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Abuzz
with activity Trainer
with a difference Street
smart fashion |
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Abuzz with activity "It’s
unlikely that we will see more than one other business school of the
stature of the ISB launched in our lifetime" —Donald P.
Jacobs, former Dean, Kellogg
Which
B-school students in India get the highest salary offers? That may not
be a million-rupee question anymore. The International School of
Business (ISB) in Hyderabad has set new records with an offer of Rs 80
lakh per annum for its graduate from the class of 2005, the kind of
pay cheque that only Ivy League school students can ask for. Most of
the ISB students have been offered astounding pay packets, at least by
Indian standards, from international as well as national companies.
The average international salary of the class of 2005 from this
premier institution was Rs 40 lakh, while the highest Indian salary on
offer was Rs 21 lakh. Global companies such as Novartis, Deutsch Bank,
Goldman Sachs, Mittal Steel, HSBC and Development Bank of Singapore
competed with well known Indian companies like Mindtree Consulting,
Birlasoft and Satyam Computers to offer leadership positions and
lateral placements. Interestingly, even Indian companies offered
international positions to the ISB students. These new benchmarks in
placements were possible because of the formidable reputation that the
ISB has secured for itself during a short span of five years. The ISB
alumni community is currently spread over 175 corporations across more
than nine countries in three continents. From corporate management to
high tech entrepreneurship and from government to the non-profit
sector these men and women are making a mark through their leadership
and accomplishments. "We have seen a substantial increase of 55
per cent in the number of international offers compared to last year.
It is very inspiring to see large multinationals selecting the ISB
graduates for their international positions along with the graduates
from other premier schools across the world," says Ajit Rangnekar,
Deputy Dean, Indian School of Business, who called the 2005 placement
results "phenomenal." The institution’s promoters
include 23 of the Fortune-500 companies and leading Indian business
houses. The governing board comprises business leaders, entrepreneurs,
and academicians from some of the world’s leading business and
management education institutions. The credit for bringing this top of the class institute to
Hyderabad against stiff competition from metros such as Mumbai,
Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata goes to former Chief Minister N.
Chandrababu Naidu, whose missionary zeal impressed the team of
industrialists—Anil Ambani of Reliance, Y C Deveshwar of ITC, Keki
Dadiseth of Hindustan Lever, With a world class infrastructure that
comprises of more than 8 lakh square feet built-up area spread over
260 acres in the vicinity of HiTec City, the IT hub of Hyderabad, this
self-contained residential campus has well-equipped and wired
classrooms and one of the best libraries in management education.
The School offers a one-year Postgraduate Programme; short-duration,
high-powered Executive Education Programmes for CEOs and senior
executives; and a two-year Research Fellowship Programme. While the
post-doctoral programmes focus on research in management, the Centre
for Executive Education has programmes designed for senior executives
and managers with a high potential and leadership. A bachelor’s
degree, GMAT, GRE score and two years of post-qualification experience
are the eligibility for the much sought after one-year postgraduate
programme. While preference is given to students who have demonstrated
leadership qualities in their work or academic life, student diversity
is taken care of for the rigorous programme. The fee of Rs 13 lakh,
which covers tuition, course materials, learning resources, and
accommodation expenses (it is mandatory to live on campus) that range
from Rs 1.15 lakh to 1.75 lakh is described as "an investment
that offers priceless returns, both in terms of monetary gain as well
as personal enrichment." However, loans and scholarships are
made available. One in three students at the ISB will receive a
scholarship ranging from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 14 lakh, while about 60 per
cent of the class avail customised loans at concessional rates from
banks empanelled by the ISB. The class of 2006 has an average of five
years of experience behind it from diverse fields such as IT, banking,
FMCG, biotech, manufacturing, shipping, telecom, advertising,
petroleum and defence services with an average GMAT score of 690. Dr
Harsh Vardhan Sharma, a medical graduate from Delhi University,
enrolled into the ISB to avail of opportunities in the emerging
healthcare industry. Namita Ogale, who works for Kotak Mahindra, is
here to hone her skills in finance management. Vishal Saxena is a
Major in the Army, while Mayank Agarwalla was managing his family-run
business. "The global curriculum at ISB enables us to acquire
cutting-edge management skills that work across disciplines,"
explains Dr Sharma about the varied backgrounds and work experience of
students. "We are different from IIMs in that our students have
work experience. The delivery is also unique with a large number of
visiting faculty, most of them from global schools," says Prof
Rammohan Rao, Dean of the ISB. The intense one-year course, which
packs inputs offered in a conventional two-year programme, is rigorous
and demanding. "Don’t ask us how many hours we put in a day.
