Why MBA?

To start with, I love writing but have never written an open-ended note. It has always been a one-on-one. To start with, I am a Computer Engineer, working at a reputed IT company and I am just not interested in this field. I read books, articles…

" It is going to be a tough journey ahead, you would find it really hard to live in this modern world, in case if you are not making a living of your own..It is you who is going to decide your future." Nevertheless, almost all of us have been part of these hearings at one or the other point in our life from various people. In fact these might act as motivators for the one's who are really wary about their career and might also propel a profound thought in one's mind to take these words seriously.

People who understand the livid imagination of these words,would love to work upon these thoughts and would like to pave the way for a stronger foundation. In today's world we have a number of opportunities to be chosen, but what makes many to opt only for an MBA is what baffles me. The very first opinion one gives us,when asked about this would be to earn an awesome salary, this is very much true. As it thoroughly justifies the words suggested earlier, but what lacks here is the deep insight.

Ironically,earning doesn't imply a placid and smooth life .it is only one of the means which aids life, there are innumerable other things which have to be taken care in accordance. Our society today has a number of people who are earning but what makes us actually lack when compared to our counterparts is not the specialization but the implementation of the learned so called 'MBA.' For the people out there, we really have a long way to go, to make the place we live in a better one. Hope this ignites the passion at least among the future aspirants to complement to our country's progress... :)

Regards,

Sandy!

Manufacturing industry has the tough time. Indian manufacturing plays a vital role in the economy as it contribute 16 percent to the gross domestic product GDP.

Role of managers to decide the growth of the company some times become invincible. Steel, power ,cement , EHV cables, aluminium etc manufacture demands large infrastructure. Managers has to deal with the large labour force which are not much educated in india and with the professional persons like engineers, executive etc. it demands a versatile approach to work, to handle different situations whether favourable or conflicts.

As the overall objective is to attain the department objective which tends to focus on the organisation objective.It was observed that Managers of individual department like HR , Production, Technical, Maintenaince/Service, Operations,Sales etc must have the linkages/formal relations to share the views for the growth. They have to focus on the new idea or approach to increase the surplus for the organisations.

They to avoid conflicts in the department, Upper Management support is important for clear communications. Generally manufacturing industry follows the vertical up and down communications.In a short we can say that in manufacturing industry Managers has immense pressure to show the growth,they have to versatile, emotionally intelligent, adaptable to the situations .A long journey still needed to cover in india to developed in manufacturing sector. Government support is very important

Gazing at the presentations being held in my IT class, I pondered over the last one year I have spent in IIMK. Watching my past through the prism of retrospection, I see various spectrum of learning and experiences I have undergone to reach here. A year and a half before, I was just another aspirant preparing for CAT. Every weekend, I used to board the Delhi metro and go to my coaching centre in Connaught Place. Those weekend classes, mock tests, preparatory packages, learnings, valuable insights were somehow adding value bit by bit to my knowledge bank. Though like every other student, I wasn't sure of my purpose of taking this much trouble. Let's face it, a better job, more money, a name in the industry and a good decent girl is what everyone aspires at the end of the day. Not sure about the rest, but most of them manage to get the latter

These are the kinds of dreams that our peers and role models instil in us. Cracking CAT was the most valuable achievements in my exhibition of accomplishments. I was excited about the new faces, professors, new friends, new place and most importantly new environment to adjust, after 2 years of an independent office life.

I realize today that it is for this very purpose that I want to work for, to make a difference. To offer a perception, a new dimension, to the pool of life forces. Every form of energy deserves a better life than what it is today. It is the moral responsibility of not only me but everyone to contribute their bits to the spirit of the cycle of life.

It is important for all the MBA aspirants to know and understand that what makes them employable or industry ready professionals. In today's scenario MBA education has to be thought beyond placements but at the end of the day what matters is the economic success i.e remuneration.

So important is what all attributes contribute to your economic success and thus making you "Industry Fit Professionals"

If we talk about the recent survey conducted by Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), it says "No industry exposure means MBAs find jobs hard to come by".

