The Institute of Management, Nirma University of Science and Technology, Ahmedabad, promoted in 1996, is one of the self- financed management institutions.

The institute has an MBA (full-time and residential), MBA (part-time), Ph.D. programmes, executive education programmes (both open and in- company) and executive diploma programmes. The focus of the institute is on teaching, scholarship and consultancy. The hallmark of the Institute, which has been ranked as one of the top ten Business schools set up after 1990, is innovation in programmes and courses. There are plans to begin an MBA programme in Family Business and Entrepreneurship in 2004-2005, the first of its kind in India. The Executive Diploma Programmes are spread 24 Sundays and are meant to meet the career requirements of middle managers. Some of the features of the curriculum of the institute include the two field courses, which are meant to provide students with a hands-on experience, and seamless interaction between the institute and the industry. The Nirma Institute, which is situated in a 100-acre campus, houses five amphitheatres, 15 classrooms and an auditorium to seat 450 people.

The TA Pai Management Institute (TAPMI) in Manipal boasts of an alumnus of about 1,500 and ranks among the top 15 management institutes in India.

It is a financially independent, autonomous institution. TAPMI has spent close to Rs3.5 crore on upgradation and enhancement of infrastructure. It modifies its curriculum annually to keep in step with the changes in the industry. TAPMI conducts a workshop series every year to facilitate industry interface, part of which involves educating and training executives from the industry.

Essae Tapmi Academy, TAPMI’s extended arm in Bangalore, offers part- time MBA programme for working executives. The institute is also developing a Ph.D programme. A student spends about Rs4,00,000 for the two years spent on the campus. TAPMI has a placement record of 95 percent and around 50 companies visit the campus every year. The specialisation leans more towards marketing with an average starting pay of about Rs3,10,000. The institute has entered into an agreement with the School of Business Administration of Oakland University in the US.

NEW DELHI: Trouble is brewing at the Faculty of Management Studies (FMS) in Delhi University (DU). In a letter dated April 8, 2005, a faculty member of the management institute has written to the pro vice-chancellor, C R Babu, about irregularities committed in the entrance exam held on January 23, 2005.

In the letter, Preetam Khandelwal, initially appointed observer for the exam, has accused a faculty member, J K Sharma, of not only allowing his son to appear for the exam at the same centre where Sharma was superintendent, but also helping him solve the paper. The letter, a copy of which is with Times City, states that when Khandelwal protested and informed the dean, V K Bhalla, he asked Khandelwal to take over as superintendent and remove Sharma’s signatures from all relevant documents.

Khandelwal said the dean asked her to explain the alleged irregularities after a complaint was received from another FMS faculty member, J K Mitra.

Citing the complaint and subsequent request for explanation, Khandelwal writes, “Taking into account all these facts, I am afraid I am being framed.”

Speaking to Times City, Mitra admitted that he had sent a letter to the dean for an enquiry into the incident, though he refused to divulge the source of his information.

Calling it an internal matter, Mitra added, “The incident needs to be verified and action taken if it’s proved.”

Meanwhile, Bhalla said: “We have sent a request for an enquiry to the university. If the incident is confirmed, action will be taken.” Refusing to comment further, he added that now the matter was in the hands of the university.

Meanwhile, the Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) is also planning to take up the matter in the upcoming Academic Council (AC) meeting on April 23. Said AC member Sanjay K Bohidar, “It’s a serious issue and needs to be taken up immediately.”

Incidentally, the exam, which was held for the MBA programme (part-time) and conducted at the SP Jain centre in south campus, has left the FMS community divided.

While none of the faculty member was willing to go on record, they acknowledged that the incident could reflect adversely on the integrity of the premier institute.

The Indian Institute of Management (IIMs), prices rise, and more of their involvement in the course of a number 2005-2006. The Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad in Gujarat, an Executive MBA program, which has 50 seats. Other courses are offered by the World Institute Manager (one year, 30 seats) and the leadership and management (one year, 80 seats). The Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in Kolkata, West Bengal, is a year of a programme for enterprise development, with 300 seats, while the Noida campus of IIM Lucknow, in Uttar Pradesh, a seat of 50 certificates - The management of the programme and for the officers of the defence.

The Indian Institute of Management (IIM) from Kozhikode in Kerala begins for a 100-seat executive MBA programme by the distance-learning module.

The Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Bangalore, Karnataka, the number of seats in the post-graduate programmes in the fields of management and 260 in the management software company 150

Siddhartha Jariwala is a B Tech from the Delhi College of Engineering. He worked with Escorts for five years and his last designation was as a manager.

