Chetan Bhagat gives away awards to the best in Indian education May 31, 2011, 14:48 IST XLRI, IIT Delhi, Indian Institute of Finance, MDI Gurgaon, Fore School of Management, Fortune Institute of International Business among winners Brands Academy, one of India’s leading brand management and consulting companies, organized Brands Academy Education Excellence Awards Ceremony to felicitate India’s leading private educational institutions that have displayed exemplary excellence as education providers to the young generation of India. The awards were based on a comprehensive market research study and opinion surveys conducted by BIG Brands Research, one of the top market research agencies in India. Mr. Chetan Bhagat, India’s most revered author was the chief guest at the gala ceremony and gave away the award certificates to the winners, which included prominent universities, colleges and institutes from all across India. The names of the Best Engineering Colleges included Quantum School of Technology (North India), SUS College of Engineering & Technology (Punjab), Yamuna Institute of Engineering & Technology (Haryana), Satyam College of Engineering (UP), HR Institute of Technology (Ghaziabad). Special awards were given to IIMT College of Engineering (Academics) and P.M. College of Engineering (Industry Collaboration). The names of the Best Management Institutes included NIILM (North India), Jagannath International Management School, JIMS Kalkaji (Delhi) and Rawal Institute of Management (Best Infrastructure). Other prominent winners included Samalkha Group of Institutions (Professional College), Scottish High International School (International School), Heritage Institute of Hotel & Tourism (Hotel Management), Institute of Advanced Medical Studies (PG Medical Preparatory Classes), Galgotias University (Private University) and Lovely Professional University (Best Placements). Renowned institutions like XLRI Jamshedpur, Indian Institute of Finance, Fore School of Management and Fortune Institute of International Business also won prominent awards for being The Best in their respective categories. On the occasion, Mr. Chetan Bhagat, said, “This initiative from Brands Academy to promote Education Excellence and recognise the achievers is a commendable effort. No one can dispute the fact that quality education is what will actually contribute towards India developing into a global superpower. And you are the people who will be amongst the real contributors in India's progress. I sincerely hope that your achievements will not only see greater heights in the times to come but also motivate others in the industry to follow suit!”
Brands Academy Education Excellence Awards have been instituted by Brands Academy to recognise the contribution made by the private sector in promoting excellence in professional education in India. The company conducted this research study over a period of 6 months with more than 100 field executives conducting the opinion surveys amongst students, parents and education consultants from different states apart from collecting the opinion of industry experts and prominent educationists. The primary objectives of this study were to identify and recognize education excellence, associated education innovations and best practices that lead to exemplary performance and to highlight the importance of innovation in the competitive and ever-evolving environment in the education industry. According to Mr. Sanjay Kumar, Vice President - Marketing, Brands Academy Pvt. Ltd., “The winners have exemplified Educational Excellence amongst the private educational institutions in their respective regions. Almost all the winners scored extremely well in our study due to their dedication to enhance their course pedagogy through practical orientation and make it industrially relevant. As per our study, highly qualified and experienced faculty, quality infrastructure and active industrial interface are the primary reasons for these institutes to achieve sustainable placement records. We hope that other private institutions in the region will try to emulate their success story and give them tough competition next year.” “Brands Academy Education Excellence Awards are the most authentic assessment of the ability of the participants to consistently deliver upon the expectations of the students and their parents besides making noticeable contribution towards the progress of India’s various industries in terms of delivering worthy manpower, an aspect that’s crucial for success of their business operations,” concluded Mr. Kumar.
