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Wings to Dreams
The aviation industry has been witnessing unprecedented growth in recent times globally and particularly in India. As in other sectors of trade and business, a scientific approach to the management of various aspects of this industry is extremely important in order to effectively handle this rapidly evolving aviation industry, and also deal with the challenges of environment and terrorism.
Job opportunities are great in this sector. As per a report by Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA), the Civil Aviation Ministry of India aims at 500 operational airports in the next 12 years, thus calling for more trained professionals. India ranks among the highest civil aviation passenger growth at 20 per cent. By 2020, the number of passengers airborne is estimated to be around 400 million!
What is it?
An MBA in aviation is one of the most unique and exclusive courses in the world in the present scenario. Although business administration has been one of the fastest emerging disciplines in the past few decades, specialisation in aviation is a recent phenomenon. Mere hands-on training does not suffice in today’s competitive world. One requires professional training and knowledge to climb the success ladder.
The curriculum
The aviation management programme focuses on the practical application of management principles and concepts to the day-to-day operations of airlines, airports and related businesses. “The industry requires disciplined, professional managers to design, manage, and operate the national and international There are three primary areas of focus in aviation management — fixed based operation management (FBO), general airport management and financial management. While FBO centres on the business practices involved in operating a maintenance facility at a commercial airport, general airport management revolves around the practices and policies of planning and management within the wide-ranging areas of a commercial airport. Corporate financial management focuses on the principles and techniques of financial analysis and long-term financing, capital management and budgeting within the aviation industry.
The programme also includes airline management and executive oversight, airline operations, airline maintenance, sales and IT management. Some of the significant aspects of aviation management are: Professional flight management: Professional flight management gives a thorough understanding of different aspects of airline and general aviation operations. This is particularly aimed at professional pilots to train them in effective and safe flight management. Supply chain management: Manufacturers, retailers and logistics service providers form an integral part of the aviation industry. Proper management of the same is essential for smooth running of operations. The Supply Chain Management Program includes within its purview logistics and operations management. This training gives practical knowledge of procurement, operations, logistics and transportation. Logistics: This is a specialised branch of study wherein a student is trained in the management of efficient, cost-effective flow and storage of goods, services and other related information throughout the supply chain. The study aims at supply and delivery of goods and services at the right place and at the right time in perfect condition. Some of the significant aspects of Logistics include strategic planning, warehousing, transportation, inventory control, customer service, purchasing, forecasting and handling of materials. “Our three-year BBA programme is designed in such a way that right after 12th standard, a student can follow a focused career path. The two-year MBA programme has highly specialised study in aviation management. It not only provides a basic grounding in all aspects of airport and airline business operations, but also goes further,” says Malik.
The workplace
Career prospects in this field are very bright and exciting as it offers great opportunities for regular travel, meeting new people from across the globe and learning new skills.
A professional can find employment with aircraft manufacturers, airports, cargo airlines, colleges/universities, medical airline transports, private airlines, professional development centres, tourism boards, etc. A qualified professional can work as airport terminal controller, airport safety manager, safety inspector, airline manager, maintenance manager, airport manager, airport operations supervisor, airport planner, airline flight crew scheduler, air cargo coordinator, airline air cargo load master and hazardous cargo specialist, aviation manufacturing cost analyst, aviation manufacturing product support specialist, aviation manufacturing technical writer, airline marketing coordinator & manager, etc.
So, just get set for a highflying career!
SKILLset
Essentials for an aviation professional:
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Art of conversation
For good and ill, your speech is your advertisement. Every time you open your mouth, you allow others a peep into your mind. It opens your mental vistas and gives your faculties a splendid display. At the same time, it also shows your hidden weaknesses. That is why it is said that silence is the better part of speaking.
A job interview, for instance, is nothing but brief bits of speech between the employer and the seeker. The one who is bright and brilliant comes out with flying colours while the one who is slow and sluggish fails. Thinking and good speaking are steady partners. The less people think, the Some people seem to imagine that because they can talk, there is nothing else to be learned about this art. Here are some basic principles to be observed if you are to make the most of your power to impress with your power of speaking. As Confucius said, “A superior man in modest in his speech but excels in his actions.”
