My cousin called to wish me 'Happy New Year'.
When I asked about her daughter, a first year student at a local bschool she added, "Koi ladka nazar mein ho to bataana."
Hey bhagwaan, aur koi bhi request I am game for. Yeh kaam mujhse nahin hoga.
"Won't she work a year or two before marriage?" I asked.
"Main to chahti hoon par uske papa ne mana kar diya hai."
This is not a stray case. Or an unusual one. The tier 3 bschools in tier 2 towns are full of such girls. Whether in management or in engineering, they are pursuing education for the sake of a 'degree'. Almost like an eligibility certificate to get a 'good match'.
The girl herself may wish to work. At least for some time. But she is resigned to the fact that it may not be possible. Before marriage, her father and brothers will decide if she can. After marriage, her husband and in-laws will decide the same.
So that effectively eliminates 48% of the population in these tier 3 bschools. Which unlike top schools, have a pretty even boy: girl ratio.
Bache bechaare ladke.
Now all their exposure to concepts of marketing, HR, finance and blah blah blah, is basically of no use. Because if, by pull-push-pleading-and-prayer, a few companies do drop by for placement, 90% will flunk the interview.
Because they are dumb, and I do not mean in terms of intelligence.
When I give talks at tier 3 schools, there is usually a pindrop silence at the end of the session. Perhaps they were sleeping through it all?
"No ma'am," a student explained later."People have many questions but they are afraid to ask."
Afraid?
"You speak such good English no, ma'am. They can't speak like that. So they stay quiet."
But all the students have passed the state entrance test and taken admission, isn't it?
"Yes but that is written only no, ma'am."
Well, your English seems pretty good...
"But I went to a convent school. ma'am. There aren't many students like me here."
So how do the students follow what is being taught in class?
"The teachers explain in local language, ma'am."
My head started reeling. MBA subjects being taught in Telugu or Gujarati or what have you. I don't have anything against these languages but then how in the world will this help students?
Without ability to communicate in the universal business language of English, they will never get decent jobs. It doesn't matter how many rules AICTE makes and how many speeches Kapil Sibal gives on excellence in education.
This is the golden jubilee year of IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Calcutta. A time to reflect on management education as a whole in India.
While IIMA and IIMC looked to Harvard and Sloan respectively for guidance and inspiration, Indian bschools look up to IIMs. What they have taken from these institutes is the external framework of 'MBA'.
The idea of an entrance exam, a list of subjects to be taught, the carrot of placements. And of course free (and mostly unfair) use of hyperbolic product promise such as 'world class', 'professional environment' and 'fantastic carrier start' (this is a real claim made by a real bschool in the national capital).
And in the midst of this circus - a comedy of aspiration, a tragedy of education - we have the AICTE. All India Council for Technical Education which has issued (another) set of ill-advised rules applicable to all PGDM courses.
These include gems such as:
1) All PGDM courses shall be of duration not less than 24 months. (Why? Even IIM PGDM is technically not for 24 months).
2) Model Curriculum/ syllabus will be issued by the Council.(Great - but what about upgrading quality of teaching and teachers?)
3) Admission to PGDM courses will be conducted by the respective State Governments through the Competent Authority designated for such purpose. (That still doesn't ensure students who get admitted have the minimum competence required to do MBA in a meaningful manner).
We can start solving the problem, only if we at least admit to its existence.
The first thing the bottom 3/4th of the bschool pyramid needs to do is junk the IIM model. Spend the first 3 months just improving language and communication skills.
Next, realistically prepare students land in the industry feet-first. Train for the kind of jobs they will be expected to do.
Not a single student from a tier-3 school will get a hard-core finance job, yet 90% claim that is where their interest lies. Fine. You can fulfil their aspirations, but in a direction different from what IIM students are taking.
Train your students to truly understand the stock market - let them find work with brokers. Brokers don't care much for which bschool you are from. Heck, they don't even care much for an MBA degree! As long as you produce results, or help the company to.
Most importantly, train your students to be good salesmen. Because there is always a demand for that breed of people, across industries. Sales is not a lowly job, it requires a high degree of skill and intelligence.
The best marketing companies - such as HUL - insist on management trainees working as salesmen for a good 12-18 months, before making them 'brand managers'. If managers must take the sales route, it follows that a good salesman can develop into a manager.
Yes, the truth is tier 3 graduates may get the designation of 'officer' or 'executive' or even 'manager' but the actual job content may not be managerial. Or, what we have understood to be the job of a manager, thanks to the MBA.
But guess what, majority of IIM graduates have the same problem. Yeh MBA ka syllabus hi kuch aisa hai. When you discuss a case, it's from the perspective of the CEO, not the trainee!
Wishing all MBAs, aspiring-to-be-MBAs and the rest of humanity a very happy new decade. May we all turn the spotlight inwards, and find the guru within.
,
Showing posts with label MBA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MBA. Show all posts
Monday, January 03, 2011
Sunday, April 05, 2009
Friends, Romans, greedy MBAs...
Elite business schools in the US are facing a backlash. What did you teach those stuffed shirts, anyway... Russian roulette??
Bloomberg's Oliver Staley reports: Harvard Business School, stung by criticism that it hasn’t prepared alumni to cope with the economic meltdown, will dissect its performance using a practice it employs to examine corporations in crisis.
A task force, created in November at the direction of the dean, is writing a case study to scrutinize whether the school is failing to teach students to understand and manage risk in the current environment, according to Paul Healy, co-chair of the panel. The case study method is the technique Harvard uses to analyze decision making by executives during times of duress.
The idea is to put professors in the students' seats and ultimately use the discussion to promote curriculum changes.
Harvard's less than illustrious alumni at the moment include the likes of Stanley O’Neal and John Thain (ex Merrill Lynch), Rick Wagoner, (ex General Motors Corp) and Christopher Cox, former chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The article goes on to add that "many of the graduates involved in failures attended the school 20 or 30 years ago, before classes on risk management, macroeconomics and leadership were required". But another Bloomberg columnist, Kevin Hassett, points out it's not so much what they studied but their attitude which resulted in the downfall.
And he makes such a good case that this is one of those rare instances where I am compelled to reproduce a large chunk of the article.
For two centuries, Wall Street survived wars, depressions, bank panics and terrorist attacks. Now Wall Street as we know it is dead. Gone.
When a healthy and thriving person dies suddenly, a medical examiner may talk to family and friends to see if the deceased had recently changed behavior in some way.
Wall Street did change radically in recent years in one notable way. Twenty or 30 years ago, it was common for the best and the brightest to be doctors or engineers. By the 2000s, they wanted to be investment bankers.
When Wall Street was run by people randomly selected from the population, it was able to survive everything. After the best and brightest took over, it died the first time real-estate prices dropped 20 percent.
Are the two facts related? In other words, did Harvard kill Wall Street?
Hassett goes on to argue that Wall Street is gone because its firms did a terrible job assessing the risks of the positions they took.
The models these firms used to evaluate risks failed. But having a failed model brings a firm down only if the firm collectively buys into the model. To do that, the firm must be run by people who have a great deal of faith in their models, and a great deal of faith in themselves.
So basically, MBAs believe they know everything, that they can do no wrong. This narcissism has a real career impact...
The consequences of Wall Street’s reckless brilliance in many ways parallel modern-day engineering disasters. If you travel through Italy, you can’t help but notice the many Roman bridges that still stretch across that nation’s waterways. How is it that the Romans could build bridges that would last thousands of years, while the ones we build today collapse after a few decades?
