Come September, most students targeting B-schools abroad are in the throes of preparing their applications. From the eligibility requirements, number of essays and recommendations to the actual documents required, students usually feel swamped by the entire process. Gauri Puranik offers an insight into the admission process and documentation, besides the expectations of B-schools from the students.

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Sports has been the most important intermediary in the hearts and minds of the people in India. India has been an active participant in major world sports tournaments such as the Olympics, Commonwealth Games, Asian Games, SAF Games, Wimbledon and many others. The country has hosted the Asian Games twice in 1951 and in 1982 and the World Table Tennis championships three times in 1952, 1975 and 1987. This year in October we usher in the Commonwealth Games.

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In the late 1990s, if you asked any student planning to study abroad, about her dream study destination, you would get a unanimous reply - 'the US of A'. In fact during that period, almost 70 percent of the Indian students studying abroad would be studying in the US. But somewhere through this decade there was a steady shift in students’ preference from the US to other countries.

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With the final results for admission to the Management Programmes of the IIMs being declared, there is even more clarity with regard to the overall selection process. Gone are the days when students used to be left dazed over the reasons for their success/failure at the CAT as well as for converting their GD/PI calls into final admits.

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Operations Management as it is known today has been a traditional industry dating back to the industrial revolution. It is often dwarfed by other more popular choices like Finance, Marketing, HR etc and is not a popular choice as a major among students across B-schools. However there are institutes where it is a much demanded choice for a career.

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"Marketing is the social process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating and exchanging products and value with others " - Kotler

Many of us our familiar with the above and we also know that man is a social animal who has approached his social kind to fullfill his needs through an exchange of goods and ideas.

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"2001 summer Voluntary work for taking care of the elderly and vegetable people" "Planned new corporate facility at $3 million over budget." Hobbies: "enjoy cooking Chinese and Italians" Cover letter: "Experienced in all faucets of accounting." "Worked in a consulting office where I carried out my own accountant." "I am fully aware of the king of attention this position requires." "Received a plague for Salesperson of the Year." (Source: http://jobmob.co.il/blog/funniest-resume-mistakes/)

After reading the above resume bloopers, need we elaborate more on the importance of proper usage of the English language? According to research by the British Council, English has official or special status in at least seventy-five countries with a total population of over two billion.

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With competition increasing by the day, one question that often worries many a student is "what do I do after an Engineering degree; do I continue to be the engineer that I often dreamed of, working my way into core technical fields like construction, research, design & development?" or "Do I opt for an MBA and get a chance to plan, process, control, supervise and direct a business to an ultimate goal?" M Tech. is considered to be one of the most prestigious degrees in our country with job guarantees in the IT sector as well as other corporate sectors, not to mention in research and development and teaching. However over a period of time, the MBA degree has managed to create a sort of exclusivity with many a student hopping on to its bandwagon.

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Introduction
Like sports and music, fashion binds the world together. Right from teenagers to high scale fashion gurus, all are interested in the latest fashion trends in Milan, Paris, London and New York. In the more recent years 'Aamchi Mumbai' has also grown to be considered an important fashion capital in the South Asia region. Fashion is important as it gives an indication of what a person feels about herself.

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On a daily basis, there are 10138 search results for the keyword 'MBA' on the Internet. Compared to this, there are only 219 search results for the keywords 'MS' or 'Masters Programmes'. Many students compromise and go to a poor quality B-school only because they will have an 'MBA' tag to suffix their name. The sheer popularity of the MBA programme as a ticket to a good career leaves little consideration for other study options in management.

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Placement season at Indian B-schools have taken off with a big bang as indicated in their Summer Placement reports as well as the Final reports. All the leading corporate players are back on campus this year after a depressing 2009, signifying an upbeat mood for the year ahead. Placement statistics is considered an important benchmark of the Indian business environment, and the climate does appear hot with most sectors on a hiring spree.

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You always had GDP, Industrial Production Index, Employment Data across sectors to give you an impression of the performance of an economy in any particular year, but over the recent years one more indicator has added itself to this list: B-school placement reports.

