a person, we need to inculcate social attributes which make our presence more refined. From saying a ‘hello’ to an end of a conversation, we come across a plethora of instances where our body communicates much more than our words. To be able to notify these areas and highlight them along the journey, frames the basis of the personality. To this, soft skills, just as the social nature of a human cannot be eradicated, hence, a lot of focus goes into developing good and amicable skills. As highlighted above the worthiness of soft skills, we are acquainted with it from the very beginning of our course at IBS.

Let us now talk about how this domain plays an important role in our workspaces. We reflect how and what we are, irrespective of where and with whom we are! In our workspaces where we spend more than 50% of our time, it becomes naturally important to be very cautious of our interpersonal skills. Furthermore, our attitude and behavior drive not only our personality but also our productivity at work.  With the right knowledge to respond to things, and most importantly how to respond becomes equally critical either with colleagues or our bosses. To maintain the right rapport with the immediate people, soft skills become an integral part to incorporate within ourselves, also, it attracts people with whom we resonate the most. Soft skills don’t only restrict themselves to personality or communication, it also has varied aspects to them which notably enrich us all in a lot more ways than one. Soft skills also reflect a great deal on leadership, interpersonal, and listening. This domain aids us in being more confident in our speech and organizing our work. This aspect of development makes a clear cut at our workplace when working on a common project, reflecting our clarity and focus. Listening is the next and very important aspect which we all tend to ignore with a mere glance to it. However, this is not the case to be followed. To alter this perspective, at IBS there are numerous in-class and out-class activities that gradually as the course progresses, make us good at listening.

Now we know the priority of soft skills has to shape our lives and their significance. At any B-school, a lot of effort goes into developing certain aspects of it. At IBS, we have dedicated faculties that solely look after our personality and grooming of students to make us not only corporate ready but to wholesomely develop our personality. Right from the start of our management course we are made to realize the criticality of soft skills in our lives and are given pieces of training on the same. Numbers of extempore are conducted to enhance verbal skills with all its attributes. At every step, we find our faculties with their round-the-clock assistance. When it comes to SIPs or placements, IBS has certified faculties, which excluding the regular faculties at IBS, train exclusively on our grooming and development. According to me, this forms one the most beneficial step for all of us in knowing and clearing the first gate to enter the professional world which with the right attitude builds on the crust of professionalism. For that, we need to be sound, attentive, and clear in our vision.

Coming down to my personal experience at IBS with enhancement in my soft skills, will take me to speak lengths about it. To share my journey of overcoming stage fear and developing communication skills was done right at the beginning of my induction course, where I had to participate voluntarily in a presentation. I was hesitant but somehow gathered the strength to join in the activity. Later in the day, I was able to prepare myself with all the guidelines given by my faculty to be taken care of. On the day of the presentation, surprisingly I was the first to go ahead with the same and deliver. This became the very first step I took toward eliminating my fear of public speaking. To my surprise, I was able to stand tall against my fears and set an example of a good presentation, and get appreciation from my faculty and peers. The journey which followed next was based on the confidence developed through this presentation. I would be forever grateful to my faculties who have time and again made us stand in front of the masses and assisted us in overcoming the barriers. Their guidance and support have remarkably helped me a lot during my summer internship program. I was able to resonate well with their teachings and imply the same when given professional space to work in. All the words of wisdom made more sense while living and experiencing those moments. The amount of self-confidence which has imbibed within me, has surely made me able to speak my thoughts with more clarity and objectivity, which of course were developed while learning in my soft skills sessions at IBS.

Exposure to the real world for management students is a must to get in hindsight of the expectations. Often, we don’t realize what we have incorporated in terms of knowledge and skills till the time we are made to face the real road to take on a charge. If I begin to start telling my journey of exposure gained at ICFAi Business School, it will take me longer than usual to describe the magnificently altering journey unleashed. So, I would like to talk about one of the USPs of my college, which is a 3-month extensive summer internship program. This forms our first major entry into corporate for the majority of the students. Therefore, the college ensures that students are given ample options across profiles to apply as per their interests. At IBS Gurgaon, the rigor starts showing when the companies start to come to the campus and begin with their processes which include two steps – Group Discussion (GD) and Personal Interview (PI). The competitive spirit is what makes the college environment livelier. The institute ensures all its student undergoes certification course based on our preferred domain. IBS provides a variety of lists after thorough research of the industry’s needs and provides financial support to support and encourage all students to undertake the certifications. The Summer Internship Program was a gateway to enter into the corporate world filled with varied exposure, experience, knowledge, and so forth. The consistent efforts from our faculties in ensuring my growth, and development and not being stagnant were the key factors, that helped me in my retrospection on a week-on-week basis. The interaction between the faculty in charge and my company manager paved the way for my productive learning and journey toward distinction. I, nowhere in the tenure of my SIP felt unsupervised by both of my mentors.