The answer is simple. Back then, they did not have the fancy computers required to calculate exactly how strong a bridge must be. So an architect made a bridge very, very strong. Today, engineers can calculate exactly how much steel they need to incorporate into a bridge to bear the expected load. The result is, they are free to make them weaker...
The same is true of the financial sector. Back when Wall Street was run by individuals without fancy degrees, they had a proper skepticism toward fancy models and managed their risks with a great deal more humility and caution. Only when failed models became canon did catastrophe strike.
He concludes: Wall Street didn’t die in spite of being run by our best and brightest. It died because of that fact.
Ahem. I don't agree with this entirely - the regulators who turned a blind eye and allowed the is good' brigade to take over are also to blame. But yes, there is much in what he says that rings true.
Every catastrophe has its lessons (one hopes!). Here is some more food for thought for bschools and their students from columnist Matthew Lynn (also from Bloomberg!)
A sum up: Business schools legitimized a pseudo-scientific approach, promoted a mechanistic management style and formed a managerial elite more interested in rewards than producing lasting wealth for the economies they operate in.
(An attitude which manifests right from the time of placement, I would add!)
But the details are more interesting, so here goes:
If a flight-training school produced this number of crashes, we would be asking some questions. There is no reason that business studies should be exempt from the same kind of scrutiny.The schools should be called to account for several things.
First, they encouraged a quasi-scientific approach to business, sermonizing that everything could be nailed down in a textbook. By preaching a set series of formulas they encouraged students to believe that running a company could be mastered by anyone. The entire private-equity industry is founded on that principle. So are mergers and acquisitions.
In reality, management is a skill that is acquired through experience, judgment and flair. Billions are about to be wasted relearning a simple fact that should never have been forgotten.
Second, the intellectual tools that led us into the financial meltdown were largely invented within academia. Complex models for pricing risk created the market for the options and derivatives contracts that have caused so much trouble in the past year.
The business schools took something that was mysterious and unknowable -- risk -- and tried to make it as easy to count as peas in a pod. By doing so, they encouraged a whole generation of young men and women to go into investment banking armed with the belief that they had mastered risk, that it had been tamed and brought under control.
The truth, of course, turned out to be different. Bankers can no more tame risk than sailors can tame the oceans. All they can hope to do is steer a safe course through it.
Third, the schools created a managerial elite that acted like a caste apart. One reason the bonus culture ran out of control was that many of the people involved were trapped in a bubble. They thought “guaranteed” bonuses, private jets and multimillion-dollar payoffs were normal. That process started in business schools.
Citing examples from history such as Henry VIII and Fidel Castro, Lynn makes a rather drastic proposal: Shut down business schools. They are beyond redemption.
Not that yeh honewala hai. Just arbit emotional CP. But for a moment, if we were to say that an ordinance was passed to shut down bschools across the world. What would happen?
Nothing. They would just spring up in another form. They might teach anything, anywhere, but ultimately we would find a new way to create elites, who believe they are the brighest and best, and can do no wrong.
We will bring down other walls on other streets. But keep building more... to separate Purebloods and Mudbloods, Brahmins and non-Brahmins, Thinkers and Followers, ... 'Us' and 'Them'.
Bloomberg's Oliver Staley reports: Harvard Business School, stung by criticism that it hasn’t prepared alumni to cope with the economic meltdown, will dissect its performance using a practice it employs to examine corporations in crisis.
A task force, created in November at the direction of the dean, is writing a case study to scrutinize whether the school is failing to teach students to understand and manage risk in the current environment, according to Paul Healy, co-chair of the panel. The case study method is the technique Harvard uses to analyze decision making by executives during times of duress.
The idea is to put professors in the students' seats and ultimately use the discussion to promote curriculum changes.
Harvard's less than illustrious alumni at the moment include the likes of Stanley O’Neal and John Thain (ex Merrill Lynch), Rick Wagoner, (ex General Motors Corp) and Christopher Cox, former chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The article goes on to add that "many of the graduates involved in failures attended the school 20 or 30 years ago, before classes on risk management, macroeconomics and leadership were required". But another Bloomberg columnist, Kevin Hassett, points out it's not so much what they studied but their attitude which resulted in the downfall.
And he makes such a good case that this is one of those rare instances where I am compelled to reproduce a large chunk of the article.
For two centuries, Wall Street survived wars, depressions, bank panics and terrorist attacks. Now Wall Street as we know it is dead. Gone.
When a healthy and thriving person dies suddenly, a medical examiner may talk to family and friends to see if the deceased had recently changed behavior in some way.
Wall Street did change radically in recent years in one notable way. Twenty or 30 years ago, it was common for the best and the brightest to be doctors or engineers. By the 2000s, they wanted to be investment bankers.
When Wall Street was run by people randomly selected from the population, it was able to survive everything. After the best and brightest took over, it died the first time real-estate prices dropped 20 percent.
Are the two facts related? In other words, did Harvard kill Wall Street?
Hassett goes on to argue that Wall Street is gone because its firms did a terrible job assessing the risks of the positions they took.
The models these firms used to evaluate risks failed. But having a failed model brings a firm down only if the firm collectively buys into the model. To do that, the firm must be run by people who have a great deal of faith in their models, and a great deal of faith in themselves.
So basically, MBAs believe they know everything, that they can do no wrong. This narcissism has a real career impact...
The consequences of Wall Street’s reckless brilliance in many ways parallel modern-day engineering disasters. If you travel through Italy, you can’t help but notice the many Roman bridges that still stretch across that nation’s waterways. How is it that the Romans could build bridges that would last thousands of years, while the ones we build today collapse after a few decades?
The answer is simple. Back then, they did not have the fancy computers required to calculate exactly how strong a bridge must be. So an architect made a bridge very, very strong. Today, engineers can calculate exactly how much steel they need to incorporate into a bridge to bear the expected load. The result is, they are free to make them weaker...
The same is true of the financial sector. Back when Wall Street was run by individuals without fancy degrees, they had a proper skepticism toward fancy models and managed their risks with a great deal more humility and caution. Only when failed models became canon did catastrophe strike.
He concludes: Wall Street didn’t die in spite of being run by our best and brightest. It died because of that fact.
Ahem. I don't agree with this entirely - the regulators who turned a blind eye and allowed the is good' brigade to take over are also to blame. But yes, there is much in what he says that rings true.
Every catastrophe has its lessons (one hopes!). Here is some more food for thought for bschools and their students from columnist Matthew Lynn (also from Bloomberg!)
A sum up: Business schools legitimized a pseudo-scientific approach, promoted a mechanistic management style and formed a managerial elite more interested in rewards than producing lasting wealth for the economies they operate in.
(An attitude which manifests right from the time of placement, I would add!)
But the details are more interesting, so here goes:
If a flight-training school produced this number of crashes, we would be asking some questions. There is no reason that business studies should be exempt from the same kind of scrutiny.The schools should be called to account for several things.
First, they encouraged a quasi-scientific approach to business, sermonizing that everything could be nailed down in a textbook. By preaching a set series of formulas they encouraged students to believe that running a company could be mastered by anyone. The entire private-equity industry is founded on that principle. So are mergers and acquisitions.
In reality, management is a skill that is acquired through experience, judgment and flair. Billions are about to be wasted relearning a simple fact that should never have been forgotten.
