Life at SDA Bocconi Asia Center | Formerly MISB Bocconi

Hi everyone, Here, we share our heart and experiences about life at MISB Bocconi Β (An initiative of SDA Bocconi, Milan, Italy ). The first batch from the school passes out in 2014 from the halls of MISB Bocconi, an initiative of SDA Bocconi, Milan. I invite my peers from the curre...

Hi everyone,


Here, we share our heart and experiences about life at MISB Bocconi. The first batch from the school passes out in 2014 from the halls of MISB Bocconi, an initiative of SDA Bocconi, Milan.

I invite my peers from the current batch (Edition 1) and students from following batches to come to share their experiences about life @MISB Bocconi here!

Cheers!πŸ˜ƒ

Nitesh Rastogi
PGPB batch of (2012-2014)
MISB Bocconi
University of Bocconi, Milan

It's almost an year in this college and must say it has been a wonderful experience in terms of quality of education, great friends that you make and wonderful professors who are as friendly as any of your friend. The way you are thought will surely build confidence in you to take up challenging roles in the future. I learnt things that I never understood when I was working. Business now makes sense to me. It's a great experience till date and hope it will be better when we visit Milan this September.

It's been almost a year now and I must say that I really took a wise decision πŸ‘Ό πŸ‘Ό leaving my IIM converts to join Bocconi, Mumbai Campus. In my opinion, it is an excellent opportunity for those who wish to study abroad because the international exposure one gets @ MISB and the quality of education is way above from comparison to any other B-school in our country. The peer learning has been an important part of the curriculum @ MISB & the batch diversity brings in a lot of perspective during case discussions. πŸ˜ƒ πŸ˜ƒ

The summer placements have been very impressive 😲 😲 for the 1st batch wherein a lot of good companies came in with multiple offers. I'm doing my summer internship @ Luxottica – (Ray Ban) which is based in Gurgaon. And I'm looking forward to our exchange semester in Milan @Bocconi which would be starting in the 1st week of September, this year. πŸ‘ πŸ‘


Gaurav Sharan

PGPB [2012-14]

Hello everyone

I am a MISB Bocconi student enrolled in the flagship year and I wish to share my experience here with everyone. I believe that enrolling at MISB Bocconi was the biggest risk I've taken in life because of it being the first year but I'm glad that I did, because it totally paid off and how!

Quality and uncompromising reputation are it's USP and very apparent right from the the first conversation you have with the Admission guys! The counselling sessions are very clear and informative, followed by being completely thrown right into the deep end of the course starting with the 6 hour long kick-offs! The professors (they totally know their stuff down pat!) are consultants, entrepreneurs, Investment Bankers, on the Boards of the top corporates and banks of the world (Even ECB!) and man is it a thrill extracting it all out of them! The curriculum is a very intensive mix of cases, discussions, simulations and exams.

The internship placements allowed us to showcase our talents and how strong and promising our college is, with profiles that only tier one colleges normally get in companies like BNP Paribas Italy, Ferrero, Fiat, Ray Ban, Givenchy, Vespa, Walmart, Deutsche Bank, DMA Yellow Works, ICICI, MSD Pharma and so many other industry leaders! I know for a fact that I have grown a lot and it's been the best thing to my career and I recommend it to everyone looking to do an MBA and I promise they won't regret it for one second!

I think MISB will very soon catch up to become a strong education brand by itself, independent of SDA Bocconi which is one of the best in the world. I'm a proud MISBan!

Hello everyone,

From previous posts from my friends the life here..at MISB Bocconi becomes clear and it has been a wonderful experience indeed. Before we all joined the school, as we are the first batch, we were a bit apprehensive about how things would turn out. The anxiety about the program, the environment, peers, faculty, internships!! etc..the very same questions which we get from the aspirants about the program. I want to say that it is natural to be anxious about such an important decision in your career.


One year has passed and I can definitely say that to be part of MISB Bocconi has been a fulfilling experienceπŸ‘. The classroom experience at MISB Bocconi has been something unparalleled. I am thankful to all the professors for delivering such excellence. This experience, for sure, will stay with us for the rest of our corporate career. The school has delivered everything they promised -

1. Excellent faculty
2. Infrastructure
3. Corporate connect (Guest lectures) & Internships

I am excited to see how the second year will shape up with our campus abroad program and semester exchange program (Milan).