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Just in case you thought that the above conforms to the age old wisdom in the adage - “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth”, you are definitely right - the C.A.T for the CAT!

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B-schools are increasingly becoming less of a classroom affair. Each year students prepare not just for their exams and projects but also for many exciting inter-collegiate and corporate challenges. Prominent among these contests include, quizzes, business games and most importantly case studies and the recent advent of business plan competitions. B-plan contests as a trend has been quite popular in the West, although it is believed that more often than the winner, the ones who were close to winning have given great and successful start ups to industry.

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A rainy night brings in hopes for a sunny morning. On similar lines, after the great 'recession' of 2008-09 and with media steadily indicating improvements in various economic indicators, we were looking forward to a big "turnaround" in placements across B-schools. Well, it seems no one was disappointed, at least as far as domestic placements were concerned.

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The 'Collapse of the Housing Bubble, Institutional Bailouts, Sub-prime lending, Shadow Banking System, Negative amortization, Current Account Deficit' - MBA aspirants of the Class of 2009 would have been familiar with these terms, even before they started their B-school education. The recent recession personified the dictum 'Look before you leap' - wherein students entered their MBA education with a lot of anticipation.

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Learning is one of those never-ending processes which begin from the day we are born and probably stop only when we breathe our last. Despite certain lacunae and system-specific deficiencies, formal education has been largely accepted as one of the most effective ways to produce learning. Education hones the latent skills of an individual, and as the person graduates from school to college, it prepares him mentally to face the challenges of the professional world (and the complex real world too). However, education in itself has undergone substantial changes in the way that it is delivered or assimilated.

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The word "marketing" implies a buyer-seller interface around a product. The B-school GD-PI round is no exception to this age-old management wisdom; the student assumes the proportions of a seller while the selection panel becomes the insatiable buyer and the student's candidature is the product. The student's task is to offer a value proposition and convince the panel on his suitability for the management programme. Taking the seller-buyer portal forward, the student is able to sell his profile better if he has a connect with the objective of a management programme and the personality traits of students previously selected in top B-schools.

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The ‘IMS Achievers Workshop,’ which consists of Power packed simulated GD and PI sessions for students who receive calls from the top 30 Indian B-schools was conducted at five centers across India - Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata – on the 13th and 14th of March. ‘Fantastic’, ‘Mind Boggling’, ‘Eye Opener’ were some of the adjectives that students and panelists used to describe the Achievers Workshop.

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As students around the country were preparing for CAT 2009, there were heartening reports that four of the 7 new IIMs proposed by the Ministry of HRD and approved by the Union Cabinet in 2009 would commence operations in 2009 – in Tiruchirapally, Ranchi, Raipur and Rohtak. With each of these being allowed an admission limit of 140, it meant that 560 more students could secure the coveted IIM stamp this year, as compared to earlier years. A few months down the line, today, much of what was proposed seems to have been disposed. There is no intimation of any new IIMs starting operations in 2010-11 except the one at Ranchi, which is to be mentored by IIM Calcutta.

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In the past four decades, the Women’s Movement, changes in demographics and technology and a maturity in civic sense has made ‘Women Education’ a necessity rather than a government initiative. However, while success has been met the world over for primary and to some extent secondary education, the same cannot be said in the case of higher level studies and professional education. Professional education is especially important as it facilitates active and practical learning.

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Calendar 2009 was certainly not the year that many would fondly remember. It was a year that kept all kinds of market participants on their toes. The economic slowdown in the early months of the year was one of the biggest challenges of the decade. Recruiters in most of the sectors were a bit jittery and had a very conservative approach towards the placement cells of almost all the B-schools of India. Though there was demand for talented professionals, it did not reflect in the hiring processes.

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Having a master's degree in business administration is necessary for those who want to gain an advantage in this ultra-tough industry. It is one of several business degrees that provide a huge impact on a professional's salary and career advancement options. An MBA is one of the most coveted postgraduate degrees today not just for business professionals, but also for college graduates in general. It's all about value - what value does it add to your career?