Chetan Bhagat gives away awards to the best education providers India Infoline News Service / 16:23 , May 30, 2011 Brands Academy Education Excellence Awards have been instituted by Brands Academy to recognise the contribution made by the private sector in promoting excellence in professional education in India. Brands Academy, one of India’s leading brand management and consulting companies, organized Brands Academy Education Excellence Awards Ceremony to felicitate India’s leading private educational institutions that have displayed exemplary excellence as education providers to the young generation of India. The awards were based on a comprehensive market research study and opinion surveys conducted by BIG Brands Research, one of the top market research agencies in India. Chetan Bhagat, India’s most revered author was the chief guest at the gala ceremony and gave away the award certificates to the winners, which included prominent universities, colleges and institutes from all across India. The names of the Best Engineering Colleges included Quantum School of Technology (North India), SUS College of Engineering & Technology (Punjab), Yamuna Institute of Engineering & Technology (Haryana), Satyam College of Engineering (UP), HR Institute of Technology (Ghaziabad). Special awards were given to IIMT College of Engineering (Academics) and P.M. College of Engineering (Industry Collaboration). The names of the Best Management Institutes included NIILM (North India), Jagannath International Management School, JIMS Kalkaji (Delhi) and Rawal Institute of Management (Best Infrastructure). Other prominent winners included Samalkha Group of Institutions (Professional College), Scottish High International School (International School), Heritage Institute of Hotel & Tourism (Hotel Management), Institute of Advanced Medical Studies (PG Medical Preparatory Classes), Galgotias University (Private University) and Lovely Professional University (Best Placements). Renowned institutions like XLRI Jamshedpur, Indian Institute of Finance, Fore School of Management and Fortune Institute of International Business also won prominent awards for being The Best in their respective categories. On the occasion, Chetan Bhagat, said, “This initiative from Brands Academy to promote Education Excellence and recognise the achievers is a commendable effort. No one can dispute the fact that quality education is what will actually contribute towards India developing into a global superpower. And you are the people who will be amongst the real contributors in India's progress. I sincerely hope that your achievements will not only see greater heights in the times to come but also motivate others in the industry to follow suit!” Brands Academy Education Excellence Awards have been instituted by Brands Academy to recognise the contribution made by the private sector in promoting excellence in professional education in India. The company conducted this research study over a period of 6 months with more than 100 field executives conducting the opinion surveys amongst students, parents and education consultants from different states apart from collecting the opinion of industry experts and prominent educationists. The primary objectives of this study were to identify and recognize education excellence, associated education innovations and best practices that lead to exemplary performance and to highlight the importance of innovation in the competitive and ever-evolving environment in the education industry.
According to Sanjay Kumar, Vice President - Marketing, Brands Academy Pvt. Ltd., “The winners have exemplified Educational Excellence amongst the private educational institutions in their respective regions. Almost all the winners scored extremely well in our study due to their dedication to enhance their course pedagogy through practical orientation and make it industrially relevant. As per our study, highly qualified and experienced faculty, quality infrastructure and active industrial interface are the primary reasons for these institutes to achieve sustainable placement records. We hope that other private institutions in the region will try to emulate their success story and give them tough competition next year.” “Brands Academy Education Excellence Awards are the most authentic assessment of the ability of the participants to consistently deliver upon the expectations of the students and their parents besides making noticeable contribution towards the progress of India’s various industries in terms of delivering worthy manpower, an aspect that’s crucial for success of their business operations,” concluded Kumar.
The number of seats in the full time PGDM program is 120 and that of the part time PGDM program is 60. Fortune Institute of International Business (FIIB), the Delhi based B-School, is one of the first institutes to introduce the international perspective into generic MBA curriculum. The institute saw its inception in 1995 and 16 batches have graduated since then. The B-School is currently conducting the admission process for the batch of 2011-13. FIIB offers two year Full Time PGDM program and three year Part Time PGDM program. Both the programs are AICTE approved. The last date to apply for the two year full time PGDM program is Thursday, May 31, 2011 and that of the three year part time PGDM program is Monday, August 15, 2011. The selection for the full time PGDM program takes place through CAT and MAT scores. The cut off score for CAT is 80 percentile and that of MAT is 650. The admission for the part time PGDM program takes place on the basis of work experience.
The number of seats in the full time PGDM program is 120 and that of the part time PGDM program is 60. The fee of the full time PGDM program is Rs. 7.5 lakh and the fee of the part time PGDM program is Rs. 3 lakh. Talking about the USP of the B-School, Radhika Shrivastava, Executive Director, FIIB told MBAUniverse.com, “Apart from being one of the first institutes to introduce the international perspective into its generic MBA curriculum, the B-School is also known for its faculty exchange and joint research arrangements with academic institutes in other countries, cross continental projects on real issues faced by MNCs.” Regarding the cross cultural projects, Radhika Shrivastava said, “The student members of the project team are selected from FIIB and also from our foreign-institution partner. Over a course of four to six weeks, the students work in tandem to devise solutions for the sponsoring organization.”