Also most importantly, this July, a cohort will join us at MISB Bocconi and I look forward to meet students from the next batch, the edition 2 of PGPB program. The batch will be greeted with pretty intensive assignments like we were - may be a little more intensive, as how professors deem
mg.

Meanwhile, we plan our trip for Italy for the semester exchange program! Cheers!πŸ‘Ό

Nitesh Rastogi




Hi All,

I am Sagar from MISB Bocconi and would like to share to my experiences with you. I was planning to study in USA however I always wanted to get settled in Mumbai. When I saw Bocconi coming to India and bringing faculties from USA & Europe both my eyes lit up and after lots of research I joined this college taking some risks.

After one year I would say the risk had paid off. Right from excellent curriculum coupled with the good faculties. 100% of our faculties are PHDs with min 10 yrs of lec experiences. They bring their latest research and consulting exp to classroom which helps. They call alot of guest lectures who share their experiences wid us. The exams have also been very unique. Not all marks are allocated to theory papers which adds pressure and tension to the student. We have in some cases 50% to as high as 70% grades for group work and projects and case solutions, which really helps.

Talking about non acads, Best part is we have a very small batch and we are all like one family bonded to each other. We have excellent infrastructure and facilities which are open 24 x 7. Many students do go home after lectures for GYM SWIMMING DINNER and come back to college as late as 11pm - 1am to complete their assignments and group work.

I am now excited about my campus abroad program in USA and semester exchange program in EUROPE. At the end of the course I will truly be a global MBA student having studied in 3 continents America, Europe and ASIA.

Hello, I am Ajith Pillai from PGPB 2012-14 batch of MISB Bocconi. I wanted to talk about what we have been through in the first year of our flagship course.

Italians have a reputation for design and style. And they have incorporated it in the structure of the PGPB course and not just the sleek MISB campus. Its not conventional; its entirely an eye-opening, exciting and thrilling experience. Education-wise I feel it has changed the way i think about life and about my profession and career in a very positive manner. Much much more has been learned from the experience rather than the learning material, from the interactions, and the projects/assignments we have done.

The professors are very down to earth and have been like friends. They have simplified knowledge to focus on the essential and grasp it easily. And didn't make it feel like something beyond ourselves or too difficult. The level of planning in each course, the seamless smooth manner in which everything is conducted implies a lot of backend effort that the professors put in. This is the level we have to live up to, in our future professional and personal lives. The focus is not on data transfer, but on teaching thought processes and practical applications of knowledge. Other than business studies, they taught us about character and a style of living. Like our professor for investment banking Prof Stefano Gatti taught me more about courteousness and humility and sharing knowledge in a manner you would do with your child.

We really appreciated the simulations we had for leadership and organization behaviour classes. We had a chance to develop some real hands-on skills with the projects we completed for subjects like project management, digital marketing, business & government relations, organization design etc. We had exposure to a variety of experiences, like company visits to Aditya Birla R & D, Kotak Mahindra, participation in Asiatic Society conferences which had famous speakers like Gurcharan Das. We had angel investors and entrepreneurs speaking in our Entrepreneurship class. We had rating agencies like CRISIL speaking in our corporate finance class. For Corporate Governance, we had board directors imparting their experiences. We also hosted Microsoft Accelerator for their selection process and coffee section with startups. We had motivational speakers like Lucia talking about happiness. This all sums up a very balanced experience supporting our all-round development.

BOCCONI #7 WORLDWIDE FOR CAREER OPPORTUNITIES IN THE FINANCE SECTOR (QS World University Ranking). The Master of Science in Finance scale up 7 positions in one year (Financial Times).


June, 2012 was the time when I took the boldest decision of my life so far. Almost everyone (around me) was warning me about the possible risk I was taking in joining MISB Bocconi that also in its first year and on top of that so much of fees to be paid. Today, when I look back to that past 1 month, I just don't believe myself that I was so desperate to learn something different, something new that will help me to distinguish myself from others. I remember I used to try convincing my friend using term like so called CALCULATED risks ;). And after almost a year with Bocconi, I can proudly confirm that my so called CALCULATIONS turn out to be right.

PGPB program is like a "Full Course Dinner" with 10 different courses (specially designed for knowledge hungry people). Our first course i.e. Pre-course covered basics of Economics, Accounting & Quant. Though the pre-courses are not evaluated, the learnings are used in almost every subject. Then comes 3 main courses one after the other. It touches almost all the hot topics in the area of business ranging from AkshayPatra case of Supply Chain Management to extremely hot recipe of Securitization in investment banking. And how can one miss the case study of Heineken for Corporate strategy and "Happy Hours" business plan prepared during Entrepreneurship.