At the initial stage of my PGPM program, I was confused about which domain specialization to opt for, whether HR or Marketing. But thanks to the 14- week SIP at IBS, which made me test my waters in finding a perfect line for my career. For any student, pivot study is important to them in terms of analysing their strengths and weaknesses. Till the moment we don’t understand the work and put in the execution of our knowledge, it gets difficult to be certain of our own choices and direction. Therefore, the 3 months of internship, were all about finding my interest and implementing the domain knowledge.

An organization provides a platform to set in action the learned skills during the first year of our course and refine the practical execution of the same. This is a very unique feature of my college which lets you gain industry insights and it’s working for 3 months before we finally make a successful career out of it, is what makes it differentiated from all other B-schools in the country. A platform of the real-world environment to experiment with all the theories and strategies learned in academics and find what best fits my observation is one of the most significant learning.

During my internship at Lava International Ltd., I learned about the work culture and clarity of thoughts about myself, by focusing on my strength, and weaknesses. Moreover, the internship offered me a vast networking opportunity. A clear vision of how to go about a strategy, and how to sort bottleneck and bloating situations in the daily work routine was made understood only after taking the situation in hand. I feel, that gradually I had developed a mindset that aligned itself towards the business generation for my company. It helped me to find the relevance which was required to connect the dots, intra- departmental and inter-departmental working and understand the working and connectivity to close the task undertaken. The internship has made me look back and see myself as a changed person starting right from my dressing sense, perspective, confidence, communication, and at last a mindset for generating business.

So, for the developments that we incur, we need our mentors/faculties right by our side to help us get through the tests. It is their years of knowledge and experiences which boost us to embark on our journey with a fresh mindset. They push us to achieve the best and help us in discovering our capabilities. I feel fortunate to have my faculties at IBS were always there to aid me in situations where at times, I’d found myself stuck. There around the clock availability had made me use the best of opportunities and prove my skills during my internship. With their presence, I was able to watch my next step and analyze it all with utmost ease.

The internship helped me understand the difference between writing an academic paper and writing a final report, followed by consequences to attain the desired outcome. The experience gave me more motivation and confidence to take up any challenge. There is undoubtedly a massive difference I see in myself before and post my internship program. Understanding the nitty-gritty of functional work to manage and take up decisions to a directional work had made me more aware of the business generation tactics and come at ease with its functionality. I cannot stress enough how important it is to give our best in our internships and be able to deliver our best to the organization. The little positive reinforcements are what made me go forward in my internship with the powerful support and trust entrusted to me by my college. All the hard work done during my internship along with the certification courses undertaken during the internship helps in refine my skills and makes my CV stand out from the rest of the crowd!

“Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow” -Ralph Waldo Emerson.

With this mindset, IBS leaves no stone unturned in getting the best possible efforts for their students, and from those, one is Guest Lectures at IBS, which has been esteemed for a long time.

IBS always looks for different opportunities, through which the students’ knowledge can get enriched and they get more insights into corporate apart from academics, as it promotes new perspectives and opinions which is usually not in the purview of the regular class. So, the college now and there always organizes different guest lectures from several fields so that students can be aware of every domain. Bringing different leaders as speakers from their specific expertise promotes initiative among students that could directly enhance two-way communication and through which students can get to know each other’s perspectives on different situations.

The speakers who address the students are from different domains like Finance, Marketing, Human Resources, and Analytics. The topics such as Investment Banking, Emotional Quotient, Leadership at an unprecedented time, PowerBI, Tableau, SQL, Digital Marketing, Big Data, Leadership Skills & Competencies, stepping into the future, Modern Branding Offline and Online, are covered by IBS for better comprehension and holistic development of our students.