Second, the intellectual tools that led us into the financial meltdown were largely invented within academia. Complex models for pricing risk created the market for the options and derivatives contracts that have caused so much trouble in the past year.
The business schools took something that was mysterious and unknowable -- risk -- and tried to make it as easy to count as peas in a pod. By doing so, they encouraged a whole generation of young men and women to go into investment banking armed with the belief that they had mastered risk, that it had been tamed and brought under control.
The truth, of course, turned out to be different. Bankers can no more tame risk than sailors can tame the oceans. All they can hope to do is steer a safe course through it.
Third, the schools created a managerial elite that acted like a caste apart. One reason the bonus culture ran out of control was that many of the people involved were trapped in a bubble. They thought “guaranteed” bonuses, private jets and multimillion-dollar payoffs were normal. That process started in business schools.
Citing examples from history such as Henry VIII and Fidel Castro, Lynn makes a rather drastic proposal: Shut down business schools. They are beyond redemption.
Not that yeh honewala hai. Just arbit emotional CP. But for a moment, if we were to say that an ordinance was passed to shut down bschools across the world. What would happen?
Nothing. They would just spring up in another form. They might teach anything, anywhere, but ultimately we would find a new way to create elites, who believe they are the brighest and best, and can do no wrong.
We will bring down other walls on other streets. But keep building more... to separate Purebloods and Mudbloods, Brahmins and non-Brahmins, Thinkers and Followers, ... 'Us' and 'Them'.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
CTC Fundas - II
Thanks to all those of you who posted comments and the few who mailed me directly with your views/ experiences/ information on placement salaries.
I will compile the feedback and also various facts I have dug up shortly. But meanwhile I'd like to speak to some graduates from lesser known bschools who are offered CTCs which include a lot of variable (ie commission on sales) kind of pay. One of the companies whose names keeps coming up in this context is Indiabulls.
I'd also like anyone at all who is willing to speak on this MBA salary circus ON THE RECORD to drop me a line. Because there is no story without a name and face to it.
Am not asking you to 'rat' on your institute but discuss the general scenario and/ or your specific experience on camera. In order to educate and enlighten the MBA wannabe and their parents. Hai koi mai ka laal?
As always, drop me a line at rashmi_b@yahoo.com
I will compile the feedback and also various facts I have dug up shortly. But meanwhile I'd like to speak to some graduates from lesser known bschools who are offered CTCs which include a lot of variable (ie commission on sales) kind of pay. One of the companies whose names keeps coming up in this context is Indiabulls.
I'd also like anyone at all who is willing to speak on this MBA salary circus ON THE RECORD to drop me a line. Because there is no story without a name and face to it.
Am not asking you to 'rat' on your institute but discuss the general scenario and/ or your specific experience on camera. In order to educate and enlighten the MBA wannabe and their parents. Hai koi mai ka laal?
As always, drop me a line at rashmi_b@yahoo.com
Thursday, December 13, 2007
MBA ki amar kahani
The MBA is more than a degree – it’s the last refuge of the studious, the seeker and the scoundrel. A tongue in cheek look at why the MBA is here to stay.
(written late one night under the influence of Maggi noodles - which kept me alive in my MBA days)
Mere paas gaadi hai, bangla hai, daulat hai, shohrat hai… tumhare paas kya hai?
Abhi toh kuch nahin… par main MBA ki taiyyari kar raha hoon!
Two hundred and thirty thousand young men and women with stars in their eyes and hope in their hearts gave the CAT – or the Common Admission Test – for entry to the IIMs and assorted other MBA institutes in the year 2007. And there will be more next year. Because the MBA is no longer a degree, it’s a declaration.
What you declare depends on where you do the MBA from. There’s first and foremost the guys (and a few – way too few - gals) who get into the ‘best’ institutions. And they enter the program with the “King of the World” declaration.
Hello fatcats from London, Paris and New York. I‘ve just cleared the most difficult exam in the world to get here… Come get me!
As urban legend has it, an IIM degree is the gateway to a life of cash, caviar and oops! I’m vegetarian, could I have more cash instead, please? The trouble is not everyone can get into an IIM (and not everyone who does gets the caviar!) but as they say, “Aim for the sky and you’ll fall on a jumbo jet… circling Mumbai airport.”
So we have a host of young people joining business schools which are waiting to land at “We have arrived” airport. And theirs is a “Smell the coffee” declaration.
”Look at us – we’re no less than those IIM grads. Heck, we work harder and smarter, just give us a chance to prove it.”
Lehman. McKinsey – are you listening? Evidently, not yet but this bunch is snapping up a whole lot of plum posts which the IIM types see as prunes. And the aroma of that coffee - it’s getting stronger.
Now the next lot also aimed for the sky but ended up on the terrace of an under construction building. Plenty of those, these days, by guys who’ve just had terrific IPOs. Everything’s swanky here – good to look at, feels great to be here. Of course, we all agree it’s overpriced but do we have a choice?
Na huh. Need house, will buy. Need employee, will employ. Retail, banking, insurance, IT, BPOs – these sectors need hands and legs with a moderate amount of brains to match. And not in the dozens but hundreds. Thousands, actually.
So they swoop down on the ‘Jhumritalaiyya’ variety of MBA colleges and recruit large numbers. Yes, if nothing else these graduates ‘look like MBAs’. They carry laptops, wear formals, carry pink papers under the elbow and generally look self important. Just the kind of firepower needed to subdue the hapless consumer into signing on for ULIPs, NFOs and other acronyms which easily roll off the MBA tongue. Assuring him a generous slice of your ‘better tomorrow’.
Last but not the least come the ‘MBA as timepass’ variety. Of course, all education can be said to be a form of timepass – but who’s actually awake to notice? Nevertheless the MBA program now attracts the unlikeliest of species. For example, girls who have no ambition or intention of climbing the corporate ladder. Or running a business.
These are girls who simply wish to get married.
The catch is that “acche ladke padhi likhi ladki chahte hain”. And these days, Home Science does not qualify. As more and more boys from bijness families take up the MBA – at Indian institute for people with money (with sham entrance exam) or Australian business school for people with money (with sham entrance exam but dollar pricing), the girls are following suit.
As doctor once married doctor, MBA now marries MBA. A quick scan of the Sunday matrimonials reveals how the once revered MA has fallen out of favour. It’s now about MBA and LPA (lakhs per annum). Working for a year or two after graduation is encouraged. How many will continue building their careers after marriage depends on DRA (Dulhe Raja’s Attitude).
Phir bhi, progress hi to hai. Once upon a time thousands of young people struggled for a few hundred seats in the administrative service. The majority eked out a life after the dream faded away. Now thousands struggle for a few hundred seats in the most prestigious bschools. But the rest have a chance to start somewhere – even if at the bottom of a rickety ladder.
With hard work and a bit of luck, all these MBAs will climb upwards. They will grow the economy, and grow with it as well. “Do we need to pay 22 year olds 25,000 a month just because they can now use Powerpoint,” is a question the Older Generation often ponders. The answer is, not really.
But in a world where no one has the time or the energy to sift through hundreds of carbon copied, error-ridden-despite-being-spellchecked resumes, we’d rather take our chances with the ‘MBA”.
The MBA is a necessity because our education system is in shambles. Young minds go through conveyor belt colleges and come out unchallenged, underconfident and not even used to the idea of ‘working hard’.
