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Public Relation Management

shabbir — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 03:30:07 GMT

If you intend to pursue a post graduate degree in business administration is and if you want to come out of the conventional closet then communication can be a very lucrative and even the most ideal option. The best part about pursuing a career in public relation that happens to a part of communication management is that there is a lot of cope in the field as it is an emerging one and very recently being considered as a career to bank upon at least in countries like India.

Public Relation is a management aspect that includes evaluation and monitoring public attitude and being circumspective about the relationship and mutual understanding about an organization and the public. Public here can be inclusive of shareholders, media and the consumers and in many instances even the employees.

Public relation happens to be the management that includes maintenance of a particular coordination with the people an organization has to deal with. An internal harmonization within the organization is kept by the public relation officers in maintaining by maintaining a clear communication network. The very first objective of a public relation officer is to establish a two fold flow of information and understanding.

Public relation was never in the scenario as a valid separate career option till government and private agency realized the necessity of marketing their products and services. Public image is an immensely important aspect of a putative organization or even individuals who are celebrities. A public relation unit of an organization or a particular agency plays an extremely important role in maintaining their image in the public. Public relation management is thus as essential part of a corporate as any other management aspect. During any sort of a crisis situation it is the public relation officers who comes forward as the representative of an organization and tries to manage the situation with the tool of communication.

There are diversified functions of a public relation team that does. In terms of career opportunity a public relation team has to practice product publicity, to have better relationship with the government. It also involves itself in the publication process of Newsletter, bulletins and magazines for employees.

A person can pursue a career in Public relation management with any sort of an academic background but there happens to be an added advantage if a person has an academic background related to social science. There are a number of entrance exams which if cracked would enable you to pursue a career in communication management. There a number of leading colleges across India which offer the course of communication management, in most cases based on a written exam and Group discussion and Personal Interview.

If you believe that you possess the skills required to be in this public relation, you are sure to go places.
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Personal Interview questions

shabbir — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:11:17 GMT

We have finally entered the season of management entrance exams with the most popular and most sought after one amongst the entire lot known as the common admission test or more popularly known as CAT, conducted by the Indian Institute of Managements to be in held in November, 2009. This exam would be followed by a number of other reputed entrance tests like XAT, FMS and others. You have spent numerous sleepless nights and taken enough stress to do your best as far as the preparatory part for the written exam is concerned .But you must never forget that the theory exam and doing well in it is just one part of the story that alone would not be able to get you through to a reputed B school. After you successfully overcome the written part your next barrier happens to be the group discussion and personal interview round that is arguably most essential aspect. This article might help you by giving you a rough sketch of what can be the probable questions in an interview and would help you to prepare accordingly.

The first and foremost thing to be kept in mind before entering an interview room is that there can be any number of questions that can be asked and there wont be any particular type of question .However, you must always remember that whatever the question may be you will have the opportunity to prove your positive points .

There must be general questions like the reason behind your decision to pursue a higher degree in business administration, why from that particular institution .You must be prepared with a very apt and concrete answer for that.

There must be questions from the application form that filled by you prior to the interview .You must be as honest as possible so that when you answer them, they should tally with you application form answer. However, if you are confident enough to give an answer that is not so honest you can go ahead but remember the people in the interview panel have been there and done all of that.

Remember you must always look for the opportunity to communicate your positive points. It won�t be a bad idea if you can direct the interview in that particular direction. But remember you should not be desperate under any circumstance.

There would be a very high chance of questions like your weaknesses, your strengths, the reasons for any past poor academic performance if any or the reason for any wasted year if any. You must always be prepared with such answers so that the interviewers don�t picture to be confused and unaware about your own goals in life. Always keep in mind that good business schools always look for focused people.

Preparing yourself accordingly must be of great help in your quest of getting admission to a good B school.