There are no holidays, and Sundays could be worse than the working
days," says Namita. Ideal mix of resident and visiting faculty
makes up the who’s who of management gurus from Wharton, Kellogg,
London Business School, Cornell, Chicago, Duke and UCLA among others.
Besides, eminent industry leaders and professionals such as N.R.
Narayana Murthy, Chairman and Chief Mentor, Infosys Technologies Ltd.,
Rajat Gupta, Senior Partner Worldwide, McKinsey and Company Inc., and
Dr C. Rangarajan, Chairman of the 12th Finance Commission share their
experiences under a faculty position called Professor of Management
Practice. The student villages, amidst quaint rock formations, have
serviced apartments with TV, equipped kitchenette, elegant furniture,
besides voice, data ports, campus LAN and internet alongside excellent
recreational facilities including gymnasium, pool, tennis, basketball,
badminton courts. "The facilities in the campus are the best.
Visiting faculty from American Universities admit that the
infrastructure is comparable or even better than they have
there," Mayank reveals.
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Trainer with a difference
For
Bernhild Schrand, coach and trainer with the University of
Hanover, who specialises in training women for management, it was educative
to visit India. The purpose of her visit was to see the situation and
working conditions of career women here. Giving the example of gender
mainstreaming in Germany, Schrand narrates an incident about how women in a
small town in Germany protested when the car parkings for them were built
lower than the normal level and they found it inconvenient to climb down and
bend to access them. A new one was constructed but since the architect and
engineer had both presumed that women did not own big cars, the parking
space earmarked was small, so they protested again and they had to be heard.
The engineer thought the protesting women were cantankerous but there was
nothing he could do because the gender mainstreaming law of the European
Union is applicable in Germany, whereby unequal treatment is punishable by
law. Schrand feels that the women here are a lot more passive and resigned
to their situations and do not protest enough. Even when they do, the law
does not back them effectively. Schrand lectured students of e-commerce,
Department of Business Management, Panjab University, on how to build and
plan a career. Her interest is in observing the working conditions and
opportunities in the job market for women in India. Interaction with young
women in the university revealed them to be "clear, open-minded, tough
and curious." They also have a high level of motivation and are
interested in society, have vision and take it seriously. In Germany, the
students are not so clear and articulate and often have to be asked to paint
their visions. Schrand feels she has only come across the middle class and
she finds a lot of similarities in behaviour and thinking of the women
across the world, but the issues and changes that are visible now in India
were the ones that were centrestage in Germany about 30 years back. Now
women’s issues are no longer isolated as "only of relevance to
women" but are social issues, of significance to society at large. They
are a part of the main discourse and there is no tokenism. When there is
domestic violence, the entire machinery and law and order mechanism gets
into action. As far as conflict situations go, women should consciously be
relaxed in conflict situations and believe that they have the emotional
power, the right knowledge and the best techniques to solve. More than ever
before, there are so many well-educated, qualified women today. The job
market situation is competitive and women have to take care of themselves so
that they don’t lose out. When Schrand was studying, the first women’s
groups were being formed; the political and social situation was in ferment.
Her father was politically active and very supportive of her and her sister;
as a result she could follow her dream and aim for the sky. She feels it is
very important for a daughter to have the support of her father in order to
excel. She worked with groups of young people who had not completed their
schooling and found it to be an enriching experience. After that she
collaborated with Dorother Rssig to organise seminars for women and train
them for management roles. Now she is freelancing and travels extensively
within Germany to lecture and train. "My next goal is to organise
seminars to educate and train trainers. Currently based in the University of
Hanover, Schrand is happy to have founded an international association for
consulting competence. Find more possibilities for consultation and
networking, especially in inter-cultural situations where mediation is
required.