“In the span of 15 years, FIIB has been able to create a niche in the corporate and academic circles for its innovative approach to MBA education, and is ranked high among the top management institutions in India. Accreditation by the National Board of Accreditation (NBA), recognition of PGDM by AICTE are testimony to the quality education being imparted at FIIB,” she added. Talking about the location advantage of the B-school, Radhika Shrivastava said, “The institute is located in a convenient location in South Delhi and is close to the airport. There are several advantages that are associated with major business hubs.” According to Ms Shrivastava, FIIB has close association with numerous companies. In the placements 2011, the finance sector recruited the most. The major recruiters included ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Citibank and Yes Bank. Consultancy companies like Copal Partners, Capital IQ, Grail Research, Deloitte Consulting, KPMG and Genpact also made offers to students. “The remuneration received by students has been continually and steadily rising at FIIB, as was reiterated this year as well. During this placement season, FIIB yet again saw a huge talent pool of young managers with a well-developed capability to manage and lead change,” stated Ms Shrivastava. She also shared with MBAUniverse.com the various MBA course fee financing options for students. When it comes to financing the students, the FIIB admission policy ensures that the deserving candidates are given all opportunities to fund their education. “Towards this aim, we have relationships with banks like HDFC, Axis Bank and Credila Financial Services. The current maximum interest rate in these banks for an education loan is 15 per cent for HDFC and Axis, and 14 per cent for Credila Financial Services,” Ms Shrivastava informed. FIIB offers scholarships up to 20 per cent for the fee for the outstanding students with excellent academic and extracurricular record, demonstrating aptitude for a career in business management. “We also offer need based scholarships,” Ms Shrivastava mentioned. For more information on FIIB, visit the MBAUniverse.com micro site: http://www.mbauniverse.com/admissions/progress.php?institute_id=604 Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more updates on MBA Admissions 2011.
Published On: 08 Apr 2011
An interview with Ms. Radhika Shrivastava, Vice President of Fortune Institute of International Business (FIIB) Q1. Please tell us in brief about the Institute. FIIB is an exciting place to study and grow. It is a place where thinkers become leaders. In a short span of 15 years, FIIB has carved a niche in the corporate & academic circles for its innovative approach to MBA education and is ranked high among the top management institutions in India. A highly collaborative culture, combined with a small student body creates a vigorous intellectual environment and compelling learning experience. Accreditation by the National Board of Accreditation (NBA), equivalence of PGDM to MBA by All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE), ranked among the best B-schools in India, awards by major business school academies, are a further testimony to the quality education being imparted at Fortune Institute. You can read more about FIIB at www.fiib.edu.in. Q2. What are the facilities available inside the campus? FIIB’s campus, located in the prime location of South Delhi, is an esthetically designed, modern building that provides a zealous learning environment. Air-conditioned classrooms, reading and syndicate rooms equipped with modern multi-media and audio/video systems, facilitates effective learning. The Institute uses technology-based teaching to enhance the quality of learning by students. Wi-Fi, videoconferencing, Blackboard technology, online learning and teaching software have been implemented to boost individual learning outcomes. A fully computerized, bar-coded and air-conditioned knowledge management center houses over 15,000 books, 195 periodicals/journals, 750 audio-visual and multimedia formats, making learning a pleasurable experience at FIIB. Q3. If I were to ask you to mention three differentiators for your institute what would they be? 1. A global MBA with a unique curriculum that provides an international business perspective across all functional majors. 2. Heavy emphasis on building extensive connections to the business community to enhance the education experience of future business leaders. 3. Strategic collaborations with renowned international management institutions and councils for student and faculty exchange, joint research and consultancy. Q4. What makes your institute stand out among other MBA schools? Innovations in learning processes are a continuous activity at FIIB. FIIB was one of the first schools to introduce an international perspective into the generic MBA curriculum. Over the years, we has used very innovative approaches to provide these world-class global inputs that are now a major differentiating factor between FIIB and other schools. Some of these initiatives include: 1. Faculty exchange and joint research arrangements with academic institutions of repute in other countries. 2. Cross-continental projects on real issues facing MNCs. These project teams are staffed jointly between FIIB’ians and students from our foreign-institution partner. Over a course of 4-6 weeks, the students work in tandem to devise solutions for the sponsoring organization. 3. Through FIIB’s study abroad program, students get to experience life overseas and the dynamic academic cultures of countries around. Currently, we offer this program in China, USA, Singapore, Dubai and Europe. Q5. What kind of scholarships are available from the institute’s side? FIIB rewards outstanding students, with an excellent academic and extracurricular record, demonstrating aptitude for a career in business management with Scholarships up to Rs. 1 Lakh each. It also offers need based scholarships. More details are available with the Admissions Department.