In India, business school is the ultimate ‘finishing school’ – it finishes up the work 15-16 years of previous education was supposed to. MBA courses are all modelled along ‘boot camp’. Projects, presentations, surprise tests, case studies, all night study sessions – this is the stuff of the average student’s worst nightmare. But ultimately, the badge every MBA proudly wears.
And for this alone, HR managers will tolerate the jargon, the attitude, the insouciance of the ‘is this what I did an MBA for’ MBA.
Speaking of finishing school, the MBA – from the student point of view – is crossing the final finish line of education. There’s nothing more you can do beyond this to ‘better your prospects’. Escape from a boring job into something glamorous (or at least better paid!). The MBA is like “Incredible India” advertisements. The brochure can sometimes be more attractive than the actual sights.
And yet, you crave that experience. Happily, it no longer matters how old or young, smart or dumb, rich or poor you are. There is an ‘MBA’ for everyone. 1 year executive programs, 2 year distance learning MBAs, 3 year part time course. Qualifications which would earlier fall under the uncool sounding ‘vocational’ now attract tons of students by renaming themselves as ‘MBAs’.
So you have MBA (Retail), MBA (Insurance), MBA (Telemarketing). The last one is a figment of my imagination but I wouldn’t be surprised to see such a course in the market very soon…
In the ultimate analysis, ‘MBA’ is whatever you make it to be. Or whatever you make of it. The MBA is here to stay, until another degree which captures the imagination of our people comes along. That could take a while.
And hey, we just might subvert it and convert it. “Let them eat cake… and let us all do MBAs.” Amen.
Heh he heh
In the hit movie ‘Partner’ Govinda plays an ‘IIM Ahmedabad graduate’. Now many IIM grads are nerds who have no idea how to woo a girl. But a salary of Rs 30,000 a month at age 30? Tauba tauba.
Surprising the IIM types did not take out a morcha to the scriptwriter’s house, sue the producer for maligning the fair name of IIM A, and start an e-petition imploring the all television anchors who need a ‘Question of the Day’ to take notice. Guess they were too busy with placements…
(written late one night under the influence of Maggi noodles - which kept me alive in my MBA days)
Mere paas gaadi hai, bangla hai, daulat hai, shohrat hai… tumhare paas kya hai?
Abhi toh kuch nahin… par main MBA ki taiyyari kar raha hoon!
Two hundred and thirty thousand young men and women with stars in their eyes and hope in their hearts gave the CAT – or the Common Admission Test – for entry to the IIMs and assorted other MBA institutes in the year 2007. And there will be more next year. Because the MBA is no longer a degree, it’s a declaration.
What you declare depends on where you do the MBA from. There’s first and foremost the guys (and a few – way too few - gals) who get into the ‘best’ institutions. And they enter the program with the “King of the World” declaration.
Hello fatcats from London, Paris and New York. I‘ve just cleared the most difficult exam in the world to get here… Come get me!
As urban legend has it, an IIM degree is the gateway to a life of cash, caviar and oops! I’m vegetarian, could I have more cash instead, please? The trouble is not everyone can get into an IIM (and not everyone who does gets the caviar!) but as they say, “Aim for the sky and you’ll fall on a jumbo jet… circling Mumbai airport.”
So we have a host of young people joining business schools which are waiting to land at “We have arrived” airport. And theirs is a “Smell the coffee” declaration.
”Look at us – we’re no less than those IIM grads. Heck, we work harder and smarter, just give us a chance to prove it.”
Lehman. McKinsey – are you listening? Evidently, not yet but this bunch is snapping up a whole lot of plum posts which the IIM types see as prunes. And the aroma of that coffee - it’s getting stronger.
Now the next lot also aimed for the sky but ended up on the terrace of an under construction building. Plenty of those, these days, by guys who’ve just had terrific IPOs. Everything’s swanky here – good to look at, feels great to be here. Of course, we all agree it’s overpriced but do we have a choice?
Na huh. Need house, will buy. Need employee, will employ. Retail, banking, insurance, IT, BPOs – these sectors need hands and legs with a moderate amount of brains to match. And not in the dozens but hundreds. Thousands, actually.
So they swoop down on the ‘Jhumritalaiyya’ variety of MBA colleges and recruit large numbers. Yes, if nothing else these graduates ‘look like MBAs’. They carry laptops, wear formals, carry pink papers under the elbow and generally look self important. Just the kind of firepower needed to subdue the hapless consumer into signing on for ULIPs, NFOs and other acronyms which easily roll off the MBA tongue. Assuring him a generous slice of your ‘better tomorrow’.
Last but not the least come the ‘MBA as timepass’ variety. Of course, all education can be said to be a form of timepass – but who’s actually awake to notice? Nevertheless the MBA program now attracts the unlikeliest of species. For example, girls who have no ambition or intention of climbing the corporate ladder. Or running a business.
These are girls who simply wish to get married.
The catch is that “acche ladke padhi likhi ladki chahte hain”. And these days, Home Science does not qualify. As more and more boys from bijness families take up the MBA – at Indian institute for people with money (with sham entrance exam) or Australian business school for people with money (with sham entrance exam but dollar pricing), the girls are following suit.
As doctor once married doctor, MBA now marries MBA. A quick scan of the Sunday matrimonials reveals how the once revered MA has fallen out of favour. It’s now about MBA and LPA (lakhs per annum). Working for a year or two after graduation is encouraged. How many will continue building their careers after marriage depends on DRA (Dulhe Raja’s Attitude).
Phir bhi, progress hi to hai. Once upon a time thousands of young people struggled for a few hundred seats in the administrative service. The majority eked out a life after the dream faded away. Now thousands struggle for a few hundred seats in the most prestigious bschools. But the rest have a chance to start somewhere – even if at the bottom of a rickety ladder.
With hard work and a bit of luck, all these MBAs will climb upwards. They will grow the economy, and grow with it as well. “Do we need to pay 22 year olds 25,000 a month just because they can now use Powerpoint,” is a question the Older Generation often ponders. The answer is, not really.
But in a world where no one has the time or the energy to sift through hundreds of carbon copied, error-ridden-despite-being-spellchecked resumes, we’d rather take our chances with the ‘MBA”.
The MBA is a necessity because our education system is in shambles. Young minds go through conveyor belt colleges and come out unchallenged, underconfident and not even used to the idea of ‘working hard’.
In India, business school is the ultimate ‘finishing school’ – it finishes up the work 15-16 years of previous education was supposed to. MBA courses are all modelled along ‘boot camp’. Projects, presentations, surprise tests, case studies, all night study sessions – this is the stuff of the average student’s worst nightmare. But ultimately, the badge every MBA proudly wears.
And for this alone, HR managers will tolerate the jargon, the attitude, the insouciance of the ‘is this what I did an MBA for’ MBA.
Speaking of finishing school, the MBA – from the student point of view – is crossing the final finish line of education. There’s nothing more you can do beyond this to ‘better your prospects’. Escape from a boring job into something glamorous (or at least better paid!). The MBA is like “Incredible India” advertisements. The brochure can sometimes be more attractive than the actual sights.
And yet, you crave that experience. Happily, it no longer matters how old or young, smart or dumb, rich or poor you are. There is an ‘MBA’ for everyone. 1 year executive programs, 2 year distance learning MBAs, 3 year part time course. Qualifications which would earlier fall under the uncool sounding ‘vocational’ now attract tons of students by renaming themselves as ‘MBAs’.