The study has revealed dearth of industry exposure or functional experience posed a major roadblock for Indian management graduates who did not find a job in 2013. The study, which covered 129 business schools around the world, shows that a key shortcoming for 2013 Indian management graduates who did not find a job was lack of industry exposure (47%), followed by inability to find a job that pays enough (29%) and over-qualification (29%).

Take this survey an eye-opener for yourself and plan your MBA by considering all the necessary parameters that lead to your economic growth. There are many aspects involved in the development of a qualified student. As the study reveals that one of the most important ones is the industry exposure. A student who has been exposed to the industry is a student who is more aware of the opportunities that are out there in the field and can demonstrate a greater level of commitment and dedication to what he or she is interested in.

The God of Cricket started his farewell speech with “My life, between 22 yards for 24 years,…” Sachin Tendulkar's international cricket journey was already six years by the time he was 22 years old. On the contrary, majority of Indian youth in the age group of 22-24 years, are still struggling hard to shape up their career and secure their future.

While one half of the young strugglers are already working, the other half makes a choice to pursue higher studies for another couple of years. But, almost everyone has something in common- the urge to become an MBA.

But, the question is, why is MBA so attractive? On top of all the primary reasons, over the past two decades, the demand for business management professionals has grown, fuelled by economic liberalization and the consequent growth across multiple sectors of the Indian economy. To cater to the growing demand, educational institutions have mushroomed, offering MBA / PGDM programmes. Better the academic standards of the institute, stiffer are the entry norms. Different institutions conduct entrance examinations, scores of which are considered for admissions. Besides being inter-disciplinary, management education demands certain qualities from prospective students. Important among these are:

- Analytical mindset, to process available information for effective decision-making under uncertainties

- Comfort with quantitative number crunching, for data analysis

- Interpersonal skills, for working in cross-functional teams

- Verbal communication, to put across ones views effectively

- Written communication, to put across ones views effectively

- Creativity, to think outside the box

- Leadership ability, to effectively lead teams, departments and organizations

- Knowledge and awareness of important events / trends / developments in multiple fields

- Ability to 'connect the dots'; to establish meaningful connections between seemingly isolated developments

- Risk-taking ability, to dare and design innovative solutions to practical problems

- Street smartness

Of course, the selection processes for MBA/ PGDM admissions – through entrance examinations / group discussions / personal interviews – are designed to evaluate prospective students on some or most the above mentioned criteria.

The question you need to ask yourself is – AM I GOOD ENOUGH FOR THESE QUALITIES? A critical, unbiased self-analysis is a pre-requisite for the right answers to emerge out of this introspection. Done correctly, probably with the consultation of friends, the answer should guide you to the right path. Further strengthening your skills and continuously working on your weaknesses will definitely make you a right fit for an MBA / PGDM (that too from a premier institute!!!). That would be the beginning of a professional journey that shall outlast Sachin Tendulkar's professional career. All the best in your future endeavor.

The funny thing is that I think the answer to me is substantially clearer at the end of thirty plus years after I exited the hallowed portals of IIM Calcutta at what was then their newly minted campus at Joka. A secondary question that I will also try to answer is: Was my Engineering Degree from IIT Kharagpur redundant in the face of the MBA, a waste of tax payers' money or did it also contribute to my work and career.

Now my life has come full cycle as I deal with “B-school graduates” in my role as faculty and mentor.

Firstly, whilst in many ways getting a MBA had the same motivation then, as it is now, there are so many things that are different in the current generation and it is important to understand things from the perspective of a bright 24-year old living in a world where the globe has truly shrunk! I think that there was a touch of the idealistic at that point of time, the need to do something for the country and the world that seems to be missing from the psyche of today's aspirant. At the same time the dreams of becoming powerful and rich have remained constant through the years.