More on Handling Interviews

Hobbies - What is your hobby?
More on Interview Tips
5 Interview questions where the process starts
Interview tips

About the D-Day

shabbir — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:06:59 GMT

The common admission test or more popularly known CAT exam is in less than a month�s time from now. CAT happens to be an extremely important incident in a CAT aspirant�s life, one of those events that can change the course of ones life completely for the better if successfully cracked. This is the reason a particular person remains under immense bit of pressure through out the entire preparatory process and most importantly on the CAT day. To add to the pressure element the Indian Institute Of Managements have decided to conduct the test online.� Think without ink �is the mantra for this year�s CAT. For the first time in its history CAT is going to be online. Thus it goes without saying that CAT aspirants for the year 2009 would under a little extra pressure than usual. This article might be able to give you certain suggestions on how to encounter the test and tackle the pressure.

There had been numerous sleepless nights, full of apprehensions, questions, doubts, and uncertainties through out this preparatory procedure of months and finally the D day is almost here. This is the time when you should say to yourself that you have done the best you could do and the rest depends upon your luck on that day and more importantly believe in it. It has been seen in the past that even the best students have cracked under self created pressure. You must always remember that CAT 2009 is not the last option on Earth and failing to perform would lead to any disaster in your life. There are a number of management entrance tests and a number of other options that would be still left for you .You should know that there is nothing you would achieve if you worry about your preparation.

It might happen that you may find a particular problem not working out, in such a situation tell yourself that you are not supposed to answer all the questions, you just leave those questions out, remember that there are always sufficient number of doable questions that you don�t need extraordinary brains to solve and be able to successfully fetch a decent percentile.

There are a number of things that you must do two or three days before CAT that would help you in a great way .You should go out and check the test centre you are supposed to sit .Its a matter of added pressure if you don�t know the exact location of the venue. Don�t burden yourself with that .Reach the examination hall way before time. Leave for the test centre with ample time with you. Don�t forget to take all the necessary requirements along with you.

Don�t expect any particular pattern, because if that is not the case you will feel miserable. Don�t feel frightened at the difficulty level because if it is difficult for you, it�s difficult for all. If you follow the above you will successfully bell the CAT

Further Reading

Handling CAT Pressure
Crack the cat

All you need to know about Jadavpur University

University — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 19:55:05 GMT

Set up in the year 1906 Jadavpur University is a State University of West Bengal that has churned some of the best Engineers the world has ever seen. This reputed institution was bestowed with the status of University on this institution. The engineering faculty of this university is well known for its excellence and there is not a single place in this world where you will not find an alumnus from this institute. The dedication of Jadavpur University towards excellence is legendary and children from all over West Bengal grow up with a dream to pursue their engineering degree from this institute.

Being the topmost engineering college certainly has its advantages for the students. Getting a chance of admission in this college means that you will surely get placed in some well known Multinational companies that come here every year to recruit freshmen. The University has a rich cultural and intellectual heritage and has been at the throes of technological revolution for over a century now. The engineering department has over 17 departments that is handpicked and stands at par with the other world class institutes in India. Jadavpur University has continually kept itself at the driving seat of technological innovation by introducing new courses of engineering that hold promise for the future and have relevance in the current scenario as well.

The faculty of this University is extremely student friendly and the teachers here are highly qualified. The University encourages its students to develop into multi faceted talents but creating scope in extracurricular events as well. The list of amenities provided by the University is comparable to that provided by the best private institution in the country.

The library is filled up with books from various disciplines and its extensive collection helps the expose the students to a vast sea of knowledge. The University currently offers engineering course in the following disciplines;

Architecture
Chemical Engineering
Civil Engineering
Computer Science & Engineering
Construction Technology
Electrical Engineering
Electronics & Tele-Communication Engineering
Food Technology & Bio-Chemical Engineering
Instrumentation and Electronics Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
Metallurgical Engineering
Pharmaceutical Technology
Power Engineering
Production Engineering
Printing Engineering
Information Technology

The list of amenities provided by the University includes an open air theatre with a seating capacity of 3000. Student�s hostels are provided to both sexes and they have the latest amenities. The University also boasts of an indoor gymnasium, Indoor stadium, Auditoriums, lecture theatres, Office of Placement and training etc. The Campus of the Jadavpur University is in the heart of Kolkata and there are a lot of transport options available to students commuting to college. The low priced bookstore is a great place to buy the expensive engineering books at reduced prices. The University also has a state-of-the-art computer lab for students of computer science. The course structure of JU is designed to give the students an edge over their peers in the practical world.