Tips for women managers
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Street smart fashion The roadside fashion peddler is the super-hero who saves us from the clutches of retail fashion where the designs are not unique and the clothes seem overpriced, says Lochana Murthy
Let’s
admit it. While many of us lust after the creations of the likes of Ravi
Bajaj, Manish Malhotra and Rina Dhaka, most times, they’re way out of the
range of our budgets and, frankly speaking, they’re really not what we’d
call daily wear! So frequently, we settle for the ever-popular retail
fashion that shops like Westside, Pantaloons, etc dish out. But the problem
here is that well, it is retail fashion, so the designs are not exactly
unique and at times even this stuff seems overpriced. Well, this is where
we make way for the unknown super-hero to save us from the clutches of
mass-produced fashion. And who is this super-hero? Well, it’s the roadside
fashion peddler! From Janpath in Delhi to Fashion Street in Mumbai, Pondy
Bazar in Chennai and even Arjuna Market in Goa, the street-side clothes
seller has a special place in India’s style scheme. While the quality of
his wares might be suspect, there’s no denying the vast variety that he
offers and the individualistic look that his clothes and accessories
have. Street style is not easy to master. Shopping from roadside ‘fashion
houses’ requires you to be as smart as the vendor himself! If not, you
could end up buying a top for Rs 300 when its actual worth may not exceed Rs
100! So what, if any, are the rules of street-side style hunting? Here’s a
primer on how to build a wardrobe that doesn’t shout ‘footpath fashion’
but is still largely sourced from the roadside which makes it easy on your
pocket, lively to look at and comfortable to wear: Bargain, bargain,
bargain: The cardinal rule of buying from street vendors is bargaining —
but this doesn’t mean ages of endless haggling. If you feel the
clothes/accessories are not worth the price being quoted, you should have
the guts to drop these and walk away. You’ll be surprised how fast these
guys will drop their prices then! The threat of losing their customer or the
possibility of you buying from the neighbouring competitor is usually enough
to get you a significant discount on the price. Quality watch: Quality is
a very slippery concept on the roadside. While the vendor would like you to
believe that his stuff is top notch, experience would’ve taught you
better! Remember that colours may run, cotton material may shrink, stitching
at the seams may not be strong enough and shoe soles could be less hardy
than advertised. So what do you do? As far as shrinkage is concerned, ask
the vendor up front. Most often, if the material is likely to shrink, he’ll
volunteer to give you a bigger size. As for handling the other issues,
simply read on! After-care: Once you’ve bought your booty, making sure
that it gives you the best service possible lies in your hands. For colour
fastness, make sure to soak your clothes in salt water before the first
wash. It helps fix the colour a little better. Seams and buttons/hooks are
often not strong enough. The best thing to do is to give them to a local
tailor who’ll reinforce them for you. It’s not a very expensive process
and you won’t have to worry about your blouse popping open in public! Footwear
fundas: Buying shoes off the road needs some thought. If you’re a serious
walker, these shoes may just not suffice. It’s always a good idea to have
a spare pair of trustworthy shoes on your shoe rack if you really want to
have the roadside pair as well. That way, you’ll have a backup in case of
an emergency. Quality-quantity ratio: The secret to making your entire
wardrobe look good is to have a good mix of quality and quantity. Quality
will come from having a good set of basics — like blue jeans, black
trousers, one or two good shirts, white/black salwars, etc — that you’ve
bought from a trustworthy/branded shop. Quantity and vibrancy will come from
the street! Use clothes and accessories from off the road to jazz up the
basics that you have. A colourful cloth bag, dangly earrings, vivid tops,
all of them will add value to your wardrobe. So don’t shy away from the
streets just because you don’t have the smarts! Armed with this guide, hit
the roadside with a vengeance and create a look that’s value for money and
comfy to wear! — MF |