So you have MBA (Retail), MBA (Insurance), MBA (Telemarketing). The last one is a figment of my imagination but I wouldn’t be surprised to see such a course in the market very soon…
In the ultimate analysis, ‘MBA’ is whatever you make it to be. Or whatever you make of it. The MBA is here to stay, until another degree which captures the imagination of our people comes along. That could take a while.
And hey, we just might subvert it and convert it. “Let them eat cake… and let us all do MBAs.” Amen.
Heh he heh
In the hit movie ‘Partner’ Govinda plays an ‘IIM Ahmedabad graduate’. Now many IIM grads are nerds who have no idea how to woo a girl. But a salary of Rs 30,000 a month at age 30? Tauba tauba.
Surprising the IIM types did not take out a morcha to the scriptwriter’s house, sue the producer for maligning the fair name of IIM A, and start an e-petition imploring the all television anchors who need a ‘Question of the Day’ to take notice. Guess they were too busy with placements…
Monday, October 22, 2007
5 month HR project
If you're a BMS/ BBA or even a plain BA/ BSc/ BCom graduate looking to work hands on at something other than marketing credit cards/ insurance/ retail/ BPO - here's a golden opportunity. Especially if you're keen on an MBA in HR (or at least considering the same).
The 'job' is a 5-6 month long project with an interesting outfit (not JAM magazine, in case u r wondering!) who is assessing HR practises within top name companies and then bringing out a high profile report. It will look very good on your CV for sure. And pays well (Rs 15,000 a month). Two people is all they're looking for.
So if you are interested, OR, know someone who is then drop a mail right away to rashmi_b at yahoo.com. Attach your CV please and a contact number and I'll let you know further details!
The 'job' is a 5-6 month long project with an interesting outfit (not JAM magazine, in case u r wondering!) who is assessing HR practises within top name companies and then bringing out a high profile report. It will look very good on your CV for sure. And pays well (Rs 15,000 a month). Two people is all they're looking for.
So if you are interested, OR, know someone who is then drop a mail right away to rashmi_b at yahoo.com. Attach your CV please and a contact number and I'll let you know further details!
Thursday, October 04, 2007
Dress code for CAs?
DNA reports:
The Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICAI), a statutory body for regulating chartered accountants in the country, has tied up with retail major Provogue to provide a dash of colour and style to the profession.
“A professional should be identified by his knowledge, garb and panache. I believe the new dress code — blue blazer and tie — will give chartered accountants a new identity,” said president of ICAI Sunil Talati.
A well intentioned but poor idea. Doctors wear white coats and lawyers may don black ones. But, they work in specific work settings like hospitals and courtrooms. By ICAI's own estimation 75,000 of the 1.4 lakh CAs registered with the body work in industry. ie. regular corporate office. Can you imagine them wearing 'uniform'??
The remaining 65,000 must be in private practice. But here too, a blue blazer and tie is not going to help 'market the brand'.
A dress code is merely cosmetic, it cannot solve an overall identity crisis.
I have nothing against CAs, despite what you may think after reading this piece.. I do believe however that the MBA has impacted the CA profession. CAs have more 'core skills' but in a world where showmanship, branding, soft skills and a macro view seem to matter more, the CA loses out.
The acid test of a professional's worth is: do I get the last word? If a doctor scribbles out medicine X, you take it. If a lawyer advises defence Y, that's what is argued in court. If you don't agree you can go to another doctor or lawyer. But whichever you finally gets to be the expert. You have to trust him or her.
With a CA, what happens. He advises. The client may or may not agree. Or even believe he knows better. CAs are manipulated or coerced into signing audits they know are false. Inflating or deflating figures. And so on and so forth.
And this is not just in India. As the Financial Times noted after the Enron scandal:
Over the past five decades, accountants have changed from watchdogs to advocates and salespersons. Auditing has become one of a number of services, including consulting and tax advice, in which accountants "sell" creative tax avoidance and financing structures.
No doubt black sheep exist in medicine and law as well but there the regulatory body when it comes to accounting is particularly weak. I have not heard of CAs being 'unchartered' for malpractice. If it does happen, it's an event so rare and invisible that no one is afraid when signing off on doctored audit reports.
Again, not to suggest MBAs are highly ethical but that's a separate story.
As a core skills profession, bound by a charter, CAs need to live up to high standards to regain their rightful place in the sun. And then, they won't need those ties and blazers...
Terribly unsuitable for Indian weather in any case!
The Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICAI), a statutory body for regulating chartered accountants in the country, has tied up with retail major Provogue to provide a dash of colour and style to the profession.
“A professional should be identified by his knowledge, garb and panache. I believe the new dress code — blue blazer and tie — will give chartered accountants a new identity,” said president of ICAI Sunil Talati.
A well intentioned but poor idea. Doctors wear white coats and lawyers may don black ones. But, they work in specific work settings like hospitals and courtrooms. By ICAI's own estimation 75,000 of the 1.4 lakh CAs registered with the body work in industry. ie. regular corporate office. Can you imagine them wearing 'uniform'??
The remaining 65,000 must be in private practice. But here too, a blue blazer and tie is not going to help 'market the brand'.
A dress code is merely cosmetic, it cannot solve an overall identity crisis.
I have nothing against CAs, despite what you may think after reading this piece.. I do believe however that the MBA has impacted the CA profession. CAs have more 'core skills' but in a world where showmanship, branding, soft skills and a macro view seem to matter more, the CA loses out.
The acid test of a professional's worth is: do I get the last word? If a doctor scribbles out medicine X, you take it. If a lawyer advises defence Y, that's what is argued in court. If you don't agree you can go to another doctor or lawyer. But whichever you finally gets to be the expert. You have to trust him or her.
With a CA, what happens. He advises. The client may or may not agree. Or even believe he knows better. CAs are manipulated or coerced into signing audits they know are false. Inflating or deflating figures. And so on and so forth.
And this is not just in India. As the Financial Times noted after the Enron scandal:
Over the past five decades, accountants have changed from watchdogs to advocates and salespersons. Auditing has become one of a number of services, including consulting and tax advice, in which accountants "sell" creative tax avoidance and financing structures.
No doubt black sheep exist in medicine and law as well but there the regulatory body when it comes to accounting is particularly weak. I have not heard of CAs being 'unchartered' for malpractice. If it does happen, it's an event so rare and invisible that no one is afraid when signing off on doctored audit reports.
Again, not to suggest MBAs are highly ethical but that's a separate story.
As a core skills profession, bound by a charter, CAs need to live up to high standards to regain their rightful place in the sun. And then, they won't need those ties and blazers...
Terribly unsuitable for Indian weather in any case!
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Young Entrepreneur Series - 1
By accident and design, I keep bumping into young entrepreneurs. And I often write about the subject.
'Agents of Change' is a piece I wrote for the latest Businessworld. It tracks under 30s, all MBAs who dropped out of campus placement to pursue an entrepreneurial dream. Something we're seeing more of at elite bschools.
The three companies I covered are:
Sacred Moments - a company selling 'puja kits'
Prakash Mundhra (SCMHRD 2006 batch)
Indigo Edge - Medical tourism and consulting
Sandeep Ramesh, Radhakrishnan, Zerin Rahiman, Shivakumar R, Abhisar Gupta (all IIM L 2006 batch)
Brewhaha - a cafe which combines great food with the fun of gaming
Mansur Nazimuddin (IIM A 2006), Sreeram Vaidyanathan (IIM A 2005)
All these guys shared the trials and tribulations of being a start up with me in great detail. Details I could not use in the article, writing under limitation of words.