IBS always looks for those speakers who have great; exposure to the corporate world. So, having those leaders as orators helps students strengthen skills like critical thinking, decision making, communication skills, etc. Guest lecture breaks monotony and updates student’s interest in career opportunities & career paths in new domains. 

Knowing about a better future career sparks confidence and inspires students to prepare not only theoretical concepts; but also, in real situations, these concepts are not included in the syllabus. Guest lectures also help the students with networking skills by elaborating them the insights of it and how these skills can assist them in the future. 

Students’ questions can be classified into two categories; one in the domain-specific query and the second, around corporate life. Recently, one guest lecture took place where one student asked about hedge funds and why there are fewer hedge funds available in India. Another student in a different guest lecture asked question related to Emotional Quotient that how one can improve his Emotional Intelligence so that one can be in a better situation with the emotion part during his corporate journey. These sorts of questions reflect the student’s mentality and eagerness to learn more. 

The Expert can aid the individual in the particular field in which the student is thinking for their career. Inviting guest speakers is a new way to learn about a specific topic for the students in a unique way and open new doors for better career opportunities and growth prospects.

Advantages of Becoming a Cell Member in a B-school

There is a strong connection between students and learning. Students have multiple sources and opportunities through which they can learn new things and accommodate them in their life. Students always need a better learning environment with adequate direction to achieve their goals. Learning is an extensive concept described by various scholars in their own ways.

“Learning is not attained by chance; it must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence.”  Abigail Adams

“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.”   Benjamin Franklin.

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”  Mahatma Gandhi

The role of an educational institute in a student’s life is crucial. A student spends most of his time in these institutes. Parents also want to admit their wards in an exemplary institute. There are multiple institutes in India but few are rigorous towards students and ICFAI Business School is one of them. Since its establishment in 1995, it was proven to be one of the institutes where students can redeem learnings in various different aspects.

I joined IBS Gurgaon a few months ago and was looking for the avenues to enhance my personality. Meanwhile, this institute provides multiple possibilities to nurture myself through various cell events or activities such as extempore, group presentation, indoor and outdoor interclass competitions, etc. There are different cells to join and enrich yourself, Digital Marketing Cell is also one among these cells. It follows the footsteps of the formal corporate organisations where a well-defined structured & hierarchy under three domains that is digital marketing, video editing, and content development.

I was interested in video editing and also practicing it for the last two years. Therefore, I have applied to be a member of this cell as a video editor. After going through the formal selection process of three rounds, I hopefully waited for the results. As the results got announced, luckily, I found my name in the list and eventually, I became a member of the Digital Marketing Cell.

This cell works as a team with its own aims and objectives, under IBS Gurgaon. It follows organic means of doing any work under it. The moment I join it, I got the task assigned to me. It brings me a professional or the corporate touch as being a cell member.

Moreover, this cell offers one year paid internship program with certification to performing members in their respective domains. I am aware of the hierarchy, professionalism, culture, collaboration, and coordination within a company, but now I have experienced and learned about the same through this cell.

The cell covers every activity, event, and function, summed as co-curricular activities within the campus. I have to cover them and bring the precious moments to the forefront for the audience on social media. As a cell member, I capture the events and their activities which provide me with enormous exposure.

The precious moments captured from each activity are forwarded to the respective domain head to process further. After getting the work from the content team and the digital marketing team, the post is ready for final approval. After approval, it is ready to be posted on the official social media handles of IBS.

After posting, the team analyses at the insights of the post and review its performance on social media. Further, every domain will discuss the hurdles, issues, and plus points in the weekly meeting and try to find ways to perform better.

IBS offers to learn theoretically and practically through classrooms and through this cell. IBS follows the concept of the overall development of a student through these cells and the co-curricular activities. Also, this cell brings me the qualities of an institute ambassador by providing a connectivity link.

Overall, I can say that it is always a proud moment to become a student cum cell member at IBS. It puts me in a better learning mode where I am trying to gain the maximum knowledge and implement it in the future. ICFAI Business School provides an elevated runway for me. Now I need to grab the handles and reach at height.