Published On: 08 Apr 2011
An interview with Ms. Radhika Shrivastava, Vice President of Fortune Institute of International Business (FIIB).. cont. Q6. What vision does FIIB foster for India? FIIB strives to create leaders who are well-prepared to take on the business and social challenges that India’s fabric poses as it steps into the next decade to emerge as a strong economic power with inclusive growth. To make this a reality, FIIB believes that Innovation is key and business school graduates have a critical, and in many cases, a defining role to play here. They are in positions that require them to make strategic investments, build organizational capacity to innovate, reinvent management processes, and more. Thus, FIIB has made a concerted effort to incorporate innovation as a critical element of its strategy. Through its CSR activities and mission, it is further sensitizing and loading these future leaders with the realities and experiences of operating in a primarily rural economy, with a completely new set of rules of engagement and challenges. Q7. B-schools in India have been propagating concepts of capitalism. Don’t you think that BSchools now need to teach sustainable capitalism- a concept which will not just address the motive of organization profit maximization, but will also ensure that corporations start moving in the direction of sustainable development? Sustainable Development is a very often talked about concept at FIIB –whether it’s amongst the students, or while designing and delivering courses, or even in FIIB’s own operations. We have a Sustainability Development Center (FIIB-SDC) as a center of excellence at FIIB wherein we have taken a consortium approach to tackling this area. Given the lack of dedicated faculty in this area, we are using a panel of experts to teach this in our curriculum and to develop new and innovative academic materials. The panel is headed by a very eminent personality, Mr. Mehmood Khan, ex Global Innovation Leader Unilever. We take the classroom experience in this particular area to a very different level, wherein we have tie-ups with many not-for profits operating in this domain for projects and experiential assignments. Furthermore to stress the importance of this area, we have made many path-breaking courses such as Engaging Rural Societies, Rural Marketing and Environmental Management now core requirements in our curriculum. Also, to live what we teach, we have committed to making FIIB a Green Building and have a clear Action Plan to move to a fully sustainable campus in a set period of time. Q8. What role can industry interface play in enhancing placements & internships of B-school and also in creating its brand name? The relationship between an MBA school and the Industry is completely synergistic. Both need the other. Specifically, industry interface includes: guest lectures, seminars, workshops, live projects, industry analysis, and industry report creation, among other learning opportunities. FIIB has strong linkages with the business community and these relationships offer great opportunity for students while they are studying and later for placements at the completion of their respective programs. Specifically, in addition to the things mentioned above, FIIB is focused on building extensive connections to the business community through its supervised consulting opportunities for students, interactive seminars, bi-weekly CEO lectures, etc. to enhance the education experience of future business leaders. Q9. How is FIIB contributing towards encouraging and nurturing Entrepreneurship? Today, innovation, entrepreneurship and sustainability together form that pivot on which the Indian economy at large, and FIIB in particular wishes to grow and evolve through. At FIIB, we have created the entrepreneurship cell called UDAAN. The cell provides a conduit by which students brainstorm newer ideas, organize the requisite support, access relevant entrepreneurial resources, network with prominent community entrepreneurs like through the NEN network, and share ideas.
On Monday, March 21, 2011, AT Kearney, which is a global management consulting firm that focuses on strategic and operational CEOagenda concerns in association with Fortune Institute of International Business (FIIB) conducted a Case Study Workshop at FIIB. The two senior managers of the prestigious firm, Sarovar Agarwal and Amit Saharia conducted a case study workshop to FIIB students in the campus. The firm also conducts case analyses workshops at the IIM's. Sarovar Agarwal is a senior manager with A.T. Kearney and has been with the firm for over seven years. Amit Saharia is a senior manager with A.T. Kearney, who has over seven years of global management consulting experience with strategy firms (including Deloitte Consulting in the US and Booz and Co. in the Middle East) spanning private as well as public sector clients. At FIIB, case studies are used frequently for teaching the students effective decision making. According to FIIB, The contribution of these two Senior Partners from A.T. Kearney, by sharing tacit and not-so-tacit facts of this art of understanding, decoding and analyzing a typical case study added immense value to management learning at FIIB. Sarovar Agarwal dealt with a case study on the topic of ‘The profitability improvement of the telecom operator store.’ With a large number of multi-purpose telecom operator stores located across the country incurring heavy losses since inception, a strategy had to be devised, to turnaround the overall store portfolio and make it profitable. Imbibing their inputs on case study analyses proved to be a great learning for students of FIIB and faculty alike. Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more updates on FIIB!
