One of the most significant trends sweeping the Indian management education domain is the significant importance being attached to prior work-experience of MBA candidates.

Overwhelming percentage of students at IIMs and other top-schools are candidates with some prior work experience.

In the fresh data shared by IIM-L with MBAUniverse.com, a whopping 89% of candidates admitted to the Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP) have some prior work experience. Significantly, just a year ago, only 50% of the batch admitted to PGP 2007-2009 were candidates with work-experience.

Informs IIM-L, “The total number of experienced students in 2007-2009 batch were 122 (50.41%) which has increased to 274 (89.25%) for 2008-2010 batch. This is an increase of around 49% in the total number of experienced students.”

As per the IIM-L batch-profile of PGP 2008-10, of the 307 students, there are only 30 female students. Last year the number stood at 14 female students. There are 24 NRI students as well. As much as 93% of the batch at IIM-L is made of students with engineering degree.

IIM-L has also admitted 5 students who have some physical disability, thereby become a more inclusive institution.

Sources : mbauniverse.com

In business, it’s the early bird that rakes in the moolah. Taking cue from the age-old proverb, two MBA students have turned entrepreneurs even before graduating.

H.R. Sampreet and Saurav Dhiman, second-year students of the Vinod Gupta School of Management at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, have launched their own company, Enfount Business Solutions. Their maiden venture is Bulkdeals.co.in, a Bangalore-based online retail window specialising in institutional and organisational buying of laptops, desktops and other electronic items.

“Across campuses, students form groups to buy computers so retailers give them a discount,” said Sampreet. “But this happens locally and in an unorganised manner,” he explained.

The duo saw a business opportunity in this campus trend and created an online platform that is a one-stop-shop for bulk deals of laptops and desktops of all brands.

“Here, students can register and get great deals directly from the brands,” Sampreet said. “We estimate this to be a Rs 200-400 crore market. The brands, too, were looking for a single window to reach out to the student community. We had the business model and wanted to hit the market early, so we started even before graduating,” he added.

The company is partnering with almost all top brands such as Dell, LG, Hewlett Packard, Lenovo and HCL.

The website had over 1,000 visitors in the first three days of its launch and already has more than 300 members and over 20 registered colleges, including all the IITs.

When asked how they plan to balance studies with running a business, Saurav said: “It is all about time management. Our business requires just two or three hours a day, which we can easily put in.”

More : telegraphindia.com

Once again students from the School of Business & Economics MBA programme will be taking up the challenge of competing in the 2008 Cranfield Regatta, an international sailing event which is designed to allow MBA students and alumni from all over Europe to meet their counterparts from other business schools. The regatta will take place around Port Solent and Cowes on the last weekend in July and Exeter’s eight-strong crew are working hard in the hope of a high placing for the University. The crew is made up of part-time and full-time MBA students and alumni who have a broad range of sailing skills and experience but are dedicated to doing their best for Exeter. This year’s crew consists of current students Nadia Nikolova, Simon Baird, Nagyb Shah, Stuart Harris, Richard Dawson and alumni Jonny Malcolm, Mark Roberts and Wade Tipton. The race will consist of four head to head races with the various business school teams taking part. The team has is being sponsored by Vospers South West Motor Dealership, Jam Creative, The Birmingham Assay Office and House of Marbles.

More : atom.ex.ac.uk

The Mortgage Banker’s Association (MBA) announced earlier this week that Jonathan L. Kemper, current President and CEO, will be stepping down on December 31, 2008. According to the same MBA statement, during Kempner’s seven years with the MBA, the association doubled its revenues and operating reserve fund.

“This has been an extremely intellectually stimulating and rewarding period in my professional life,” said Kempner. “Navigating the highs and lows of the real estate cycles, with a first rate leadership and wonderful membership, afforded me a rare opportunity to contribute to one of the most important industries in our society. I am very proud for the extraordinary staff I have helped assemble at MBA, as my colleagues’ dedication, intelligence, and expertise make a true difference in the overall quality of life for many Americans. MBA’s mission, I am convinced, will be enhanced with new leadership, and on a personal level I very much look forward to a new position of leadership myself after nearly eight wonderful years at MBA.”

Kieran P. Quinn, MBA Chairman of the Board of Directors had this to say of Kempner, “Jonathan has been an exceptional leader for MBA. He has led a major transformation in our operations, and put in place a first rate staff that is widely acknowledged to be one of the most effective in the Washington association world. He has poured his heart and soul into MBA with the highest degree of professionalism, integrity, and devotion to our members, and always with a personal warmth and sense of humor. The entire MBA family will miss him.”

Quinn also announced that John A. Courson, former MBA Chairman, will become their COO effective August 1, and will assume the position of President of MBA, effective January 1, 2009.

Quinn said that, “John Courson brings tremendous industry knowledge, business savvy, and political skills to MBA. John has worked tirelessly on behalf of our industry for more than 40 years. He has been an advocate ensuring safe and affordable housing for all Americans and for simplifying the mortgage process. We are lucky to have John join MBA and steer our association to represent the real estate finance industry as we continue to build America’s communities.”

