[brideIIM]

hi ,i too have a take on this issue...........

[convolutedsignal]

First things first. Do not blame the degree. An MBA is a very well thought out, carefully designed degree to give you the skills to lead in the corporate world. It helps you learn from your peers, gives you a much larger perspective than what you may have currently and finally lets you do what you want to. An Indianisation of this concept meant that the great Indian middle class woke up one morning and discovered "Hey skills, networking ok but hell this means more MONEY" .

Now I do not want to get into existential wrangles on what the purpose of one's life is or how education in itself is useless but given that we have a system, we have really no choice but to work within the system.Any degree for that matter is just a formal recognition of your capabilities, I cannot go and decide to become an architect today simply because I am not recognised as one.

A system has to find ways of standardising the processes so that it works with minimal effort every time we run it. This is exactly we as mankind try to achieve in the tech world by interpoperable systems. The irony of course being that we as human beings work as a system ourselves where standardisation is the norm. Every problem facing today's society is because we are still in the process of discovering our standards. Be it homosexuality, Islamic terror or the closer to home pre marital sex. The system works as long as you live by its rules and apply it to define the success or failure. The system atleast in India for now defines success in purely pecuniary terms. A good job, a happy wife and "settled" kids. Play by it or be a rebel and be prepared to face the system's wrath. As the system evolves we will see newer standards being established government jobs still aren't in favor are they? But fact remains there is a system and you are a part of it.

All in all you're just another brick in the wall.

[brideIIM]

time axis
0 .......... life.........(CAT XX)............life............(CAT xx+1).............infinity.


Cat xx is a very short interval on the life time axis(better to call it an event),some ppl just live for events, get too sad or too happy(Cat matters!) and keep constantly losing the big life periods CALLED life .......

Live according to what life demands.....Whether its high pay,or some higher goal that makes u go for MBA ,u need to have harmony with life.do what ur harmonic heart says.

[gabbar]

hmm.. atleast i am not bitching about MBA .

what i meant was ppl have unrealistic expectations from an MBA. its like all MBAs end up in Lehman brothers and are destined to be CEOs at 35! and there is this huge amount of frustration when ppl dont make it . Its not like its the end of life?!?! Just try to start your own business. you may not be successful , you may lose your shirt but at the end of the day you will surely learn more than what is taught @ 1.75 lakh per year!

MBA means different things for different ppl. for me atleast its more responsibilty. money comes last and i AM ready to take a low paying job if it offers a challenge. but what i feel is that we should stop treating mbas like GODS! theres this stupid news channel called Channel 7 or something which had the expert views of IIMA students on the indian budget. really do you think that the students of IIMs know more than some CA or analyst whos sole job is to follow the budget? No! but we want glamour! we want a couple of the so called best brains in the country standing in front of the red bricked wall giving out dozes of intellect about the indian budget, something which i personally feel teh students at this age wont be able to give. similary the eco times had an article , IIMA whiz-kids on the budget. cmon... when will we stop treating the IIM grads like demi-gods. I mean they are intelligent. In a matter of few months i am hoping to be in the IIMs myself. but i dont really want to play to the hype@!

this author chap you are mentioning about , chances are he comes from a well to do family! but then thats not the case with ALL of the mba aspirants! many of them would like to earn a decent livin for themselves and their family!

Originally Posted by The Raven

I don't see any point bitching about MBA. At engineering time, we were pressurized by our parents and our peers. Now we are old enough and unless we are really weak no one can presurrize us to continue in the software job or for MBA aginst our wishes. If we choose to work in a IT company or study, MA we do it at our will. Lets not curse it. If we don't like, we have option of leaving it and doing what we like.

There is this chap Samit Basu. He went through all this grill and joined MBA at IIM-A. After his first year, he realized that MBA was not what he wanted to do. He dropped out and became an author. He has already published 2 books - 'Simonqion propehesies' and ' Manticore's Secret'. I think he is India's first fantasy author. He is still just 26 or so.

So if someone feels strongly that way , now is the time for strong decisions. Otherwise you will repent all your life. If you decide MBA is what you want to do, stop cribbing, accept that you have chosen that and go ahead. That is waht I feel.

Atleaset as far as I am concerned, I know what I want to do and where MBA fits. I have no cribs.

[sruj]

hmmmmm societal pressure to get a job , get married and 'settle' down.

yup that kills abt half the dreams in india.:(

[Mmmmbopp]

There is this chap Samit Basu. He went through all this grill and joined MBA at IIM-A. After his first year, he realized that MBA was not what he wanted to do. He dropped out and became an author. He has already published 2 books - 'Simonqion propehesies' and ' Manticore's Secret'. I think he is India's first fantasy author. He is still just 26 or so.