“Management is, above all, a practice where art, science, and craft meet.” – Henry Mintzberg.

Management is the art of getting things done from people. People have adhered to management since the beginning of mankind. In the past, we have seen many great leaders emerging and knowing the key skills required for a person or individual to develop themselves. Socrates, around the year 400 BC, stated that management was a competency distinctly separate from possessing technical skills and knowledge. The relevance of management has accentuated with the increasing perplexities and uncertain environment. It has come to the forefront as a special discipline in education.

So, what is MBA? Master of Business Administration or in simple terms MBA is a degree offered by colleges around the world for a student who wants to pursue a career as a management leader in the future.  It is generally a 2-year degree offered by institutes and autonomous colleges. In India, according to the industry-specific needs and requirements, colleges are offering courses in management like Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) and Post Graduate Program in Management (PGPM). These courses or programs are more industry-specific and are for skill development required to work in a management sector.

Moreover, in reality, a student who has just been MBA/PGPM graduate and is looking for a career opportunity in Management, has the most rewarding aspect of pursuing a career in it. It is because they can acquire transferable skills that apply to all industrial sectors. Moreover, there are plenty of management specializations to choose from, including Marketing Management, Human Resources Management, Finance Management, IT Management, Retail Management, Business Management, Hotel Management, Management Consulting, and International Business Management, etc.

ICFAI Business School (IBS) has been teaching management studies by offering MBA and PGPM which has nurtured many profound management professionals who are now handling different sectors of industries around the globe. Along with curriculum, IBS focuses on the student’s development and personality improvement operation by equipping them with the soft skills as well, that the industries require.

IBS provides management opportunities in major domains like:

• Marketing
• Finance and
• HR

Along with the major domains they also provide minor domains in Finance, Marketing, HR, and Analytics.

These subjects come in two parts:

• Core Specialization
• Dual Specialization

In Core Specialization, students are allowed to take only Marketing, Finance, and HR as core subjects i.e.,

• Core Finance
• Core Marketing
• Core HR

However, in the Dual Specialization area, students are allowed to take various combinations of Major and Minor Subjects for example:

• Finance (Major) and Marketing (Minor)
• Marketing (Major) and Finance (Minor)
• HR (Major) and Marketing (Minor)
• Finance (Major) and Analytics (Minor)
• Marketing (Major) and Analytics (Minor)

All the subjects and specializations offered by IBS are very helpful as the industry perspective is imperative nowadays.

Along with this, IBS has now started an Online MBA Program. Thus, along with the Post Graduate Program in Management which is a certification program, a student can have an Online MBA degree advantage along with their PGPM. The door of opportunities completely opens for any student towards the industries of the other part of the world as dual degrees are valued all over.

Management students are prepared to work in a variety of organizations and businesses. Graduates from the IBS have been successful in different organizations including, financial institutes, marketing industries, designing industries, gaming, tourism, and even in governmental agencies along with non-profit organizations too. There are several career options to choose from after the completion of PGPM or MBA.

Some notable managerial positions offered are:

• Marketing Manager: Marketing Managers are the ones who play a very important role in creating brand awareness, promoting an organization or company’s products and services to the customers, and expanding the reachability of the branch.
• Sales Manager: Sales Managers are responsible for the supervision of the sales made by the company and the sales team, creating and accomplishing the sales target set. They are the people who built good relationships with clients and business personnel.
• Financial Manager: Finance or Financial Managers are responsible for all the finances and transactional activities that are happening in the company.
• Project Manager: They are assigned to a particular project for a team or organization.
• Human Resource Manager: Responsible for managing an organization’s human resources (the people of the organization).
• Public Relations Manager: PR Managers are mainly responsible for building and maintaining the public image of a company or client.
• Technical Manager: Technical Managers are the ones who are more than just handling management. They are profoundly skilled in the technical domain and know tools like Python, Power Bi, MySQL, Tableau, and most importantly, Excel.
• Product Manager: They are responsible for managing and handling a particular product and maintaining a product team who is building that product.
• Operation Manager: They are responsible for handling operations within the business of the company or organization.
• Portfolio Manager: Portfolio Managers are the people who analyses and invest a client’s fund or wealth in the share market, and maintaining a day-to-day record of the portfolio of the client.