Every year during the months of April and May when MBA students leave for their summer internship, it is time for the faculty to face blackboards and enter the learning mode.
What was previously the strength of only the very premier b-schools, a growing number of private and upcoming b-schools too are investing in Faculty Development Programmes (FDPs) in order to upgrade the knowledge, teaching and research skills of an increasingly inexperienced teaching workforce. As a side-benefit, the schools are gaining brand visibility in academic circles and some are also scoring higher in b-school ratings. Lasting between two to three days at a time, these FDPs are like boot-camps that introduce young management faculty to contemporary teaching methodologies, management research and software packages that are to be taught as part of the MBA curriculum. Usually the deans or directors of a reputed b-schools take these sessions and pass on their experience of teaching to the faculty. “A lot of young people are joining private b-schools as faculty right after they pass out of the PGDM program of a B or C grade institute. These people have no prior experience or exposure to teaching. For them, FDPs are very useful and better than on-the-job training,” says Dr Madan Mohan, Dean of the Delhi-based Jagan Institute of Management Studies (JIMS), which conducts FDPs once every three months. The FDPs are especially helpful to b-schools that are having to hire fresh management graduates from lesser known institutes as faculty, owing to a systemic shortage of experienced management faculty in India. In New Delhi for example, there is an active „FDP circuit‟ of sorts among half a dozen well-known private b-schools that trains inexperienced faculty from newer private b-schools. Delhi‟s Fortune Institute of International Business (FIIB) conducts two to three FDPs every year between April and October. Their FDPs last 2-5 days and are attended by 20-30 faculty members from all across Delhi. Similarly, the Apeejay School of Management, Dwarka at Delhi conducts three FDPs every year, one of which is funded by the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE). Well-established private Delhi b-schools such as the International Management Institute (IMI), Management Development Institute, Gurgaon and Fore School of Management also conduct FDPs. Young faculty, though knowledgeable about the course content, often know little about teaching methods beyond delivering lectures. Says Dr AK Puri, Director of FIIB, “The lecture format is basically spoon-feeding and is boring for students. So we suggest methods to bring excitement to the classroom during the FDPs. Some of the teaching methods we talk about are the case-study method, role-plays, simulation games, crosswords and outbound training.” FDPs that teach the case-study method garner the highest participation, with upto 35 participants at a time. At the Apeejay School of Management, it is FDPs on management subjects that receive the highest participation. “Our sessions on quantitative analysis and tools of management receive the best response,” says Apeejay‟s Director Dr Alok Saklani.
Other FDPs concentrate on specific areas of management such as finance, marketing or the use of statistical packages such as SPSS. According to Prof S Garimella, Chairman of IMI‟s MDP and Consultancy Committee, FDPs translate into a direct benefit for MBA students. “Many faculty members need updating and the knowledge of new pedagogical tools so that they can make their classroom sessions more interactive and make content and delivery of courses more interesting for students,” Prof Garimella says. While FDPs help b-schools make the best of the situation in what is clearly a scarcity of experienced faculty, it also brings along many side-benefits for the b-schools. “FDPs help by establishing our brand in the academic circles. It gives an opportunity for bonding among faculty of various colleges. Participants keep in touch with each other and share knowledge even after the FDP ends,” says Dr Puri. Prof Garimella agrees, “We are able to build a good network of professors due to FDPs. Sometimes we end up doing joint research programmes with faculty we met at FDPs.” However, there are some hidden benefits too. Some such as Dr Madan Mohan of JIMS openly admit that FDPs help the b-school get a better position in various b-school rankings and that is a major driver for them to conduct these programmes. Dr Puri however disagrees with this view, “In fact, your FDPs will get participation only if you have a good rank. So the FDPs are dependent on rankings and not the other way round.” Schools such as Apeejay have also found it easier to hire faculty as a result of their FDPs, says Dr Saklani. “FDPs have helped create goodwill for us in the market and often when people apply to us for faculty positions and we ask them how they came to know about us, they mention that they were attracted to us after they attended our FDP,” he says. “There is no institutional effort to help teachers in the management sector grow. We are in a situation where teachers are mostly left to themselves for their upgradation. This is where FDPs help the most,” Dr Puri concludes.
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