Let us look from an employer's perspective. The biggest problem that an employer faces is the large gestation period between hiring a new employee and that employee becoming productive. Each day, a new employee is “learning” instead of “performing” translates into hundreds of thousands of Rupees to the employer. Therefore they are always looking at a solution where a new employee can hit the ground running akin to an aircraft being able to take off without a long run down the runway (a V-TOL and S-TOL aircraft does exactly that!) The MBA was the answer. If a prospective employee could get a feel of what a working environment as a manager or leader was, before she actually got into that role that would be great. Therefore the first reason for a MBA course: it helps you acclimatize for your stint in the industry just as days spent at a base camp help you prepare for the climb to the mountain peak

Secondly, multi-skilling and multi-functionality is a desperately needed quality in individuals and in short supply. A MBA degree is supposed to prepare you for a role where you can handle different jobs with relative ease. Let us say you are a Sales Manager and need to be transferred into Production. Do you have to learn the ABC of being a Production Manager from start? Not if you have a MBA degree.

There are other reasons why an employer would prefer a MBA (it acts as a filter in selection processes for example) As a student if you want to do a MBA it is because you have to be seen as useful and value-adding to your employer. Now you know why …

The CAT fever has recently settled down and the results of your year-long sins will soon be out in the next few days. Some lucky chaps amongst you, will miss out on the interview calls from the colleges of their choice, and will continue enjoying God's precious gift to them- 'Their Life'. But, some not-so-lucky ones of you would be trapped and end up with a fantastic CAT score. You, believe me my friends, will be the chosen ones. My utmost regards and sympathies for you. Out of thousands of applicants who tried to slaughter their happiness this year, the Devil has shortlisted you to actually do that.

So, why MBA? In the subsequent months after getting your CAT scores you will find yourself all occupied, discovering an answer to this lame question. You'll spend hours to introspect your own boring life in an attempt to 'connect the dots', which have led you to the path of Management Education. A walk down the memory lane will soon make you nostalgic about your golden era filled with pride & glory. You'll dive deep into the endless depths of your past, and find all but a convincing reason for doing MBA. The reminiscence of your good old days will make you wonder why you are even here, sitting in a filthy room, preparing for a silly interview, in which you're anyway going to lie out loud.

Nevertheless, one fine day, you will somehow, by using your wit to the best of your potential, manage to fabricate a naïve but apparently convincing explanation for your inclination towards MBA. An explanation, which you would know, is totally flawed but your presentation of it, if satisfactory, can still get you inside the classroom of your dream college. Your (mis-)fortune for the next two years would lie solely on your performance in front of that interview table. You would prepare to give your best shot and leave no stone unturned for that one single chance. A chance which you believe, would compensate for all those mistakes you had done in choosing your career path. A chance that you believe, would take you back to the ages of your long-lost pride, glory, and of sheer satisfaction. That chance of yours, my friend, would soon arrive.

All set and prepared, you'll enter the interview room and exchange the pleasantries with the traders of your falsehoods. They, in turn will shoot at you, an incessant set of questions, in order to examine your tall-tales from different angles. For the next half an hour, all your pseudo-intellect will be put to test, and you, like a true warrior, would face them head-on with your lies. A sense of satisfaction would pass through your heart as you emerge out of the room as winner. Finally, you, with your hopes held high and fingers crossed, will head back home, anticipating a positive response and wondering still over that stupid, yet unanswered dilemma: Why MBA?


Let me start with a question, what makes a B' school a better educational institution………….

Initially one has so much skepticism and confusion about many unanswered questions before joining any B school or while undergoing the process of selecting a B school. Most probably this is the last and final attempt by us to become a student again, therefore a calibrated step towards this is every much essential….

The following are a few things one has to keep in mind while going for a business education

· Why am I doing this course

· Which MBA I am going for 1 year or 2 year course

· Whether the institution is equally equipped to accommodate both the courses

· Whether my decision is compatible with my previous work experience

· Do I want to change my work profile after my MBA and how to do that

· How is the faculty of a B school

· And what will be my experiential gain

And so many………

Oh Yeah! Why MBA..? Everyone will be dumbstruck at this question, at least for a while when three professors are staring at you, thinking what story you have cooked. That moment, we get confused whether to tell the prepared answer or what comes to your mind. It's not so tough though, because we all have an answer for this, a well-prepared one!! Where we search in internet, collects the ideas, frame it as best as possible to sound professional and make that was our biggest reason to do MBA. But are they really going to be impressed with our well-prepared answer, Do they really hate if we speak what we have in our heart? And tell why we wanted to do MBA actually?

