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February 2014

Mumbai | Volume XI | Issue 7

FUNDING YOUR

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editor from the

www.advancedge.com Editor-in-Chief Kamlesh Sajnani

Editor Aditya Prakash Iengar Correspondent: Puja Shah

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Address for Correspondence Advanc’edge MBA, IMS Publications, A Division of IMS Learning Resources Pvt. Ltd., E Block, 6th Floor, NCL Bandra Premises, Bandra-Kurla Complex, Bandra (E), Mumbai - 400 051.

Contributors Dr Suresh Srinivasan

Write to the editor at:

I like to play the guitar. In my youth, I used to be quite active on the music scene, singing and rocking with the city bands. The years have taken a toll on me, of course, but music remains an integral part of my life. It’s what I identify with, what makes me who I am, my “go-to stressbuster”, if you will. Don’t be surprised at the soliloquy above. It is my attempt to tell you that each and every one of us has something that we completely identify with, that makes us who we are. Do you know what yours is? Can you pinpoint with utter certainty what it is that affects you profoundly, that soothes and calms you? Because this kind of knowledge about yourself is extremely important, and is all the more so now that you’re gearing up for the final round of the selection process – the personal interview. The interview panel will ask you all sorts of questions, from your career to your interests, et al, but what they’re fundamentally asking is this: Who are you? And that is the one question whose answer you need to know perfectly. Ask yourself that. Try to piece together the little things that make up “you” – like playing music, or writing, or travelling, heck, even bungee jumping! Stand in front of a mirror, and look at yourself carefully, and try to understand who you are. Once you know that answer, the self-assurance and confidence that come with that knowledge will give you the best edge to crack that interview. You will find more – and perhaps more helpful – advice in this magazine issue to aid you in the interview. To most MBA aspirants, one of the biggest hurdles is not overcome by practising. It is a known fact that apart from a very few institutes like FMS Delhi, the fees and expenses that an MBA course entails is quite high, ranging from `2 to 3 lakh to as much as a quarter of a crore rupees at ISB Hyderabad. But although this was an insurmountable obstacle a long while ago, it is anything but that today. From scholarships to educational loans, getting the funds to pay for your degree, if you don’t have the means yourself, has never been easier. In this issue, we have listed several banks that are known for providing educational loans, along with all kinds of additional relevant information. I wish you all the very best in your interview. Keep calm, & success will be yours.

editor@advancedge.com Websites: www.advancedge.com, www.imsindia.com

All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole and in part without written permission is prohibited. Printed and published by Kamlesh Sajnani, on behalf of, IMS Learning Resources Pvt. Ltd., 1/45 Tardeo A.C. Market, Tardeo, Mumbai - 34. Printed at Uchitha Graphic Printers Pvt. Ltd., 65, Ideal Ind. Est., Mathuradas Mill Compound, Lower Parel, Mumbai - 13 and published at Mumbai.

Aditya Prakash Iengar Editor Advanc’edge MBA October 2012 3

February 2014

www.advancedge.com COVER STORY Funding your MBA: Loans and scholarships

TRAVEL & LEARNING Europe - MBAs off the beaten path

IMSUCCESSFUL IMS CAT 2013 Toppers

STUDENT SILHOUETTE Jainik Dedhiya IMS student, 100 percentiler in CAT

DIRECTOR SPEAK Dr. (Col.) A. Balasubramanian Founder and Dean, Sri Balaji Society, Pune

MBA BUZZ Surviving the Personal Interview

22 40

MH-CET now open to students outside Maha

SNIPPETS News in brief

CORPORATE WORLD India in 2014: The challenges ahead

47 Surviving the slowdown 50 The NSEL scam 53 Economic Indicators

STUDY HOUR Word Dose Sherlock Holmes’s The Book of Life

64 Globescan 66 SuDoKu

DIRECTOR SPEAK Dr Subhash Sharma Director, IBA

Disclaimer : The views expressed in the articles by contributors and others are not necessarily those of the Publishers, unless specifically stated therein. While no effort is spared in ensuring the accuracy of the information published herein, readers are advised to reconfirm the current facts before acting upon any such information. The Publishers regret their inability to accept responsibility for any inadvertent errors of commission or omission in this issue. Readers are recommended to make appropriate inquiries before incurring expenses or entering into commitments in relation to any advertisement appearing in this publication. The publishers do not vouch for any claims made by the advertisers of any products or services. The Publisher, Printers or Editor shall not be held liable for any consequences in the event of such claims not being honoured by the advertisers. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, in any form or means, or stored in a database or retrieval system without prior permission from the publisher.

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COVER STORY

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Advancâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;edge MBA February 2014 5

COVER STORY

Funding your MBA:

Loans and scholarships If you are a deserving candidate and have secured admission to a good school on the basis of merit, paying your way through B-school may not be as huge a challenge as it is sometimes made out to be. Apart from several scholarships, there are several banks that offer loans to fund your MBA education. }}} Advanc’edge Team

t is a fact that an MBA degree from a reputed management institute provides the best returns on investment in the form of high salaries. In the last couple of years, some institutes have reduced their fees, but they still range upward of `10 lakh, which can certainly be daunting. However, something that every MBA aspirant should remember is that an MBA degree is a lifetime asset. Just as a piece of real estate would count as an asset, so too will the degree count as an appreciating asset for your career. In India, the mindset has long been to shy away from the ultra expensive, but that mindset is slowly changing. Today, the Indian student has realised that the path to a good, rewarding career begins in investing in the correct education. So if your career leans towards management, you should not be shy of investing the several lakhs in getting a degree from the best business schools in the country. After all, this will be a valid investment that will eventually give you enormous returns in your professional life. 6

Advanc’edge MBA February 2014

The Indian middle class is still largely incapable of funding the entire cost of the MBA degree course, including tuition fees, living expenses and other assorted costs. The best way is to look for funding for your degree, in the form of loans from banks, or, if you fall under the highly meritorious, from a plethora of scholarships available. So first, let us take a brief look at the economic costs of an MBA and at some of the important things that should guide your decision in this respect.

Tuition and living costs

Tuition costs make up a massive part of all MBA expenses. The fees are different for different universities; some include living costs in their fees, some include the costs of reading material, a few are inclusive of all expenses. Fees vary from `16.6 lakh at IIM Ahmedabad in 2013 to `9.7 lakh at IIM Kozhikode to XLRI’s `15.7 lakh. At the same time, you also have

VJSOM, IIT Kharagpur which charges approximately `6 lakh for the four semesters. The annual fee at FMS, University of Delhi is `10,500 approximately and is definitely the lowest in the world among truly high-quality MBA programmes. Living expenses in India are not as high and the cost of living in college hostels is strictly dependent on the college or universities. So, financing one’s management education is no longer a cakewalk. Fortunately, however, finances are less than likely to pose a constraint for the truly meritorious, given the options of bank loans.

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Advancâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;edge MBA February 2014 7

COVER STORY Bank loans

Today, several banks have come forward to help students finance their chosen programmes in higher education in the country and abroad through educational loans at really reasonable interest rates these days. An educational loan will allow a student to pay for educational, living and personal expenses incurred during the course of the programme.

What is an Educational Loan?

Essentially, an educational loan provides financial assistance to pursue a college or vocational course in India or abroad. The loan amount will cover the tuition fee, exam fee, living expenses (hostel charges), equipment fee (laptops, study material, etc), travel expenses for passage abroad, etc. A few additional costs may be covered depending on the scheme and the bank that is sought out. Education loans have a few advantages, such as excluding the condition of minimum qualifying marks in the last examination from the eligibility criteria and not insisting on margin and security for loans up to `4 lakh. There is also a certain amount of flexibility in the norms on a case to case basis, especially in terms like eligibility, margin, security norms, etc. Today, there are quite a few public and private sector banks that also provide loans to working executives who wish to pursue education in the middle of their career. They are called “Career Development Schemes” by a few. For instance, the Bank of Baroda has a scheme called Baroda Gyan, which is aimed at already employed persons who intend to pursue higher education, vocational courses, trainings, pilot trainings, skill upgradation, 8

Advanc’edge MBA February 2014

Most banks have done away with collateral requirement for loans up to `4 lakh. For higher amounts, collateral security will be required. diploma or degree courses offered in aviation, hospitality and travel management, executive development, etc. in India and abroad. This is certainly a leg up for future management leaders who wish to acquire higher, specialised managerial skills.

Questions to ask before you apply for a loan

• What expenses and fees are covered by the loan? • What is the maximum amount that can be availed? • What is the rate of interest? • Is a guarantor required? • Is any collateral required? If so, how much? • How long will it take for the loan application to be processed? • What are the pay-back procedures and terms?

Need for a guarantor and collateral Most banks have done away with collateral requirement for loans up to `4 lakh. For higher amounts, one would need to present details of collateral security, which is valued by a valuation authority approved by the government. This has to be supported with the correct documents. In

some cases, depending on the loan amount (usually above `4 lakh), banks also ask for a third party guarantor. For very high loan amounts, the collateral should be in the form of immovable property or transferable securities. Having a life insurance policy can be beneficial to a student who wants to avail a loan. The bank also benefits from such security; therefore, a few banks provide an insurance cover to a student who avails an educational loan (for instance, the Union Bank of India has provisions for an insurance policy in their education loan scheme).

Tie-ups that help

Many of the leading banks have tie-ups with premier institutes like the IIMs, IITs, XLRI, etc to name a few. The State Bank of India and Bank of Baroda are a few such banks. This is helpful for many students, as they do not have to search for the best loan deal with the lowest interest from a host of banks. These tie-ups provide students easy access to loans and the best interest rates and a reduction in the loan processing time. Students who secure admission to premier institutes like the IIMs, IITs, XLRI, ISB, or others have certain benefits when it comes to availing a loan.

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Advancâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;edge MBA February 2014 9

COVER STORY They tend to get lower interest rates on loans. Banks usually have a list of institutes and courses for which they agree to provide finances. For instance, Allahabad Bank has drawn up a list of over 80 educational institutes whose courses it will finance, and it has special rates for IIMs/IITs/ISB etc. The bank also provides lower interest rates for girl candidates. Female students with admission to premier institutes really have an advantage in terms of the interest rates on educational loans. On a more general note, students who have secured admissions to some of the new or upcoming institutes may have to try harder to convince the bank to give an educational loan.

Important things to note before you apply for a loan It has been a general observation that students opting for professional courses tend to get loans smoothly and much more easily than ones choosing to pursue higher studies in the liberal arts or sciences. It is important to understand the eligibility criteria stated by the banks, each of which has its own set of preferences when it comes to assessment of a loan application; some may stress on good academic record, while others may have age constraints. For instance, it is seen that typically, educational loans can be availed of within a 15 to 35 years age bracket. HDFC Bank, for example, has an age bracket of 16-35 years for its educational loan. Some banks insist on financing only certain kinds of courses or programmes from select institutes. However, the general eligibility criteria followed by most banks in the country are as 10

Advanc’edge MBA February 2014

follows. The candidate seeking a loan must be an Indian national and he/she must have secured admission to the programme intended for study on merit, i.e., either based on individual academic performance or the screening test scores (like CAT/ XAT/GMAT/SNAP/NMAT, etc to name a few). Banks also insist that one should not have any outstanding educational loans from other banks/institutes. Following is a list of documents generally needed while applying for the loan (this will again differ between banks): • B-school admission letter along with details of yearwise fees and other expenses • Scholarship letter (if any) • Attested copies of birth certificate (or any other proof of age) and proof of residential address • Passport size photo of the applicant, co-obligants and guarantors • Copies of mark sheets/degree certificates of previous academic qualifications • Income proof/latest income tax returns of co-obligants, guarantors (if any)

• Details of collateral security along with valuation certificate of government approved valuer (if any) • Last six months’ bank statements of the applicant/ co-obligants/guarantors (if any) • Copy of passport/visa, cost of air tickets in case of studies abroad

How to apply

Most banks now have the provision for an online application for an education loan. After all the research and information gathering process is complete, one can visit a representative of the nearest branch of the bank chosen. So, to summarise, management education is booming, economic slowdown or otherwise, and recruiters are constantly on the lookout for good talent from the top B-schools. Avenues for funding are ample and one just needs to be aware and informed. At the end of the day with funds secured, the decision should largely be guided by the rationale behind studying for an MBA and the immediate expectations from it.

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(Founders: Late Padmashree Dr. R.T. Doshi and Late Shri. Sumatilal Shah)

Approved by AICTE New Delhi and recognised by DTE

n o i s s s i m d d A to PPGDM

6 1 4 1 0 2

IMDR has pioneered management

IMDR is a part of the 129

education in Pune

programe students have an opportunity to participate in one semester at ESSCA’s campuses in France and Budapest

The Post Graduate Diploma in Management is a two-year full time programme. It’s unique

As per DTE norms, logon to www.dte.org.in, and Graduate in any discipline (10+2+3) recognized by Association of the Indian Universities/ AICTE as eligible for post graduation studies, with minimum 50% marks and 45% for SC/ST candidates. Final year graduation students with at least 50% marks in the immediately preceding examination. Candidates can apply through CAT/ATMA/GMAT/CMAT/XAT/MAT and MH-CET.

Candidates applying through entrance exams other than MH-CET will be required to appear for GD/PI conducted by DTE For Further Details Contact; IMDR, DE Society Campus, Deccan Gymkhana, Pune- 411004 Tel.: +91 20 66866260, 66866247, 66866240 Fax : +91 20 66866250 Email: admissions@imdr.edu www.advancedge.com

Website: www.imdr.edu

Advanc’edge MBA February 2014 11

COVER STORY Scholarships

Apart from the education loans, there are a whole host of scholarships that MBA students can apply for. These range from around `600 per month to full Bank

tuition fee scholarship in some cases. Naturally, any student looking for financial assistance would do well to research the scholarships available to him/her. Here, we mention a few notable

Base Interest rate per annum Rate (BR)

scholarships that are provided by the government and industry. Apart from these, there are also scholarships that nearly every institute awards to its best students.

Maximum quantum Eligibility of loan (in INR lakhs)

Allahabad Bank

10.20%

BR + 1.5% to 3% (depending upon institute -of admission; less 0.5% for girl child)

20 (IIMs, ISB, XLRI); 15 Indian national, secured (FMS, IIFM, IITs, IMT, admission to the IRMA, MDI, MICA, NMIMS, institute on merit SPJIMR, TISS, SIBM, XIMB, JBIMS) 10 for others (consult website)

Axis Bank

10.25%

Up to `4 lakh = BR + 7%, `4 to 7.5 lakh = BR + 8%, more than `7.5 lakh = BR + 6%, Girl child = less 0.5%

Indian national, secured admission to the institute on merit

Bank of Baroda

10.25%

Up to `7.5 lakh = BR + 2.5%, more than `7.5 lakh = BR + 1.75%; Girl child = Less 1%; ISB= less 2%, 1% concession for IIMs, IITs, ISB, XLRI, MDI, SPJIMR

Indian national, secured admission to the institute on merit

Bank of India

10.20%

Up to `7.5 lakh = BR + 3% (presently 13.25%), more than `7.5 lakh = BR + 2.5% (presently 12.75%), Girl child = less 1% for loans above `50,000

Indian national, secured admission to the institute on merit

Bank of Maharashtra

10.25%

Up to `4 lakh = BR + 2.5%, `4 to `7.5 lakh = BR + 2%, above `7.5 lakh = BR + 1.25%

Indian national, secured admission to the institute on merit

HDFC Bank

10%

Not provided

Indian national of 16 to 35 years of age, secured admission to the institute on merit

IDBI Bank

10.25%

Priority sector lending (up to `10 lakh) = BR + 1% (floating current rate = 11.25%) Non priority sector lending (above `10 lakh) = BR + 2% (floating current rate = 12.25%)

Indian national, secured admission to the institute on merit

Indian Overseas Bank

10.25%

Current floating interest rate; up to `4 lakh = 12.25%, `4 to 7.5 lakh = 13.5%, more than `7.5 lakh = 13.25%

Indian national, secured admission to the institute on merit

UCO bank

10.20%

Upto `7.5 lakh = BR + 2.5%, more than `7.5 lakh = BR + 2.25%

Indian national, secured admission to the institute on merit, maximum age 28 yrs (30 for SC/ST) for PG courses

Advancâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;edge MBA February 2014

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COVER STORY Bank

Base Interest rate per annum Rate (BR)

Maximum quantum Eligibility of loan (in INR lakhs)

Punjab National Bank

10.25%; Term Premium (TP) = 0.5%

For loan tenure less than 3 years; up to `4 lakh = BR + 3%, `4 to 7.5 lakh = BR + 4%, above `7.5 lakh = BR + 3.5% For loan tenure of more than 3 years; up to `4 lakh = BR + 2.5% + TP, `4 to 7.5 lakh = BR + 3.5% + TP, above `7.5 lakh = BR + 3% + TP PNB Pratibha loan scheme (for premier institutions) Loan tenure less than 3 years = 12.25%, For loan tenure more than 3 years = 12.75%