Read more about Indian universities @ http://www.indiauniversity.me

Zeal 09 is Round the corner

shabbir — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 05:23:38 GMT

Are you the inventor of a brilliant idea? Are you a student who is not an entrepreneur for want of the right guidance or funding? O2 Supply � The Strategic investment arm of Acme Group in association with The Entrepreneurship Cell of the School of Business Management, NMIMS recognize the latent spirit of entrepreneurship in you and bring forth to you:

ZEAL 09 - An Entrepreneurial Showcase.

The mission of O2 Supply is to foster entrepreneurship in India by not only providing funding but also Management, Infrastructure and Networking support to start-ups and entrepreneurs. O2 is keen to work with existing start-ups and students to create companies which can be global benchmarks of the future. In that direction, O2 has raised its own corpus and Zeal 09 is an attempt to provide a platform for individuals/companies to showcase their expertise.

The corpus fund for investment stands at INR 5 billion.

There is no winning or losing as unlimited number of plans from the finalists can be selected for funding. The final presentation to the investors would be a closed room affair.Mentoring, for fine tuning the Business Plans, would be offered to the shortlisted teams.

So what are you waiting for? This is a once in a lifetime opportunity; so start working on your business plans and set free the Spirit of Entrepreneurship in you!

Last date of submission of Executive Summaries: November 28, 2009.

Visit : www.zeal09.com

Attached Thumbnails

Profile of B-School : IMT

shabbir — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 06:59:26 GMT

India has successfully acclaimed global repute regarding its excellence in producing the very best professionals in the field of management thanks to its wonderful educational structure. India can boast of an array of top notch B schools which stand next to none in any aspect of Management Education all over the globe. The Indian saga of offering the highest quality of management education goes way beyond the limited number of Indian Institute Of Managements�.

Institute of Management and Technology founded in Dubai 1980 IN Ghaziabad of Uttar Pradesh happens to be ne of the most coveted B schools in the country. Apart from its main campus in Ghaziabad, its main campus it has two other campuses, one in Nagpur and one in Dubai

COURSES :

The courses include the Post graduate Diploma in Management ,the Post graduate diploma in Management-Human Resource., Post Graduate diploma in Management, Finance, Post Graduate Diploma ,International Business, Post Graduate Diploma in Management-Executive, Post Graduate Diploma in Management �part time., Post Graduate diploma in Management ,Information Technology along with a doctoral programme.

Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management happens to be the oldest programme of the institute. IMT also offers a three year long post graduate programme to meet the needs of business executives of various companies .Professionals can enroll themselves for the Management development programme or the MDP to their own Managerial skills and to improve their managerial skills. The fellow programme in management of the institute is the doctoral degree in business management and other related areas.

To brush up the skills of management professional in employed in the international industries, the institute has a curriculum specially made for that which is called the PGDBM-IB in International Business.

For potential students who for personal reasons are unable to opt for the full time classroom courses for them IMT has provisions for distant learning and E-learning programmes.

IMT takes relevant national and international projects to serve the governments, corporations or other putative organizations.

All the IMT programmes are basically recognized by the All India Council of Technical Education.

The Ghaziabad campus happens to offer all the courses mentioned till now, while the other two campuses offers a selected number of courses amongst these.

ADMISSION:

Any aspirant intending to pursue a post graduate programme in business administration from IMT has to first take the Common Admission Test and then go through the Group Discussion and Personal Interview.

FACULTY:

IMT has 50 immensely competent 50 faculties. Apart from them even the students play a role in the faculty section. Besides permanent faculty who happen to form the basis of such a strong faculty structure there are high profile and experienced guest faculty from the industry and even from other reputed institutions.

In short IMT can be a place from where you can emerge as a promising manager of the future.