In my IIM Indore interview i did tell a story which I prepared for very long time, They weren't happy. It might be because of other reasons that I could not impress the panel with my answer, but one thing I understood is that they will catch our stories within minutes. They can easily make out that whether it was a prepared one or not.

Even after giving my best prepared answer, I did not get selected and the rest is past. Well, again a year later when the time came up to prepare for that same question, I'm just struck. It is not like i do not have any answer or I cannot prepare for one, but the problem is i do have answers, but too many. May be this was the only question in my life, for which the answers are kept on changing with the time. The problem is which one to tell them?

The early days we were all fascinated by the success stories by famous business people and we desperately wanted to become one. We were hyper-active in extracurricular activities than academics and used to feel proud whenever we receive a certificate dreaming that it will surely count in our final battle. But, when our engineering completes, another story begins. We landed up in Software Company, thinking that our experience will boost our resume. With the time, we won't realize that the dream of entrepreneur faded away because we know can't invest. Finally something very interesting situations happen that we met somebody and we like them and we study together dreaming to be in same college and in the end our motive will be being with that person in same college! It might sound crazy, but it will happen! At least it happened with me! So which one we can tell to interviewer? Definitely not 'For my girl/guy…'

The whole point here is we don't need to mug up anything, MBA is our dream and we know it's our passion, whatever the reasons might be. Just dare to express yourself and make the interviewers understand that why it is your dream. Then they should definitely like it! Hope you all have better or best answers!! :)

You have heard rumors and you have heard facts. The shades of myths are likely to hide from you the beauty of a number of advantages. So, let us throw light on a few misbeliefs that lead many bright students astray regarding Private Business Schools

Myth #1

All Private MBA Institutes are the same, so it doesn't matter which you join!

Reality

It is safe to infer that if you are attending a school from the Top 50 you will finish with an equivalent expertise in the MBA program. You must keep in mind that you join a School not based on a poll of a magazine; but which is answer to your vision.

Myth #2

It doesn't pay to join an MBA School outside the top Ten!

Reality

The individual strengths of business schools differ from one another. The criteria should be your interests not reputation. You may compare the placement and decipher if standard matches your expectations. If yes, there is no point in wasting time on speculating.

Myth #3

The higher the fee, the better is the Institute!

Reality

The Fee of the Schools depends on factors such as infrastructure, facilities, programs and curriculum. There is no way to establish that the Schools that charge less are of lower standards than the others.

Oh No its Monday again!!! This was the first thing that came to my mind on the very first day of the week. With sleepy eyes and sluggish footsteps I would get ready and reach office. Then I used to check my mails to find my “to-do” list of the day and plan my work accordingly. But as life is full of surprises…my boss would call me and ask me “What are your assignments for the day?” I would reply “I need to atleast work on 5 assignments and also need to follow up atleast 4 of the clients”. My boss used to say “That's not much of a work, here are some more…” And he would ask me to complete them by the “close of business hours”. This seemed to happen regularly…I kept doing the same stuff every day and even weekends…It was boring, there was nothing new or challenging, managers were deciding I was implementing...I lost interest in my job, I became mechanical.

I knew this wouldn't take me a long way. I needed to do something on my own, take decisions on my own, and the person who I work for should at least know my name and not just identify me as an “Employee ID”. But for all this I needn't only technological knowledge that I gained from engineering, but also the skills to manage people, time, take decisions according to the situation and most importantly presenting my thoughts. And a MBA could help me to do all this and that's when I decided to preparing myself to “bell the CAT”.