Today, Jariwala is pursuing Master of Business Administration (MBA) programme from the Department of Management Studies (DMS) at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) - Delhi.

Ditto is the case of Divyaman Srivastava who did B Tech from the Institute of Engineering and Technology, Lucknow, joined Telco in 1995 and finally quit the organisation in 2001 to pursue MBA from the same department.

These are no isolated cases as B-schools in the country are witnessing a deluge of engineers pursuing MBA programmes. So, is this a recent trend of engineers pursuing MBA and even opting for a mid-career switch?
Rajat K Baisya, an industry veteran and head of the DMS, IIT-D said: “Engineers are pursuing MBA for the past two decades. The trend started when industry preferred recruiting MBAs’ as managers. The DMS has above 95 per cent students from engineering discipline.”

Sandipan Deb, managing editor, Outlook and an alumnus of IIT-Kharagpur and Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Kolkata admitted that engineers, after doing their MBAs take up purely managerial jobs, which have little to do with engineering.

He remarked, “Even if you pursue a career in engineering, after some years a significant part of the job content becomes managerial in nature, in the sense that you have to lead teams, look at the financial aspects of the projects, apart from other things. A management degree gives you an edge.”
Baisya observed, “Engineering is a comprehensive and holistic course that covers a much wider range of subjects for all-round personality development that helps engineers to face and adjust well in varied functions and environment.”
Deb said: “An MBA student can get more out of management education if he has some work experience. However, the flip side is that during placements, someone with two years of work experience may end up getting the same designation and salary as someone with an MBA but no experience.”
In a globalised economy, lucrative salaries at the managerial level have played a major part in luring engineers to pursue MBA. However according to Deb, other than software, India does not offer jobs, which can keep a good engineer excited and satisfied and this is a prime reason that they migrate to US.
He remarked, “Pay scales for MBAs in most companies are higher than pure engineers. MBAs are preferred for top jobs unless the company’s core business is engineering.”

English is said to be the universal language of business so there is little incentive for UK managers to learn a foreign tongue. But in emerging economies such as Russia, China and South America, English is not widely spoken and Western managers who can communicate with the locals in these countries will have an edge.

So, should students learn a second language on their MBA programme so they can offer a well-rounded set of management skills?

At Cranfield School of Management, in Bedfordshire, a working knowledge of a second language is compulsory for all MBA students.

Sean Rickard, director of the full-time MBA programme, says: “We made it a requirement because we believe that in an increasingly global world we should encourage our students to communicate in at least one language other than their own.”

More : timesonline.co.uk

A class outside the class The Indo-American School of Business, Vishakhapatnam has launched a global MBA programme that envisages a complete revamp in the traditional curriculum. The programme is structured in such a way that theory sessions take up just one-third of the learning hours. The other two-thirds is designed to incorporate such events, programmes and sessions which will add value to the student’s net worth. Spread over two years, the programme has the in-house faculty acting as facilitators and the rest of the syllabus covered by visiting industry professionals.

Students visit conference centres, beaches, hill tops, stock exchanges, and banks where they learn the practical aspects of the subjects, first hand. They will be moving to eight different centres during the course which will give them a much-needed exposure to different geo-economic cultures of the country.

IASB has tied up with more than 500 industry professionals. The programme entails doing a year’s internship in three different companies, in three different disciplines - sales and marketing, finance and human resources. Students can interact with living legends such as V Kurien (Operation Flood) and Infosys chief Narayanamurthy.

For details contact IASB, 47-14- 18, Dwarakanagar Main Road, Vishakhapatnam 16. Phone: 91- 891-2701445, 2543732, e- mail: iasb_vizag@yahoo. com Work and teach LAST week Globsyn Business School launched it’s latest finishing school methodology, Work and Teach. Aiming to provide a strong grounding in the practical aspects of business, the scheme entails getting live industry projects on which management students can test their theoretical knowledge and skills.

Work and Teach will be brought into operation by Globsyn’s newest addition, the GBS Brand Communication Cell, to be headed by adman Sumit Roy. They will ensure that students of HR, finance and marketing get briefed on problems that organisations face, are able to generate quality solutions within a stipulated time, budgets etc. and present them to clients. If approved and implemented by client companies, a token fee will be paid.

Students get to interact with faculty members, industry representatives and members of GBS Brand Communication Cell. The idea is that the students perform in real time. Entry to Globsyn’s two-year full-time postgraduate diploma in management will henceforth be through CAT. - Moushumi Roye