5th course turned out to be a dream came true for me when I got offer for summer internship to work with BNP Paribas in Rome. My workplace was one of the largest facilities (along with status of one of the 4 main HQs) of BNP Paribas in Italy. My assignment gave me opportunity to work on a really big (and highly confidential) contract with the highest level of delegation that an intern ever can expect during his internship. The 5th course doesn't stop here. It wasn't just an internship to try out what we have learned during our 1st year but also an opportunity to learn and to explore different culture, lifestyle and many more things. You can feel the big difference even while doing very small things, like for crossing the road in India we wait for vehicles to move first but here vehicles stops before you even if you are just standing on roadside.

Second year of PGPB starts with our 6th course, which give you opportunity to join campus of one of the 5 international universities or two specialized courses at Mumbai campus. 7th course is about a research project followed by 8th course of Exchange Semester with Bocconi University in Milan. We are all very eager to be a part of this exchange as it boost your overall profile, makes your PGPB international in true sense, gives you opportunity to interact with students from various universities spread across the globe and all the kinds of reason to be in Europe πŸ˜‰ ....

Now, let me finish these mouthwatering 5th to 8th course first and no need to mention about 9th and 10th which will be equally interesting as it will also include placements as a part of last course to sweeten the Dinner πŸ˜› ...

Thanks for reading till the last course... πŸ‘ Cheers...!! 🍻


- Amit Kawadiwale

(PGPB Student - 1st Edition, MISB Bocconi, Mumbai, India &

Intern, BNP Paribas, Rome, Italy)

"A great hockey player plays where the puck will be". This is the famous line by a great ice hockey player, although I may have distorted the exact statement, but the point I want to draw here is that if you want to be ahead in the game you need to see beyond the obvious. Choosing to study at MISB Bocconi was definitely my effort to envision the true learning potential to catapult my career to becoming a global manager.

I wouldn't call the decision to study here as a brave one but a well thought out endeavor to sell myself away from masses. I have succeeded to a great extent when I ponder over the last 12 months I spent at this prestigious institution, which commands huge brand equity in the international arena.

I was enthralled by the faculty and their extensive research and experience. It is undoubtedly the mainstay of Bocconi as a whole. The discussion in the classrooms was stimulating, open and conclusive. The most brilliant part, which I liked, was that even the teachers were willing learners. Most of them were travelling to India for the first time. They were drawn towards Indian culture. I found them very appreciative of Indian diversity.

I was one of the two students selected for an internship with an investment bank based in Mumbai. It was a satisfactory 60-day short trip to work place, after working for 5 years continuously.

A normal day started with reading two business newspapers to acquaint myself with a possible discussion with a CEO on a deal that took place. I reached office and tried the World Wide Web to supplement me with other financial and economic issues around the world. If ever you were told in the class by a strategy or economics professor how close the world was connected and impact of globalisation, you would realise it straight away when you see Nikkei falling down or going up and local market following suit.

I was installed in a project that was more strategic in nature than being a routine M& A deal. I worked on the foray of an Investment Bank into consumer finance business by setting up an NBFC in alliance with an International Bank. It was a live project. I was second in command and assisted my mentor on many aspects such as selecting the mode of entry, the choice of products to sell, to decide organisational hierarchy and defining the cost structure and spelling out growth drivers to include a few. The other side of the project involved calculating cash flows of the company, creating spread sheets and potential income to determine the value of the company for which it could be sold to an investor.

My office was at the Nariman Point, the heart of corporate India. I was always fascinated by food stalls that were around that area and I took my friend Anurag Singhal - the other MISB Bocconi intern at Yen Capital - to roam around and try different delicacies every day. I remember and Anurag would agree that in 60 days we at least tried thirty different sorts of food and discussed in length what we would try next day! It was fun. We enjoyed our one hour break from work and I tell you that in an investment bank it could be a real boon. It relaxes your mind.

I witnessed lot of unexpected work coming in the last hours from either the CEO or the clients. On most days when I thought I was done for the day and packed my bag to move, my mentor would call and ask if I could help her on something 'urgent'. By the way, in an Investment bank most things are urgent (pun intended). As a result of this my day would extend and I would normally finish around 9 PM.


