How do you monitor where your money paid to the government as taxes, goes after the returns are filed? Neelesh Misra from the Hindustan Times (HT) proposes a plan for a monitoring network and wants to employ MBA graduates to work on it. The plan is to employ the MBA graduates for a minimum period of three years on a salary of Rs. 30,000 a month. Misra says in the article "At a time when the estimated 1,600 management colleges in India are churning out more graduates than there are job openings, these positions should be easy to fill", putting away any questions on the availability of MBAs for the jobs. Going forward with the plan, the MBA graduate thus recruited will head a team of twelve data entry operators who will in turn be equipped with point to shoot cameras or cell phone equipped with cameras.It is interesting to note the use of two concepts that Government-India or Public-India has preferred to stay away from always; a) the use of technology: simple tools that make your work easier and b) the use of Master of Business Administration or MBAs inside the country rather than them being trained for export. Although technology is also at its nascent stage for being used to make things work better, it is the recognition of MBA graduates as people who can actually help the country rather than just receive fat paychecks and work in air conditioned offices which is a noticeable development. Today progressive thinkers believe they can be of some use.
There is also a change on the other side as the MBAs too want to do some thing different. On the HT comments section, a volunteer has already nominated herself for the initiative. She is an MBA who has left her job with an MNC due to lack of interest in what she was doing and wants to be part of the system to monitor tax payers money. Other trends that show the changing mindset are social entrepreneurship, green management which has become a large part of the MBA curriculum. Many of the MBAs (working or studying) whom I know want to open businesses that will allow them to create jobs. MBAs are ready to change the world.
If such projects become a reality, the entry of MBAs, largely trained for the private sector (insane working hours, deadlines and stress on performance) in the public social sector will be subtle turn in terms of work culture in a place full of babus and redtapism. After public sector banks hiring MBAs in a big way in this year's placements, the process has already been initiated. The question that remains to be answered is: Who will replace who?
I happened to attend the 
CAT aspirants are expected to devote hours and hours of hard work if they wish to get anywhere close to their dream b-school. Well, it really shouldnt be too much to expect coaching institutes to provide better facilities for students taking the practice tests that are conducted. The news that CAT might be a computer based test had been floating around for close to a year before it got confirmed a month or so back. MBA coaching institutes such as TIME and Career Launcher (CL) do need to provide better facilities if this years CAT takers are to get reasonable practice before the big day.
over an extended period of 20 days. Ameya who has registered for the TIME AIMCATs said that there was a time loss of 20-25 seconds while clicking through to the next question. There were other issues also at the Vikhroli center in Mumbai where Shashank Prabhu gave the test which started two hours late. While most students were satisfied with the infrastructure provided, Shashank's keyboard and mouse took turns in acting up. There was also a huge variation in the number of questions he had attempted and that shown in the test results. TIME on its part has promised all students who registered for the test series that they will be able to write this test which was available for only full time students. However, this does not benefit the full time students in any manner. In Jaipur at the Lalkothi center, all the computers had Linux installed on them and students could not see questions properly because of the screen's poor resolution. Abhishek Chopra, a student registered here commented, "No technician was available to help students and people at the center were complaining throughout the test."
Set right what you believe is wrong seems to be the motto of the Higher Education Forum started by Dr. A K Sengupta, Dean SIES College of Management Studies for regularization of higher education and ridding it off its corrupt practices.
The Supreme Court ruled and the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) have got cracking on admitting more students. IIM Ahmedabad (IIM-A) has recently announced that the 
How do test strategies change when you have to read tough Reading Comprehension passages from a computer screen instead of paper? Here's a small tutorial that proposes a interesting approach to making sense of complex passages in the new context of computer-based CAT and speed up your performance in this crucial section for CAT 2009.
Reality shows can get you anything. From a spouse to an MBA. And yes you heard it right. In Singapore, 16 contestants are vying for an MBA scholarship of S$25,000 (Singaporean Dollars) in 
The twitter bus has taken the world by storm and most of the IIMs have recently woken up to how important 140 characters are. The Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) are hardly following anyone on Twitter except for IIM Kozhikode and that account is currently being run by an alumnus. Unless of course, all IIM media cells are using their personal accounts for that purpose; I know that one IIM is definitely doing that! Professors at b-schools have taken to blogging and now, the institutes themselves are looking at getting real about a virtual presence.
Last Saturday, I attended a management event organized by Forum for Learning and Youth Leadership (FLY) at Bhaidas Auditorium in Ville Parle. The event schedule listed speakers from top Indian b-schools and heads of two prominent companies speaking about admissions, b-school life, CAT preparation and management. The issues covered by the speakers made the event a capsule of things to know before applying to a b-school.
'4Thought 2009', the recently concluded annual business seminar at Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies talked about the Power Shift from the West to the East in Currency, Culture and Politics. Eminent speakers like Gulu Mirchandani, Chairman and MD, MIRC Electronics, Shikha Sharma, CEO and MD, Axis Bank and Dilip Chhabria, CEO and MD, Dilip Chhabria Designs India Ltd. to name a few presented their viewpoints on the topic. However, before we talk or argue about it, it becomes really important to know if the power is shifting from the West to the East or are we just getting ahead of ourselves.
Ever wondered why doing business in India is diametrically different from studying business in India. Many people must have realized the difference in scenarios when they passed out from their business schools and started working. The text book just did not teach you enough!
Last week, we covered a fresh dot-diagram approach to tackling Reading Comprehension passes in the verbal section of the CAT exam. Many of you who studied the tutorial asked for more examples of the method for better clarity of the concept, so here it is!
Yes, you heard that right. We have excess stock of hot coffee but not enough people to spend sleepless nights consuming it. Are you passionate about the world of MBA education? Do you get excitedly lap up news and analysis on business schools in newspapers? Are you brimming with questions on why the gears in the MBA world turn the way they do? We'll give you a chance to find out the answers to those questions and also inform the world about it! Join the PaGaLGuY Editorial Team as a Fulltime Reporter.
An MBA program aims to provide exposure to a wide range of issues and students from varied backgrounds enroll at business schools. However, Indian b-schools in most cases have a gender ratio heavily skewed towards male students. Interestingly enough, Apeejay Educational Society has chosen to set up women dedicated MBA programs at two branches in the NCR region.
How does the test-taking strategy for Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation change for the computer-based CAT? Here's a tutorial.
About 100 odd old users on the PaGaLGuY.com forums are going to be lining up for this year's CAT as part of OMPA (Old Men's PaGaL Association) but they aren't simply cooling their heels and waiting for the CAT notification to come out. Far from it! You can invite your favourite OMPA member in the city for dinner to get answers to all your questions regarding CAT preparation, MBA life and careers. Before you start counting your pennies, there's some good news; a maximum of eight aspirants can get together and take an OMPA member out for dinner.
If you have an Italian streak in you, I say head for IMT-Ghaziabad; no you will not find yourself turn into Michelangelo, but every three months you will be able to feast on unlimited pizzas and cold drinks in the mess. Now this is a treat for even the most remote Italian in us.
When the classes end and the committee meetings are over, the students relax in the amphitheatre or in the lush green lawns of the institute, immaculately maintained by the administration. Although such occasions are rare, the students make the most of it. A manager indeed balances work and play.