MBA in New Zealand

shabbir — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 10:45:29 GMT

If you intend to bring a change in your professional career or if you are a fresh graduate intending to pursue a Master degree in business Administration from abroad then this article can be of considerable help.

If you intend to pursue a foreign MBA degree that can be of major help in flourishing in your professional field then New Zealand can be your next destination. A post graduate degree in business administration earned from New Zealand comes with a number of advantages that other foreign countries lack. The chief benefit that a student doing MBA from New Zealand can enjoy among them being is its affordability. If you take a look of how costly the rest of the MBA degrees are in foreign you would be convinced about the same. A person according to his very own convenience can opt for an MBA part or full time from a particular University. The career prospects for students graduating with a MBA degree from New Zealand is many folds and very much rewarding. The students who intend to an MBA from any New Zealand University has to apply for a VISA.

For applying for the programme of MBA to any New Zealand University is subjected to a number of criterion .This criterion may vary from one University to another but the basic about these remain almost same through out. Majority of the Universities have a requirement for a minimum of three year graduation in any discipline from any recognized university .Some of them gives special weightage to an honors graduate degree.

Work experience plays a major role in getting you through to an MBA degree in any leading foreign University New Zealand being no exception. Three to four years of Work Experience is also a requirement for gaining admission to any leading University in New Zealand. Thus, if you are a fresher try to gather a work experience for at least three years before applying.

GMAT scores and other exams like IELTS and such equivalents are also accepted by the Universities to gain admission in a MBA programme.

There are chiefly six leading universities in New Zealand that offer MBA programme. These are extremely reputed universities offering both full time and part time MBA. The general duration of MBA in New Zealand varies from University to university .However the degrees that are offered are extremely valued at any part of the world .The chief leading universities those offer a MBA degree in New Zealand are the university of Auckland, Victoria University of Wellington Massey University ,University of Cantabury, University of Otago, University of Walkato.

A Master degree in business administration from a reputed New Zealand University can offer your career exactly the edge to your career that you require. Thus if you have made your mind o go for a foreign degree in business take New Zealand to be a very vivid option.

Profile of B-School : IRMA

shabbir — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 05:00:53 GMT

Institute Of Rural Management Anand located in Anand, Gujarat in 1979 for the basic aim of helping the rural organization. It was an initiative undertaken by the National Dairy Development Board along with the aid offered by the government of India and the government of Gujarat. IRMA has close allies with NGOs, governments and other reputed national and international agencies.

[heading]PROGRAMMES: [/heading]

Doctoral programmes are structured to impart knowledge to students who are uniquely interested to pursue careers in Research, teaching and other specialized knowledge based contributions to cooperatives and Development organization.

POST GRADUATE PROGRAMME IN RURAL MANAGEMENT OR (PRM) is a curriculum structured for students who intend to take up managerial responsibilities in the rural cooperative sectors and other development organizations. PRM is equivalent to a master degree recognized by All Indian Council of Technical Education or the AICTE

There is a curriculum named as Management Development Programme is designed for service holders and professionals in the non government or government organizations dealing with rural development.

Research and Consultancy is another programme that is designed to enrich the quality of teaching activities while helping IRMA�s client base with identifying and solving problems regarding their management.
IRMA happens to be a completely residential campus armed with student hostel, lecture halls, seminar rooms, auditorium, faculty and administrative office, housing facilities for faculty and staffs, dispensary and other support facilities.

Ravi J Mathai Library helps in the role of IRMA in imparting valuable knowledge and information resource regarding the nitty gritty of rural management. The library without any shred of doubts whatsoever plays an essential role to the entire academic structure by providing access to valuable information to research related aspects, assignments regarding course works, professional development along with intellectual up-liftment. This is an achievement that has been possible through collection development, networking, search strategy instructions and other such factors that have played a major role in the same. Utilizing technological instruments the library constantly tries to upgrade and broadening its access to information beyond its own boundaries and at the same time tries to focus on the implementation of building and maintenance of a body of online resources.