I have therefore decided to publish the full interviews in this space. Because hearing these stories may inspire/ motivate some of you out there considering entrepreneurship. And give you an idea of the hard work that lies ahead!
To lijiye entrepreneurs ki kahaani... unhi ki zabaani
Interview with Prakash Mundhra
Company: Sacred Moments
Founded: May 2006
Age: 27
Educational background: BMS (Sydenham college), 1 year work ex with family business, MBA from SCMHRD
I joined the MBA with an open mind - to do either business or service. I have a family business background (textiles).
How it all began
I entered several b plan contests while at SCMHRD and this boosted my confidence. It started with the ITC Mera Gaon Mera Desh contest. We had to develop strategies for ITC products. I chose Mangaldeep agarbattis and prepared a business plan where the company could expand into branded puja items like branded roli, branded haldi etc.
That's how I got into this area of religious products. I was in my first year at SCMHRD at the time.
The plan did not click with ITC. But I went ahead and participated in Zee TV's Business Baazigar. I won the 'mini Baazigar title, incidentally.
In my 2nd year I entered many business plan contests and won several - notable among them IIM Lucknow, TAPMI, IIT KGP, IIM Calcutta. I refined my idea - from branded puja items to puja item outlets (like Archies) but in my heart I knew neither concept would work.
Finally, in the last 8 months I arrived at the idea of 'puja kits'. With the Rs 50,000 Zee TV gave me I researched the idea and created a designer puja kit. The idea was a puja kit as 'gifting' item - for corporates and export market. For bulk orders I decided to offer customised logo printing as well.
However I did take my placement also. I got into 2 companies - ICIC Prudential and Essar. After the placement I took part in 6 b plan contests and won 5 of them. That boosted my confidence but gave me a dilemma. Was it to be the job or my business? I was to join ICICI Pru on 11th May 2006. On 7th I sent them an email declining the offer.
Thus 'Sacred Moments' was born.
Nuts and bolts
I calculated that I needed Rs 3-4 lakhs to start Of that I had 2 lakhs with me, from all the b plan contests I had won. The rest I borrowed from family/ friends.
I consulted 3-4 pandits before finalising the product. Each kit has 32 items used in the Diwali puja, including murti, haldi, roli, honey and even gangajal. There is a vidhi booklet also, which tells you how to go about the puja.
I made samples which I displayed at the Giftex exhibition in Mumbai between August 3rd and 7th 2006.
I got a really good response. In fact the puja kit received the 'best new product' award. I was sure that I was onto something big. However, I got mainly enquiries and not actual bookings. But I made the bold decision of manufacturing 12,000 kits. The kits were prepared on a job work basis, the assembly of items was also outsourced. I used my dad's old office in Masjid Bunder as a base which was very close to all my suppliers.
Of course the orders got confirmed slowly. I secured clients like TOI, AV Birla group, Link pens etc. People bought the kits for both personal gifting and corporate gifting. In the run up to Diwali the kit (which sold under the brand name 'Blessingz') was stocked at Asiatic and Akbarallys. Contacts also helped. My alma mater - the Symbiosis society - itself took some kits.
I sold 10,000 kits by Diwali. Strangely enough I got around 500 orders even after Diwali. A Punjabi family, for example, gave it to all their baraatis as a gift! Others bought the kit to present after 'Bhaagwat katha'. IMT Nagpur gave it to delegates at a conference on their campus.
The gross revenues were Rs 35 lakhs (Rs 350 per kit). After Diwali I ended up taking a 3 month break because first my sister got married and then I got married. In the new year I went back and started fulfilling demand in the export market.
In the coming year I have expanded production and shifted it to Ahmedabad which is cheaper as a manufacturing base. Yes this means I constantly make trips up and down but one good thing is the items I am packing are not very high value ,so I don't have to worry about pilferage. I also have a godown now in Mumbai.
In the following year I have plans to launch a 'grih pravesh puja kit' and a 'vehicle puja kit' also.
Lessons and Learnings
How did I manage the cash flows? Well export orders were booked on cash basis. Luckily my suppliers gave me credit. I also worked against advances from corporate orders.
I did borrow Rs 25,000 from 5-6 friends just before Diwali to tide over the cash crisis. I repaid them soon after.
How did my MBA help in the project? Well I was condident of overcoming hurdles. A small example: I needed a 20 gm sachet of ghee. Everyone told me it's not available in Mumbai. They said forget about providing ghee but that did not seem right. So I searched on the net and finally found someone in Tirupur who is packing 20 gm ghee sachets, although for hotel parcel service.
The MBA gave me optimism as well as techniques to work around problems.
Then there are small details. Like knowing people face certain problems during puja. How do you keep the photo of the God upright? We provided a small photo stand.
Then, I wanted to give a silver coin but that was uneconomical so we gave a silver 'durva'.
I think the most crucial decision was to go ahead and manufacture 12,000 kits without having a single firm order. I sold 4000 kits in the last one week before Diwali. If I did not have the kits ready I would have missed that business.
In future I also plan to launch a range of lower priced kits (Rs 200) for the retail mass market under a different brand name (Bhakti). It will have a different design and also less items. I plan to sell 50,000 kits in all this year (2007).
There has been demand to expand to 'other religions' as well. There are many many options (Baisakhi, Holi, think of all the other Indian festivals!). Basically it's a very fragmented and unorganised market.
Currently I am handling the business with 2 staff members. When I started I had asked two of my friends if they wanted to join but they didn't. Now I have a sleeping partner who basically invests but does not participate in the management of the business.
Was it worth it?
Yes there is a lot of internal job satisfaction and I made money equal to what I would have earned in a job. I made about Rs 5 lakhs for myself in the first year. Year 1 was a learning experience, my production was not so efficient so I had higher overheads.
I did take small risks all along. Like when one my exams at SCMHRD was clashing with a business plan contest I ditched the exam :)
My marketing professor Shivram Apte had rejected the business idea totally. We had a lot of argument over it back then. Today, of course, he says he's very glad he was wrong!
Yes there are 3-4 competitors I am aware of but the market is very large. There is also an entry barrier. The kirana shop types can't build a brand and scale it while the MBA types find the product too boring.
I'm 27 and recently I was invited to give a 'guest lecturer on entrepreneurship'. It felt really good!.
What struck me about Prakash:It appears that Prakash achieved 'instant success'. After all a turnover of Rs 35 lakhs in your first 6 months of business is not a joke!
The point to note is that Prakash actually spent 2 years refining his initial product idea using the business plan contest platform (both Business Baazigar and the bschool circuit)
That's a route other budding bschool entrepreneurs should consider.
I also think the way Prakash managed his cashflows is worth looking at. You don't need an angel to come finance you. Think out of the box.
Lastly, I like his 'no compromise with the product' philosophy. He went the extra mile to produce a puja kit which married utility with beauty. And did not cut corners.
It will be interesting to see how Sacred Moments scales up further. But I certainly think it can and will go places.
'Agents of Change' is a piece I wrote for the latest Businessworld. It tracks under 30s, all MBAs who dropped out of campus placement to pursue an entrepreneurial dream. Something we're seeing more of at elite bschools.