Nonetheless, it is always exciting to work for an IB. I was happy to be part of it.


At the end I would say that I am content with what I have achieved in the last one year.



Manish Pathak

Class of 2014,MISB Bocconi


Who knew that an impressive meeting and an interview session at the Claridges Hotel New Delhi with Professor Stefano Caselli would become the inception point of a quest for knowledge and an international exposure for Ujjwal Sharma?

Ujjwal Sharma who has substantial professional experience with Accenture, British Telecom, IBM and GE knows about International experience, then what the heck is he talking about? The answer is a platform where he gets an opportunity to contribute, learn and apply the newest methodologies and concepts to the realistic issues and problems. These issues or problems are not just business related concerns but all possible bottlenecks.

I'm Ujjwal Sharma, one amongst the proud students of PGPB edition 1 of MISB Bocconi.

The quest of knowledge and international experience that I'm talking about is not just the state of the art curriculum that I at MISB Bocconi get a privilege to attend from the internationally renowned faculty or the Internship project (Management Consulting) that I'm pursuing with BNL BNP Paribas at their main facility in Rome, Italy. I'm talking about the entire learning experience that get its shape from the ingenious design of the curriculum, intellectually rich class composition representing different backgrounds bringing different viewpoints, jovial and never ending support from the administration staff, 24 hour access to the physical and virtual learning space, open door policy to reach out to anyone at the school for assistance or counseling and needless to say easy access to the well maintained recreational facility.

'Nothing ventured, nothing gained' was just another proverb for me, but I'm amongst the several other students at MISB Bocconi who know that it's what we have accomplished being the first batch of this great institution. We ventured and we're still gaining.

I, who is writing to you all from Rome, Italy after completing 1 year with the program and 2 months with BNL BNP Paribas, have surely become a better equipped professional and more importantly a better person. I'm grateful to MISB Bocconi to have me with them.

Ujjwal Sharma

Student : PGPB 1st Edition, MISB Bocconi

Management Intern : BNL BNP Paribas, Rome, Italy

Lesson of the week: MACRO & MICRO ECONOMICS
by Professor Carlo Altomonte


The aim of this course is twofold. The first part of the course is designed to allow participants to reach an understanding of key business economic concepts. By the end of this part of the course, participants should:

- master the basic tools of micro economic analysis and apply them to business decision making;

- have a clear understanding of how firms price their products depending on their cost structure and the competitive environment in which they operate;

- analyze the performance of markets both for the competing firms and for the society at large;

- assess the role of government in promoting (or in preventing) greater efficiency in the economy.

The second part of the course aims instead at applying both the tools of micro economic analysis and the macroeconomic concepts developed during the Precourse in Economics to the current international environment.

After the second part of the course, participants should:

- have a clear understanding of the global international picture of trade and production, and of the international strategies firms deploy to take advantage from global production networks

- be able to assess the current state of affairs of the world economy in light of the financial crisis, with a distinct focus on the EU, the US, and the BRICs.

- master basic analytical and forecasting abilities to help improve a firm's strategy.


*Carlo Altomonte is Associate Professor in Economics of European Integration at Universita' Bocconi. He is also Advisor of the Competitiveness Research Network (CompNet), a network which was instituted by the European Central Bank as a discussion forum in which to compare the different approaches on competitiveness analysis.
BOCCONI: FASHION MANAGEMENT IN VANCOUVER

Fashion brand management was the focus of the Campus Abroad program in Vancouver: 32 undergraduate students attended lectures held by Paola Varacca and Erica Corbellini from Bocconi and Junes Francis, a faculty member at the partner university that hosted the students, the Simon Fraser University in Vancouver.


Welcome days @Bocconi Milan


New Bocconi professor from Northwestern University.

A recent PhD in Management and Organizations from Northwestern University, from September 2013 Franz Wohlgezogen is going to widen the teaching and research faculty of the Department of Management and Technology.


His research focuses on how business and non-profit executives manage their relationships with external stakeholders and business partners, and how they orchestrate these relationships to steer their organizations through challenging environments. He also studies how organizations strategically manage crises, such as recessions and bankruptcies. His research has been published in the Academy of Management Annals, Journal of Management, Harvard Business Review and Stanford Journal of Social Innovation


World University Ranking, Bocconi 29th in the World and 9th in Europe

for Social Sciences and Management

In the ranking of best universities by department, Bocconi jumped 17 places in Social Sciences and Management to place 29th in the world, and 9th in Europe. For the parameter of evaluation of graduates by recruiters, Bocconi took 19th place worldwide


The quality of teaching and research at Bocconi today received further international recognition in the form of the World University Ranking 2013, published today. In the categories organized by departments, in fact, our University moved up by 17 places in Social Sciences and Management compared to last year, to place 29th in the world. In Europe, Bocconi came in at ninth place.