Also, other positions offered to an MBA/PGPM graduate are:

• Consultant
• Tax Analyst
• Business Analyst
• Management Consultant
• Brand Analyst
• Equity Research Analyst
• Investment Banker
• Wealth Management Analyst
• Strategic Management Analyst
• Financial Advisor

As we have seen a trend of rising entrepreneurs after the COVID outbreak, the Entrepreneurship Domain have also been explored. Many students who are now alumni of IBS have started afresh their minds in Start-Ups as a career and have turned out to be very much successful in running their businesses and companies.

Some honourable examples of the Alumni of IBS can be mentioned:

• Mr. Ayush Bansal (Batch 2009-2011) from IBS Gurgaon, started his venture called “iDreamCareer.com” which is one of India’s largest Ed-Tech ventures in career planning for high school and college students.
• Mr. Tahmeed Ansari (Batch 2007-2009) from IBS Dehradun, is the co-founder of the start-up “The Pocket Tech”
• Mr. Avdhesh Sharma (Batch 2005-2007) from IBS Hyderabad, is co-founder of the start-up named “TaxReco” which is based on the tax reconciliation of 26AS and Sales of various clients.
• Mr. Sunny Ralli (Batch 2008- 2010) from IBS Gurgaon, started his own company “Praedico Global Research Pvt. Ltd.” which is India’s first finance neuron developer which uses their specially designed neural networks to accurately predict performances of stock markets around the world.
• Mr. Akhil Gupta (Batch 2016- 2018) from IBS Gurgaon, started his own company in 2019 “Samagr Enterprises” which deals in the manufacturing of all kinds of wires and cables. The company is visible in the market through the brand name Durat Cab.

Thus, Management is not limited or constrained to any particular domain or field or company, or firm. It is everywhere. A simple idea, some amount of hard work, and a lot of dedication can put a person in achieving his or her goals and set great career growth in management.

In the contemporary world, teaching methodology has evolved from old-school teaching methods to digital teaching. The traditional method of teaching is more inclined towards the conventional way by merely using textbooks, further it evolved to a more modern way of teaching by focusing on practical learning. Management is a field that requires active application of theoretical concepts in real-life situations, so the finest business schools place great emphasis on practical learning, by using case studies. The case study teaching approach stimulates an in-depth and all-round understanding of a complex issue in its pragmatic form. The said case studies used in the business schools are a main course of action to develop analytical skills in addition to emphasizing observation and problem-solving skills. They guide the implementation of various management principles. The most noticeable results are achievable when concepts are blended with case study applications. While choosing ICFAI Business School for my post-graduation program, the case-study teaching methodology adopted by them was the dominating factor in my choice. In our prior academic qualifications, we as students have grasped theoretical knowledge through and through, it was time to finally apply that knowledge in real-life scenarios, hence I made that choice. IBS has a dedicated team of faculty members with vast industry experience who research and prepare industry-based case studies. These case studies strengthen the quality of their management education. Let us look at the reasons why case studies help in grasping concepts and contribute to the development of the students of ICFAI Business School.

1.   CONCEPT CLARITY: The case studies designed at IBS allow the students to validate things in the real world that have been taught in the classrooms. IBS is one of the top business schools in India with its case development centre named IBS Case Development Centre or IBSCDC. It has been accredited with compiling more than 5500 cases that are substantially used in the IBS curriculum.

2.   KNOW-HOW OF THE INDUSTRY: Furthermore, case studies help in familiarisation with how the industry actually works. The concepts covered in the case studies give a practical scenario where the theories, principles, and techniques can be applied. Unlike theoretical concepts, case studies are not hypothetical or imaginary.

3.   ANALYTICAL SKILLS: When MBA students are given a case study, they are expected to analyze it, and arrive at a conclusion. Persistent use of case studies in the curriculum helps the students in improving and even developing their analytical skills.

4.   DECISION MAKING: As a result of better analytical skills, making sound decisions is made quite easy with the use of case studies. One of the most prominent benefits of the case study teaching method is decision-making in our work lives, we will be able to relate to situations and make sound decisions when we enter the corporate world.

5.   PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS: In addition to analytical skills, problem-solving is another skill that B-school students can tick off of their checklist. The research findings show that case studies stimulate critical analysis resulting in an evaluation of the situations.