The first thing that I did was took admission into one of the coaching institutes as other MBA aspirant. The next thing that I did is managed time to really prepare well for the D-Day. It was really very difficult to manage time so I took a back seat in my office, did only what I was asked to do and rest of the time prepared. I attended my weekend classes and solved test papers in my office in whatever time I got. I spent as much time as possible in preparing myself by going through different MBA websites, attending workshops and seminars and also talking to different alumni of the different colleges I had applied to learning about “Life in a B-School” .Then I started taking mock tests. Initially my scores were poor; I got demoralized and thought that MBA was not my cup of tea. I became apprehensive about my poor ratings in my office. But the very next moment the image of my dream would appear before my eyes which I couldn't afford to trade–off. I had to choose and here got an opportunity to take a decision on my own and prove it correct. This is what I wanted and realized I had no other option than to move ahead and prepare myself for the big day, so I did...and finally belled the “CAT”...

About in a month or so the results of the entrances and institutes would be declared and each one would take the news in a different way. I somehow feel the urge to reach out to those who may not be able to make it to the very top. Don't get disheartened or depressed if you have to make a compromise by settling for an insti. below your expectations.

All of us are doing or want to do MBA for a successful career and the brand name of the insti. satisfies our ego. But what really matters is that how much we can accumulate in the two years - be it the fundamentals of the system or thinking out of the box & most importantly ethics. Because if you fail in that part then you might end up like Rajat Gupta or B. Ramalinga Raju, who in spite of graduating from an Ivy League college got their ethics all mixed up.

Sadly, all we look for in an insti. is the average package the previous batch got and we feel complacent thinking that at least that much we'll definitely get. There was a joke I read somewhere that "Indian parents reproduce so that they can show their kid's marks to the neighbors". I would like to add to that - "& the Indian youth does an MBA to show their payslips in front of friends".

I know people from Amity and Jims (both considered pretty avg. insti.) who are getting a pay package of 20 lacs & others from the very top, who earn about half of this figure. I am not encouraging to deliberately get into an average insti. All I want to say is that give your best shot at entrances but don't judge yourself by the results because a stupid 2 hour test can only tell about the hundredth root of an iota of your capability. Just strive to make the next 2 years count. Learn how to survive and flourish, don't rely on someone to feed you.

In the end I'll tell you something about Warren Buffett, the oracle of Omaha, the billionaire investor. His company- Berkshire Hathaway has a unique legacy and that is - 50% of the employees are college dropouts and the rest 50% never attended college. Only exception is Buffett himself. All the very best to everyone. Criticism would be warmly accepted.

Communication skill is an important attribute that one must master to get into a respectable B school, initially and to excel in the chosen career thereafter. Lots of coaching Institutes have mushroomed to prepare the aspirants in spoken English and communication skill. Effective communication is proper when the receiver of the message understands it. Here, the dichotomy is, all grammatically correct sentences may not communicate the intended meaning.

Previously, in verbal communication, one could convey meaning along with emotions. This was not possible in written communication. However, this is not the case now thanks to extensive use of slangs and emoticons. These are excellent blend of verbal and non-verbal communication through which the mood and feelings are expressed with ease.

One of the important aspect of communication is the non-verbal communication, though only a lip-service is done while teaching and practicing this skill. Even the ancient dance form of Bharathanatyam demonstrates non-verbal communication using the 'Mudra' (hand-gestures) and 'abhinayas' (conveying emotions through facial expressions).

Non-verbal communication is easy to learn and an effective mode of communication as it cuts across the language barrier and reaches many. However, this type of communication is a double-edged sword and can be dicey. When president George Bush, showed his right hand making a "V' sign (victory sign -the palm facing audience) with his middle and index finger, it was appreciated in USA, whereas a similar gesture brought lot of wrath when he used it in Australia in 1992, where the outer palm faced the audience -conveying derogatory meaning.

Non-verbal communication gives equal opportunity to the interviewer and interviewee to assess each other and help them to formulate each of their strategy. Sometimes, the 'gestures' that we do compensate for the words we speak.