Keep it pleasant
If others always seem in a hurry to get away as soon as you start speaking with them, this one is for you. Are you always grumpy and narrating tales of woe? We all have our upsets, but talking only about them will only drive people away. Be positive and cheerful, it works. Three things must be considered when you open your mouth — the manner, the place and the time. But that is different from turning every occasion to your pet subject. This is the perfect way to acquire the reputation of being a top-class bore.
If you speak angrily and irritably you are reflecting you immaturity. Argument can be heated and senseless. Discussing is calm, wise, friendly and informed. Says Dryden, “They think too little who talk too much.”
Manner of speech may also be repelling. Never pretend interest or knowledge; insincerity is soon detected. Never rise to speak until you have something to say, and having said that stop. Don’t drag your tale. As Voltaire puts it, “There is a wide difference between speaking to deceive and being silent to be impenetrable.” There are occasions when tact and sympathy are called for, but successful speaking is one that sinks into the listener’s heart.
Know your subject
The way you speak covers multiple topics, and it is obviously impossible for to be well informed on every subject under the sun. When speaking, do not give the impression that you are speaking from heaven. Nothing is more damaging to a reputation that you know all about a thing. If you have special knowledge about something, make your contribution as usefully as you are able to, but sheer verbal gas goes against you.
Once George Bernard Shaw was engaged in a conversation with a linguist. The latter was high on ego. To pull Shaw’s leg, he said, “English language has only one word which begins with ‘s’ but sounds as ‘sh’.” Shaw replied, “Sure, sure.”
Unnatural speech springs from nervousness, perhaps from fear of making a fool of yourself. Trying to talk like someone else means adopting a special tone and accent for certain situations. It is better to be natural and your own self otherwise you could end up as the laughing stock. Try the simple way of taking a very deep breath before speaking. The effect is almost magical.
Be a good listener
Good conversation is like a game of ball between two. If one clutches the ball to his chest, the game ends. The tongue of a fool is the key to his mind. In a wise man, it is for the keeping for rare occasions. Chatterboxes assume that being a good speaker means doing all the talking. Like an empty vessel, they make too much noise. The best speaker is one who takes in as well as give out information. He keeps abreast of events and is interested in life and people. Widen your skill with interests. Reading helps, but your speech must spring from specifics. It has to be to the point, not rambling.
Silence is golden
A vital component of speech is silence. If you have nothing to say, say nothing! Do not frill your speech with spicy yarns and fiction. Stick to the subject. A good rule is to ask yourself, “Am I trying to play to the gallery?” If so, hold your tongue. As a Chinese proverb says, “The tongue is only three inches but it can kill a man six feet high.”
No wonder, it is said of a wise man that he can hold his tongue in ten different languages!
Of all forms of communication, speech remains personal. Nature has concealed in us talents and abilities we are unaware of. If you have the passion, you can bring it to the surface.
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Catching them young
In the wake of increasing wage pressures and mounting training bills faced by the IT-BPO industry, Nasscom has come up with a vocational training model exclusively for Indian universities.
The programme, to be kicked off in October from Pune University, would follow a dual education system whereby a degree student can simultaneously gather vocational training and expertise in soft skills.
The program will be extended to other parts of the country later. Nasscom The training would provide professional IT & BPO skills in insurance, retail, hospitality and others and after Pune, it would be expanded to other cities.
— Agencies
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Idle mind may be good...