The ranking, produced by QS Quacquarelli Symonds, the International network focused on training and the professions, is based on academic reputation and the reputation of graduates, plus the ratio of citations to faculty members, the student-teacher ratio and the proportion of international students and faculty.

For the specific parameter of Employer Reputation, based on the evaluation of graduates by recruiters around the world, Bocconi ranked 19th place worldwide.

"The recognition we have earned brings into relief UniversitΓ  Bocconi's commitment to a marriage of excellence in both teaching and research. The various indicators that comprise the ranking show a widespread appreciation both for the academic reputation of our Faculty and for the reputation of our graduates, who have proven themselves capable of assuming positions of responsibility in competitive global corporations", comments Stefano Caselli, Bocconi's Vice Rector for International Affairs. "And that implies recognition of the effectiveness of our overall model, which pays close attention to ensuring that teaching and research work together in the interest of our students".

In July, the QS Rankings by Subject placed Bocconi 17th in the world for economics and econometrics, and 21st for finance and accounting.

Tomaso Eridani

Translated by Richard Greenslade

*Article published on viasarfatti25.unibocconi.eu






NATIONAL BUSINESS QUIZ @MISB BOCCONI: FINAL ROUND & WINNERS

The Grand Finale of the NATIONAL BUSINESS QUIZ was held at the MISB Bocconi Mumbai Campus in Powai on the 25th of August 2013. The Master of ceremony was Mr. Kunal Savarkar form Quiz Craft.

CONGRATULATION TO THE WINNERS:
Rohan Desai & Anmol Garg representing Pandit Deendayal Petrolium University (PDPU) from Gandhinagar (Gujarat) who are now preparing to FLY TO MILAN, ITALY !!!!


Best wishes to the other colleagues that were selected among 6230 students from 70 different colleges across India with 3 quiz rounds. They respectively represented:
- Pandit Deendayal Petrolium University (PDPU) from Gandhinagar,Gujarat(Rohan Desai&Anmol; Garg);
- Nirma University from Ahmedabad, Gujarat (Manan C. & Divyesh P.);
- IIT, Madras from Chennai, Tamil Nadu (Swarun Krishna & Mayank N. K. Choudhary);
- RNSIT from Bangalore, Karnataka (Chirag S. & Amogh S.);
- PESIT from Bangalore, Karnataka (Gurudatta A. R & Sathvik Ashok);
- D. J. Sanghavi College of Engineering from Mumbai, Maharashtra (Harsh Avlani & Jay Mehta);
- Assam Engineering College from Guwahati, Assam (Kapinhal Chowdhury & Kamanasish Chowdhury).


THANKS TO ALL OF YOU THAT HAVE PARTICIPATED TO THE NATIONAL BUSINESS QUIZ!
KEEP UPDATED FOR THE EDITION 2014.


MISB Bocconi Team

Hello Everyone,


Situated in upscale Powai (Mumbai), MISB Bocconi has opened its doors to the second batch for its PGPB course. The new batch consists of students with varied experiences and backgrounds. The lectures, interactions and assignments since the start have been stimulating and often lead to long hours at the school. Keeping the holistic growth in perspective, the students and the school have also initiated clubs to offer platforms for the participants to showcase their interests and talent.
It's been just over 2 months since the course began with the introduction and orientation to familiarize the participants with the fundamentals. The faculty is truly exceptional with most of them having close relationships with the industry. They have been able to share their valuable insights that has been a great take away for each one of us. The Administration staff has been very friendly, flexible and helpful on any matter concerning the students or the school.
Looking forward to an exam tomorrow rolleyes and an exciting term ahead. 😁

Cheers !

Rishab Jain
PGPB 2015

BOCCONI AHEAD OF IIM-A & IIM-C ACCORDING TO FINANCIAL TIMES !

BOCCONI MASTER IN INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT IS 17th IN THE WORLD ACCORDING TO FINANCIAL TIMES!

Bocconi continues to climb the rankings with a new acknowledgement of teaching quality and positive feedback for alumni on the international job market.