Emotional communication in professional interview is important, even though, we often hear 'Don't be Emotional; be professional'. The interviewer is looking for candidate's body language and facial expressions to find out confidence level, stress management and honesty. Conversely, when the candidate is answering looking into the eyes of the person who is asking a question, it is an opportunity not only for displaying confidence but also to find out what the interviewer thinks of the candidate.

In the internet and mobile phone era, viral communication is assuming more importance. Here there is more scope for creativity and even a verbal communication can reach billions of people crossing the geographical and language barrier. A stunning example for this is the song 'why this kolaveri di', which scored billions of "likes" in a very short period. This type of communication needs to be understood and capitalized.

The common impression that the word 'communication skill' means only spoken English should change. While having a good command over the verbal communication skill is the 'passport' to the first impression, mastering other aspects of the communications is essential to get the 'visa' of achieving success and sustaining it.

Col (Retd) S Vijayaraghavan,

Thiagarajar School of Management, Madurai.

Management is the best subject choice to study after graduation. It opens up new vistas of career for a student whether running his own Company or focusing on a Corporate Career. It gives skills to deal with people, managing time, developing good communication, team spirit and reflective thinking. It also examines how business organizations are shaped and how management planning, organizing and decision-making contribute to the various organizational functions.

Getting a management degree makes one marketable in the job market. Although one can go up the corporate ladder with years of experience but a degree in management helps in the smooth sailing of success. Certain fields like Finance, Banking and Consultancy do not promote employees without a Management degree. It is also helpful for Graduate Engineers as it gives them a better perspective and a broader scope in terms of career choice.

Studying Management helps one gain the techniques of leadership. Gone are the days of individual work, now mostly all companies involve the resources to work in a team and when one manages a team, he is actually leading the team. The B schools conduct varieties of sessions on people Management, personality development , team building etc that help inculcate Leadership traits in students.

Lastly studying Management helps in starting one's own business. An MBA degree gives tools to set up businesses from scratch and manage them through the years. Many of the entrepreneurs have their MBA degrees to thank them for their success.

By:- Rituparna Prasoon (Faculty of H.R.)

This is a question that comes to my mind quite often, even after joining a B-School. Is it really worth? Was I doing better before joining MBA? Should the question "Why did you leave your job?" torment me in interviews I'm gonna face if I had worked for 2+ years (applicable to most of the top Indian B-Schools)? Is switching careers so easy with MBA? Is it worth leaving your job though you like it just because this looks more attractive? Why is MBA so much hyped?..... and the list of questions is endless.

When I first started to ponder over this, a myriad of terms, phrases and incidents lingered in my mind and that cluttered my thoughts even more. Fortunately, I stumbled upon a very good movie called "Kung-Fu Panda", where I found my answer. I cleared my mind, started to search for an answer, then came across something called mind-map. This mind map helped me structure my thoughts and at the end, I found an answer to the very famous (and to me, the most dreadful) question "Why MBA?".

Most of us may have an answer but how solid or strong is that answer, how well can you defend it when you're grilled on it is what matters at the end of the day. People might say networking, growth, learning, money, switching fields etc etc are the advantages of doing MBA but they can be achieved without doing MBA too!! Then, "Why MBA?". A strong and focused self-introspection would unlock the answer for you.

"Ah! I know all these. What's the point of the article?" might be running through your mind. I agree, but it is worth giving a thought once again for one of the most important decisions of your life and experience of others can help, after all, life's all about taking the right decisions and moving ahead. Wish you all the very best.

Food is the crowning need & commercializing agriculture is in demand. Inadequate production and uneven distribution of food has lately become a high priority global concern. Agriculture has long been seen as a sector with tremendous potential in India. In the last few years, this sector has seen an unprecedented gain with several government and private sector initiatives.

This, coupled with changing global norms such as the WTO rulings and increased global competitiveness, invites a tremendous need for professional courses in Agribusiness Management, and makes it one of the most challenging and exciting sectors to be in.