An idle mind may not necessarily be the devil’s workshop. To the contrary, too much stress on action could produce unforeseen outcomes, says a new study. The study lead by Dolores Albarracín, a professor of psychology at Illinois University, highlights how the pressures of society to be active may produce fairly unregulated behaviour. The findings could help our understanding of how common words used in everyday life may influence conditions like attention deficit hyperactivity and bipolar disorders. While such conditions have genetic roots, he said, the social and cultural factors that exacerbate them are not well understood. In a series of experiments, researchers primed participants with a set of words suggesting action or inaction and then observed their behaviour. The primes list consisted of words such as “go” and “motivation” that represented an active thought, or words like “rest” and “stop” that indicated inaction. In this analysis, Albarracín and colleagues subjected participants to different sets of word primes and then asked them to perform a task. The tasks ranged from doodling to eating, and in some cases, learning new information. The intensity of the behaviour was measured, and in two of the studies participants could choose to do none of the tasks and instead rest. The studies demonstrated that participants primed with an action word were more likely to choose active tasks. But what was most compelling to Albarracín was that the same stimulus triggered a diverse array of tasks that are normally not seen together, such as eating, learning and doodling. “What you actually end up promoting is a very general message to be active,”
...brainy work causes obesity!
A new study shows that thinking too much can lead to overeating and thus obesity. In their study at Universite Laval in Quebec City, Canadian researchers found that the stress of intellectual work makes people eat more, thus raising their calorie intake and causing obesity.
As part of their study, the researchers asked 14 students to eat at a buffet after performing three easy but different tasks: Just sitting and relaxing; reading and summarising a text, and doing memory tests on a computer. The researchers said these three tasks consumed very little energy, with students doing mental work needing just three calories more than those relaxing. The study warned that obesity could become rampant in the future as more and more people get involved in intellectual work around the world.
— IANS
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Happy Days here again!
A published media report quotes Niteen Tulpule, the Tulpule is cautious about the domestic BPO market and believes that companies need to change their mindsets and cost structures to remain profitable in this segment of the industry. He believes that India can compete with other BPO destinations due to the huge number of English-speaking graduates available. He says that India’s growth from being just a provider of voice-based marketing to CRM services, transaction processing and establishing shared services centres for accounts and HR denotes that the industry has moved up the value chain very quickly and efficiently. Referring to the KPO segment, Tulpule says that this segment of the industry could be worth as much as 10 billion US dollars within the next two years. Areas such as legal process outsourcing, market research, analytics, pharma, engineering and animation would be the prime movers of the BPO value chain in the years ahead. He also believes that the rural BPOs can lend a helping hand by taking over some low-end tasks related to data entry and processing within the non-voice space so that their urban cousins can focus on more value-added services. However, the KPMG official warned that unless bottlenecks relating to infrastructure and education were resolved, the rural BPO dream may never be realised fully.
Philippines jumps in
India and China had better watch out! Authorities in the Philippines are leaving no stone unturned to ensure that their country competes with the two BPO giants by the turn of the current decade.
Oscar Sanez, CEO of the Business Processing Association of the Philippines, has set a target of between 12 to 13 billion dollar revenues from the business by the year 2010. And to reach anywhere close to this goal, the industry would require at least 420,000 additional skilled workers. Though Filipinos boast of top notch voice and customer retention skills, the industry is concerned that at the entry level the call centre operators are not even required to hold a bachelor’s degree unlike in other competing economies like India.
India’s role in delivery chain irreversible, says Nasscom chief
Nasscom president Som Mittal has asserted that India’s position in the global delivery chain of business process outsourcing is irreversible and no amount of political compulsion can change the way industries offshore work.
Speaking at the foundation day celebrations of the International Institute of Information Technology, Mittal said the domestic industry grew by about 24 per cent year-on-year and contributed 5.5 per cent of India’s GDP with 50 billion dollar worth of annual exports. Asked about the recent comments from US Presidential nominee Barack Obama on removing tax incentives for companies that outsource, the Nasscom chief said, “The decision is not with the President of United States. It rests with the companies in the US that offshore a large portion of their work. So, let’s wait and watch.” Mittal was, however, quick to add that though India managed to get the first 50 billion dollars worth of exports, doubling this kitty would entail hard work and should be seen by the industry and policy makers as a big challenge. He said Nasscom planned to launch a career guide early next year that would help IT students understand the job requirements coming up globally and get prepared with the adequate skills by the time they got out of college. “Today, retraining the graduates and making them job-ready is a huge challenge,” he said. Mittal also said India should be prepared to take advantage of the fact that the profiles of the population in countries like Japan and Europe showed that they were aging while that in India presented a much younger option. This surplus working class should be quickly converted to technology class, he said.