15 (IIM A, B, C, L, K, I, S, XLRI) 10 (IIM Raipur, Rohtak, Ranchi, Trichy, IITs, FMS, IIFT, IMT, NMIMS, JBIMS, Nirma, SPJIMR, XIMB, SIBM, MDI, NITIE, ISB, MICA, IRMA, TISS), 7.5 for other institutes (consult website)

Indian national, secured admission to the institute on merit

State Bank of India

10%

Up to `4 lakh = BR + 3.5%, `4 to 7.5 lakh = BR + 3.75%, more than `7.5 lakh = BR + 1.75%, Girl child = less 0.5%

Indian national, secured admission to the institute on merit

Union Bank of India

10.25%

Up to `7.5 lakh = 12.5% (fixed), above `7.5 lakh = 12.25% (fixed), 0.50% concession for female students For loan for premier institutes = BR = 10.25%

20 (IIMs, XLRI, SPJIMR, MDI), 10 for others

Indian national, secured admission to the institute on merit

Central Bank of India

10.25%

BR + 2%, less 0.5% for girl child, IIMs/IITs

Indian national, secured admission to the institute on merit

Not provided, 0.5% less for girl child

Indian national, secured admission to the institute on merit

ICICI Bank

10%

NTPC Scholarship Scheme for SC/ST/PC students pursuing full-time MBA/PGDBM course This is being offered by NTPC, a power major in India, with a view to focus on its role of a socially responsible and conscious entity, and find out

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ways to contribute to aiding SC, ST and PC students. Eligibility - Students who are studying in 2nd academic year MBA or PGDBM with specialisation in HR or Finance from specified institutes and having 60% marks in the 1st year / 1st and 2nd semester examinations. Institutions - IIMs, XLRI, XISS, TISS, FMS, JBIMS, MDI, SPJIMR, NMIMS, IMT, XIM, SIBM,SCBM & HRD, SIM & Research, IMI, KJSIM Amount – `1,500 per month. Number of scholarships – 15 per academic year • SC students – 5 • ST students – 5 • Physically challenged students – 5 Dates – Application to be submitted by mid-August. Advanc’edge MBA February 2014 13

COVER STORY Aditya Birla Group Scholarship

Covers part of the academic fees, hostel fees for the duration of course, commencing with the academic session of the first year. Eligibility – Applicant must have featured in the top 20 in terms of the entrance exam ranking at the time of admission. Also, at least 60% of the assignments must have a rating of 7 on a 9 point scale. Institutions - IIM (A, B, C, K, I, L or S), XLRI Amount – `1.75 lakh per annum. Number of scholarships – 16 Dates - There is no last date for application as these are given as long as the funds last. Students have to contact their institution to apply for this scholarship. Forms are available only through the institution.

OP Jindal Engineering and Management Scholarship

These scholarships are awarded by OP Jindal Group. The selection is based on the academic performance, an online leadership test and a personal interview. Eligibility – Top 20 students from 1st year batch (based on the entrance score) and Top 20 students from 2nd year batch (based on the performance score in the 1st year). The final selection is done through an online test and a personal interview. Amount – `1.25 lakh. Institutes – FMS, IIM-A, B, C, I, K, L, Ranchi, Raipur and Rohtak, Jindal Global Business School, MDI, SPJIMR, XLRI, JBIMS, IIFT. Date – August

ONGC SC/ST Merit cum Means Scholarships

Instituted by the ONGC, scholarships are awarded to the selected SC/ST candidates yearly to the eligible students. Eligibility • The students must be in their first year of master’s degree, not older than 30 years on October 1st of the academic session of the year of the announcement of the scholarship • The students must have obtained 60% in graduation or 6.0 on a 10 point grade scale. • Gross annual income of family should not be more than `4.5 lakh p.a. (`37,500 per month). Amount – `4,000 per month. Number of scholarships – Not specified

Narotam Sekhsaria Scholarship

Foundation

Loan

The foundation awards interest free loan scholarships to Indian students with a consistently 14

Advanc’edge MBA February 2014

good academic record for postgraduate studies at prestigious institutions in India and abroad. Amount – up to `20 lakh Repayment will commence one year after course completion as per the following schedule: 1st year after course completion: Nil 2nd year after course completion: 30% of the scholarship amount 3rd year after course completion: 35% of the scholarship amount 4th year after course completion: 35% of the scholarship amount Date - January

Guru Harkrishan Scholarship

Educational

Society

GHES primarily focuses on giving financial assistance in the form of scholarships to the needy students especially in the field of vocational/ professional education. Eligibility • The student should have passed the previous qualifying exam with 60%. • The total income of the student’s family should not exceed `10,000 per month, excluding house rent and medical allowance in case of employees. • The applicant should not be in receipt of scholarship from any other source. Amount – The amount of scholarship is based on the tuition fee. Normally, it amounts to tuition fee plus a minimum of 25% of the fee, subject to a maximum of `600 per month. Dates – Mid-September

NDPL Scholarship

The focus of North Delhi Power of the Tata Group is to reduce the school dropout rate and encourage students hailing from the SC/ST communities to study further. NDPL aims to create an annual pool of 150 students studying in 26 government schools at pre-board levels. Three such pools have been created since 2007. Eligibility: The students’ eligibility is based on a means and needs basis. Amount – `7 lakh per annum. Number of scholarships: 10

Central Sector Scholarship

Scheme framed in pursuance of the Union Budget by the Government of India. Eligibility - SC students whose total family income is up to `2 lakh per annum.

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COVER STORY Amount – Up to approximately `2.29 lakh. • Full tuition fee and other non-refundable charges (ceiling of `2 lakh per annum per student towards fee in private institutions). • Living expenses of `2,220 per month per student. • Books and stationery @ `3,000 per annum per student. • A latest computer with full accessories limited to `45,000 per student as an one-time assistance. Institutes – IIM (A, B, C, L, I, K), FMS, SIBM, NMIMS, XLRI-Bhubaneshwar, SPJIMR, JBIMS, Bharatiya Vidyapeeth (Pune). Date – July

IndianOil Academic Scholarship

The company awards educational scholarships to meritorious students across the country with special encouragement to girls and physically challenged. Eligibility • Students of two-year full-time postgraduate management courses recognised by Central/ state governments/Association of Indian universities and which are equivalent to MBA. • Family should not exceed `1 lakh. • Candidate cannot be over 30 years of age. • Minimum eligibility marks – 65% (General), 60% (SC/ST/OBC/Girls), 50% (PC) • Gross joint family income from all sources should not exceed `1 lakh Amount – `3,000 per month. Number of scholarships – 100 Dates – Online application from July to September, hard copy submission by mid-October.

Sanjeevani Scholarship

This is a scholarship programme given out by NGO Sanjeevani. Eligibility - CAT/MAT/MET score + graduation percentage. Amount – `36,000 per annum. Number of scholarships – 10 Dates – Mid-August

Nestle Scholarship for Young Business Managers Eligibility - Managerial values, co-curricular activities, extra-curricular activities and academic consistency is taken into account when awarding this scholarship. Amount – `1 lakh. Number of scholarships – 1

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T Thomas Scholarship

This scholarship is sponsored by Hindustan Unilever Limited as part of the company’s corporate social responsibility. Eligibility - Merit-cum-means as decided by HUL. Amount – `1 lakh. Institutes – IIM-B, IFMR Chennai

India Talent Scholarship

This is sponsored by Societe Generale under its Global Solution Centre Talent Scholarship Programme. It promotes professional education for needy individuals selected for a full-time course in an accredited university and who do not have the financial means to enroll. Eligibility – Merit-cum-means, interview process Amount – Entire course fees, plus mentoring by a member of the SG GSC team. Number of scholarships – 10 Dates – Students have to apply after admission into first year.

Bharti Scholarship Programme

and

Mentorship

For academically bright youth from financially weak families. Eligibility – Merit-cum-means. Amount – `50,000 per annum. Number of scholarships – Currently the programme supports 232 scholars across the country. Date – November 18, 2012

Scholarships for SC/ST students: Government of India-sponsored financial assistance. Eligibility • All Indian SC/ST nationals whose family income is not more than `2 lakh per annum. • The applicant cannot hold any other scholarship or stipend. Amount – `1,200 per month for hostellers, `550 per month for day scholars. Dates – To apply via institute immediately after admission.

His Holiness The Pope Scholarship

For students with good conduct and satisfactory progress in studies. Amount – `2,130 per annum for two years. Advanc’edge MBA February 2014 15

STUDENT SILHOUETTE IMSuccessful

IMS congratulates its

CAT 2013 TOPPERS

Karthik Kumar

Jainik Dedhiya

Anirudh Batra

Abhiram Iyer

Siva Surya

Suneet Kumbhat

Advancâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;edge MBA February 2014

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STUDENT SILHOUETTE

‘Don’t concentrate only on one section in CAT’ Q

Tell us about yourself. What were you doing before the CAT? I studied Science in 11th and 12th standard, with Physics, Chemistry, Maths and Electronics. Then I got my degree in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Bombay in 2013. I had written CAT last year as well, that is in 2012. I had scored 99.71 percentile back then. But I wasn’t satisfied, especially because I didn’t get calls from IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Bangalore. So I decided to try again the next year.

Q ...says Jainik Dedhiya, IMS student and 100 percentiler in CAT. In this interview, he shares how he prepared for the CAT, and how he managed to crack it.

When did you start preparing for the CAT? Actually I didn’t spend more than a couple of months for the CAT. You see, I was well versed with the papers and question patterns and everything as I had written the exam last year as well. So I spent the last few weeks practising a lot and giving mock exams.

What led you to pursue MBA? After completing the third year of my engineering course, I felt that there weren’t too many good companies to work in, coming from a mechanical engineering background. The biggest was the automobile sector, and even that is not really as big in India as it is in other countries. So I thought of exploring other opportunities, such as a few diploma courses in Finance, CFA, etc. I wasn’t really interested in anything else, to be honest. And since I was good at quantitative analysis anyway, and I liked problem solving, so after some consideration, I decided upon the MBA.

Now that a lot of choices are open to you, what field would you like to specialise in? To be frank, I haven’t completely decided on anything yet. Finance is definitely a field with which I want to be associated, but I’m keeping my options open. After my first year of the MBA course is over, I believe I will be in a better position to make a more informed decision. So basically, I’m approaching the whole thing with an open mind.

If quant was your biggest strength, what was your biggest weakness as far as writing the CAT is concerned? My weak spot was vocabulary. In 2012 too, I scored very well in the Quant section, but my score in the vocabulary section wasn’t good. This was why my percentile came down. So this time

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Advanc’edge MBA February 2014 17

STUDENT SILHOUETTE

Being in IIT Bombay, I have come to realise that being in the company of good students and a strong peer group is extremely important.

around, when I was writing the paper, I concentrated much more on vocabulary. Basically, in the mock tests, I found that I could finish off with the quant part quite quickly, and then gave a lot of time to the vocabulary section. I would write all the answers, and then afterwards I would check and recheck all the questions that I had answered incorrectly. In the final exam, however, I was careful not to be overconfident, and I used the entire 70 minutes allocated for the quant section to answer and revise my answers. So you can actually say that I actually solved nearly the whole of the quant paper twice, to ensure that I hadn’t made any silly mistakes!

What kind of preparation strategy did you use? I didn’t really have an elaborate strategy. My thought process was simple. Whenever I’d write a mock test, I would identify my wrong answers, and spend a lot of time trying to understand where I went wrong, why the option I chose was incorrect and another one was the correct answer. I applied this to every single question that I got wrong in all the tests I had given.

Which institutes have you applied to this time? I have applied to IIM Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Calcutta because let’s face it, these are the top business schools in India. Another factor that I am looking at is having a good peer group. Being in IIT Bombay, I have come to realise that being in the company of good students and a strong peer group is extremely important. And naturally, since these IIMs are the best of the best, only the top students would get to study here, which means that I can be assured of a good peer group.

Did you have an overall strategy for writing the CAT? Not really. My strategy was pretty much common sense. I made sure that if I came across a question that would need a lot of time to solve, say more than two or two and a half minutes, I would leave it for later and attempt the easier 18

Advanc’edge MBA February 2014

ones first. That way, I would have enough time left to attempt the more difficult questions, or those that need extensive number crunching and calculation. So I knew that the Data Interpretation questions in the quant section would require a lot of intensive calculations, so I left them for last. Also, in the Verbal section, the reading comprehension passages are the ones that require more time, because you have to go through the passage thoroughly to answer the questions properly. Similarly, I attempted the other questions first, before getting to these. So this was pretty much the only strategy I followed.

What did you do after graduating from IIT Bombay? I have been working as a consultant for PriceWaterhouse Coopers, a job that I got through campus placements at IIT Bombay. I’m working on a data warehousing project, and my job profile also requires a lot of analytics.

Was it difficult preparing for the CAT while you were working? It wasn’t too difficult, but I found it to be quite time consuming. I had to give around three to three and half hours per paper when I was giving the mock tests, because as I said, I wanted to go through every question that I got wrong. I did have to devote time to studying, but it wasn’t anything that I couldn’t handle!

Any advice for MBA aspirants who writes CAT and other entrance exams? I think the best advice I can give to anyone who really wants to crack the CAT is to concentrate on both the sections. Even if you’re good in one and not quite as good in the other, don’t neglect anything. Institutes today, especially the best ones, have sectional cut-offs, so if you’re score is skewed highly towards one section, and not as high in the other, it will be disadvantageous. Also, use your common sense, and don’t waste your time on difficult questions in the beginning. Solve the sitters first, and you’ll have more time on hand, and will be able to attempt the more difficult or time consuming ones with more confidence.

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DIRECTOR SPEAK

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Advanc’edge MBA February 2014 19

DIRECTOR SPEAK

‘It is now fashionable to go abroad to study’ Q

DR. (COL.) A. BALASUBRAMANIAN, Founder and Dean of Sri Balaji Society, Pune, was a soldier in the armed forces for 28 years before establishing his first management institute. He is a trainer, a consultant, an author of five books in management, 100 short stories and two novels. He is also the first person to create a management institute in India exclusively for defence personnel and their children. In an interview with Puja Shah, he talks about the current state of business education in India, the future of MBA and what skills the industry is looking for.

Advanc’edge MBA February 2014

After being a soldier for 28 years, what led you to establish a management institute? As a soldier, I used all the spare time I had, including the annual leave and casual leave, to study further. So, by the time I had completed my 28 years, I had finished my MA, MBA in marketing and MPM. After retirement, SIBM offered me a job as a lecturer. When I joined the institute, I tried to bring in all the military values – the 3 Ds: Discipline, Dedication and Determination, which worked well with the students. During my stint at SIBM, I noticed that children of those in the Armed Forces were struggling for admission, and I asked myself what we could do to stop this. So, I went to the founder of Symbiosis and I asked him whether we could start an institute exclusively for these Army children. He was kind enough to give me permission and to encourage me. So, in this way a concept was introduced in the country and the Sri Balaji Society was born.

What are your views on the current state

of management education in the country today? The only problem creator today is the Government of India itself. Most Acts remain intact for years, only varying with slight amendments, but when it comes to higher education, these Acts change every year. This means that institutes have to seek approval every year. The second problem is more pressing. Education means creating national wealth, and quality education is a dream that every person talks about. The people who impart that education – the professors – usually have an MBA degree or a PhD. The problem here is that an individual with an MBA degree will easily earn much more if they work for the industry rather than in education. This in turn means that the best talents don’t come to the field of education, and if you can’t entice the best teaching talent, you can’t really produce the best talent? What I mean to say is that India is facing a

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DIRECTOR SPEAK shortage of quality faculty. So the government should make the field of education attractive for teachers. Faculty salaries should be exempted from income tax so as to offer them a better package. This in turn will certainly get you quality lecturers. Another bone of contention I have is the mandatory requirement for lecturers to have PhDs. If a lawyer can teach at a law college, a doctor at a medical college, why isn’t an MBA degree enough to teach at a business school? Management education should have a large number of lecturers from the industry but the present law prohibits their recruitment as professors. This is detrimental, as practice-based learning is much more important.

How would you rate our management institutes vis-à-vis the ones abroad? Well, it has become quite fashionable to go abroad for education. But I must say that whether one’s degree is an Indian MBA or from another country is not really relevant, as many of our institutes are good enough to have opened campuses abroad. This solely depends upon the mindset of the people. But yes, it is a given that the best industry professors teach at the big universities. It is the faculty and infrastructure that matter.

You have been in the education industry for a long time. What do you think is the future of the MBA degree? The MBA has a very bright future. India is growing as an economic centre and so every sector will need leaders. Demand for specialists like MBAs will inevitably keep on increasing. So, the future for MBAs is looking good, but only for those who really qualify. Currently, the corporate scene is pretty much akin to the survival of the fittest. To survive, one would need much more than theoretical skills. The MBA should become a practical science just like the MBBS, and a management institute treated as a training centre, not as an academic institution.