The challenges one typically faces in the agriculture sector are the inadequate use of technology, the small average size of land holdings, poor socio-economic condition of farmers, dependence of agriculture on weather, poorly maintained irrigation systems, poor roads hampering the farmers' access to markets, rudimentary market infrastructure, excessive regulation, etc.

Although agriculture contributes only 21% of India's GDP, its importance in the country's economic, social, and political fabric goes well beyond this indicator. The rural areas are still the home to about 72% of the India's 1.1 billion people, a large number of whom are poor. Most of the rural poor depend on rain-fed agriculture and fragile forests for their livelihoods.

The sharp rise in food grain production during India's Green Revolution of the 1970s enabled the country to achieve self-sufficiency in food grains and stave off the threat of famine. Agricultural intensification in the 1970s to 1980s saw an increased demand for rural labor that raised rural wages and, together with declining food prices, reduced rural poverty. Sustained although very slowly, the agricultural growth in the 90s has reduced rural poverty to 26.3% by the year 2000. Since then, however, the slowdown in agricultural growth has become a major cause of concern.

To overcome all these challenges agriculture business management is need of the day.

In developing countries like India, agri-business management with forward and backward linkages consists of major sectors such as agricultural input, agricultural production, agricultural processing– manufacturing & agricultural marketing sector.

Agribusiness management includes many aspects of the economy: Agricultural producers, businesses that provide supplies and services to the producers, businesses that add value to agricultural products, and those that facilitate the marketing of agricultural products to an ever-growing marketplace. Agribusiness Management broadly covers marketing, (emphasis on rural marketing) finance (emphasis on micro finance, commodity trading and lending) supply chain management, and taxation. It also details all the relevant and applicable fields of Agriculture and WTO, Agri export-import and agricultural finance. Agri-business explores production, marketing and trading of products related to agriculture and critical management issues such as financing and technical assistance, preparation of products for exports, overseas marketing issues and government policy.

A field as vast and primary as agriculture has its own territory of prospects. An MBA degree will help you reap profitable outcomes.

Contribution made by Megha Panchakshari MBA Agri-Business (Batch 2013-15)

Worldwide changes in the political and economic framework such as globalization and internationalization of markets, rules and regulations in export and import, relocation and spin-offs have increased the demand by companies for highly qualified graduates with an understanding in international affairs to confront the running issues of the nations.

Today business is no longer confined within small boundaries but it entirely depends on the imagination of a person and his strong will to stretch it to the farthest. This requires awareness, understanding and immense knowledge to tackle the global issues and merge out as the strongest. Hence there are certain tools and methods which an MBA in International business offers to help one in becoming a successful businessman/entrepreneur.

International business imparts in a person the knowledge of worldwide accepted new techniques, operative strategies, internationally accepted rules and regulations, quantitative techniques, global finance, marketing and human resources. It also equips a person with the holistic approach towards being successful in the same.

An MBA in International business prepares students all over the world to excel in their chosen fields which are characterised by a thoughtfully designed course structure, coupled with the opportunities to acquire and apply practical professional skills. Thus the students emerge as leaders, efficient in bridging the organizational, cultural and linguistic barriers amongst people, amongst nations by providing sustainable solutions to a variety of global challenges.

Special focus is given to see that the students gain the expertise to think critically and analyse objectively.

The students gain the following benefits from an MBA in international Business:

1. A hands-on approach to deal with international affairs

2. Practical experiences of industrial leaders

3. Guest lectures by experienced practitioners

4. A balance of theoretical and practical knowledge

5. Entrepreneurship skills

6. Intensive use of case studies and project work.

7. Seminars in international strategic aspects

8. International strategic management in all aspects

9. Thorough understanding of global political, social and economic issues

10. Research and practical implementation

Besides this the person gets to work with the best of industrialists and professionals and acquires the learning of a lifetime. He also gets the opportunity to engage in a lot of activities which enhances his teamwork capabilities, communication skills, leadership qualities etc. At the end of the day it's a holistic learning that enables him to adapt himself to the diverse and varied forms of the global market.