The three companies I covered are:
Sacred Moments - a company selling 'puja kits'
Prakash Mundhra (SCMHRD 2006 batch)
Indigo Edge - Medical tourism and consulting
Sandeep Ramesh, Radhakrishnan, Zerin Rahiman, Shivakumar R, Abhisar Gupta (all IIM L 2006 batch)
Brewhaha - a cafe which combines great food with the fun of gaming
Mansur Nazimuddin (IIM A 2006), Sreeram Vaidyanathan (IIM A 2005)
All these guys shared the trials and tribulations of being a start up with me in great detail. Details I could not use in the article, writing under limitation of words.
I have therefore decided to publish the full interviews in this space. Because hearing these stories may inspire/ motivate some of you out there considering entrepreneurship. And give you an idea of the hard work that lies ahead!
To lijiye entrepreneurs ki kahaani... unhi ki zabaani
Interview with Prakash Mundhra
Company: Sacred Moments
Founded: May 2006
Age: 27
Educational background: BMS (Sydenham college), 1 year work ex with family business, MBA from SCMHRD
I joined the MBA with an open mind - to do either business or service. I have a family business background (textiles).
How it all began
I entered several b plan contests while at SCMHRD and this boosted my confidence. It started with the ITC Mera Gaon Mera Desh contest. We had to develop strategies for ITC products. I chose Mangaldeep agarbattis and prepared a business plan where the company could expand into branded puja items like branded roli, branded haldi etc.
That's how I got into this area of religious products. I was in my first year at SCMHRD at the time.
The plan did not click with ITC. But I went ahead and participated in Zee TV's Business Baazigar. I won the 'mini Baazigar title, incidentally.
In my 2nd year I entered many business plan contests and won several - notable among them IIM Lucknow, TAPMI, IIT KGP, IIM Calcutta. I refined my idea - from branded puja items to puja item outlets (like Archies) but in my heart I knew neither concept would work.
Finally, in the last 8 months I arrived at the idea of 'puja kits'. With the Rs 50,000 Zee TV gave me I researched the idea and created a designer puja kit. The idea was a puja kit as 'gifting' item - for corporates and export market. For bulk orders I decided to offer customised logo printing as well.
However I did take my placement also. I got into 2 companies - ICIC Prudential and Essar. After the placement I took part in 6 b plan contests and won 5 of them. That boosted my confidence but gave me a dilemma. Was it to be the job or my business? I was to join ICICI Pru on 11th May 2006. On 7th I sent them an email declining the offer.
Thus 'Sacred Moments' was born.
Nuts and bolts
I calculated that I needed Rs 3-4 lakhs to start Of that I had 2 lakhs with me, from all the b plan contests I had won. The rest I borrowed from family/ friends.
I consulted 3-4 pandits before finalising the product. Each kit has 32 items used in the Diwali puja, including murti, haldi, roli, honey and even gangajal. There is a vidhi booklet also, which tells you how to go about the puja.
I made samples which I displayed at the Giftex exhibition in Mumbai between August 3rd and 7th 2006.
I got a really good response. In fact the puja kit received the 'best new product' award. I was sure that I was onto something big. However, I got mainly enquiries and not actual bookings. But I made the bold decision of manufacturing 12,000 kits. The kits were prepared on a job work basis, the assembly of items was also outsourced. I used my dad's old office in Masjid Bunder as a base which was very close to all my suppliers.
Of course the orders got confirmed slowly. I secured clients like TOI, AV Birla group, Link pens etc. People bought the kits for both personal gifting and corporate gifting. In the run up to Diwali the kit (which sold under the brand name 'Blessingz') was stocked at Asiatic and Akbarallys. Contacts also helped. My alma mater - the Symbiosis society - itself took some kits.
I sold 10,000 kits by Diwali. Strangely enough I got around 500 orders even after Diwali. A Punjabi family, for example, gave it to all their baraatis as a gift! Others bought the kit to present after 'Bhaagwat katha'. IMT Nagpur gave it to delegates at a conference on their campus.
The gross revenues were Rs 35 lakhs (Rs 350 per kit). After Diwali I ended up taking a 3 month break because first my sister got married and then I got married. In the new year I went back and started fulfilling demand in the export market.
In the coming year I have expanded production and shifted it to Ahmedabad which is cheaper as a manufacturing base. Yes this means I constantly make trips up and down but one good thing is the items I am packing are not very high value ,so I don't have to worry about pilferage. I also have a godown now in Mumbai.
In the following year I have plans to launch a 'grih pravesh puja kit' and a 'vehicle puja kit' also.
Lessons and Learnings
How did I manage the cash flows? Well export orders were booked on cash basis. Luckily my suppliers gave me credit. I also worked against advances from corporate orders.
I did borrow Rs 25,000 from 5-6 friends just before Diwali to tide over the cash crisis. I repaid them soon after.
How did my MBA help in the project? Well I was condident of overcoming hurdles. A small example: I needed a 20 gm sachet of ghee. Everyone told me it's not available in Mumbai. They said forget about providing ghee but that did not seem right. So I searched on the net and finally found someone in Tirupur who is packing 20 gm ghee sachets, although for hotel parcel service.
The MBA gave me optimism as well as techniques to work around problems.
Then there are small details. Like knowing people face certain problems during puja. How do you keep the photo of the God upright? We provided a small photo stand.
Then, I wanted to give a silver coin but that was uneconomical so we gave a silver 'durva'.
I think the most crucial decision was to go ahead and manufacture 12,000 kits without having a single firm order. I sold 4000 kits in the last one week before Diwali. If I did not have the kits ready I would have missed that business.
In future I also plan to launch a range of lower priced kits (Rs 200) for the retail mass market under a different brand name (Bhakti). It will have a different design and also less items. I plan to sell 50,000 kits in all this year (2007).
There has been demand to expand to 'other religions' as well. There are many many options (Baisakhi, Holi, think of all the other Indian festivals!). Basically it's a very fragmented and unorganised market.
Currently I am handling the business with 2 staff members. When I started I had asked two of my friends if they wanted to join but they didn't. Now I have a sleeping partner who basically invests but does not participate in the management of the business.
Was it worth it?
Yes there is a lot of internal job satisfaction and I made money equal to what I would have earned in a job. I made about Rs 5 lakhs for myself in the first year. Year 1 was a learning experience, my production was not so efficient so I had higher overheads.
I did take small risks all along. Like when one my exams at SCMHRD was clashing with a business plan contest I ditched the exam :)
My marketing professor Shivram Apte had rejected the business idea totally. We had a lot of argument over it back then. Today, of course, he says he's very glad he was wrong!
Yes there are 3-4 competitors I am aware of but the market is very large. There is also an entry barrier. The kirana shop types can't build a brand and scale it while the MBA types find the product too boring.
I'm 27 and recently I was invited to give a 'guest lecturer on entrepreneurship'. It felt really good!.
What struck me about Prakash:It appears that Prakash achieved 'instant success'. After all a turnover of Rs 35 lakhs in your first 6 months of business is not a joke!
The point to note is that Prakash actually spent 2 years refining his initial product idea using the business plan contest platform (both Business Baazigar and the bschool circuit)
That's a route other budding bschool entrepreneurs should consider.
I also think the way Prakash managed his cashflows is worth looking at. You don't need an angel to come finance you. Think out of the box.
Lastly, I like his 'no compromise with the product' philosophy. He went the extra mile to produce a puja kit which married utility with beauty. And did not cut corners.
It will be interesting to see how Sacred Moments scales up further. But I certainly think it can and will go places.
