How good is MBA for people with Family Business??

htowner · 05-05-2004, 03:23 AM

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Hi Aejaz..
Cost Management is the field from where i have started working in my business.. To find out the cost incurred on various products we make was tricky....(and to my surprise I found that just to sustain and have an edge in the market we are selling some products at loss....)

Its a problem. Unless you have a way of measuring (atleast approximating) the costs, you will not be able to control it. the wise men say that what cannot be measured cannot be controlled. Plus, if its a new business, you have to take a hit for the first year or two or more probably, to gain market share and compete on cost. you can try competing on time to market for new products, but i guess you need to have a lot of control over your suppliers and logistics ( enforce penalty for delays , something like that). One significant component of cost management maybe inventory turnover and lost sales. you can read about it.

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Hey Aejaz u admin of GMAT club ??? Can you suggest how good are MBA courses offered at B schools outside as compared to IIMs here .. Do they take a more practical approach as compared to B schools out here??

Yes, i am the admin.

Let me try to answer your question. Please take it for what its worth.

your question truly depends on your requirements. If you are looking atleast a decade in the US after your MBA, sure, go ahead. The ROI is good enough.

If i was in India, and had an IIM admit and a top 10 US B-School Admit, it would be a tough decision.

there are somethings that need to be considered.

first, its not easy for internationals to get a job in the USA. Americans join MBA programs in droves and thus employment opportunities for international MBA's are not as good compared to IIM's. of course, getting a job in the USA depends on how good you are and also to a certain extent, who you know

second, if you join any US B-School that is worth its name, you net worth will be Negative $100K-$125K by the time you graduate. If you plan to spend the next decade in the USA, sure, go ahead. I dont have an MBA (yet), but i know that if i can afford it and things are in place, I will prefer a US B-School experience over an IIM one, simply for the kind of exposure one gets. I do not quite understand the IIM's focus on academic rigor, but i am not smart either. probably there is good reason. the MBA is going to stay with me forever. so i would prefer going that extra mile to get into my kind of B-School.

Just a few points about practical approach. Harvard, i guess, has a case method. but other than Harvard ( and possibly wharton), others have the traditional approach. Of course, there are many Business Plan competitions,which are a great learning experience for anyone who wants a taste of entreprenuership. Plus, some univs. have investment funds run by students ,who manage REAL money. so thats good experience.

I have a document of the top 5 US b-schools. its written in detail by the students themselves. if it will help, i can email it to you.

hope this helps

Aejaz

abishekkalro · 05-05-2004, 09:41 AM

hey manish

i am in the same boat with u.
i am a bcom grad jus finished my final sem last week. i gave a shot to cat and landed up with 89.6 %ile .... guess i dint prepare as much as my frenz did...
we have a groups of companies right from packing tea for nestle to a diamond franchise outlet...
i have no father and i am with my mothers side for years now..
i hve tasted business right from age 16 when i frequented our kids retail store (gini&jony) out of my own accord and since then i hve been into the varoius firms and offices..
we are situated in coimbatore which is a city with a lot of scope to grow.. but the probelm is we have only business men here and no mnc's ... so growht is slow...
i was also like u looking at an mba from iim, fms, mdi, nm, or worst mica.. i missed out on tapmi's form... and now i dont know where to go... i have to support my uncle in his business.. he has just joined hands with his friend in a lighting venture, a pretty big project and there is no other eligible male to help him in the business... he doesnt mind me doing an mba coz education is always first.. but the bottom line is i hve to join back...

abishek

hasher · **Re: How good is MBA for people with Family Business?? -** 05-05-2004, 09:58 AM

hi..
reading about your dilemma and the subsequent suggestions that followed make interesting reading..
well i was in more or less the same dilemma a month back ..
i too have a family businesss like you ..though we aremore into retailing of garage tools and service station equipment in bangalore.. with a branch in mangalore..
so far the business has been run for about 30 years with my dad and my uncle in partenrship.. but we do have employee turnover problem as well as a very large inventory control problem.. apart from prbably a fewq other i havent been able to notice yet..
my dad at the moment is in usa, and we had a sort of mishap at the office where we lost foru of our most trustd employees in one swoop...
well the point being we are highly understaffede ..but that also means i get a lot to learnabout managament..
if i was thiniking of keeping the business as it is.. to learn the business skill my dad has aquried over the years .. only through experience, then that would take me about 4 - 5 or more years to get anywehre near all the ideas just brimming from his head..
basically an mba should give people like us moreor less a birds eye view of any situation.. to see things we moight be missing now.. its two years .. but it sort of help you understand most of what you are going to find in the field one day or the other... and basically equip you to handle those things better with a more "educated" view..
Regarding specifically to the sp jain course .. well i personally found it a little too practical..
i mean if i had to spend a certain amount with admission and tuiton and all.. i aloso have to spend more on travel to and fro bombay once a month.. and cnsider my stay prospects if i dont get hostel accom.. and take a weeks learning to implement in my business.. travel time from bombay to bangalroe by bus or train takes about a day.. and even then for small business operations it works out to a pretty large amount at the end of two years.. they dont even allow you to work in the same industry .. while its good that it would mean you;d get to know you business better.. , the other hand working under someone else withing bombay or around maharastra will give you more efficiency at the college..
i guess thats why i preferred a in house residential college.. joined scmhrd.. i dont know if the course is out oof this world .. but i did speak to a few students from the same course and it seems to have equipped them with enought skills to atleast read between the lines and look at aproblem from all possible angles and consider cause and effect.. plus an mba might give you insights into new possiblities and new metthods of sing technology to guide your business to smoothen wrinkles and basically inc efficiency..