Your institute BIMM is considered good for marketing. What makes BIMM students better than the rest? First of all, the training, the grooming, strict implementation of discipline, dedication and determination makes our students different. Secondly, we recruit excellent faculty who are from the industry and give lots of importance to cocurricular activities organised in our institute. We also have a very strict selection process. The fact is that we do not function as a management institute

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— we function as a company. There is no concept of a holiday for us; classes are on for 365 days. All this changes the mindset and culture of the students. And this obviously shows in the placement record. We have a highly transparent system with regular interaction with students. In fact, the students are all a part of our decision making. Obviously, a product which goes through this kind of pragmatic pedagogy is going to be the best.

What do you think employers look for in candidates today? How does your institute ensure that their students have all these necessary skills? Employers look for a candidate who is positive about life, possess good communication skills and is willing to work in a team. At our institute, we have a lot of training activity, workshops, games and cultural programmes which adequately develop these attributes.

Do you think there is a gap between what the industry demands and what the institutes are churning out? Of course there is a gap. That is the unfortunate reality. The industry wants ready-made managers who are billable from day one. But they cannot get this. So they recruit our students as management trainees and groom them to fill specific roles in the company. Now, no management institute can produce students who possess all these skill-sets, because there are thousands of different job profiles. Every company has its own culture and rules, which have to be taught by the company themselves. What we do is produce generalists. We teach them basic subjects like management, finance, HR, etc, so that when the company trains them, their attitude in adaptability is much quicker and healthy. Even if they graduate from the likes of Wharton or the IIMs, no student will have all the necessary skills. Moreover, 95 per cent of the students doing an MBA today are fresh graduates. They haven’t experienced the industry at all, so how can one expect them to be ready-made managers?

What kind of student profile do you look for? We look for students who are willing to work around the clock, who have a good personality and excellent communication skills, and ones who are good listeners. Lastly, the academic record and extracurricular activities too are given importance in the selection process. A Advanc’edge MBA February 2014 21

MBA BUZZ

Surviving the

Personal Interview

So you have cleared the hallowed CAT, and the Group Discussion/ Essay round. Now it’s time for the final interview. If you’ve reached the interview table, it means that you are skilled enough to get the seat, but are you THE right candidate? The answer to that is what interviewers are looking for in the personal interview. }}} Advanc’edge Team

asically, an interview signifies exchange of information between two parties. Naturally, the personal interview you’re preparing for is much more than that, and it is the final hurdle to overcome to get the admission you’re aiming for. The key to acing a personal interview is confidence. And this confidence comes only from preparation, which involves planning and practice. Each question posed by your interviewer requires that you sift through a repertoire of professional and personal experiences, gazing at your life in an instant and conjuring up an answer to the basic question: who are you? You should know yourself before you shake the interviewer’s hand and flash your first friendly smile.

20 cardinal sins of personal interviews

1. Show up late: If need be camp outside the venue from the night before, but you just can’t show up late. It is rude and might cost you your seat in the institute. On an even more serious note, 22

Advanc’edge MBA February 2014

try reaching the city where the personal interview is, a day earlier, and do a recon of the venue on the eve of the interview. You don’t want to offend the guys who have the power to decide the course of your future. 2. Pay little attention to your appearance: Think your appearance doesn’t count? Think again! The trend may be for business casual, but it’s still proper business etiquette to wear a suit. When it comes to the B-school interviews, it’s all about the first impression. The institute wants to hire a person with unique thinking but fits into a team effortlessly; individuals who don’t want to adhere to a dress code, somehow, fail to give this impression. 3. Have nothing to say: It’s frustrating to an interviewer to receive mono-syllabic answers. Go into detail. Sell yourself. 4. Say too much: Give your interviewer time to talk. By monopolising the conversation and not letting others get a word in, you’re

showing yourself to be a poor listener and disrespectful to others. 5. Give a sob story: That’s a tricky one. Don’t try to push it into a conversation. In case it is unavoidable, mention it. But too much detail should be avoided. If you give your interviewers the impression you’re irresponsible or your problems are your doing, it may hamper your prospects. 6. Tell jokes: An interview isn’t an occasion for comedy. You need to show you are serious about the job. 7. Lie: Don’t lie about education, qualifications, past employment or a prison record. Lying during an interview can prompt serious action against you later on. 8. Act too familiar with your interviewers: Don’t call your interviewers Bob and Suzy (even if those are their names). Unless invited to do otherwise, address them as Mr. Ms, Dr or another respectful title. 9. Fidget, bite your nails, drum your fingers or show nervousness: Interviewers

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Indian Education Society’s

MBA BUZZ

Management College and Research Centre ‘Vishwakarma’ M. D. Lotlikar Vidya Sankul, Plot No. 791, Shri Krishnachand Marg, Bandra Reclamation, Mumbai - 400 050.

ADMISSIONS AICTE Approved Two Year Full-Time Programmes PGDM - 2014-16 - 120 Seats (Finance, Marketing, HR, Systems and Operations)

PGDM (HCPM) - 2014-16 - 60 Seats (Health Care and Pharmaceuticals Management)

Eligibility:

with minimum 50% marks in aggregate or 'B' Grade Ÿ Valid Aptitude Test Score (CAT, ATMA, CMAT, MH-CET)

Chemistry, Bio-Chemistry, Life Sciences and BioTechnology), B.E. (Bio-Medical, Bio-Technology), M.B.B.S., B.V.Sc. & AH, B.A.M.S., B.H.M.S., B.D.S. with 50% marks in aggregate or 'B' Grade. Ÿ Valid Aptitude Test Score (CAT, ATMA, CMAT, MH-CET)

Ÿ Graduate in any discipline from a recognized University

Highlights

Ÿ Applicants who have passed B.Pharm, B.Sc. (Biology,

Ÿ Curriculum Vetted by Industry Professionals.

Ÿ More than 100 Years Old Legacy in Education.

Ÿ Student Participation in Institute Administration.

Ÿ 15-Years of Excellence in Management Education.

Ÿ National Best Budding Manager Award declared

Ÿ Average Industry Experience of Faculty: More

than 10 Years.

Ÿ Experiential Learning Ÿ State-of-the-Art Infrastructure Ÿ Creative and Transparent Environment Ÿ Emphasis on Building Leadership and Teamwork Skills.

by AIMA is from IES MCRC for Consecutive Two Years.

Ÿ Globally Accepted Pedagogy Ÿ International Exposure through Student Exchange

Programmes.

Ÿ Ph.D. Study Centre for SNDT Women's University,

Mumbai and Macquarie University, Australia

Indicative List of Recruiters Alembic Pharma, Axis Bank, Barclays Bank, Bharti Airtel, British Biologicals, Capgemini India, Cipla Ltd. Crisil, Dun N Bradstreet, Edelweiss Capital, Elder Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Eli Lilly, Ernst & Young, HDFC Ltd., ICICI Bank Ltd., Johnson and Johnson Ltd., Jones Lang LaSalle, JP Morgan Chase, L & T Infotech, Sanofi Aventis, Shopper Stop Ltd., Tata Consultancy Services, Godrej, Pidilite, Novartis, Aditya Birla Group, KPMG, Mahindra, Max New York Life, ESSAR, Zydus Cadila

Admission Processing Fees - Rs. 1,200/Online Application Forms can be submitted from Wednesday, 15th January, 2014 For all admission details and procedure, Please visit: www.ies.edu/management or Call on: +91-22-61378329, 61378330, 9029201800 www.advancedge.com Advanc’edge MBA February 2014 23

MBA BUZZ are looking for confidence, or at least someone who can mask their nervousness. 10. Chew gum: No one wants to listen to the equivalent of a cow chewing its cud and talkin at the same time 11. Be disrespectful: Even if you don’t agree, it’s best to hold your tongue. 12. Turn in a messy application: If you’re asked to fill out an application, do so in a neat, tidy manner, filling in as many of the sections as possible. 13. Sit before you’re offered a chair: Wait to be invited before sitting. You may not even be staying in that room. 14. Talk on your cell phone or read text messages: Turn your cell phone off unless you want to be just plain rude. Your interviewer should have your complete attention. 15. Get too comfortable: Don’t put your feet up, put your arms behind your head, cross your legs or stretch them out in the aisle. An interview isn’t the place to let your hair down. 16. Give vague answers: Don’t tap dance around issues. Answer questions as best as you can. If you can’t answer a straightforward question, the interviewer might wonder what you have to hide. 17. Use foul language: It should go without saying that foul language isn’t appropriate at an interview. 18. Act as if they need you more than you need them: You’re not the only candidate. If you act smug, you won’t get the job. 19. Forget to shake hands: An interviewer is looking for a good, firm handshake. Don’t overlook this important detail as it says a lot about your character. 24

Advanc’edge MBA February 2014

Know thyself

To make substantial headway in self-reflection, spend some time on the following exercises. When considering your responses, think beyond your professional life and current circumstances. Include instances as far back as your youth. Make a list of the following: • Five of your best qualities. • Five accomplishments that add to your personality. • Five things you have done that make you proud. • Three scenarios in which you felt highly motivated to accomplish something. • Three scenarios in which you lacked motivation. • Three scenarios in which you felt appreciated by other people. How did they communicate that appreciation for you? • How do your friends and family describe you? Include the positive and negative feedback. • Three decisions that you have made and how you made them. • Two situations that seemed risky to you. How did you react to them? • Describe a conflict situation between you and someone else that was resolved to your satisfaction. How was it resolved?

• Describe one that was not resolved; what was the outcome? Look for trends in your responses. Focus on what energises you and what saps your spirit. For example, you may realise that you enjoy influencing people; raising your bar of performance for meeting difficult challenges may be another factor that motivates you. Having a vision and ethical behaviour could emerge as your accomplishments. Deadlines may help you focus, acting as a positive factor. Contrarily, when tasks are rote, with no creativity or initiative, you may feel de-motivated. If you are not appreciated for your efforts, you may feel low. Now, when the interviewer asks you questions like those listed below, you will be prepared to respond confidently. • How would you describe your ideal working environment? • What are your strengths? • And what are your weaknesses? • How do you take criticism? • How do you deal with conflict situations? • What motivates you? • What is your management style?

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MBA BUZZ

NATIONAL INSURANCE ACADEMY (Established under the Joint aegis of Ministry of Finance, Govt. of India and Public Sector Insurance Companies)

The Apex Institute for Education, Training, Research, Publication and Consultancy in Insurance in Asia, Africa & Middle East Region

TWO-YEAR FULL TIME RESIDENTIAL PGDM PROGRAMME 2014-16 (AICTE APPROVED)

Programme Highlights l

Equivalent to MBA granted by Association of Indian Universities (AIU) New Delhi

Dual Expertise in Insurance and Management

Rigorous Curriculum

Insurance Laboratory

Practical Approach to Learning

Participation in Seminars and Conferences

Unique blend of faculty drawn from Insurance & Allied Industries and domain experts

Practical Exposure Providing Insurance Technical Exposure through active participation, industry visits and interactions with Senior Executives of leading Insurance Companies, Regulators & Various other Professional bodies.

Placement Facilitated All our past students have been successfully placed with Indian PSU and Foreign Insurance Companies viz. New India, National, United India, Oriental Ins. Co., GIC Reinsurance, Swiss Re, Tata AIG, Bajaj Allianz, HDFC Ergo, ICICI, SBI Life & General Ins. Insurance Brokers- Milliman India, AON Global, Edelweiss Tokyo & many more. IT Companies-Infosys, Cognizant, Accenture, IBM, TCS, GMR, etc. Overseas- Aetins (Malaysia), Nexus (Dubai), BAI (Mauritius)

The Uniqueness of National Insurance Academy l l l l

32 acres Picturesque Campus Modern Classrooms Insurance Archives Research & Publications

l l l l

State-of-the-art IT park Digital Library Hostel rooms with modern amenities Sports & Recreations

Selection Criteria l l

Scores of CAT, XAT & CMAT, GD & PI, Academic Performance, Experience in Insurance domain Form Submission last date: 15th February, 2014 NATIONAL INSURANCE ACADEMY 25, Balewadi, Baner Road, NIA P.O. Pune, 411045 (INDIA) Tel: +91 20 2720 4074 / 2720 4000 / 2720 4444 Email: pgdmadmission@niapune.com | Website: www.niapune.com

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Advancâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;edge MBA February 2014 25

MBA BUZZ Know your academics

In an interview, it is not expected that you recall every bit of knowledge gained in the last few years of your graduation, but make sure that you have certain concepts at your fingertips, especially those that you like. If there is a subject that you mention as your favourite, ensure that you know it well.

The day of the interview

• Plan your journey. Make sure you know exactly where and when the interview will be held and let them know you will be attending. Plan your journey and aim to arrive at the reception at least 10 minutes before the interview. If possible, have a dry run beforehand and an alternative plan in case something goes wrong. For interviews in another town or city, the institute will probably send you details of how to find them by rail, car, bus etc. If they don’t, find out well in advance. Decide on your preferred method of transport and check the timetable with the bus or rail company. • Dress appropriately. Aim to look clean, neat and tidy. Get your clothes ready the day before. • Assemble your record of experience and any other

work that may be relevant. Take this with you. Be sure to organise what you are taking so that it is well presented and can be scanned quickly. • If possible, practise answering an interview with someone, perhaps a friend.

At the interview

Take deep breaths to calm yourself before you go in. Look around at the panel with a pleasant smile and greet them. campus. Be polite, courteous and respectful. • Thank the interviewer(s) for seeing you. • Sit up, give the interviewer your complete attention. Appear alert, enthusiastic. • Be positive, you have been successful at getting an interview call when others were not. • Smile and look at the person with whom you are talking. • Listen carefully to the questions and think before answering. • Ask if you don’t understand and re-start an answer if you make a mistake.

Remember, the interviewer wants to know if you: • are motivated • have initiative

All interviews, whether they are telephone interviews, group interviews or personal interviews, fall into three broad categories: Factual Interview: The main point of this interview is to extract factual information from you. In such an interview you may be asked questions about yourself, about gaps in your CV or about your interests and hobbies. Then the interview will move on to more specific questions that directly relate to the job you have applied for or the course you have opted for. This will now move from being a personality test to a knowledge specific test. Technical Interview: The interviewer generally uses this kind of an interview to establish that the candidate 26

Advanc’edge MBA February 2014

• have prepared well • have taken responsibility for your future • have made plans for the future

Some of these questions are bound to be asked:

• The ice breaker: Did you have a good journey? • What can you tell us about yourself? • What are your hobbies/ interests? • What do you consider your greatest strength and weakness?

Before you leave

Find out if there is anything else you can do (for example, sending samples of your work) that might give the interviewer a better sense of how you can contribute to the organisation. Tell the interviewer that you are confident of your ability to handle the responsibilities and make a contribution. • Ask yourself whether you prepared well enough. • Ask yourself what your strengths and weaknesses are and make notes on these for future reference. • Learn from the experience and try to improve in the future.

has the skills that s/he claims to have. An in-depth grilling in the subject of specialization and the checking of specific job skills is to be expected in such an interview. Confrontational Interview: This is usually done to confirm whether you as a candidate have the potential to perform under pressure. Here the introductory phase of getting to know the candidate is generally omitted and the candidate is thrust into a situational mode of “What would you do if …” kind of questions. If there is a panel of interviewers, one interviewer may take on a more aggressive role as a foil to another who plays the role of a friendly interviewer. The idea is to gauge how a candidate reacts to people and situations. A

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MBA BUZZ SIES College Of Management Studies Sri Chandrasekarendra Vidyapuram, Plot No-1E, Sector-V, Nerul, Navi Mumbai-400706 Tel: 91- 22- 2770 8373 / 76 / 77 | Fax: 91-22-2770 8379 | Email: admissions@siescoms.edu Website: www.siescoms.edu | Facebook: www.facebook.com/SIESCOMS Admission Helpline: 09324364263/ 09324892434

About Us SIES College of Management Studies (SIESCOMS) was established in 1995. SIESCOMS provides quality Management Education and has been playing pivotal role in grooming dynamic Future Leaders to responsible Global Citizens. SIESCOMS boasts of one of the best physical infrastructure befitting a modern B-School. The Full time AICTE Approved Management Courses @ SIESCOMS are as follows:} Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) – Autonomous Course } Post Graduate Diploma in Management (Pharmaceutical Management) – Autonomous Course } Post Graduate Diploma in Management (Biotechnology Management) – Autonomous Course } Masters in Management Studies (MMS) – Mumbai University Course } Master of Computer Applications (MCA) – Mumbai University Course Eligibility For Admission To Autonomous Courses Of SIESCOMS (Application Forms Available at SIESCOMS office, select IMS Centres and on www.siescoms.edu from 1st Feb 2014) Admission Centres: Mumbai, New Delhi, Bhopal, Bengaluru & Ahmedabad

PGDM l

Graduation in any discipline from any recognized university with minimum 50% marks

Must have appeared for at least one of the Management entrance exams like CAT, CMAT, MH-CET, MAT, ATMA. Total intake-120 seats

PGDM (Pharmaceutical Management) Graduation in Pharmacy/Life Science/Micro-Biology/Bio -Chemistry from a recognized university with minimum of 50 % mark Must have appeared for at least one of the Management entrance exams like CAT, CMAT, MH-CET, MAT, ATMA. Total Intake-60 Seats

PGDM (Biotechnology Management) Graduation in pharmacy/Life Science/Micro-Biology/Bio -Chemistry from a recognized university with minimum of 50 % marks throughout the academic career. Must have appeared for at least one of the Management entrance exams like CAT, CMAT, MH -CET, MAT, ATMA. Total Intake- 30 Seats

Note- SIESCOMS is a South Indian Linguistic Minority Institution. Hence 50% of seats are reserved for the Linguistic Minority Candidates (Maharashtra Domiciled) while remaining 50% are under open category. Our National Rankings:¾ Business Today-57th Among all B-Schools in India Survey conducted by MDRA (Oct 2013 Issue) ¾ OUTLOOK Magazine-SIESCOMS ranked 41st by in its Annual India's Best Business Schools Ranking (Drishti Survey 2013) ¾ Business Barron B-School survey-15thAmong all Management Institutes in India (carried out among CEO's & Senior Executives to rank the brand equity of India's leading B-Schools- Feb -March 2013 Issue) ¾ Times Group – TNS B-School Survey 2013 (PAN INDIA) o SIESCOMS in the Top 50 B-Schools including IIM's. o SIESCOMS ranked 13th on Factual Rank Score Card (On All India Basis). ¾ Business India B-School ranking: A++ Among all Management Institutes in India. (Nov 2012 Issue) ¾ Free Press Journal B-School Ranking 2012- AA among all B-schools in Mumbai Region. www.advancedge.com

Advanc’edge MBA February 2014 27

TRAVEL & LEARNING

Europe - MBAs off the beaten path

Three countries in Europe, one from the west, one south and one north, each with a business school in the Financial Times Global MBA rankings. Not the most popular MBA destinations, but definitely getting there. }}} Puja Shah

raditionally seen as an American degree, the MBA has been coming of age in Europe, and beginning to compete with the US. Upcoming destinations such as Germany, Ireland and Portugal are slowly and steadily becoming as popular as the UK, France and Spain. As per the GMAC, European graduate management programmes received more than 90,000 GMAT score reports from applicants during 2012, an all-time high! It marked a 45 per cent jump as compared with 2008. More striking, perhaps, is the number of

Advanc’edge MBA February 2014

GMAT scores received by German institutions. They grew more than 330 per cent to reach nearly 6,000 during the same year. Looking at these changing trends, we have profiled three nouveau popular MBA destinations of Europe.