Sunday, May 06, 2007
FLAME: Education with a difference
Prof Indira Parikh retired in August 2005 from IIM A. She was one of the longest serving and most loved profs on campus. A professor in the OB area, she was best known for her involvement with the ERI program.
ERI - Exploring Roles and Identity - is a unique aspect of the curriculum at IIM A. An optional 'course' ERI takes you to an off-campus location (beach/ forest/ mountains) and all you do over 4 days is introspect. About who you are, what you wish to be, the things that hold you back, the regrets, hopes and fears you have.
I believe the program was originally conceived by Prof Pulin Garg, but for a whole generation of IIM A students Indira = ERI. Of course, there were other 'facilitators' - such as the wise and wonderful Sushanto.
The reason I am writing this, however, is not to recount days gone by. But to celebrate the future. Post retirement, Prof Parikh has set up FLAME - the Foundation for Liberal and Management Education. The initiative is funded by Parag and Nemish Shah and aims to impart 'holistic education'. Set up on a 75 acre campus on the outskirts of Pune, FLAME takes in students from this July.
FLAME has 3 programs:
- a 4 year undergrad course which promises 'the freedom to design your own education across science, humanities, management and creative arts'.
Students will graduate with a FLAME diploma in liberal education and a BA or a BBA (for which affiliation is being sought from Pune University). The course is fully residential.
- a 2 year MBA where students will take up liberal arts subjects along with the regular MBA course material. Emphasis will be given to personal growth, inter-personal skills and all round development.
- a 2 year 'MBA in Mass Media' which integrates creative and management skills for those interested in a career in the media.
FLAME also promises to revive the 'guru-shishya' parampara. Student teacher ratio will be 1: 14. There is an impressive roster of eminent visiting faculty, including specialist teachers from the UK to teach English literature!
Here's what I think:
The 4 year undergrad course which offers a more flexible curriculum is most welcome. As is the inclusion of liberal arts and emphasis on all round personal development. I think the undergrad course serves a real need - a gap in the market - and will find takers. But mainly with those thinking of studying abroad. Because it is expensive - Rs 3.62 lakhs per annum (which means Rs 14 lakhs for 4 years!).
The two year courses cost Rs 11 lakhs (Rs 5.52 lakhs per annum). That might deter many from the MBA, although I do think that the kind of spin FLAME is giving to the MBA is much needed.
The media course sounds a bit odd to me. In media you either join the creative side or the management side. Of course, exposure to both does not hurt... But the cost could be a turn-off. It's 5 times as expensive as Asian College of Journalism!
But then there aren't as many media schools as bschools. And yes, loans are available from Centurion Bank.
As a concept, FLAME sounds exciting. With Indira the helm, I am hopeful they can pull it off. My only concern is there has not been much publicity - and the pool of applicants may be small and not diverse enough.
FLAME should not turn into a cool school for rich kids!
Incidentally, the former director of SCMHRD, Prof M S Pillai, set up SCMLD (Sadhana Centre for Management and Leadership Development) in 2004. The institute offers a 2 year 'MBA with a difference'. For example, yoga and meditation form a compulsory part of the curriculum.
The support of former SCMHRD students has been crucial to the success of SCMLD. Although again, not enough people know about SCMLD and most would still prefer the conventional management institutes.
But it's good to see academics with vision and drive become, in a sense, 'educational entrepreneurs'.
Prof Bala Balachandran of Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai is the other name that comes to mind in this context.
I believe institutions led by academic-entrepreneurs are a new trend. These institutes stand a better chance of becoming brand names than a school set up by regular Mr Moneybags, who sees education merely as a business opportunity.
Faculty, placement, quality of students - the reputation and network of the founder makes a perceptible difference to all these crucial aspects.
Of course, in the longer run it's systems, processes and overall philosophy which results in Institutions of Enduring Value... Which live on long after their founders.
But this is a good start!
ERI - Exploring Roles and Identity - is a unique aspect of the curriculum at IIM A. An optional 'course' ERI takes you to an off-campus location (beach/ forest/ mountains) and all you do over 4 days is introspect. About who you are, what you wish to be, the things that hold you back, the regrets, hopes and fears you have.
I believe the program was originally conceived by Prof Pulin Garg, but for a whole generation of IIM A students Indira = ERI. Of course, there were other 'facilitators' - such as the wise and wonderful Sushanto.
The reason I am writing this, however, is not to recount days gone by. But to celebrate the future. Post retirement, Prof Parikh has set up FLAME - the Foundation for Liberal and Management Education. The initiative is funded by Parag and Nemish Shah and aims to impart 'holistic education'. Set up on a 75 acre campus on the outskirts of Pune, FLAME takes in students from this July.
FLAME has 3 programs:
- a 4 year undergrad course which promises 'the freedom to design your own education across science, humanities, management and creative arts'.
Students will graduate with a FLAME diploma in liberal education and a BA or a BBA (for which affiliation is being sought from Pune University). The course is fully residential.
- a 2 year MBA where students will take up liberal arts subjects along with the regular MBA course material. Emphasis will be given to personal growth, inter-personal skills and all round development.
- a 2 year 'MBA in Mass Media' which integrates creative and management skills for those interested in a career in the media.
FLAME also promises to revive the 'guru-shishya' parampara. Student teacher ratio will be 1: 14. There is an impressive roster of eminent visiting faculty, including specialist teachers from the UK to teach English literature!
Here's what I think:
The 4 year undergrad course which offers a more flexible curriculum is most welcome. As is the inclusion of liberal arts and emphasis on all round personal development. I think the undergrad course serves a real need - a gap in the market - and will find takers. But mainly with those thinking of studying abroad. Because it is expensive - Rs 3.62 lakhs per annum (which means Rs 14 lakhs for 4 years!).
The two year courses cost Rs 11 lakhs (Rs 5.52 lakhs per annum). That might deter many from the MBA, although I do think that the kind of spin FLAME is giving to the MBA is much needed.
The media course sounds a bit odd to me. In media you either join the creative side or the management side. Of course, exposure to both does not hurt... But the cost could be a turn-off. It's 5 times as expensive as Asian College of Journalism!
But then there aren't as many media schools as bschools. And yes, loans are available from Centurion Bank.
As a concept, FLAME sounds exciting. With Indira the helm, I am hopeful they can pull it off. My only concern is there has not been much publicity - and the pool of applicants may be small and not diverse enough.
FLAME should not turn into a cool school for rich kids!
Incidentally, the former director of SCMHRD, Prof M S Pillai, set up SCMLD (Sadhana Centre for Management and Leadership Development) in 2004. The institute offers a 2 year 'MBA with a difference'. For example, yoga and meditation form a compulsory part of the curriculum.
The support of former SCMHRD students has been crucial to the success of SCMLD. Although again, not enough people know about SCMLD and most would still prefer the conventional management institutes.
But it's good to see academics with vision and drive become, in a sense, 'educational entrepreneurs'.
Prof Bala Balachandran of Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai is the other name that comes to mind in this context.
I believe institutions led by academic-entrepreneurs are a new trend. These institutes stand a better chance of becoming brand names than a school set up by regular Mr Moneybags, who sees education merely as a business opportunity.
Faculty, placement, quality of students - the reputation and network of the founder makes a perceptible difference to all these crucial aspects.
Of course, in the longer run it's systems, processes and overall philosophy which results in Institutions of Enduring Value... Which live on long after their founders.
But this is a good start!
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