6.   FAIR EVALUATION: Case study analysis also provides the faculty members fair evaluation of the academic performance, as they can compare the understanding level of the students’ pre and post-application of case studies.

Hence, these case studies curated by the ICFAI Business School are used by elite business schools and prestigious consulting firms around the world. IBSCDC has been awarded in some of the most prestigious global case writing competitions such as the EFMD Case Writing Competition, Oikos Global Case Writing Competition, John Molson Case Writing Competition, Dark Side Case Writing Competition, Baylor-USASBE Student Case Research Competition, and EPARCC competition. Some of the cases have also regularly been figured in the list of The Case Centre’s bestsellers, while more than 100 case studies have been published in leading international textbooks and journals. Thus, joining IBS provides explicit growth opportunities for MBA students by experiencing a world-class curriculum full of exceptional case studies.

Shreya Sahni

Batch 2022-2024

The aim is to do your best in the field you choose and thrive to achieve your goals. The competition is continuously increasing second by second, so the question comes, how to gain a competitive edge over others? How to position ourselves better from the rest? It requires tremendous determination and self-work to chisel ourselves and be the very fine version of us to market ourselves. To achieve the goal, IBS comes with a guiding light to aid us all with the top-notch skills required to stand out in the ever-competitive era. A student’s transformational journey is like a magnificently blooming butterfly. Just as how a cocoon, at the initial stage before flying high in the sky, breaks its shell and enters into the world of abundant opportunities to prove itself. In the same way, we started our journey towards excellence by enrolling in one of the growing B-schools in India; ICFAI Business School. Then starts the transformative journey where we acquire qualities like no other and swim amongst thousands of fish in the sea! As freshers, IBS Gurgaon serves a plethora of opportunities to pave our desired path to success. Right from organizing in-house training to organizing sessions undertaken by industry experts, it strengthens our outlook towards the understanding of the fundamentals of business, management, entrepreneurship, and its functioning. The activities like logo games, design advertisements, etc organized for leisure turn out to be something that refreshes our basics and aids in keeping them on our tips. All the wide-ranging activities equip us in garnishing ourselves and being proficient in our business and management concepts. The cherry on the top is the training sessions and certification courses. The extent to which the support is rendered by IBS exceeds expectations and goes all in to provide us with the best of training be it – Psychometric, Excel, or Aptitude. 

• Psychometric training sessions help us to get acquainted with the personalities and resonate with the job profile. 
• Speaking of excel training sessions, these aim to deliver all the prominent functions and formulas used in the corporate world. 
• The aptitude session covers all the requirements that the subject demands. Furthermore, the sessions provide practice questions to help us. 

Verse us with the latest industry demand and nourishing us with the same, have been the key highlights of our campus. This is where the caterpillar, who was naïve initially, gains all the required attributes to excel in the corporate dynamics. To enhance our skills, we are further introduced to certification courses across all domains of management to get enlightened with the core understanding of the chosen specialization from first-hand examples and solutions. Choosing marketing and analytics as specializations, I have gained an abundance of knowledge in branding and python and reinforced it by practicing. 

Nothing comes easy, just as the caterpillar in its slowly growing stage equips itself with new beneficiaries (acquiring new skills, and knowledge) and develops wings (Certifications, training sessions) is ready to fly far above the ground whilst having deep confidence in its potential, a student resonates with the similar growth. All that has been imbibed within us doesn’t come without giving proper thought to it. The placement team at IBS Gurgaon prepares an exquisite formulation of training and certification, which are driven through the hard work and expertise of notable faculties and pushes each one of us to gain the best of our knowledge and put it all into action. It is their constant efforts that make our transformational journey so smooth and flawless.

IBS is the place to get yourself challenged, grow and fail, all at once. Its by-products though are extremely surprising and uplifting. We are enlightened with all the aspects- be it theoretical or practical with absolute precision. Every activity prepares us for tomorrow and gives us the autonomy to build our future. It teaches the biggest learnings of all times i.e. time management and lateral thinking. The mantra preached at this b-school has been blatantly made clear in the past years, to make students think and be at the top of the growing trends and takes every finest step to deliver without fail.