B-school trends come and go, but one that seems to have legs is the creation of specialized MBA programs, particularly by second-tier schools. The schools find them useful for attracting students and cementing their brand identities at a time when competition among schools for the best students is intense. In recent years, they’ve becoming increasingly common (BusinessWeek.com, 7/19/07) even at high-profile schools. Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley, Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management, and the Wharton School now offer specialized MBAs, majors, or dual degree programs in areas like real estate, sports management, biosciences, electronic commerce, and health care.

But is a specialized program always a good choice for an MBA student?

Not necessarily. While established programs have placement records on par with those of their general MBAs, many newer programs have not yet established the kind of recruiting relationships that guarantee students high-paying jobs at graduation. And graduates always run the risk of getting hamstrung by their specialties later in their careers, when an industry downturn forces them to look outside their specialties for opportunities.
Chart Your Own Path

Some who have gone through the specialized programs say they are best for those with a firm idea of their future goals, and who are keen to chart their own path. “I knew what I wanted to do,” said Carrie Stern Rathod, who received her MBA from Wisconsin’s Brand ‐ Product Management Center in 2005 and now works for Procter & Gamble (PG), which recruits regularly from the program. “There’s a range of people for whom this program is ideal. If you have an entrepreneurial bent but are not sure you’re ready to take the leap yet, the program might be right.” But, she added, “I think it would be tough if you wanted to go into consulting or something like that.”

For students who aren’t comfortable breaking away from the pack or seeking out professional contacts in unconventional ways, a specialized MBA might not be the best choice. This is especially true at less well-known schools, where big companies often don’t recruit. Students in these programs agree that making industry connections can require a lot of initiative from the student. “If you have a very specific company in mind, you might need to be a trailblazer in making relationships with those companies,” says Rathod.

More : businessweek.com

Information Technology (IT) holds the key to kick-starting a revolution in banking, said Radha Unni, chief general manager, State Bank of India, here.

She was inaugurating a national conference on `Braving new frontiers in banking,’ organised by the ICFAI Business School, here.

She called for standardisation across banks and appealed to them to take the services to the doorsteps of the customers for financial inclusion.

Anoop Narayanan, security consultant, First Legion Consulting, said human fraud, incompetence and errors made the implementation of new technologies difficult. He also spoke on information leaks and the cultural factors involved.

Punjab National Bank senior manager Guru Murthy spoke on the implementation of core banking solution. He provided an overview of the technologies used in mid-level interactions, in the back offices and in internal monitoring and reports.

K.A. Joseph, managing director, Kerala Venture Capital, summarised the session on IT in banking by providing an overview of mobile Internet banking. He said that IT should equip bankers to convert future threats into opportunities.

A.K. Basu, general manager, State Bank of Travancore, spoke on private banking. He highlighted the various challenges faced in private banking.

Ommen Jacob, regional sales manager, ICICI Bank, said the challenge before private bankers was to provide their customers with the best service in the industry. He spoke about the four R’s of private banking: reach, relationship, research and resource. It was only by investing in them in favour of customer needs could the banks achieve their goals.

A.V. Anil, branch manager, Kotak Mahindra Bank, focussed on the services provided by private banking and also gave a brief picture of the challenges faced such as high client expectations, higher fixed costs and so on. Padma Kumar, former chairman and managing director of Federal Bank, stressed the need for private banking. He said that as the interest rates had reduced, people did not just invest in banks; they had more options.

Private banking should aim at providing products for wealth management to all sections of society for financial inclusion.

Cherian Varghese, former chairman and managing director, Union Bank of India, spoke on retail banking and the various norms issued by RBI regarding it.

V.P. Roshan, branch head, IDBI Bank, gave an overview of how banks operated, the importance of retail banking.

After nearly two years of slump, banks and finance companies are back on the stage of recruitment.

For almost 30 per cent of vacancies this year in the first Business Schools, as Indian Institute of Bangalore (IIM-B) were banks and financial institutions, which was also similar in small schools like B-Management Development Institute, Gurgaon. Speaking to-Business Line, Prof Ganesh Prabhu, chairman (placements), IIM-B, said: “Finance and has a come-back this year with 16 Icici Bank made offers and American Express Bank, eight bids.

The other important placement agency in this sector were Standard Chartered Bank and HSBC. Indeed, companies like General Motors have also recruited students to fund. ”

Likewise, companies and FMCG and automobile companies such as Nestle, Hero Honda have also recruited students finances on campus positions MDI Gurgaon.