Contribution by Rusha Saha, MBA International Business Batch: 2013-15. email: [email protected]

I have been receiving a lot of questions that are variants of the question I have stated above. Briefly put, the question which anybody who has an MBA aspiration asks, is what is the right time for doing a MBA course?

Let us take this step-by-step. Firstly, should one do an MBA fresh out of graduation, when you are labeled a “fresher” or should you gain some work experience before you start your MBA journey? Later we will check what length of experience is 'ideal' (that is, if experience is required prior to a MBA).

The question of whether you should do an MBA as a fresher or not, to my mind, is based on your profile. If you are a quick learner, good at concepts and theories and intelligent above the average then doing a MBA as a fresher has some distinct advantages. Primarily the advantage lies in the fact that you create a good theoretical base on which you can then experiment as you start your career later on. The biggest advantage that a fresher MBA provides to an organisation is her insatiable curiosity to know why. And the qualification that she has just acquired will give her the right platform to ask the right questions. Coming from a strong theoretical background will allow the fresher MBA to question the logic of past practices and hopefully contribute in terms of improved practices. A fresher MBA does not carry baggage with her in terms of being bound by past practices. Also having studies theory recently, the practical aspects of work life will seem quite strange. And out of that contradiction, the energy to innovate and make a change will be possible. Let me give an example. This is from a long time ago, when I had as a fresher MBA joined a PSU at Bangalore (as it was called then). Shortly after joining the 5 central PSUs at Bangalore had to undergo a wage revision for their workers, that was done as a common exercise involving all the representative unions and the senior management at these enterprises. At that point of time there was a slab system of DA for the workmen which had been continuing for decades. To my fresh MBA eyes that was anachronistic and I set about changing that to a percentage system that everybody agreed was so much better! It was not an easy task (convincing a trade union leader that something is good for him!) but at the end of the exercise we had done something that everybody felt should be done, but nobody did! Looking back, I am sure if I was not a fresh MBA I could have done anything like what I did

That is not the only advantage of being a fresher MBA. The others are that you have not lost touch with studies and also do not consider your time spent studying as a loss of revenue..I will continue this topic in next post

"Energy management" - the process of monitoring, controlling, and conserving energy and a term mainly concerned with saving energy in businesses, public-sector/government organizations, and homes.

The essential resource behind every economic activity is intrinsically as well as extrinsically linked with nature in satisfying the world's basic needs. Energy management includes not only planning and operation of energy-related production and consumption units but also resource conservation, climate protection and cost savings, and also ensuring that the end users have permanent access to the energy they need. The management of this bonded relationship between the energy sector and the ecological environment has become increasingly complex due to a paradigm shift in our perspective and outlook. These are global issues and have been a key feature in all recent global debates.

So, then why an MBA in Energy & Environment? A simple and yet effective answer to this question could be that it has become increasingly important to integrate the energy management aspect in the institutional structure, so that the same can be implemented in the organizational structure. The delegation of functions related to energy conservation and saving and the competencies thereby, extend right from the top management to the executive workers and studying how to regularize these responsibilities and the interaction of the decision makers thus becomes necessary.

The primary objective of studying a field like Energy & Environment Management is to equip aspiring global managers with managerial, economic, legal, political and relevant technical competence. The students gain experience of key decision-making in a range of business functions and this knowledge can then be applied at a strategic level of the Energy Industry modules. Such a specialized field of study provides a judicious blend of theory and practice and prepares the students to meet the contemporary global needs by imparting the knowledge of general management and at the same time encompassing various sectors namely power, renewable energy, energy efficiency, oil and gas, climate change and sustainable development, CDM & carbon markets, corporate sustainability and environmental management.

A student doing his master's in Business Management with Energy and Environment will be able to deal effectively in energy audits, environmental economics and offer solutions in energy conservation which is the need of the hour. They will thus serve as experts who provide the crucial link between the world of technology, business and sustainable development.

Contribution by Hetika Shah MBA Energy & Environment, Batch 2013-15.