i too am off the same opinion that once you get into your family business its going to be very difficult to get out in two years to do an mba and comeback..
its like the mafia.. or like the line in "hotel california" .. you can check out ..but you can never leave..
what of all those contacts ..those relationship you have built for the many years you were there.. and plus if you're going to be more and more involved..there'd be a lot more responsibility on your shoulders.. and subsequently letting all those go would be very tough..
so think about it.. consult with your bro whether he thinks he can handle thing for your mba years.. so you can get back with him..
well i gotto go ..
its work time..
see you soon
best of luck .

killerguy · 10-04-2005, 12:35 AM

hey guys, a gr8 thread. nice to see so many ppl having the same confusion. well even i m confused abt wht next should i do in life. i have the following pts in mind... and based on it, i have to take a decision

1. I want to finally do business. the confusion is whether i should take it up rt now or after an MBA.

2. I m not of the kind who lick ppl's asses for promotion n stuff... not the guy who is good at corporate politics.

3. I got 98% in CAT n have a final admit in NITIE. donno whether i will b able to repeat this performance in future. well, if i join business, wont get time 2 study also.

Also i am just wanting to know whether a MBA would be a value addition for doing business. and that too from NITIE, which will be more systems oriented. by the way, our family business is not too big, just a retail showroom... i wish to expand it... n get into exports n stuff.

also would like to have suggestions as to wht courses i can do that will help me in expanding my business. heard abt distance learning courses by NMIMS, a part time export course at IIFT. any other courses tht would b of help.

as for todays status, i m not too keen to join NITIE, would prefer to get into business.

aspirantcat · 07:18 PM

Hi

I wanna need some help............

I wanna give cat 2005 and have a querry......i wanna know if i show my family business experience will it be considered...........

since I have completed my engg this year and plan to do mba.....it would be grt if I can show work ex without workin or........i hv to work .......or i have to tell thm i didnt do nything.......

which is the better option ( considering if i do work may mess with my cat score.........though i hope not to do tht and also considering tht...........its not """im or nothing """" for me and i may go to any decent institute).

PLz help frnds.....

sksanthosh · 06:25 PM

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jacas · **fmb @ spjain -** 04-09-2005, 08:18 PM

Hello guyz... looks like you are all pretty confused... i am not sure if you have done it already... but still i am just putting in a word...

I have a few friends in SPJain... if you want to know something abt the fmb program there i can ask them to find out the prof in charge of it and give you his contact details... i heard that they wud also put u in touch with the students of the fmb program, in case u want to talk to them...

so just reply back if u guys want me to proceed further on this...

sandeep_aquarian · 29-09-2005, 08:32 PM

hi ..

i m sandeep here and have family business and is keen to join back my business .
i already have a two year long experience in my business . Ours is a decent medium scale business i.e roller flour milling(wheat) unit and we have customers like parle biscuits , britannia , harvest gold , priyagold , anmol biscuits n all .

i m basically looking for an mba and is confused on which institute n which course to join . i have done b com in graduation n have got 80 %ile last year in cat . Cudnt get in any decent b school . m lookin to do an mba dis year. no matter from where n which course(fbm or general ) .kindly provide insight regarding courses n options .

Quote:

Originally Posted by jacas

Hello guyz... looks like you are all pretty confused... i am not sure if you have done it already... but still i am just putting in a word...

I have a few friends in SPJain... if you want to know something abt the fmb program there i can ask them to find out the prof in charge of it and give you his contact details... i heard that they wud also put u in touch with the students of the fmb program, in case u want to talk to them...

so just reply back if u guys want me to proceed further on this...

I have come to know abt narsee monjee's family business management pgdbm . some one have told me that they teach u at par with regular students n all d classes n case studies are same but the only differnce is that the guys of fbm dont get placements .

please provide insight(s) .