— Agencies
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Reason to smile
Students from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Burma, Sri Lanka and Bhutan have easy access to cheaper books, which looked like a pipedream a decade ago. One of the initiatives in this regard is that of PHI Learning, which believes in spreading education with affordable and high quality texts. Yogesh Srivastava, marketing executive of PHI Learning, said that under the imprint of Eastern Economy Editions, books of science, humanities, management, computer information, were available at cheaper prices. ‘’Basically, we provide Indian students with the best of both the worlds as books by Indian authors are also provided for,’’ he said. Books ranging from Reinventing the UN by Ajit Banerjee and Murari R. Sharma to Sociology of Religions by Ali Shariati, from Kotler and Keller’s Marketing Management to Fossils in Earth Sciences by Anis Kumar Ray are available. PHI Learning has collaborated with IT giants like Microsoft Learning and NIIT, and university presses such as Harvard University Press, MIT for publishing and promoting a wide range of their texts in India. — UNI
For a glittering future
Based in Milan, the Instituto Europeo Di Design (IED), is an international network of institutes that operates in the field of training and research in the disciplines of jewellery design, fashion, visual arts and communication. Current students as well as alumni who have completed their two-year course would be eligible to undertake their third year top-up programme. The agreement is applicable for JDTI’s Noida Campus and soon-to- be-launched Chandigarh campus. In addition, all JDTI students would also be eligible to attend the summer course at IED, where summer training will be provided to JDTI students at IED and this training will count towards the compulsory internship at JDTI.
— TNS
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Enroll with IGNOU
Pervin Malhotra
A. IGNOU’s Master of Arts Education Programme is an innovative programme that provides a wide and comprehensive understanding of education covering a variety of areas ranging from understanding the concept of education to understanding how knowledge is generated in education. The course will help you acquire a higher level of specialisation in one of the following aspects of education: Higher education, distance education, educational technology or educational management. The objective of the programme is to produce of well-trained professionals who are knowledgeable in education and its various dimensions. More specifically, it intends to: Total number of credits: 68. You must cover 34 credits each year. The dissertation work in Year 2 carries 10 Credits Eligibility: A Bachelor’s Degree (any discipline) with/without a degree in education. Hence, you are eligible. You can complete the programme in a minimum of two years and in a maximum of five years. Medium of instruction: English Fee: Rs 10,000 for the entire programme (one instalment). The multi-media instructional mode combines self-instructional print material, audio/video components, assignments, counselling sessions, teleconferencing, interactive radio counselling, and dissertation work. More details: www.ignou.ac.in.
Go on, crack the Civils
Q. I did my B.Com from an open university. Am I eligible to take the Civil A. If you have completed your education from an open school / university you can apply for the CS Exam provided it is a recognised University and you possess the prescribed educational qualifications and are otherwise eligible. Moreover, even those who did their graduation without passing class 10 and 12, are still eligible for taking the Civil Service Exam provided they fulfil the other conditions.
This column appears weekly. The writer is a career counsellor. Please send in your queries along with your full name, address and academic qualifications to:
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Contrary to doomsday predictions for the BPO industry, international accounting and consulting firm KPMG believes that not only would global demand for BPO delivery remain strong in the long-term,
but it would also leave substantial headroom for further growth.
Students have reason to rejoice. Books by foreign authors, which were out of
the reach of students of the sub-continent due to price or availability, are now accessible to them at cheaper rates, something that can be described as a virtual manna from heaven.
Jewellery Design and Technology Institute has signed
memorandum of understanding with an Italian design institute for a dual diploma programme that will see students get an internationally recognised diploma as well as undergo training in Italy.
Q. I have done BA (history) and have been teaching in a nursery school. Now I am thinking of doing MA (education).
Is it equal to M.Ed? Can it also be done privately? From where can I do it?