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The Mudra Institute of Communication, Ahmedabad (MICA) is a residential academic institution that seeks to develop innovative professionals in the practice, development and management of communications to serve the needs of the industry and society through education, research and advocacy. It is a reputed school and the alma mater of professionals who are serving in the marketing, market research, advertising and media sectors, and emerging communications-driven businesses such as broadcasting, retail and design communication.

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For all those management enthusiasts who choose to pursue their management education in the “Rajdhani”, Delhi University offers such diverse programmes. While some of them, like the FMS-MBA, are time tested options, others are also well acknowledged by both the student community and the Industry. In this article, however, we only take a look at two of the most coveted and reputed programmes offered by the Faculty of Management Studies (FMS).

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Every November, the graduate student community in India gets ready to take the CAT. The entrance test to some of the country’s most prestigious post graduate and fellow management programmes is taken by a majority of the graduating crowd – whether they seriously intend to pursue management or not! It’s definitely a stepping-stone to choosing a career. Some give up, some move on after an attempt or two, some keep trying till they succeed, but a majority assuredly jump onto the bandwagon that is “belling the CAT”. It’s India’s very own coming-of-age rite of passage.

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A programme that nurtures the leader in you by enabling you to envision a future, to mobilize people, thoughts and resources to create a brand new India - does this create a desire to know more? Is there an inclination towards experimenting new career options, challenging corporate jobs, hefty pay packets, and global business tours? If you belong to this enterprising young lot, and are interested in creating an identity of your own, this may be just the opportunity for you.

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The entrance tests of IRMA (8th November, '09)  and IIFT (22nd November, '09) have already ushered in the season of management tests for MBA aspriants this year. There are opportunities galore till mid February 2010, wherein just about every sunday is the harbinger of some test or the other (two exceptions to the sunday syndrome being the CAT and the NMAT, which are being conducted as computer based tests over a period of 10 days). In this cluttered time space, management enthusiasts have to manage multiple challenges. The following tips are an attempt to address these concerns and equip the test takers with higher confidence levels:

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The XLRI aptitude test is one of the national level entrance tests for admissions to MBA programmes conducted by B-schools all over India. The Xavier Labour Research Institute (XLRI) conducts the XAT entrance test and its score is valid for admissions to several B-schools of the country. XLRI-Jamshedpur, XIM-Bhubaneshwar, XIME- Bangalore, XISS-Ranchi, Goa Institute of Management - Goa, Loyola Institute of Business Administration Chennai (LIBA), S P Jain Institute of Management and Research Mumbai, Welingkar Institute of Management Development and Research -Mumbai are some of the noted B-schools that accept XAT scores.

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SNAP is the Symbiosis National Aptitude Test for admission to all the postgraduate courses like Management and Business Communications, Human Resources Development, Geo-informatics, Health Sciences, IT and Computer Science and Agri Business offered by the Symbiosis group of institutes. The Symbiosis institutes offering postgraduate programmes are as follows: SIBM, SICSR, SCMHRD, SIMS, SCIT, SIIB, SIMC, SITM, SIOM and SIG.

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The Joint Management Entrance Test (JMET) is for admission to the 2-Year full time Post-Graduate Degree Programs in Management offered by the IITs & IISc.

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Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) offers a two-year masters program - M.A. in Human Resources Management and Labour Relations, Master of Arts in Media and Cultural Studies and Master of Arts in Globalisation and Labour.

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Now that B- school notifications are coming out in a quick sequence, students are beleaguered by an all time pertinent question – which B-schools to apply to? Infact, applying to a B-school is a high involvement decision with life long implications. This article is aimed at addressing the multiplicity of factors to be considered while applying to a B-school:

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Click here for Details of Institutes Accepting CAT 2009 Scores

 

The Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) conducts its own entrance test for admissions to its MBA-IB (International Business) program in the Delhi and Kolkata campus. The test requires you to have good quantitative, verbal comprehension, and logical abilities. A student preparing for other management entrance exams like CAT, XAT etc need not prepare separately for these sections of the test. But one area where this test is different from some of the other entrance tests is that it has a section called general awareness where the general knowledge of the student is tested. This is among the least time-consuming sections and also very high scoring if you keep yourself abreast with the latest news. So it is advisable that you regularly read the newspapers, a political and a business magazine.