This Author might be from a very well off family as Gabbar pointed out or he might be one of those exceptions who live on a different plane altogether.
But most of the people like to keep it real and practical and MBA is an obvious choice for people(most of them fresh students) who have realistic ambitions and goals.Thats why MBA. Thats why its a herd mentality cos the size of the herd is very big. Thats why industry requirement is preferably an MBA cos they are available easily(attributed to the herd thing).
Nothing against MBA(I m gonna do it this year) but its this hypocritic talk in interviews about Y MBA and the aspirant blabbers the generic answers that CL TIME etc prepare.This is something that irks me.The panel also knows that the chap is lookin for money IN ADDITION to a Degee PLUS skills etc (no denying that). Still when u answer them straight , they act as if its the first time they expected to hear THAT answer from the person !! Cmaawn, being goody goody and philosophical towards goals ,life etc is very good and a person have to have this trait but then neglecting the base reality for the sake of bluffing thru is NOT what I support !!
PS : And I am not trying to sound UnCle Scrooge here but still MONEY matters

[shrikanthk]

Originally Posted by convolutedsignal

First things first. Do not blame the degree. An MBA is a very well thought out, carefully designed degree to give you the skills to lead in the corporate world. It helps you learn from your peers, gives you a much larger perspective than what you may have currently and finally lets you do what you want to. An Indianisation of this concept meant that the great Indian middle class woke up one morning and discovered "Hey skills, networking ok but hell this means more MONEY" .

Fair enough...one should not blame the degree....
But isn't the system attracting the wrong kind of students?
Surely an IIT/NIT topper is better off studying Finance in the US than joining an IIM.
An executive MBA, a few years down the line, probably makes more sense for such students.

Btw, does a management trainee in an FMCG company require the 'broad perspective' that IIM education has to offer?
There's no reason why these companies shouldn't recruit from IITs and other leading engineering colleges for the same job-profiles....
The 'perspective' that you were talking about can be imparted in engineering colleges.
In my university for instance, there wasn't a single humanities elective during the four years.....pathetic.
Basic Econ/Fin/Accounts gyan can and should be learnt at the undergraduate level itself....
One need not enrol for a 2-yr MBA course at the age of 22 to learn the fundamentals.

MBA is a very well thought out, carefully designed degree to give you
the skills to lead in the corporate world

If this is the intent of the degree, won't the purpose be better served if the students are more seasoned with some managerial experience under their belt? What you have stated is the objective of an executive MBA, not the PGDM course offered at IIMs.

Now I do not want to get into existential wrangles on what the purpose of one's life is or how education in itself is useless but given that we have a system, we have really no choice but to work within the system.Any degree for that matter is just a formal recognition of your capabilities, I cannot go and decide to become an architect today simply because I am not recognised as one.

A system has to find ways of standardising the processes so that it works with minimal effort every time we run it. This is exactly we as mankind try to achieve in the tech world by interpoperable systems. The irony of course being that we as human beings work as a system ourselves where standardisation is the norm. Every problem facing today's society is because we are still in the process of discovering our standards. Be it homosexuality, Islamic terror or the closer to home pre marital sex. The system works as long as you live by its rules and apply it to define the success or failure. The system atleast in India for now defines success in purely pecuniary terms. A good job, a happy wife and "settled" kids. Play by it or be a rebel and be prepared to face the system's wrath. As the system evolves we will see newer standards being established government jobs still aren't in favor are they? But fact remains there is a system and you are a part of it.

All in all you're just another brick in the wall.

The rest of the post is just brilliant....vintage consig.

[convolutedsignal]

Originally Posted by shrikanthk

Fair enough...one should not blame the degree....
But isn't the system attracting the wrong kind of students?
Surely an IIT/NIT topper is better off doing independent research than joining HLL as a management trainee.
An executive MBA, a few years down the line, probably makes more sense for such students.

If this is the intent of the degree, won't the purpose be better served if the students are more seasoned with some managerial experience under their belt? What you have stated is the objective of an executive MBA, not the PGDM course offered at IIMs.

The rest of the post is just brilliant....vintage consig.

Srikanth I was referring to an MBA degree. The Indian version of the same is what I refer to in the money making bit. The IIMs are running a program for this great Indian middle class. It would take some very good leadership and vision if they are to transform the way they think, but that will take some one from outside this sub-system Cos when you are within the system it doesn't make a difference whether you are running it or just a part of it. I am from this system, I am good, So the system is good. If the system is not good then I am not! Shady syllogisms

[ohmygoditsgulu]

Originally Posted by pravzmad

To sum it up, I can say, "Even if you win the rat-race, you are still a rat". And the fact is, every one of us wants to be that rat. Like it or not.

Well said...

[Gary4U]

MBA has been an int'l hobby for a long time, some years back has traveled to desiland and now at its full peak (before it follows the downward trend).
Me too have an Mba from a top school, and believe its useful but definitely not something for which people end up wasting 2-3 years preparing for f***g CAT.

Brand MBA and branding of top schools wud surely loose its relevance in times to come, it wud become more of a commodity, just a matter of time. The competition & the customers convert even a top brand into a commodity, look around there is no dearth of examples.

True learning takes place in the market place where many myths n theories are broken, so Mba/non-Mba is immaterial. Its right that an MBA tag from a so called top school reduces entry barriers, which is again a offshoot of flawed hiring systems and cartelization.

Guys don't loose your heart. Pursue your dreams, if you believe you have the suitable temperament go4it. Otherwise there are better career choices available. look around n explore. Take the path less traveled and don't simply join the bandwagon.

Gary