Germany

Few countries in the world hold much fascination for a history buff like me, such as Germany. The country has had a significant impact on world history. It is the birthplace of Albert Einstein and Karl Marx, Goethe, Beethoven, the Brothers Grimm and other such

celebrated people who in their own way have left their mark on human civilisation. Travelling through the country, Germany’s magical landscapes will probably leave an even greater impression on your memory. The scenery is right out of an artist’s imagination – the grooved dunes that wrap around the periphery of the north, the snow-capped Bavarian Alps, the romantic river valleys with their medieval castles, vast vineyards and the slightly sinister forests. So, as much fun as it would be to rev up the engine on the autobahn, take time to soak up these panoramic vistas as they are

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TRAVEL & LEARNING

GITAM School of International Business Accredited by NAAC with ‘A’ Grade

Gandhinagar Campus, Rushikonda, Visakhapatnam - 530 045 (A.P), INDIA Tel : +91-891-2790505, 2840400, Fax : 2790036 Website : www.gsib.org | E-mail : director_gsib@gitam.edu

ADMISSIONS 2014-2016 MBA (International Business) MBA (International Banking and Finance) MBA (Global Logistics and Supply Chain Management) Our Recruiters

Ranking CSR-GHRDC B-School Survey 2013 2nd best B-School specializing in International Business. l 4th in "B-Schools of Excellence". NHRDN B-School Survey-2013 ranked GSIB as 39th B-School among 50 top-rankings B-Schools in India. l

GSIB Advantage ● ●

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The Programmes are designed to cultivate thought leaders in International Business. Students will have opportunities to participate in International Study Tour to broad base their understanding of International Business. Students will have opportunities to do an elective: Business analytics offered by IBM, and SAP offered by NTT Data. Students have the opportunities to do one or two trimesters at Burgundy School of Business, Dijon, France, or International University of Paris, at Paris or Summer Internship/ Research Projects at those places. Students have the opportunity to participate in Seminar/Conference at various places in India, interact with highly distinguished people from Academia, Indus-try, and the Government. Multi-cultural ambience in the School with stunning beach-front location adds value to students for learning. Free hostel accommodation within GITAM University

ADMISSION PROCESS Step-1: Step-2: Step-3:

Students seeking admission shall apply with one of the test scores (CAT, XAT, CMAT, MAT, GMAT) Those who have not taken any of these tests may appear for a test to be conducted by the School: GSIB Entrance Test (GET). Students are short listed on the basis of one of the test scores for a test in International Business IQ,(IB-IQ) Group Discussion (GD), & Personal Interview (PI). Students are selected on the basis of test score (step-1) and scores obtained in step-2 for Provisional Admission.

Contact : Prof. M Subramanyam Mobile No: 9490886714 Further details visit: www.gsib.org

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Advanc’edge MBA February 2014 29

TRAVEL & LEARNING

guaranteed to give your camera a workout! Germany’s contribution to the world of classical music is undeniable too, with Wagner’s Ring at Bayreuth, or Bach in Leipzig and Beethoven in Bonn and definitely provides a powerful pretext for a visit. Another attraction is the exceedingly popular German beer and the famous Oktoberfest. There is much to see in Germany’s cities. Its most exciting city is Berlin, the nation’s capital, still retaining evidence of its sometimes unhappy role in European history. The financial capital, Frankfurt, impresses with its cosmopolitan spirit, while Bonn, the former West German capital, appeals with its resplendent scenes and excellent museums. On the other hand, Nuremberg evokes the triumphs and tragedies of Germany’s past. Economy-wise, Germany has the world’s fourth-largest economy by nominal GDP and the fifth-largest by purchasing power parity. The country is wellknown for its engineering and technology sectors and is the second-largest exporter and thirdlargest importer of goods. It is a developed country with a very high standard of living, featuring 30

Advanc’edge MBA February 2014

comprehensive social security that includes the world’s oldest universal healthcare system. Germany was a founding member of the European Community in 1957, which became the EU in 1993.

Economic scenario

A report by QS states that in Germany, the average MBA compensation packages are said to be over US$90,000 per annum, including bonuses. The previous year it had reported an increase of 16 per cent in MBA demand, which shows that while the majority of Europe was reeling under a slowdown, Germany continued to thrive. Both job availability and remuneration packages for MBAs in Germany are strong when compared to other European countries. The UK is the only other European nation to feature in the report’s top 10 countries for MBA job availability. Germany’s strong trade relations with Asia have helped it survive and have fuelled a demand for Asian MBA graduates to join German companies. Looking at the demand for German goods, the situation is only going to get better in the future. Germany is an economy recognised for its highly skilled

labour force, large capital stock, a low corruption rate and high innovation. Of the world’s 500 largest stock market-listed companies measured by revenue in 2010 by Fortune Global 500, 37 are headquartered in Germany. Well-known global brands are Mercedes-Benz, BMW, SAP, Siemens, Volkswagen, Adidas, Audi, Allianz, Porsche, Bayer, Bosch, and Nivea. Germany is recognised for its specialised small and medium enterprises. Around 1,000 of these SMEs are considered to be global market leaders in their segment.

MBA in Germany

Having one of the largest economies in the world and few competitors in industries such as automotive, chemical and electrical products, makes Germany one of the world’s leading industrial nations. A high-wage, skilled-labour driven economy and recent successes in business and industry have seen the country develop into a financial powerhouse, particularly Frankfurt. Despite all this and a large population, Germany, for MBA aspirants, is not as popular as the UK, Spain or France, though it has started to catch up now. Germany is beginning to move forward and MBA recruiters are taking notice. Its

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TRAVEL & LEARNING

business schools are now among the best in Europe, with Mannheim Business School coming in at number 69 in the Financial Times Top 100 Global MBA Rankings,

2013 and six schools featured in the 2013 Financial Times European Business School Rankings. Also, most Indian students are keen to work abroad for a few years after graduation and Germany allows graduates to work in the country for 18 months. Students get an indefinite right to residence after working in Germany for 2 years. Germany is known for providing education at “low or no” tuition fees (depending upon your institute), a tradition of high-quality education with an international focus. Living costs are low too, at as little as €800 per month. The country is also known for its scholarship programme (DAAD), which is the largest academic support organisation in the world.

Mannheim Business School Student Profile: Female students International students Average work experience Average students’ age Average GMAT score:

39% 80% 7 years 29 years 675

Programme Profile: Accreditations Start dates

AACSB International, EQUIS, AMBA September each year

Average programme duration 12 months Total tuition fees (excluding living expenses) Post MBA employment: Average base salary: Students employed within three months

€33,000

US$114,000 95%

Scholarship financial aid: School-sponsored scholarships based on merit, need and participant’s profile (e.g. KSPG scholarship is open to successful MBA applicants from Asia who have an educational background in engineering)

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Mannheim Business School

With more than a hundred years of experience in management education, Mannheim Business School is present in all major global MBA rankings of the world. “It is the only German institution to be accredited by AACSB International, EQUIS and AMBA and enjoys an excellent reputation among companies and the academic world across the globe. Therefore, our participants can be certain that they gain not only an education at international top standards but also that an MBA degree from Mannheim is an advantage on the job market,” shares Professor Dr. Jens Wüstemann, President of Mannheim Business School. The School boasts of an excellent location, a mere 250 km from half of all the Fortune 500 companies in Germany. The school has business relations with over 300 international corporations in all industries, board of trustees with member companies like Siemens, BASF or SAP. The Mannheim MBA stands apart from the rest as here, students can choose between five different international tracks (German, Eurasian, Transatlantic, European, Global) and can spend up to two threemonth-terms at partner business schools abroad (in Europe, Asia or North America); partner business schools being Stern, Queen’s, Warwick, Thunderbird, ESSEC and NUS. “However, the MBA experience comprises far more than the acquisition of knowledge: the training of key competencies, a social sustainability project and a consulting project in cooperation with a renowned company are also integral elements of the curriculum,” says Dr. Wüstemann. Advanc’edge MBA February 2014 31

TRAVEL & LEARNING What is your opinion about management education in Germany? There is a vivid market for management education in Germany and the quality of research and teaching is, on an average, very high. Until a few years ago, however, Germany used to be almost invisible on the international market for management education, mainly for two reasons. First, Germany used to have its own management degrees (diploma), which were internationally unknown. Second, most study programmemes were only offered in German. Both have changed — German universities have introduced the bachelor-master-system in the course of the “Bologna process”. Furthermore, by now German business schools — at least the renowned ones — offer their programmemes in English. Why, according to you, should post-graduate students opt to study for their MBA in Germany? Because German business schools offer programmes of high quality and an excellent value-for- money ratio. Furthermore, German MBA programmes can often be completed within 12 months, whereas it takes usually longer to finish programmes in other parts of the world. The comparatively small but highly international MBA classes of German business schools are another advantage: Mannheim’s 60 MBA participants, for instance, come from 24 countries. This way, our participants benefit from a highly diverse environment, which promotes their intercultural competence, from which they profit both personally and professionally. However, it is recommended to be very careful when choosing a German MBA programme. While the market is still young, it has already become confusing with over 300 MBA programmes being offered. Accreditations of AACSB International, EQUIS, and AMBA as well as the top international rankings by the Financial Times, the Economist and Bloomberg Businessweek offer a good orientation when selecting a renowned business school. What is the current state of the economy in Germany? Do you see a slowdown in the employment scenario for management graduates? No, to the contrary, the effects of the crisis on Germany were not as severe as in other European

Advanc’edge MBA February 2014

Dr. Jens Wüstemann, President, Mannheim Business School countries. The German economy is doing very well at the moment. In addition to big global players like Bosch, BASF, SAP or Siemens, there is a wide variety of small and medium-sized enterprises that are considered the backbone of the German economy. These SMEs are often internationally oriented and sometimes even world market leaders in their segment, or niche, and they offer excellent career perspectives to foreign specialists and executives. It is, therefore, no coincidence that companies like KSPG offer scholarships for students from Asia and Latin America with a degree in the engineering sciences to complete an MBA programme at Mannheim Business School. However, one thing is essential — if you want to gain a foothold in the German job market you should have at least a basic knowledge of the German language. Has the global recession had any impact upon the number of international student applications? If it has, what are the measures taken to overcome this? No, fortunately the opposite has occurred. In the past few years, we have recorded an increase in the number of prospective participants, current participants and applicants. Apparently, word has spread globally that the leading German business schools offer first-class education at reasonable prices, that the average costs of living in Mannheim, for example, are a lot lower than in European urban centres such as London or Paris, and also that the German economy offers attractive career prospects.

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TRAVEL & LEARNING

Portugal It might be a small country, but Portugal is one of the most beautiful, charming and historically romantic countries in the European continent. If you think that Portugal is all about beaches and cities like Lisbon and Porto, then a journey through this country will be a revelation. It’s not just the landscape that captivates, though there is a stunning variety! It has everything – from steep mountains to lush valleys and luscious beaches with miles and miles of shoreline offering up 365 days of surf. There are also a great many well- preserved medieval villages, walled towns and glorious monuments that combine with modernity and 21st century style. This variety is best seen in Lisbon, which displays a contemporary sheen without quite discarding its old-fashioned characteristics. Other main towns all have their local festivals, historical monuments, sparkling new cultural centres and wi-fi zones. Portugal possesses a fascinating history, tales of sea-

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faring heroes venturing out into unchartered waters, discovering new lands. A country with a rich cultural background, fantastic architecture, both ancient and contemporary, exists side by side. The locals are some of the most passionate, warm and openly demonstrative people in the world. Old fashioned manners and courtesy still exist and family always comes first. The best place to start a visit to Portugal is the capital, Lisbon, which packs a selection of everything the country has to offer: historical monuments, superb beaches and the former royal retreat of Sintra, along with grill houses, hip nightclubs and traditional city quarters. Further north is Porto, the country’s second city and the economic heart of the nation, best known for its port wine. Portugal has one of the world’s most revered Catholic shrines, beautiful Tomar was headquarters of the Knights Templar, while Guarda boasts of being the highest city in Europe. The most dramatic inland scenery lies in the north along the valley of the Rio Douro and

in the mountainous surrounding region which has national parks. Finally, all along the border with Spain are fantastic castles of which many are barely touched by tourism. Portugal is among the 20 most visited countries in the world, receiving an average of 13 million foreign tourists each year. Tourism is playing an increasingly important role in Portugal’s economy, contributing to about 5 per cent of its GDP.

Economic scenario

Portugal’s economy expanded in the second quarter for the first time since 2010 as export growth accelerated. GDP rose 1.1 per cent from the first quarter and 0.3 per cent in the second quarter according to the Lisbon-based National Statistics Institute. Economists have recently predicted an increase of 0.1 per cent. Portugal’s trade deficit has also narrowed in the three months as exports rose over imports. The nation’s unemployment rate dropped to 16.4 per cent recently, clearly proving the economy is on the mend. Advanc’edge MBA February 2014 33

TRAVEL & LEARNING MBA in Portugal Portugal is a developed country with an advanced economy and high living standards. One of the world’s most globalised and peaceful nations according to the Global Peace Index, 2012, it is a member of the United Nations, European Union, Eurozone, OECD, NATO, WTO, Schengen Area, and the Community of Portuguese Language Countries. Portugal, being a part of the Eurozone, has recently become a popular destination for MBA students. Its business institutes have come into their own, competing with the best in the world. The Lisbon MBA is ranked at number 61 in the Financial Times Global MBA Rankings, 2013 and it has 3 institutes featuring in the Financial Times

European Business Schools Rankings, 2013. The affordable lifestyle that accompanies studying in Portugal and the international exposure along with excellent faculty are just a short list of the advantages for international

students. With a small number of institutes from which to choose, and the third most widely spoken language in Europe outside of English and Spanish, this country is a huge draw for international students. The excellent education and beautiful Mediterranean climate make Portugal a top choice for students from around the world.

The Lisbon MBA

The Lisbon MBA Student Profile: Female students Average work experience Average students’ age Average GMAT score:

22% 7 years 31 years 617

Programme Profile: Accreditations Start dates

AACSB International, EQUIS, AMBA January

Average programme duration 12 months Total tuition fees (excluding living expenses) Post MBA employment: Average base salary Students employed within six months

€35,000

€60.261 73%

Scholarship financial aid: School-sponsored scholarships based on merit and financial need. 34

Advanc’edge MBA February 2014

The Lisbon MBA International Program is a collaboration between the two top Portuguese business schools and MIT’s Sloan School of Management. This partnership ensures that you will receive the highest level of academic expertise. The programme prepares students to become strong leaders, by focusing on both the academic component and interpersonal competencies. Students will gain the tools, knowledge and contacts that will help them embark on an international career or start their own business. The noticeable quality of this MBA is the class size. It admits only up to 40 students, which allows for a personalised approach. A partnership with MIT ensures you a summer semester in Boston or you can opt for a summer internship too.