Courson, who currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the California Housing Finance Agency, served as Chairman of MBA in 2003 and as a member of MBA’s Board of Directors, the Residential Board of Governors (RESBOG) and the Commercial Real Estate/Multifamily Finance Board of Governors (COMBOG).]

More : dsnews.com

University at Albany-SUNY students in the evening and weekend MBA programs are in Budapest this week as they visit seven companies there and immerse themselves in Hungarian business, history and culture.

The School of Business entourage includes two dozen students, retired Dean Paul Leonard, and several faculty and staff. New School of Business Dean Donald Siegel popped in for a visit last weekend.

In the evenings, the future MBAs take an international business class with Professor Yasha Crnkovic.

The recruitment company Adecco has started cooperating with Copenhagen Business School (CBS) which is to result in the MBA students remaining in Denmark after their graduation, writes Børsen Business Daily.

“According to CBS many of the MBA students would like to work in Denmark. However, the tendency is that a majority returns to their own countries because it is difficult for them to be integrated on the labour market. Therefore it is important that we do everything we can to integrate them during their student period so that afterwards companies will be prepared to take them on,” says Adecco’s Marketing Director Nikolaj Henum.

This is to happen through coaching and career consultancy during their education.

“We cannot guarantee anything but we will do our utmost to find work for the 35 students,” he says, emphasising that Adecco has a strong network within Danish business life and will therefore have a good entry for the students to the labour market.

When the first MBA group in the alliance will finish in August, Adecco will start to get the students in contact with the companies. Their profiles will be placed on Adecco.dk just as they will get in contact with relevant companies. Moreover, a special entry will be launched with a database of the 35 MBA students.

More : copcap.com

An investigation is underway into alleged online cheating by prospective and current MBA students. Thousands are accused of looking at current questions on their entrance exams. The publisher of the test has shut down the domain and is looking into who used it to cheat. Those scores could be thrown out. A federal judge in Alexandria, Virginia, ordered Scoretop.com to pay the Graduate Management Admission Council 2.35 million dollars and to turn over a computer hard drive containing payment information and user IDs. The council has sued Scoretop’s operator for copyright infringement. It alleges the site offered current questions from the Graduate Management Admission Test as well as other private material.

More : wlns.com

Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business is once again offering help to businesses in the Triangle who are seeking consulting services.

MBA students are available to work with firms that can’t afford to pay consulting fees. Students will receive course credit for their efforts.

Fuqua students have worked with more than 300 companies over the 25 years of the program.

To be eligible for the program, businesses must meet certain criteria:

More : localtechwire.com

Two MBA students were sentenced to life in Pune on Thursday for murdering their classmate—a case of a love triangle gone wrong.

Additional Sessions Judge S S Phansalkar Joshi sentenced Aditi Sharma and her boyfriend Praveen Khandelwal for murdering Udit Bharati on April 22 last year by giving him prasad laced with poison.

All three were 25 and students of the IIHM MBA institute in Wakad, Pune.

Udit and Aditi came to Pune from Jammu where they had studied together in an engineering college. They planned to get married after finishing their MBA degree but their relationship changed.

Aditi met Praveen at the MBA institute and fell in love with him. She wanted to end her relationship with Udit, but he would have nothing of it.

“Aditi and Praveen found a job in Gurgaon but Udit continued to pester Aditi. So both Aditi and Praveen connived to eliminate Udit. On April 22 last year, Aditi came to a Pune lodge and called Udit. When Udit arrived, she offered him prasad mixed with arsenic,” said additional public prosecutor Neelima Vartak

Udit went back to his apartment after eating the prasad and was later taken to hospital where he died.

The prosecution alleged the two had pleaded guilty of murdering Udit at the MacDonald Hotel near the Chinchwad station.

The police had initially registered a case of accidental death only to discover later the presence of arsenic in his body. Remains of the poison were also found in Aditi’s bag.

When the judge pronounced the life sentence and asked Aditi and Praveen if they wanted to say anything, they said they were “innocent”.

A highlight of the case was examination of 33 prosecution witnesses, who mainly comprised forensic experts testifying on administration and traces of arsenic found in the viscera of the deceased.

More : ibnlive.com

An MBA student allegedly committed suicide by hanging herself in her house in Gokalpuri in north east Delhi on Tuesday morning. The victim, Anita Lal (24), was found hanging from the ceiling by her father. Anita reportedly had a fight with her elder sister and father on Monday night. No suicide note was found. Anita was supposed to leave for Mumbai on June 17 where she was to report for a new job.

According to police, Anita hanged herself with the help of a stole inside her room. On Tuesday morning when the victim’s parents did not see her around, they went to her room and found her hanging. The victim’s father Roshanlal, who runs a bag manufacturing unit and is an MCD councillor, immediately informed the police. Anita completed her MBA from Indraprashtha University.

The police rushed her to a nearby hospital where she was declared brought dead. Later, the body was taken to Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital where a postmortem was conducted and the body was handed over to the family.

Police said that Anita had a fight with her elder sister and father over some family matter after which she reportedly took the extreme step. “We are examining the family members though the exact reasons for the suicide is not clear. An inquest proceeding has been initiated into the matter while the post-mortem report is awaited,” said a senior police officer.

More : timesofindia.indiatimes.com