Prof. Prabhu also mentioned the existence of a marginal increase of job opportunities in the sector Consulting. “While McKinsey has offered jobs to three students, the other major agents investment in this segment was Boston Consulting Group and Tata Strategic Management Group,” he said.

Prabhu Although the professor was not too enthusiastic reaction of FMCG and automotive companies in this year, Mr. Amit Mookerjee, placement Co-ordinator, MDI Gurgaon, said that the Institute was a come-back from these sectors.

“Nearly 40 percent of the parameters of this year have been adopted by the FMCG, durable consumer goods and automotive sector. The main mediators of staff in this sector have been companies such as Nestle, Samsung, Whirlpool, Maruti, Hero Honda and Eicher. ”

Mr. Mookerjee said that most of these companies never came on campus during the year, because they were unwell. He also pointed out that companies like Old Economy DCM Shriram, and the Aditya Birla group made a comeback in the recruitment scene.

“It shows that the Indian economy is back to normal,” he said.

Talking about the nature of professional images of this year, “said Mookerjee regardless of the distribution, marketing and finance companies have also recruited students from many other functions, such as systems and Supply Chain Management.

While the BPO and retailing is not to recruit in a big way this year, companies began to resume recruitment.

While Infosys, 13 bids and 11 offers material on the IIM-B-campus, companies like TCS, HCL-Net and Wipro recruited a large number of students on the campus of MDI.

Singapore-based Contact Center consulting firm Omni Touch announced Friday the start of its activities in India.

The company had in the Indian market earlier this year by setting up an office in New Delhi, a company release said.

Omni Touch, which is affiliated to several world organizations such as the International Customer Management Institute (ICMI) and the Call Center Industry Advisory Council, provides access to benefits worldwide standard for implementation at the local level.

He finished the examination of India one of the main centres of contact as Convergys, Scope International Avaya Global Connect, HDFC, IDEA Cellular and Bharti Tele-ventures, he said.

“India is an excellent market position, which with its customers worldwide. However, the key to expirience excellent services and customers are still weak … the need for training and consultancy specializing in the organization, contacts Centre sector, with solutions very clearly on Friday Omni Touch South Asia director Mahesh PUNIA said.

The company is confident in creating a strong pillar in the sub-continent in the coming months, he said

Singapore-based Contact Center consulting firm Omni Touch today announced the launch of its activities in India.

The company had in the Indian market earlier this year by setting up an office in New Delhi, a company release said.

Omni Touch, which is affiliated to several world organizations such as the International Customer Management Institute (ICMI) and the Call Center Industry Advisory Council, provides access to benefits worldwide standard for implementation at the local level.

He finished the examination of India one of the main centres of contact as Convergys, Scope International Avaya Global Connect, HDFC, IDEA Cellular and Bharti Tele-ventures, he said.

“India is an excellent market position, which with its customers worldwide. However, the key to expirience excellent services and clients are still low … The need for training and consultancy specializing in the organization, contacts Centre sector, with solutions is now very clearly, “Omni Touch South Asia director Mahesh PUNIA said.

The company is confident in creating a strong pillar in the sub-continent in the coming months, he said.

Students of the Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad are set to give the IIMs a run for their money if the placement pattern for the current year is any indication. Barely three weeks after an IIM Ahmedabad student set a record by bagging an annual salary package of Rs 67 lakh, an ISB graduate broke the record by accepting a package from an international company for Rs 80 lakh.

The five-year-old ISB did not release the name of the student.

Its deputy dean Ajit Rangnekar said in a statement, “The placement results for 2005 have been phenomenal. The number of offers our students received this year jumped by 26%, with the number of international offers increasing by 55%. Consultancies were the biggest recruiters followed by information technology and financial services.”

Of the 273 students in the 2005 batch, 251 participated in the placement process. They received 344 offers, of which 333 were lateral and 31 international.

While there was a growth in international offers, the number of Indian companies offering international assignments too has gone up. Companies like Birlasoft, ITC Infotech, Satyam, Mindtree Consulting and RPG offered international positions to ISB students in countries like the UK, Australia, US and Singapore.

With a representation of 19%, ISB’s Class of 2005 had the highest number of women students across B-schools in the country. Out of the 52 women students in the class, 48 participated in the placement. The highest offer made to a woman this year was Rs 20 lakh, an increase of 53% compared to Rs 13 lakh in 2004.