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Ireland

With over half the population of Australia and one third of the US claiming to have Irish roots, it is hardly surprising that the Emerald Isle is such a popular destination. The island of Ireland is made up of four provinces and 32 counties, each having its own unique charm and tradition. There are numerous ancient castles and stately homes, as well as many natural wonders like the Giant’s Causeway, the Cliffs of Moher which stand 700 feet above the Atlantic Ocean, the magnificent scenery around the Ring of Kerry, the beautiful white sandy beaches along the coast, intoxicating brew of seascapes, rugged peninsulas, looming mountains and sparkling lakes. Set on the picturesque River Liffey, Ireland’s capital Dublin is home to the Books of Kells at Trinity College and is where one of Ireland’s wellknown exports – Guinness – is manufactured. Northern Ireland’s capital Belfast, where the Titanic was built, has a rich cultural life that includes many galleries, theatres and a host of year-round festivals. Cork city itself is the region’s hub, with a vibrant cultural scene and nightlife. Ireland offers everything a modern Western European country

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should, in addition to a unique and ancient culture, traditional Irish music and native sports such as Gaelic football and hurling, the fastest field sport in the world. They have the youngest population in Europe, with 35 per cent of population under 25 and a vibrant social scene to match. The Irish are renowned for their hospitality, so you will be sure to return home with new friends. The Republic of Ireland today ranks among the wealthiest countries in the world in terms of GDP per capita as per the Country Comparison: GDP – per capita by World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency, 2011. Notwithstanding the recession which they exited in 2010, Ireland remains one of the world’s most prosperous countries.

Economic scenario

Ireland offers investors a stable, profitable, English-speaking base to service world markets. This is the reason for almost a thousand overseas companies making Ireland their location of choice in sectors such as engineering, information technology, communications, pharmaceuticals, medical technologies and financial

services. Today, Ireland is home to companies such as Intel, Yahoo, Adobe, Microsoft, HP, Apple, Google, Amazon and Palm, to name just a few. Nine out of the ten biggest global pharmaceutical companies have manufacturing plants in Ireland. Ireland is ranked as the ninth most economically free country in the world, according to the Index of Economic Freedom. In terms of GDP per capita too, Ireland is one of the wealthiest countries in the OECD and EU. In 2013, Ireland was named the “best country for business” by Forbes. According to UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School’s MBA director Orla Nugent and MBA admissions manager Peter Dalton, “The 2013 GMAC Alumni Perspectives survey found that 90 per cent of all 2013 MBA alumni are currently employed, with 95 per cent of the 2013 Smurfit MBA cohort employed within three months of graduation. Now that the worst of the recession has subsided in Europe, we are seeing an upturn in the opportunities available to MBA graduates across many sectors.”

MBA in Ireland

Today, Ireland is beginning to entice international MBA aspirants with high-quality business schools and a growing economy. There are nine universities in Ireland — two in Northern Ireland and seven in the Republic. The University of Dublin, Trinity College (TCD), founded in 1592, is the oldest university in Ireland. University College Dublin’s Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School is ranked at number 64 and 34 respectively by the Financial Times Global MBA Rankings, 2013 and FT Rankings for European Business Schools. The Irish MBA is also very costeffective since it is cheaper than Advanc’edge MBA February 2014 35

TRAVEL & LEARNING more popular study destinations such as the UK and the US. Living cost in Ireland is not high. Also, the country offers a chance to work with some of the best companies in the world such as Google, Microsoft, Apple, etc. The recession has not had much of an impact on the number of applications to Ireland. Nugent and Dalton commented, “Over the last number of years we have seen our international student applications increase. 55.6 per cent students are international in the MBA and over 50 per cent of our total student body are international, from 60 countries worldwide.” A recent report by the European Council of Finance Ministers has revealed that major companies view Irish graduates as some of the most employable in the world. In terms of quality of life too, Ireland ranks 5th on the UN Human Development Index and the Economist magazine recently ranked Ireland as the best place in the world to live in. Ireland is one of the most trade dependant economies in the world. The Irish government has, therefore, invested in the internationalisation of the education system to promote international activities and encourage students from other countries to study in Ireland. Management education in Ireland is benchmarked against the highest international standards.

UCD, Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School The UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School is the business school of University College Dublin. Nugent and Dalton say, “Our MBA participants come from a range of academic disciplines and professional backgrounds including accounting, law, sales, marketing, software development, pharmaceuticals and engineering. On the full-time MBA programme, 36

Advanc’edge MBA February 2014

over half of our participants come from overseas, while 75 per cent have spent part of their career overseas – and approximately 30 per cent are women.” They also have a vast number of scholarships and funding options. Class sizes are small due to the selective admission process.

This ensures a high quality peer group, active participations from all students and a hands-on approach by the faculty. “The MBA programme consists of a dedicated careers service, and an active international network of 3,500 MBA alumni,” said Nugent and Dalton. A

UCD, Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School Student profile (full time course) Female students 34% International students 55.6% Average work experience 8 years Average students’ age 30 years Average GMAT score 630 (685 for our scholarship students) Programme Profile: Accreditations Start dates

AACSB, EQUIS and AMBA August 2014

Average programme duration

Full-time course: 1 year

Total tuition fees (excluding living expenses)

€29,500

Post MBA employment: Average base salary Average bonus Students employed within three months

US$87,260 US$18,628 95%

Scholarship financial aid: School-sponsored full time MBA scholarships are: - GMAT MBA scholarships for GMATs 700 and above: o 5 scholarships awarded for 100 per cent of the full-time MBA tuition fees. - Regional merit based scholarships where scholarships are awarded for 50% of the full-time MBA tuition fees. - “Ideas for the Future”- This 50 per cent tuition fee scholarship is awarded is based on entrepreneurial merit. http://www.smurfitschool.ie/scholarships/mba/

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Interesting Facts (Portugal, Germany, Ireland)

TRAVEL & LEARNING

Portugal The Portuguese Empire was actually the first global empire in history. It was also one of the longest-lived colonial powers, lasting for almost six centuries from when Ceuta was captured in 1415, until Macau (now China) was handed-over in 1999.

Portuguese is the official language of nine countries — Portugal, Brazil, Cape Verde, Angola, Guinea Bissau, Mozambique, Principe, Sao Tome, and Equatorial Guinea. Portuguese is also spoken in Goa (India), Macao, and East Timor. Over 236 million people world-wide are native Portuguese speakers.

Portugal was the first colonial power to abolish slavery, way back in 1761. That's half a century before Britain, France, Spain, or the United States.

The world famous Port wine (also known as Porto) is a sweet Portuguese fortified wine which is imitated by several countries like Australia, India, South Africa and the USA.

In 1709, nearly 200 years before the Wright brothers, Jesuit priest Bartolomeu de Gusmão invented the world's first airship for which he sought royal favour. Portugal could have changed history, had it not been for the Portuguese Inquisition which forbade him to continue his aeronautic investigation and persecuted him as well. www.advancedge.com

Advanc’edge MBA February 2014 37

Germany

TRAVEL & LEARNING

Germans are the second largest consumers of beer with an average of per person per year in 2010.

107 litres

Munich itself has over beer gardens and beer is officially considered as food in Bavaria. The country has breweries and

1,300

5,000 kinds of beer.

German is the most widely spoken third language in the world, once the lingua franca of central, eastern and northern Europe. German is also the official language in five countries. The first book ever printed was in German. Germany is referred to as the land of composers and thinkers. Some famous German scientists include Albert Einstein, Robert Koch and Gottlieb Daimler. Composers like Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, R. Strauss, etc were German. Germany is credited with the invention of insulin, automated calculator, light bulb, TV, petrol/diesel engines and almost the entire automobile, motorcycle, LCD screen and the walkman.

700 4,114 5,752

Germany has more than zoological gardens, animal sanctuaries, safari parks, bird parks and aquariums including registered zoos (which is more than the USA). It has museums (as many as Italy and the UK combined). Since 2003, Germany has been the world's third largest exporter of goods (approx and also the world's second largest producer of Advancâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;edge February 2014 vehicles. carsMBAand motor

$1.46 trillion)

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Ireland

TRAVEL & LEARNING

Ireland ranks th in a list of countries for economic, political and social stability.

178 More than

This is

people of Irish 80 million descent live outside Ireland.

the population of Ireland, 14 times including Northern Ireland (which falls within UK).

Except in zoos, there are no snakes in the entire country of Ireland.

Ireland is the world's largest exporter of software. The European headquarters of Google, Microsoft, IBM, Apple, Intel, Motorola, Oracle, Lotus, etc are all located in Ireland.

Bram Stoker's famous book Count Dracula was written in Dublin. It is said to have been based on the Irish legend of Abhartach, an evil chieftain who after being betrayed by his subjects rose from his grave every night to drink their blood.

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Advancâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;edge MBA February 2014 39

SNIPPETS

MH-CET now open to students outside Maha T

he Directorate of Technical Important Dates for Application Start of online application process January 27, 2014 Board, Maharashtra has Last date of registration February 14, 2014 released a detailed notification Late registration allowed till February 16, 2014 for admission to MBA / MMS Declaration of CET results April 21, 2014 programmes affiliated to state universities Final Merit list after document verification June 2, 2014 The centralized admission process (CAP rounds) will commence in Maharashtra. The notification is after this. The dates for the CAP are rounds yet to be released. available on the DTE website at http:// www.dtemaharashtra.gov.in/mba2014/ StaticPages/HomePage.aspx. The MH-CET is a online test. It will be conducted The good news is that Outside Maharashtra over a 2-day window from the March 15 to 16 Students (OMS) can also write the Maharashtra (Saturday and Sunday). The test structure will CET (Common Entrance Test). Besides MH-CET, remain unchanged, similar to CET 2012. It will OMS students can apply to All India seats with consist of 200 questions to be answered in 150 their CAT / GMAT / XAT / CMAT 2014 / February minutes (2 hours 30 minutes). MAT 2014 / ATMA. The tests of other scores will be To get an experience of what the CET is like, converted into a CET equivalent score. If you have take a free online simulated CET at http://mytest. already performed to your satisfaction in the MBA imsindia.com. entrance tests that you have written so far in the For more information on CET, visit the MHcurrent admission year, then you need not take the CET page on www.imsindia.com or write in to CET. Otherwise, go ahead and take the MH-CET. It ims@imsindia.com. You can also call us on is a comparatively easier test. 022-66680005 at Extn 271/273.

B schools

Top 15 B-schools in Maharashtra (CET cut-offs)*

Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies Sydenham Institute of Management Studies Sydenham Institute of Management Studies K.J. Somaiya Institute of Management Studies & Research Prin. L. N. Welingkar Institute of Management Development & Research Department of Management Sciences (PUMBA) SIES College of Management Studies N. L. Dalmia Institute of Management Studies and Research MET Institute of Management Xavier Institute of Management & Research

Program

Cutoff for MH state seats (Open category) 166 154 152 149

Cutoff for All India Seats**

Total No. of seats

166 157 155 154

120 120 60 120

18 18 6 5

2 1.38 1.38 4.28

15.32 10.04 10.04 7.5

MMS

146

150

120

5.09

7.31

MMS MMS MMS

126 141 138

141 145 143

180 120 120

27 5 9

1.3 3.5 4

6 5.4 6

MMS MMS

132 131

132 139

180 60

18 3

3.75 4.18

5.5 NA

MMS MMS PGDM MMS

No. Fee Avg of All (lakhs) Salary India (lakhs) Seats

* CET Cutoffs in CAP Round 1 - 2012 ** CET equivalent scores. To compute required CET score, deduct 30 from the given Cutoff

Advancâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;edge MBA February 2014

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SNIPPETS

News in brief Water discovered on dwarf planet Ceres Ceres, a dwarf planet and the biggest object in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, has been found to be spouting water vapour by the Herschel space observatory. The finding strengthens theories that life on Earth was kick-started by a bombardment of space rocks, scientists say. Ceres was first recorded in 1801 by the Italian astronomer Giuseppe Piazzi, who named it after the Roman goddess of agriculture and fertility. It was initially taken to be simply a massive asteroid. Closer examination found it to be a planetlike sphere, believed to be a silicate core with an icy exterior. In 2008, after fierce debate, the International Astronomical Union promoted Ceres to the new category of “dwarf planet”, to which it also relegated Pluto, until then considered a full-fledged planet.

ome H e re a re s i nt e re st i n g t it bit s f ro m st o ve r t h e l a m o nt h

Indus Valley Civilisation ended due to disease and violence: Report Inter-personal violence, infectious diseases and climate change had played a major role in the demise of the Indus or Harappan civilisation around 4,000 years ago, according to a new study. Climate, economic and social changes all played a role in the process of urbanisation and collapse, but little was known about how these changes affected the human population, Dr Gwen Robbins Schug, an associate professor of anthropology at Appalachian State University in North Carolina, explained in a statement. “The collapse of the Indus Civilisation and the reorganisation of its human population has been controversial for a long time,” he said. Evidence for trauma and infectious disease was examined in the human skeletal remains from three burial areas at Harappa, one of the largest cities in the Indus Civilization. The results of the analysis counter longstanding claims that the Indus civilization developed as a peaceful, cooperative, and egalitarian state-level society, without social differentiation, hierarchy, or differences in access to basic resources.

Sunanda Pushkar found dead in Delhi hotel Sunanda Pushkar, wife of Union minister Shashi Tharoor, was found dead at Leela Hotel in Delhi. Her death came within 48 hours of her going public about her husband’s alleged affair with a Pakistani journalist, raising suspicions of suicide, although no note has been found. Her body was reportedly found by Tharoor when he returned to the hotel in the evening. Post mortem reports indicated that she had died of poisoning, and the case has been handed over to the crime branch. www.advancedge.com

Advanc’edge MBA February 2014 41

SNIPPETS

Currency notes issued before 2005 to be withdrawn

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to withdraw from circulation all currency notes issued prior to 2005. “From April 1, the public will be required to approach banks for exchanging these notes. Banks will provide exchange facility for these notes until further communication,’’ the RBI has said, clarifying that notes issued before 2005 would continue to be legal tender. “The public can easily identify the notes to be withdrawn as the notes issued before 2005 do not have on them the year of printing on the reverse side,’’ the RBI said.

From July 1, 2014, however, those wanting to exchange more than 10 pieces of 500 and 1,000 rupee notes at a bank where they do not have an account will have to provide proof of residence and identity. The RBI’s move will have the effect of flushing out black money, according to bankers. A former bank official said the RBI announcement would leave currency hoarders with no option but to liquidate their unaccounted holdings by spending or exchanging them.

AAP The Aam Admi Party came to power in November 2013 after which it fulfilled its promises of free water and reducing electricity bills for the Delhiites. But the party has been surrounded by controversy recently. Early this year, senior AAP leader Prashant Bhushan said he wants a referendum to be held on the deployment of army in J&K. The very next day, AAP clarified that Bhushan’s view was his personal opinion and not the party’s. Later, Vinod Kumar Binny, an experienced party MLA, accused Kejriwal of “straying” from the party’s core principles, but was dismissed by the latter as a “rant” due to not being a potential candidate in the next elections. Just recently, AAP law minister, Somnath Bharti, was embroiled in a fight with the Delhi Police after which he has been accused of unlawfully conducting a raid and assaulting women. A protest was then held by Delhi CM Kejriwal against the Home Ministry for failing to suspend those 3 policemen. The protest concluded a few days ago when Home Minister Shinde said the policemen were sent on leave.

2013 Earth’s fourth warmest year on record 2013 has tied with 2003 as the fourth warmest year on the planet since records began in 1880, according to the US government’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). For the 37th consecutive year, global temperatures were higher than the 20th century average. “The long-term trends are very clear, they’re not going to disappear, and people should be aware of that,” Gavin Schmidt, Deputy Chief at NASA GISS, told reporters on a conference call Tuesday. Both NOAA and NASA have stated that nine of the 10th warmest years on record have happened in the 21st century. The hottest year was 2010, according to NOAA. In the past 50 years, the world annual temperature has increased by nearly 1.4 degrees (0.8 degrees Celsius), according to NOAA data.

Bohra spiritual leader dies Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin, the spiritual leader of the Dawoodi Bohra community, passed away at 102. He was the 52nd Dai al-Mutlaq of the worldwide Dawoodi Bohra community. At the funeral procession in Mumbai, thousands gathered to mourn and pay their last respects. The huge turnout resulted in a stampede that killed 18 people and injured over 40 others.

