Professionals across streams enrol for MBA

The trend of doctors, lawyers, chartered accountants and even journalists doing an MBA — to help them change professions mid-stream or increase their job market value — continues this year too with professionals from disciplines like medicine, fashion technology etc. taking up courses at premier B-schools like the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), KJ Somaiya Institute of Management, Xavier Institute of Management and Indian School of Business (ISB).

B-schools are also encouraging professionals from diverse profiles to do an MBA.

Bhuvana Ramalingam, senior director of communication, ISB, says: "Anyone can do an MBA. Earlier, engineers made up a chunk of MBAs. Today, it's people from backgrounds as diverse as journalism and defence. Diversity is important in business education as it enhances discussions in the classroom."

KJ Somaiya Institute of Management, Mumbai, has changed the selection criteria to incorporate as many disciplines as possible. Unlike last year, when 95 per cent of students came from engineering backgrounds, this year only 60 per cent of students are engineers.

A consideration of 12.5 per cent on past academic records is now applicable to students from all the disciplines under the revised selection criteria, as against last year when only engineering students received this consideration.

The institute has also cut down the consideration on work experience from 7.5 per cent to 5 per cent, and has broadening the eligibility to include aspirants from other disciplines as well.

Satish Deodhar, chairperson, admissions at IIM, Ahmedabad, said: "Another trend in IIM-A is that of Chartered Accountants (CAs) doing MBA. Earlier there were many economic students opting for MBA. But today, they have been outnumbered by engineers and CAs as there is more scope for economic graduates in the field of BPO or hospitality."

The Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneshwar, (XIMB), has more than 60 per cent of engineers this year.

Many feel that an MBA is a favoured programme for all as offers a complete learning experience. But why switch career for an MBA degree, especially when you are in a good profession, already?

The answer seems to be the competitive advantage the programme confers.

"Management education gives students a jump start. The salaries are attractive after an MBA, for instance the average salary for an MBA from IIM is 10 lakh. There could be other reasons for opting for an MBA like tedious jobs, the urge to break the glass ceiling and to broaden the niche market for one's own profession," explains Deodhar.

A section of MBA aspirants feels that the course helps them bridge the gap in their established domain of education.

Country's seventh IIM starts tomorrow

The first academic session of the country's seventh IIM, the Rajiv Gandhi Indian Institute of Management (RGIIM) in Shillong, will begin tomorrow.

Meghalaya chief minister Donkupar Roy will inaugurate the first batch of Post Graduate Diploma in Management in the presence of Chairman, Board of Governors, RGIIM, Prof R N Dutta, Chairman Headstrong Inc USA and founder member of HCL Arjun Malhotra and Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister T K Nair, the institute's Director Prof Ashoke K Dutta said.

Dutta said the institute will commence its first academic session in the Mayurbhanj Complex in Nongthymmai, which previously housed the North Eastern Hill University. Work will soon commence on a 120 acre site for the permanent campus.

The Institute offers the Post-Graduate Programme in Managment [PGP], which is a two-year full time residential programme for graduate students from all disciplines wanting to choose a career in management.
The Institute envisages for its flagship programme, namely, Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management (PGDBM), an annual student intake capacity of 60 in the first year.

This is planned to be increased to 120 in the third year and 180 in the sixth year.

The institute will conduct courses with Post-Graduate Diploma in Business Management, fellowship programme in management, management development programmes, tourism and hospitality management, tele-services and telemedicine, information systems and technology and subjects of local relevance such as tourism, horticulture and hydel power.

CAT 2009

An article appeared in Business Standard dated February 4, 2008 which gives an impression that a decision has been taken that IIMs will introduce online CAT from CAT 2009. This is totally incorrect. In view of increasing number of candidates IIMs are considering various alternatives for modifying the process of conducting CAT, if necessary. Online testing is one of those alternatives. The proposals are at the preliminary stage of discussion.