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The Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA) conducts its own entrance test for admissions to the PRM (Programme in Rural Management). The test requires you to have a deep understanding and knowledge of social issues apart from the usual required skills in verbal ability and quantitative and analytical problem-solving.

Eligibility
A graduate from any discipline, with a minimum of 15 years (10+2+3) of education, having 50 per cent (45 per cent for SC/ST/PwD2) aggregate marks at the graduation level can apply for admission. The percentage of aggregate marks is to be calculated as per the practice followed by the concerned university or institution. Those who are in the final year and who expect to complete all the requirements of graduation before June 8, 2009 can also apply. Only Indian nationals are eligible to apply for PRM. There is no management quota for admission to PRM at IRMA.

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coming soon

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Maruti is launching its new car in the small car segment. How does the marketing manager outline a marketing strategy for this new product?

‘How can the marketing team ascertain the efficacy of their newly launched advertising campaign?’

‘What would be the ideal location for a new Shoppers Stop store in the suburbs of Mumbai?’

Have you ever wondered how marketing teams derive answers to such discerning questions?

The decisions taken by the marketing team of any organization are evidently not based on individual instincts, but on research and analysis conducted by trained professionals. Market research companies try to evaluate various opportunities and provide decision makers across industries with potent guidelines and recommendations which would in turn help them take the correct decisions.

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“Selling is selling and marketing is marketing and I’m not sure if they are the same or different” is what a young MBA aspirant replied when asked in an interview about the difference between these two integral components of any brand.

Well, this is a classic question, asked by many and understood by very few, or at least understood by them pretty late in their careers.  By most of us, sales and marketing are often spoken of in the same breath and understood as the same thing. For example, when a person is applying for a job most often he will indicate his preference as sales and marketing clubbed together, rather than identifying job opportunities individually in sales or in marketing streams.

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Are you an engineer or an architect and keen to be a part of the promising construction industry? Does managing engineering or infrastructural projects (and different functional areas within these) sound appealing to you? Do you want to be an architect of your nation’s future? If your answer is yes, then read on to find out more about what may be the most appropriate option for you.

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7 Facets of MBA Careers:

1. Committed to Consulting - Sumit Saxena    
2. Connecting with the Customer - Ashwin Rodrigues
3. Being the Voice of the Consumer - Nirupama Kaushik
4. IT – In Thing - Karthikeyan S
5. Corporate Best Friend - Dipanwita Ray
6. Doing Your Own Thing - Krishna Mariyanka
7. The Sales Story - Bhaskar Rao

 

So you want to do an MBA? Well, for sure, this is one degree that not only gives you an edge over others, but also equips you with all the necessary knowledge, theoretical as well as practical, which can benefit you tremendously in managerial and administrative jobs. Irrespective of the industry or profession that you are in, or regardless of the condition of the economy of your country, an MBA is a great tool for those in business, especially those in executive and managerial positions.

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Want to join in, in the battle to alleviate and eventually eradicate global poverty? Do you want to make that difference in the lives of millions of deprived? Working in the area of microfinance could be one plausible way of realizing your dreams. Nobel laureate Prof. Muhammad Yunus pioneered the radical concept of microfinance through his hugely successful Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. Today microfinance is a global movement with organizations from different regions primarily in the developing countries contributing to this field. Microfinance aims to help the poor by offering them small collateral free loans, often as little as 500- 1000 INR to start a business. Making capital accessible to these poor families is a big leap in transforming their lives and eliminating Alternative Banking: Microfinance Paromita Hui poverty. Willing to extend credit without collateral is in itself a revolutionary step.

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