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SNIPPETS

Earth’s gassy twin discovered 200 light years away Astronomers have discovered Earth’s “gassy twin” with a mass similar to that of our planet in another solar system 200 light years away. Named KOI-314c, it is the lightest planet to have both its mass and physical size measured. Surprisingly, although the planet weighs the same as Earth, it is 60 per cent larger in diameter, meaning that it must have a very thick, gaseous atmosphere. “It proves that there is no clear dividing line between rocky worlds like Earth and fluffier planets like water worlds or gas giants,” said David Kipping of the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics (CfA), and the lead author of the discovery. The team gleaned the planet’s characteristics using data from NASA’s Kepler spacecraft. The planet circles its star every 23 days. The team estimates its temperature to be 104 degrees Celsius, too hot for life as we know it.

Famous Bengali Actress Suchitra Sen died Legendary Bengali actress Suchitra died on January 17 of a heart attack at 82. The actress had been in hospital since December 23, being treated for a respiratory tract infection. She was dependent on oxygen support and grown very weak over the last few days. With actor Uttam Kumar, Ms Sen made up one-half of Bengali cinema’s most beloved screen couple, delivering hit films such as Harano Sur, Sagarika, Chaowa Paowa and Agnipariksha. Her most acclaimed performances were in the Bengali films Dweep Jele Jaai (1959), and Uttar Falguni (1963). She was also the first Indian actress every to be awarded at an international film festival, winning Best Actress for her role in Saptapadi at the Moscow Film Festival in 1963.

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India in 2014: The challenges ahead Here’s a brief roundup of the major developments of 2013 that had a significant impact on the Indian economy. Now in 2014, what does the country need to do in order to improve the bleak growth outlook? }}} Dr Suresh Srinivasan

he year 2013 was extremely challenging for the Indian economy and its business environment. The prevailing weak economic condition and low growth at a mere 4.5 per cent was manifested through a depreciating currency that touched almost 69 Rupees to a US Dollar; this was primarily due the current account deficit, which scaled 5.4 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product. Several major developments in 2013 had a profound impact on the economy. The government’s decision to withhold implementation of the contentious General Anti-Avoidance Rules (GAAR) facilitated foreign investors to freely invest back into the country, thereby improving the current account position. Easing regulations for foreign airlines to investment in the Indian aviation sector cleared decks for investments to flow in from AirAsia, Singapore Airlines and Ethihad Airways. Policy framework for issuing of new banking licences were laid out, with more than 25 corporates showing interest. Introduction of the Food Security Act, intended to provide highly subsidised food for close to 80 per cent of the country’s population, was set into motion. 44

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Since the bill would cost the exchequer a whopping `120,000 crore, serious concerns are being raised with respect to its impact on the country’s finances. More importantly, this is being perceived as a populist initiative, solely for the upcoming union elections. Inflation seemed to be in control in the early months of 2013, which allowed the Reserve Bank of India to cut interest rates thrice and provide an environment for economic growth. However, by September, inflation (WPI based) hit 6.5 per cent, driven by high food prices. RBI reversed its monetary policy stand to control inflation by increasing the interest rates, which again negatively impacted economic growth.

Expected global business and economic scenario in 2014

Growth is definitely picking up in the American economy; the Fed has already commenced withdrawing its bond buyback programme. From the current levels of US$80 billion being spent, withdrawals of $10 billion per month have been planned over the next eight months. The latest IMF growth forecast

for the global economy for 2013 is 2.9 per cent and 3.6 per cent for 2014, both significantly lower than their July 2013 projections. According to a recent World Bank report, the slowdown has bottomed out and the next two years will see a picking up in global growth, on the back of improvement in developed economies. The World Bank projects the global economy to grow at 3.2 per cent in 2014. The US economy is slated to show an improved growth of 2.6 per cent in 2014, as compared to 1.6 per cent achieved last year. After having shown a negative growth for two years, the European Union is expected to grow at 1.1 per cent in 2014, 1.4 per cent in 2015 and 1.5 per cent in 2016. The Japanese economy is now reasonably stable with a 2 per cent growth, as compared to its negative growth a couple of years before. Emerging economies are expected to clock a growth rate of more than 5 per cent in 2014, with fast growing

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CORPORATE WORLD economies like China and Angola significantly growing close to 7.5 per cent. China’s growth engine has sharply slowed down to 7.6 per cent in 2013 from 9.3 per cent achieved a couple of years before; its 2014 growth is slated to slow down further. China is making some structural shifts, moving away from its traditional “investmentdriven outward-focused” economy to a more “consumption-driven internal-looking” economy, which may take a longer time scale to bear results!

2014: Indian Business and economic expectations 2014 is expected to be as challenging as 2013; and the growth will continue to be less than 5 per cent. However, as the

2014 is expected to be equally challenging as 2013; but India’s growth is projected to increase to 6.2% and 7.1% during the years 2015 and 2017. global economic growth picks up (and the appetite for consumption increases) between 2015 and 2017, India’s growth is projected to increase to 6.2 per cent and 7.1 per cent during the 2015 and 2017. There are a number of risks India needs to cautiously manage, which include the following. (i) Stable governance that could address policy reforms: Under the leadership of Narendra Modi, the BJP has been aggressively preparing for the forthcoming general elections. The issue of corruption, governance and policy paralysis is taking centrestage in

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the election rallies; these being areas where Congress has blinked. Furthermore, the current government’s inability to control prices and cost of living, the poor fiscal condition and lack of infrastructure creation are giving the BJP the advantage. Results of the recent Assembly elections provide an indication that the probability of one party securing absolute majority in the general elections is quite remote; coalition politics appears to be the way forward. This implies that the strength of any ruling party in coalition is greatly diminished when it comes to enacting bold policy reforms. Given such a circumstance, the present government should not wait for the post election scenario to speed up reforms. Large stalled projects need to be put back on track at the earliest. Political parties, within coalition or without, need to work singlemindedly with a bipartisan mentality to further the country’s growth agenda. (ii) Improving exports and managing the current account deficit: With the strengthening external demand, especially in developed economies, there is a good opportunity for boosting exports and reducing current account deficit. Moreover, with the Indian rupee trading weak, focusing on exports should be our major strategy moving forward. This has, in fact, already started to happen — a few months before, the government was struggling with a current account deficit of around $85 billion and had targeted to bring it down to around $70 billion. However, with more focus on exports (taking advantage of the weak currency), it is now expected that, if we continue to stay focused on exports, we could potentially close the year with a deficit of around $50 billion.

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CORPORATE WORLD (iii) Creating a favourable investment climate conducive to corporate performance: This is extremely important as corporate well-being and better performance will drive higher tax collections, which forms the bulk of government’s budgeted revenue. But there is a catch here. By favourable investment climate, we mean attractive interest rates for more investments to flow in, which in turn implies that inflation needs to come under control. The RBI can achieve this by increasing interest rates as a part of its monetary policy stance. Hence, controlling inflation, clearing supply side bottlenecks and ensuring that food commodities are freely available, become the key. This is a big challenge! Interest rates are sky high as inflation continues to batter the Indian economy. Although wholesale based inflation declined to around 6 per cent due to relief in food inflation, non-food manufacturing inflation increased, which does not leave much scope for the RBI to cut interest rates. So, inflation is still a concern directly impacting economic growth. The gross tax collections till

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December 2013 fell short of 201314 budget targets, which means that the investment climate is still not conducive enough to achieve targeted tax revenues. High interest rates and debt burden are deeply impacting corporate performance. Hence, the government is resorting to expenditure cuts to manage costs within the limited revenue streams. This may not be a good strategy for improving investment climate. (iv) Cautious, selective divestment of public sector enterprise to bridge the fiscal deficit: With tax collection targets not being achieved, the government will have to divest public sector stocks in order to bridge the budget deficit. The government is targeting at least `40,000 crore to be raised through disinvestment. Government “navratnas” like Indian Oil Corporation and Coal India are being considered for part divestment in order to raise finances. However, the timing is not suitable as the markets are weak and the valuations would not be optimal. The government needs to be sensible in cautiously choosing the timing and the company so that

it does not become a distress sale. (v) Ensuring the well being of banks: In a slowdown like this, the banks needs to be in the pink of health, as they play a key role in supporting the corporates and help them tide over the financial distress. The World Bank recently indicated that weak economic conditions and poor corporate performance have impacted the financial robustness of Indian banks. Loans that cannot be collected and those that are restructured have now increased to 10 per cent of the total loans of the Indian banks, which is a bleak scenario.

Summary

India’s performance over the next three years will depend on whether there is stable governance and whether policy reforms are implemented in a timely manner. The ability of the country’s leadership to take advantage of the strengthening external demand and improve exports, thereby bringing the current account deficit to healthy levels, will make or break the Indian economy. Creating a favourable investment climate that is conducive to corporate performance can happen only when inflation comes under control and interest rates are brought down to attractive levels, in turn encouraging large scale investments. If this happens, the government will see better corporate performance resulting in superior tax collections as per the budget estimates. Cautious and selective divestment of public sector enterprise to bridge the fiscal deficit is important. Ensuring the well being of banks through strengthening their balance sheets is again a very important initiative that the government needs to focus on. These hold the key to a healthy economy. A

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Surviving the

SLOWDOWN In an economic slowdown, companies find it hard to manage the pressure of their debt to banks, and employ different means to avoid debt restructuring. }}} Dr Suresh Srinivasan

ndia’s gross domestic product below 5 per cent has created a weak economic scenario. Corporate performance has been below par for the last three years, but has seriously worsened over the last year, especially with companies thriving on debt and loans taken from banks, which is an important component of corporate funding in India. Weak economic conditions, poor liquidity and a high interest rate regime have put pressure on Indian companies, which have experienced difficulties in servicing their debt to the banks, as and when such interest and principle repayment fall due.

Debt Service Coverage Ratio

The Debt Service Coverage Ratio (DSCR) is an important financial indicator that demonstrates the comfort level of a company with respect to the level of debt it has secured from banks. In simple terms, this ratio is the number of times that the available cash flows cover the annual interest and principal repayment commitments. For example, let us assume that a company earns cash (before interest costs) of `100 in a particular year. Furthermore, this company is committed to pay out

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an interest of `60 for that year and it needs to repay a loan component of `30 during that year. Analysts calculate the DSCR to assess if the company has enough cash flows to repay its loan commitments. DSCR for this company for that year is 1.11 times i.e. `100 divided by `90 (which is `60 + `30). 1.11 is a low DSCR, which means that if there are further drops in the company’s revenues, its profit will drop and consequently its cash flows too will wither, resulting in the debt service exceeding the cash flow, which means the company is technically bankrupt. An ideal DSCR should be above 1.4. Currently, the DSCR of many infrastructure companies has fallen closer to 1.0; this used to be close to 2.0 for these same companies a couple of years ago. Given such an acute scenario, over the last year or so, the default rate of companies to banks has steeply increased to a 10-year high.

Corporate debt restructure

Given the weak economic scenario, and in order to avoid default, companies approach banks requesting if their repayment schedule could be extended. This is Corporate Debt Restructure (CDR). Banks look into the case

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CORPORATE WORLD and take a call depending on if it is worthy to extend the credit for the specific company to ease the situation that will improve the liquidity position of the company. More importantly, if the companies are unable to pay, and the banks insist, the only mode would be for the bank to sell the company’s assets and make good on the loan. This option is not frequently used by banks, as company’s assets always yield much lesser value as compared to its face value. So generally, the banks end up having to write off loans. Till January, close to 260 companies with loan amounts exceeding `2 lakh crore have approached banks to restructure their loans. The bulk of these companies are from the infrastructure, metal and mineral segments. Under CDR, banks typically extend the repayment period, provide a repayment holiday and in some cases, also reduce interest rates. However, this is only done when the bank secures a comfort factor that the company would manage its costs prudently till it comes out of the strained liquidity position. If the bank does not perceive this (based on its experience with the company), it would not accept a scheme for CDR. Over the last seven months, Indian banks have initiated action to sell off assets for at least 10 per cent of the companies that have been unable to adhere to conditions on which their debt had been restructured.

Operating and non-operating asset sale To avoid getting into a CDR mode, many companies are cautiously attempting to proactively avoid a situation of going to the banks requesting for debt restructure. They are seriously assessing 48

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if their operating assets can be sold and the proceeds used to repay part of the outstanding loans, thereby reducing debt commitments and improving their liquidity position during periods of economic slowdown. Operating assets sale has become extremely common of late with infrastructure companies. Such companies invest in creating assets like roads, which are extremely capital intensive and require four to five years for completion. Based on the terms of contract awarded by the government, once such roads are completed, t h e

infrastructure companies levy toll charges on customers using the road asset. Over a period of 20 to 30 years, such companies secure a revenue stream that goes to provide a return on the company’s invested capital. The business model discussed above with respect to road infrastructure business is more or less similar in other infrastructure investments. It is important to note that infrastructure investments typically take such a long period to provide a return to the investors. However, if severe economic conditions arise once such investments have been made, the companies are forced to seek avenues to monetise through selling a part of its equity stake in such infrastructure assets and securing cash up-front, rather than waiting for 20 or 30 years to receive such returns. If a road company having invested in a toll road is expecting to operate for 30 years and secure a 30 per cent return on its initial investments,

it is obliviously going to secure a much lower level of returns than 30 per cent, if somewhere in the fifteenth year it decides to sell out its entire stake in this project, as it would have to sell at a discount for making the transaction attractive to the potential buyer. But strained liquidity conditions are forcing companies to take this path to avoid a situation of going to banks requesting for a debt restructure.

Asset sale in India

Over the last year, major players have been proactively selling their infrastructure assets. With a debt of close to `50,000 thousand crore, companies like GMR have sold off or diluted their stake in longterm assets that they have been developing. Similarly companies like Adani Ports, with a debt of more than `80,000 crore, have divested out to improve liquidity and reduce loans. Other companies like Videocon, Reliance Infrastructure and IVRCL are also selling priced assets to reduce debt. The biggest problem with operational asset sale during weak economic conditions is the low valuation, as it will more or less amount to a “distress” sale. However, companies are forced to undertake such sales in order to withstand and overcome the weak economic conditions. Other than infrastructure,

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companies like Tata Communications, for example, which had earlier invested in an overseas subsidiary Neotel in South Africa, has now started the process of selling its stake in this company to Vodacom, to reduce the high level of debt it carries on its balance sheet; which exceeds `8,000 crore. Companies are also selling non-operating assets to improve their liquidity positions. Reliance ADAG has put up on sale some 100 residential flats, originally used by its staff, in Navi Mumbai. Many companies like Citibank, GSK Pharma, Hindustan Unilever and Air India are selling residential and office properties in prime locations to improve their liquidity positions. Companies are also proposing to raise monies overseas, as Indian equity markets are still not fit enough to provide higher valuations. Larsen&Toubro, for example, is considering raising equity in the Singapore stock exchange.

Shares buyback

Companies that have surplus cash find shares buyback an attractive

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strategy during conditions of economic slowdown when the share markets are at lower levels. Companies with huge cash balance on their balance sheets purchase shares from the open market and extinguish the same, so that the value of the balance shares that are outstanding substantially increases. This becomes a good investment, especially when the economic situation improves and when the share markets catch up. Shares buyback is generally practised by companies that are fundamentally strong and believe in the long term â&#x20AC;&#x201D; buyback provides a strong signal to the market about the confidence of the management on its inherent strength. Major companies have adopted this strategy in recent times. Cairn India has announced that it would spend close to `6,000 crore in shares buyback. Unilever, the holding company of Hindustan Unilever, has steadily bought back shares to increase its stake from close to 53 per cent to 67 per cent, while spending close to `30,000 crore. Through shares buyback, Unilever is gaining a larger ownership in a business that is extremely fast growing (as compared to Unileverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s operations in the Europe and US). Similarly, GSK has also increased its stake in its Indian subsidiary GSK Pharma from 50 per cent to 75 per cent through shares buyback. Suzuki Motor Corporation of Japan is also contemplating the same with respect to its Indian subsidiary Maruti Suzuki. In summary, companies deal differently when it comes to keeping their head afloat during periods of economic and financial stress. Corporate debt restructure, austerity, asset sale, shares buyback and raising funds overseas are some of the popular modes. A

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The NSEL scam

Many call it Satyam 2.0. It might be just that. Thousands of crores are riding on the resolution of the NSEL fraud, allegedly perpetrated by its director Jignesh Shah. But what really happened, and what is the way forward? In this article, we take a closer look.

}}} Dr Suresh Srinivasan

he National Spot Exchange (NSEL) is an exchange dealing in commodities. It is jointly owned by a company called Financial Technologies Ltd. (FT), which is a pioneer in supplying technology platforms for exchanges, and is promoted by Jignesh Shah. It has been in operation for the last five years and currently deals with more than fifty commodities.

What the NSEL did

The basic objective of the NSEL is extremely noble — it brings together the seller (generally farmers) and a host of buyers in a nationwide electronic marketplace, so that the seller can enter into a transaction where he would get the best price (eliminating middlemen) for his commodity. NSEL has daily transactions of more than `300 crore. It is called a “spot” market, as transactions are carried out only when backed by physical goods, i.e. the seller comes in and lodges his produce in designated NSEL warehouses across the country, which can then be delivered by NSEL to the buyer once the payment is made. A spot transaction needs to be essentially settled and concluded within two days. As a commodity exchange, NSEL’s role is not limited to 50

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merely completing the transaction between the buyer and the seller; it takes on additional responsibilities to ensure that it transports and delivers the commodity transacted to the buyer, as well as to ensure that payments are collected and handed over to the seller. In effect, NSEL is responsible if the buyer does not get the goods after making payment, or if the seller does not get his payment after depositing the goods at an NSEL warehouse. NSEL is not empowered to deal with transactions that are not backed by physical goods, i.e., transactions that deal with commodities not currently in existence; these are generally called “futures”, and considered as complex transactions. Other exchanges like Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) are engaged in such commodity futures transactions. Jignesh Shah is also a founder and major shareholder in MCX, which has an annual turnover exceeding `7,000 crore, and is one of the top ten commodity exchanges in the world.

NSEL was allowed to function as a spot exchange, involving commodity contracts only when transactions are backed by physical commodity clubbed with delivery for every contract, over the last few years it slowly started entering into futures type of contracts where parties buy and sell goods without taking delivery, where settlement takes place between 11 to 36 days. A typical spot transaction helps the buyer and seller to secure the best price for the commodity. However, future type of contracts, on the contrary, will be more of a speculative nature. Now, since NSEL was illegally carrying on the futures contract business, its operations did not come under the supervision and control of the Forward Market Commission (FMC), the futures market regulator. The number of such transactions under the NSEL started increasing, and the Consumer Affairs Ministry raised objections and ordered a probe one year ago. In spite of such objections, NSEL continued to carry on with

The scam

Although

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Jignesh Shah contracts extending beyond the 11day settlement. The ministry issued a notice to NSEL to stop such contracts that extended beyond 11 days. Once NSEL stopped issuing such contracts in July 2013, the trading volumes drastically dropped to around `130 crore, and the exchange was forced to close down operations. Once operations were suspended, parties with open contracts (who had either lodged their goods and were waiting for payment, or who had made the payment and were waiting for the goods) needed to be settled. The outstanding from the NSEL to the parties is pegged around `5,600 crore. Initially, NSEL confirmed that there was enough stock in the warehouses that could be used to settle such outstanding. However, to the shock of the industry, NSEL warehouses neither had enough stock of commodities to settle, nor did it have enough cash to pay out the outstanding. In essence, the entire `5,600 crore had been swindled away by the management, leaving virtually nothing to the creditors.

So what could have gone wrong? Several explanations fit the scenario. Sellers had lodged the commodities in the warehouses, and these could have been misappropriated by NSEL, or payments were collected from the buyers without an existing

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commodity to back them up, and these payments may again gave been misappropriated by NSEL. Overall, with the lack of oversight, supervision and control by the market regulator, the management of NSEL had fraudulently misappropriated the proceeds from the transactions, resulting in a huge loss to the stakeholders of the exchange. Although NSEL managing director Anjani Sinha has been arrested, it is being widely alleged that Jignesh Shah, the primary shareholder of NSEL, is the beneficiary of such large misappropriations, even though he may not have been involved in the day-to-day management of NSEL. Such misappropriation is believed to have happened through a maze of “shell” and “benami” companies, set up exclusively to facilitate such fraud. Investigations by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) are swiftly progressing to establish the linkage between Shah and the NSEL wrongdoings. However, the FMC has ordered Shah’s removal from various other exchanges in which he is a director; this includes NSEL, MCX and MCX-SX. The FMC has further declared that Shah is not fit to run any stock exchange in the country. Such rulings have been challenged by Shah in courts.

Major issues

There are two fundamental issues that need to be immediately addressed. (i) Recovering the `5,600 crore that was misappropriated and bringing the culprits to book: Preliminary investigations by the ED and EOW indicate that a number of contracts were transacted and which were not backed up by any physical stock

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CORPORATE WORLD in NSEL warehouses. A number of companies, believed to be related parties to NSEL stakeholders, were investigated and evidence found of funds that could have been diverted for investments in real estate, properties and vehicles. The investigation now needs to move swiftly and conclusively to establish the missing links, so that the culprits are booked, monies recovered and returned to stakeholders. (ii) Linkage between Jignesh Shah’s Financial Technologies and NSEL — How to firewall MCX now? Jignesh Shah holds 26 per cent in MCX, which is a prime mover of commodity futures contracts in the country, with annual transactions of close to `7,000 crore. Although Shah is currently not at the helm of NSEL, it is widely believed that he has been indirectly running the exchange. It is alleged that NSEL statements have deliberately excluded Shah as a key management personnel from the year 2012-13 onwards, which served to distance him from the day-to-day operations of the company. The sole objective of this strategy is perceived as a means to shift the onus of the scam away from Shah to Anjani Sinha, the managing director of the company. Given such circumstantial evidence, it is widely believed that Shah is the beneficiary in this scam. With Shah’s involvement in the NSEL scam looking affirmative, the key issue is how the other major exchanges like MCX can be firewalled in order to maintain investor confidence and trust? As a first step, the FMC has ordered that Shah be removed from MCX directorship. It has also ordered that his shareholding in MCX be diluted from the current 26 per cent to 2 per cent. Shah has challenged 52

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this order in the courts as well.

The way forward

The NSEL scam is thus a case of fraud by the management, wherein stakeholder funds were misappropriated to the personal benefit of the managers of the company. It is a classic case of poor corporate governance, where the management and certain majority shareholders with control over the running of the company divert valuable stakeholder monies to their personal benefit. More importantly, the operation of MCX, which is run by a professional

The key issue right now is how the other major exchanges like MCX can be firewalled in order to maintain investor confidence and trust. management team, has been discredited by Shah’s involvement, although the operations and the technology platform in MCX are world class. How can the regulators deal with MCX, preserving the professionalism in the company, but at the same time firewalling the company from shareholders like Shah, if he is eventually found guilty? The problem facing MCX and the challenges confronting the regulators is very similar to the instance of the fraud by Ramalinga Raju in the Satyam case. In that case, Raju had set up a company of extreme repute and professionalism and a team of employees providing superior

value to some high profile global clients. However, at his level as a “shareholder and the manager at helm”, a series of frauds were perpetrated and virtually bankrupted the company. The magnitude of the fraud was also along similar lines as that of NSEL. The regulator in that case, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, with the help of senior management experts like Deepak Parekh and Kiran Karnik, successfully turned around Satyam, by weeding out the black sheep Raju but cautiously preserving the management talent and customer groups from leaving the company. Today, the Satyam part of Mahindra’s is a success story to be written about. One of the main reasons for the Ministry of Corporate Affairs to swiftly step in and resolve the Satyam case was the importance of the services sector with respect to India’s GDP. If not properly managed, the Satyam scam could have left a major hole in India’s GDP (57 per cent of India’s GDP comes from services, of which IT services are a major component) and its foreign exchange earnings. Now the question is whether the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEBI), or the Finance Ministry (under whom the FMC operates) or the Ministry of Corporate Affairs will step into the NSEL case to bring back credibility to the stock exchanges functioning in the country? In spite of over six months elapsing since the NSEL scam came to light, the real culprits are yet to be booked. Such lack of proactiveness could seriously impact not only the credibility of exchanges in the country and shake investor confidence, but also highlight the lack of corporate governance across Indian corporates. A

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Economic indicators Global economic update

The US economy has grown at 3.6 per cent (on an annualised basis) for the third quarter ended December 2013. Extreme weather has unusually slowed down the overall economic activity; retail sales have not been as expected. Soft consumer spending and lesser than expected business investment has had a negative impact on the economy. Employment situation has improved with unemployment falling; personal gains marginally improved to help during the shopping season. Recovery in home prices is continuing to stabilise, which is a positive sign. The German economy grew by just 0.4 per cent, its worst performance in the last five years. Domestic consumption increased, but the overall Eurozone weakness weighed down. In spite of the weak growth during 2013, analysts expect the German economy to grow at more than 2 per cent during 2014 once global economic activity picks up, which will provide enough scope for German exports to catch up to its peak. Although the Eurozone has showed positive signs of recovery, with industrial production rising at its fastest pace in nearly four years, countries like France still continue to struggle. During the last quarter of 2013, the Chinese economy slowed, achieving a growth rate of 7.7 per cent as compared to the same period last year, and grew by 7.8 per cent as compared to the second quarter of 2013. Factory output, exports and investment all weakened. Overall, its growth for 2013 was 7.7 per cent, which was its lowest in the last 15 years. Investment in factories, real estate and other fixed assets decreased sharply. In response to the slowing economy, and a drop in global demand for Chinese exports, the government increased public expenditure by undertaking major construction works like railway network and other public works. Although growth marginally increased for a quarter, it quickly settled down to original levels.

Indian economic update

India’s manufacturing Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI) for December 2013 continues to be below 50. PMI is an indicator of the economic health of the manufacturing sector. It takes into account the amount of new orders, level of inventories, quantum of production, deliveries made and the employment scenario. A PMI of less than 50 indicates contraction and more than 50 signifies expansion. Supporting the PMI data, India’s factories slowed down; due to lesser orders and poor demand many factories reduced production and closed down for additional days in a week. Production in the auto sector too sharply declined. Major players like Mahindra’s reduced their number of production days. Indian finance minister blamed the external slowdown for the plight of the Indian economy and assured that it would pick up over the next three years as the global economy starts picking up. Although his argument is partially true, the major cause for the Indian slowdown is the increased current account deficit, weak currency and policy paralysis. Based on the current level of exports achieved in the last month, the finance minister is confident that he will successfully contain the same to $50 billion by the close of the fiscal year. Earlier during the year, the current account deficit had soared close to $90 billion, but is now steadily coming under control after the government took several measures, like curbing gold imports, to contain the same. Rural demand continues to be strong due to a good monsoon and better agricultural performance. Additionally social sector spending by the Government of India, keeping in mind the forthcoming general elections, has largely helped the rural economy. However, high inflation and poor infrastructure continue to haunt the rural population. Overall investment conditions in the economy continued to be poor.

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Key knowledge for

Global Markets, American, European and Japanese Markets:

The American markets recorded robust performance during the review period; the NYSE Composite, for example, recorded a 3.6 per cent increase during the review period on the back of positive sentiments that the economy had commenced the growth trajectory as well as supported by robust corporate results. The same sentiments were reflected in Europe as well; the FTSE increased by close to 5 per cent during the review period. Although some economies like Germany and France underperformed, performance of the UK was strong. Overall, the sentiments are positive due to the fact that the US economy is picking up strongly and the troubles with the EU seem under control, for now.

Advancâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;edge MBA February 2014

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CORPORATE WORLD

aspiring managers

Asian markets: Chinese markets declined (China Shanghai Composite down 6 per cent), Japanese markets volatile but showed a sharp increase (Nikkei increased by close to 4 per cent) Hong Kong and Singapore down 2 per cent and 1 per cent respectively, Indian markets improved (Sensex more than 3 per cent). Overall Asian economies are slated to grow marginally higher in 2014 on the back of a faster growing global economy. Global currencies: The US$ strengthened against Euro, which started off the review period at 0.7279 Euro to a US$ and ended at 0.7316 Euro. The US$ also strengthened against the Japanese Yen; a peak of 105.32 Yen a US$ was touched, which is a vary favorable situation for the Japanese economy which is predominantly export oriented. The Indian rupee marginally strengthened from 62.10 rupees a US$ to 61.56 rupees a US$, as a result of improving current account position and as exports pick up. India’s foreign currency showed a declining trend as the US tapering decision kicks in. India’s foreign currency reserves closed at US$293 billion as compared to US$295 billion at the start of review period.

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Advanc’edge MBA February 2014 55

DIRECTOR SPEAK

Advanc’edge MBA February 2014

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DIRECTOR SPEAK B-SCHOOL PROFILES

KARNATAKA

T.A. Pai Management Institute, Manipal (TAPMI) B-SCHOOL DETAILS Address Tel Fax

Post Box No: 9, Manipal - 576104 0820-2701000/ 1010/ 1070 0820-2570699 tapmi@tapmi.edu.in; E-mail admissions2014@tapmi.edu.in Website www.tapmi.edu.in Type of B-School Private, Autonomous

TEST PERCENTILE CUT-OFF CAT cut-off

Overall: 90; Sectional: 70

PROGRAMMES OFFERED Flagship Programme Post Graduate Diploma in Management Other Programmes Post Graduate Diploma in ManagementHealthcare

No. of seats 420 60

INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL No. of full time faculty No. of visiting faculty

40 45

INFRASTRUCTURE Hostel facility Library No. of books No of periodicals subscribed No. of foreign journals subscribed No. of e-journals subscribed In-house publications Internet facility Broadband facility

Yes Yes 35,200 260 30 10,000 online subsciptions, including many databases like EBSCO, Proquest, Sage, etc. TAPMI Monthly Newsletter, Research Newslettter, Pratibimb e-Magazine, UPDATE Wi-Fi Campus Yes

FLAGSHIP PROGRAMME Duration Eligibility

Work experience Tests accepted Selection procedure

2 years Minimum overall aggregate of 50% in graduation, valid scores of CAT, XAT or GMAT for PGDM and MAT for Healthcare. A student in the final year of a degree programme is eligible to apply. Considered. Weightage provided in the final selection process. CAT/ XAT/ GMAT & for Healthcare- MAT Final selection based on performance in Group Discussion, Written Analysis Test and Personal Interview. Consistency of performance and work experience are provided due weightage. CAT 2013, XAT 2014 & GMAT 2012/ 2013 October

Date/month of test Distribution of forms commences from Last date/ month of January submission of forms Residential Yes (Residential Campus)

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EXPENSES & ACCOMMODATION Total Fees (1st year) Total Fees (2nd year) Other deposits

`13.5 lakh including accomodation `25,000

BATCH PROFILE 2013-15 Total no. of students Female students Work experience distribution Freshers 1 to 12 months 13 to 24 months 25 to 36 months More than 36 months Educational background (confirm) Engineering Commerce Science Arts Others

400 32% 15% 7% 31% 35% 12% 88.75% 4.25% 1.75% 2.25% 2.75%

FINAL PLACEMENTS 2011-13 Total no. of students No. of companies No. of PPOs/Lateral offers No of international placements Highest domestic salary Highest international salary Mean domestic salary Median domestic salary Top recruiters

230 71 5 5 `13.66 lakh USD 29,295 `8.59 lakh `8.50 lakh

Finance - ICICI Bank, ANZ, Bajaj Auto Finance, CRISIL, HDFC Standard Life Insurance, Consulting - Deloitte Consulting, IBM Consulting, KPMG, ICRA Management Consulting, Cognizant Sales & Marketing - Enhance Oman, Tupperware, Flipkart, India Property IT/ ITES - Infosys, Wipro, HP, Tech Mahindra, CTS, iCreate Software, iNautix Technology, General Management/Others - Mu Sigma, Flutura Business Solutions, L& T, Godrej & Boyce, Titan Industries, Idea Cellular, IMRB Sectoral breakup (in BFSI - 42, Consulting - 30, FMCG - 12, Healthcare number of offers) & Pharma - 13, IT/ITes - 81, Manufacturing - 17, Market Research - 2, Telecom - 2, Services - 4, E-Commerce - 11, Analytics - 10 Corrigendum: In last month’s issue, TAPMI was mistakenly placed in Tamil Nadu. We regret the error. Advanc’edge MBA February 2014 57

KARNATAKA

DIRECTOR SPEAK B-SCHOOL PROFILES

Indus Business Academy (IBA), Bangalore B-SCHOOL DETAILS Address Tel Fax E-mail Website Type of B-School

IBA Campus, Lakshmipura, Thataguni Post, Kanakpura Main Road, Bangalore- 560062. Karnataka. INDIA 080-26083709 / 700 (30 lines) 080-26083717/708 info@iba.ac.in www.iba.ac.in Autonomous (Approved by AICTE)

PROGRAMMES OFFERED Flagship Programme Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM)

INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL No. of full time faculty No. of visiting faculty

21 66

INFRASTRUCTURE Hostel facility Library No. of books

Yes

15,000+ (Management exclusively) No of periodicals subscribed 103 No. of foreign journals subscribed 58 No. of e-journals subscribed 3,800 In-house publications Yes, IBA Publication: 3D Journal of Management & Leadership; ISSN 2230-7524 Internet/broadband facility 10 MBPS Wi-fi Campus

FLAGSHIP PROGRAMME Duration Eligibility

2 years A Bachelor’s degree in any field from any statutory University approved by UGC with minimum 50% marks (45% for SC/ST/OBC and other reserved categories) OR Applicants, who are in final year of Bachelor degree, are also eligible to apply. Valid scores in CAT/XAT/MAT/CMAT/GMAT/ATMA. Work experience Preferred, not mandatory Tests accepted CAT/XAT/MAT/CMAT/GMAT/ATMA Selection procedure Entrance test score (40 marks), previous academic record (45 marks), performance in group discussion (25 marks) and personal interview (40 marks). Total score out of 150 will be considered. Date/month of test CAT - October to November, XAT - January, MAT - February, CMAT - September, February, GMAT anytime, ATMA - December (online), February (paper) Distribution of forms December commences from Last date/month of March submission of forms Residential Yes

Advanc’edge MBA February 2014

EXPENSES & ACCOMMODATION Total fees (1st year) `3.47 lakh Total fees (2nd year) `3.06 lakh Other charges Residential (Hostel + Mess) charges vary from `93,000 to `1.2 lakh per annum. No other facility is charged.

BATCH PROFILE 2012-14 Total no. of students Female students Work Experience Distribution Freshers 1 to 12 months 13 to 24 months 25 to 36 months More than 36 months Educational Background Engineering Commerce Science Arts Others

144 33.33% 74.31% 7.63% 11.11% 2.08% 4.86% 28.47% 35.41% 14.84% 5.47% 15.81%

2011-13 FINAL PLACEMENTS Total no. of students No. of companies No. of offers No. of PPOs/Lateral offers No of international placements Highest domestic salary International salary Top recruiters

83 93 68 9 1 `7.68 lakh `12.24 lakh Mahindra Finance, Bosch, Facebook, E&Y, Kuehne+Nagel, Redington, naukri.com, ICICI Bank, Indusind Bank, Pramerica Asset Managers Pvt. Ltd.

Corrigendum: In last month’s issue, there were a few factual mistakes in the data. We regret the error.

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DIRECTOR SPEAK

‘The world needs total managers’ Q

What led you to establish IBA? Indian business needed an institute focused on training research and management activity. In 2001, not many companies were thinking in terms of going abroad. So we thought, ‘How do we give strength to these businesses so that they can go global?’ We wanted to help Indian companies to expand. This was our motto, which is why we named the institute Indian Business Academy to start with. Later, due to legalities we had to change it to Indus Business Academy.

Q This is what the director of Indus Business Academy DR SUBHASH SHARMA feels. In an interview with Advanc’edge, Dr Sharma tells us the importance of leaders who can combine thinking with execution, in a world where business is no longer divorced from society.

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What are your views on the current state of education dedicated to the field of business and management in our country? Today, the number of colleges in India has increased drastically. But while colleges offering courses on business and management have seen tremendous growth, there has been no focus on quality improvement. We need to strive towards quality education so that every graduate is considered employable. This is the most important challenge that management education in India faces today.

In the light of the recent decision by the Government of India to allow foreign universities among the top 400 to set up campuses in India, what do you think this spells for Indian universities and the education imparted therein? Competition brings out the best in Indians. In my opinion, local institutions can meet the challenge posed by foreign universities. This will lead to increased competitiveness and better quality on the part of Indian institutions. Moreover I feel, the government should work towards creating facilitating conditions not only for foreign universities but also for Indian institutions.

You are associated with many educational institutions and professional bodies. How do you feel this industry is shaping up currently in the country? What do you think are the opportunities for management graduates in this field? Currently this industry is dominated by the “replication model”. It is replicating the standard American B-school model. As a result, radical and disruptive innovations are missing. In a knowledge economy, there is a need for radical innovation. At IBA, we are incubating the idea of a C-School, wherein C stands for Consciousness. We need to develop higher levels of consciousness among management graduates to make them “total managers”. Management graduates can enter this industry through four routes Advanc’edge MBA February 2014 59

DIRECTOR SPEAK viz. as teachers, researchers, education managers and education entrepreneurs. In future, education management may emerge as a distinct specialisation.

You have had wide recognition through your academic contributions to the development of Indian Management Thought. Please tell us some key Indian management practices that corporates across the world can adopt. Indian management ideas are now getting global attention because of the knowledge revolution and recognition of creativity in generation of new ideas. Given the new challenges corporations are facing, Holistic Corporate Management (HCM) and Human Quality Development (HQD) gain universal relevance. It is not only the idea of “jugaad” as an idea of creative local solutions for local problems, but also the idea of management as “joy of living” that has relevance for corporates across the world. The popularity of yoga and meditation in the corporate world is a distinctive Indian management contribution to the world of management.

What do you think employers look for in candidates these days? How does IBA ensure its students are fully capable in this regard? In my opinion, in addition to basic skills, employers want values and vision. They want graduates who can be future leaders. At IBA, we train our students to be CEOs who are creative, enlightened and organic leaders — “total managers” who combine thinking (theory) with execution abilities (practice). The future requires these kinds of leaders. The world needs people who can build with sustainability in mind.

Has the recent economic slowdown affected the demand for MBAs? An economic slowdown will always affect MBA demand to some extent, but I think quality MBAs will always be required. During recession, there are

Advanc’edge MBA February 2014

challenges, and to take up these challenges, you need quality leaders who think innovatively. Challenges must be met through innovation, entrepreneurship and creative approaches. Also, not every sector is in recession at the same time. We have to identify both the growing and stagnant sectors to ascertain where there are opportunities for growth.

Is there a gap between what the industry wants and what the institutes are churning out? Yes there is. B-schools need to churn out future leaders and innovators who will be sensitive to the society and their environment. Earlier, we didn’t face such issues as business was literally divorced from society, but now they are interlocked. Therefore, B-schools need to realise this and make changes accordingly so that our industry can have the much needed total managers.

According to you, who would be the right fit for IBA? IBA is looking for students who have a passion for doing something interesting and innovative in life. So, in the GD-PI sessions, we look for a basic understanding of their subject. Secondly, we look for the potentiality of the student to do something different. They should have an entrepreneurial streak and some amount of creativity. In addition to this, good academic record is also of importance. It tells us whether the student has the capacity to cope with the programme.

How would you advise MBA aspirants to develop themselves during the years at B-school, so that they can be an asset and make a true impact in the organisation that they join? In addition to developing analytic and critical thinking, students need to develop their power of imagination. Creativity, imagination and vision are the requirements of the new era of local-global interactions. A

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DIRECTOR SPEAK

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Advanc’edge MBA February 2014 61

STUDY HOUR

Sherlock Holmes’s The Book of Life From a drop of water, a logician could infer the possibility of an Atlantic or a Niagara without having seen or heard of one or the other. So all life is a great chain, the nature of which is known whenever we are shown a single link of it. Like all other arts, the Science of Deduction and Analysis is one which can only be acquired by long and patient study, nor is life long enough to allow any mortal to attain the highest possible perfection in it. Before turning to those moral and mental aspects of the matter which present the greatest difficulties, let the enquirer begin by mastering more elementary problems. Let him, on meeting a fellow-mortal, learn at a glance to distinguish the history of the man, and the trade or profession to which he belongs. Puerile as such an exercise may seem, it sharpens the faculties of observation, and teaches one where to look and what to look for. By a man’s finger nails, by his coat-sleeve, by his boot, by his trouser knees, by the callosities of his forefinger and thumb, by his expression, by his shirt cuffs — by each of these things a man’s calling is plainly revealed. That all united should fail to enlighten the competent enquirer in any case is almost inconceivable. An excerpt from Arthur Conan Doyle’s A Study in Scarlet

MAT CH T HE WO R D S W IT H T H E IR M EA NING S 1. Infer – (in-fur) (v) 2. Deduction – (dih-duhk-shuhn) (n) 3. Acquired – (uh-kwahyuhrd) (v) 4. Attain – (uh-teyn) (v) 5. Mastering – (mah-ster-ing) (participle) 6. Elementary – (el-uh-men-tree) (adj) 7. Distinguish – (dih-sting-gwish) (v) 8. Trade – (treyd) (n)

Advanc’edge MBA February 2014

9. Puerile – (pyoo-uh-rahyl) (adj)

a. - succeed in achieving

(something that one has worked for)

10. Faculties – (fak-uh l-teez) (n)

b. - of the most basic kind

11. Callosities – (kuh-los-i-teez) (n)

c. - manage to discern

12. Calling – (kaw-ling) (n)

d. - childishly silly and

13. Enlighten – (en-lahytn) (v) 14. Inconceivable – (inkuh n-see-vuh-buh l) (adj)

(something barely perceptible immature

e. - a profession or

occupation

f. - give greater knowledge

and understanding about a subject or situation

g. - not capable of being

imagined or grasped mentally; unbelievable

h. - the inference of particular

instances by reference to a general law or principle

i. - thickened and hardened

parts of the skin; callus

- conclude (something) from evidence and reasoning rather than from explicit statements

k. - acquiring complete

knowledge or skill in (a subject, technique, or art)

l. - any occupation pursued

as a business or livelihood

m. - an inherent mental or

physical power

n. - learnt or developed (a

skill, habit, or quality)

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STUDY HOUR

Communication Skills Builder + Quantitative Skills Builder + Enhance Your English Proficiency

A+MBA Feb 2014

Valid till 28th Feb 2014

Fill in the form send it along with your DD to : IMS Publications, a division of IMS Learning Resources Pvt. Ltd., E Block, 6th Floor, NCL Bandra Premises, Bandra-Kurla Complex, Bandra (East), Mumbai - 400 051. Tel. No. : 022-66680005 / 33017777 February 2014

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Advancâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;edge MBA February 2014 63

STUDY HOUR

A quiz to boost your General Knowledge 1. Where was the first Indian Institute of Management established in 1961? a) Ahmedabad b) Bangalore c) Kolkata d) Lucknow 2. When is National Girl Child Day observed in India? a) October 11 b) January 24 c) March 8 d) May 22 3. Name the open source P2P digital currency that was introduced as open source software in 2009. a) Litecoin b) Peercoin c) E-gold d) Bitcoin 4. Indian origin Rajesh Khurana was recently appointed the Dean of which of the following institutions? a) Harvard College b) Cornell University c) Columbia Business School d) Stanfod Business School

c) Buddhists d) Jains

7. Name the first woman in Indian history who will be heading the prestigious National Police Academy, India’s premier training institute for IPS officers. a) Kiran Bedi b) Aruna Bahuguna c) Vimla Mehra d) Sarah Rizvi 8. According to the World Health Organisation, polio remains endemic in three countries of the world, Afghanistan, Nigeria and__________. a) Pakistan b) Syria c) India d) Ethiopia 9. Recently, Google unveiled a smart contact lens to measure what in tears? a) Salt contents b) Seratonin c) Glucose level d) Hydration level

5. Name the Indian start-up that was acquired by Facebook in January 2014. a) Little Eye Labs b) Impermium c) Red Bus d) Red Hat

10. In January 2014, the Reserve Bank of India released 5 rupee and 10 rupee coins bearing the image of which deity? a) Saraswati b) Lakshmi c) Durga d) Vaishno Devi

6. India’s Union Cabinet granted minority status to which of the following communities in January 2014? a) Sikhs b) Parsis

11. Pakistani cricket journalist Qamar Ahmed became only the third man in history to have achieved what? a) Covered 400 Test matches

Advanc’edge MBA February 2014

b) Covered more than 400 ODIs c) Played with an international cricket team d) Served as umpire

12. Which is said to be the wettest place on earth? a) Cherrapunji, India b) Mawsynram, India c) Lloró, Colombia d) Lopez del Micay, Colombia 13. Name the first Indian state to provide universal health coverage to its population. a) Maharashtra b) Tamil Nadu c) Karnataka d) Gujarat 14. In its growth forecast, the World Bank in January predicted that India would grow at a rate of __________ in 2014-15. a) 5.7 per cent b) 4 per cent c) 5 per cent d) 6 per cent 15. Which country has announced that it would start rolling out 5G network – with which high resolution movies can be downloaded in a second – from 2020 onwards, with pilot runs starting from 2017? a) USA b) UK c) South Korea d) China 16. Which of the following topped a poll by YouGov for The Times (published in January)

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STUDY HOUR

for the world’s most admired people? a) Sachin Tendulkar b) Bill Gates c) Pope Francis d) Barack Obama

17. Which platform was recently named the longest platform in the world by the Limca Book of Records, and is awaiting inclusion in the Guinness Book of World Records? a) Gorakhpur, India b) Kollam, India c) Kharagpur, India d) State Street Center subway station, USA 18. Name India’s first revolver specifically designed for women by the Indian Ordnance Factory. a) Nyaya b) Nirnay c) Nirbhaya d) Nirbheek 19. Which country is also known as the “Rainbow Nation”? a) Australia b) South Africa c) New Zealand d) Netherlands 20. Malaysia in January invited which of the following institutions to establish a branch in that country? a) IITs b) IIMs c) NITs d) XLRI 21. According to experts, what has the highest probability of having caused the extreme winter faced by Canada and the US? a) Global warming b) Breakdown of the polar vortex c) Melting ice caps d) Greenhouse effect 22. Which Indian state does not have any scheduled tribe community?

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a) Haryana b) Tamil Nadu c) Gujarat d) Mizoram

23. In addition to seven of the world’s leading industrialised nations — USA, UK, Japan, Germany, France, Russia and Canada — which country is the 8th member of G8 group of nations? a) India b) China c) Japan d) Italy 24. Which of the following athletes received the Order of Prince Henry, one of Portugal’s highest honours, in January this year? a) Andrés Iniesta b) Lionel Messi c) Christiano Ronaldo d) Wayne Rooney 25. For the first time in the history of Wimbledon, The Road to Wimbledon even will be held outside the UK. In which country will it be held? a) France b) Switzerland c) Germany d) India 26. In a survey by students at the University of London, British Members of Parliament have voted who among the following as the most successful post-war British prime minister? a) Margaret Thatcher b) Winston Churchill c) Tony Blair d) Gordon Brown 27. The International Union for Conservation of Nature a few months ago officially declared which of the following animals as extinct? a) Mexican grizzly bear b) Western black rhinoceros c) Texas wolf d) Passenger pigeon

28. Which cricketer recently broke Shahid Afridi’s record to hit the fastest century in one day international cricket? a) Cory Anderson b) Chris Gayle c) James Faulkner d) A.B. deVilliers 29. Which country in January this year suffered a highlevel malfunction in internet architecture, putting as many as two-thirds of the country’s domain websites out of action for several hours? a) France b) China c) South Korea d) Pakistan 30. According to a report by Centre for Economic and Business Research, which country is likely to overtake Germany as Europe’s largest economy by 2030? a) France b) Sweden c) UK d) Switzerland 31. Which Greek goddess of victory is depicted on the Olympic medals? a) Hera b) Aphrodite c) Athena d) Nike 32. The first human artificial heart was implanted in which country in December last year? a) France b) US c) UK d) Germany 33. According to Forbes, who is the world’s highest paid actress? a) Maggie Smith b) Jennifer Lawrence c) Angelina Jolie d) Kate Winslet 34. Bollywood actor Jagdish Raj,

Advanc’edge MBA February 2014 65

STUDY HOUR

who died last year in July, was in the Guinness Book of World Records for being Bollywood’s what? a) Actor with most number of films b) Highest qualified actor c) Most attractive actor d) Most type-cast actor

40. Which technology giant has declared that it intends to cut more than 5,000 jobs in 2014?

a) b) c) d)

Microsoft Intel Samsung IBM

35. François Englert and Peter W. Higgs received the Nobel Prize in 2013 for their contributions to the field of ________. a) Chemistry b) Physics c) Mathematics d) Medicine 36. An entirely new body part – a ligament – was discovered and confirmed by two surgeons in Belgium in November last year. Where did they find the ligament? a) Thigh b) Elbow c) Knee d) Shoulder 37. Which was the first Indian company to be listed on the Nasdaq in 1999? a) Wipro b) Infosys c) TCS d) Tech Mahindra 38. The first book of the Shiva Trilogy, The Immortals of Meluha, will be adapted into a Hollywood film. Name the author of the series a) Amish Tripathi b) Chetan Bhagat c) Ashwin Sanghi d) Amitav Ghosh 39. Edward Snowden, the whistleblower who revealed the NSA’s surveillance tactics to the world, has said he would not be able to go back to the US. As of January 2014, where is he currently? a) China b) Iceland c) Russia d) Germany 66

Advanc’edge MBA February 2014

How to Play Fill in the grid so that every horizontal row, every vertical column and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1-9, without repeating the numbers in the same row, column or box. You can’t change the digits already given in the grid. Every puzzle has one solution. Hint: Don’t fill in numbers at random. While filling a particular square, write numbers 1-9 on a pad and start eliminating those numbers that already appear in the same row, column or 3x3 box.

ANSWERS SuDoKu

GLOBESCAN 1.C

2.B

3.D

4.A

5.A

6.D

7.B

8.A

9.C

10.D

11.A 12.B 13.C 14.D 15.C 16.B 17.A 18.D 19.B

20.A

21.B 22.A 23.D 24.C 25.D 26.A 27.B 28.A 29.B 30.C 31.D 32.A 33.C 34.D 35.B 36.C 37.B 38.A 39.C 40.B

WORD DOSE

1. j 6. b 11. i

Solution, tips and computer programme at www.sudoku.com

2. h 7. c 12. e

3. n 8. l 13. f

4. a 9. d 14. g

5. k 10. m

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Registered with Registrar of Newspapers under RNI No. MAHENG / 03 / 11493 Postal Registration No.: MH / MR / WEST / 14 / 2012-2014, Published on 28th of every previous month Posted at Patrika Channel Sorting office, Mumbai-400 001. Posting date : 1st and 2nd of every month.

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