Executive Training and Development Centre is a place where the executive training seminars are usually vested. It has up to thirty five single occupancy rooms fully air conditioned, four suits along with a dining hall and a lounge conference .It also includes conference and syndicate rooms along with audio visual equipments .The institute also boasts of an exclusive computer laboratory that has a connective network with the institutes main computer hub. The facility is specially structured for executives training and programme and conferences that are usually planned by the faculty of the institutes.

Along with all the other features and much more IRMA happens to be one of the best business schools with excellent academic facilities and everything else that a top notch management institute requires.

Official Websute : IRMA

Hobbies - What is your hobby?

sidgoyal — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 17:42:00 GMT

One of the stumbling blocks for MBA aspirants in Interviews is the question �tell me about your hobby�. While on the face of it, what seems to be a pretty simple and straight forward question actually becomes mostly monotonous and boring because of lack of thought of the candidate on this account. In India, typically 95% Males play/watch Cricket, 90% listen to Music and 85% like reading books as their hobby. That bland response �I like to watch cricket, listen to music and read books� either provokes the interviewer or actually bores him to death that he chooses to give it a pass.

On Most occasions this question figures in the end of an interview or at a part of the interview where the candidate has struggled for a large part of the interview. The interviewer has struggled to kick off an interesting or engaging argument, and just to make the candidate comfortable asks the question about his hobbies.

When asked this question, the interviewer expects something refreshing, wants to feel the exuberance in the candidate since he has asked a question which is supposed to be the candidates Forte. But most of the candidates let this golden moment die because of their thoughtlessness. This indicates he never explored indulgences in life, a lack of taste and to say the very least lack of respect for hobbies.

What is a hobby?

Hobby is NOT A SKILL. It is an indulgence which you like to do. So, some people should just stop giving themselves excuses that since they don�t know how to dance or play flute how they can have an interesting hobby. One of my friends told in the interview � My hobby is to watch news channels, I typically watch news channels 8 hours a day� . His interview went about 15 minutes on the anchors in various channels, the company owning those channels, and about it. He simply knew what he liked, spent his time on , and took care to research on it . Hobby is anything you like to do. While Cooking can be a hobby, Eating GOOD FOOD can also be a hobby.

Why is a hobby relevant?

�My hobby is to eat Pizza. Which Ever city I land in , I always make it a point to find authentic Wood Fire Owen Pizza Places, and make sure I have a meal at at least one of them� --- At least when end of the day , when the Panel starts discussing the candidates they remember you as � Anil�The Pizza guy� . You made an interesting mark among the rest.

Hobby is a question asked by the panel to know you as a person, explore your personality beyond your CV. Is the candidate an extrovert, an introvert? It also gives a sense of your time management, your ability to explore horizons. If you are struggling in your interview with your academic/technical questions and you are asked this question. It�s a brilliant opportunity to wipe that cold sweat, neaten your shirt creases, sit back, relax, smile and get Talking. It�s your forte, it�s about you, Only you can be right about yourself, no one else.

Typical answers

The Most typical answers are Watching/ Playing Cricket, listening to Music, and Reading books. Most likely the panel , who is obviously more mature and experienced that you runs a much bigger arsenal of all of the same. He might ask you the venue of 21st Century of Sachin Tendulkar. Its not that he expects you to know that answer, but may be that was one opportunity where he went to Mohali Stadium to Watch a cricket match and Tendulkar scored his 21st ton. He will just impress on you He knows better, if at all he hasn�t been bored to his skull listening that. Typically Reading books are also not that well received and you can be critically questioned on Brown�s Da vinci code , something which the interviewers hold up his sleeve. Most likely you are a sitting duck, at the mercy of the interviewer whether he decides to take on you or not.

Explore

If you haven�t spared enough time to develop a skill, then please spare sometime now to sit and analyze your time spend. There must be something somewhere which you really love to do. Explore the same. Read about it, know about it . Few answers said differently can make a mark � instead of saying Watching movies, you can say �War as a subject has always intrigued me. My best Movies are all war movies which I enjoy watching over and over again. While in childhood, it was the Heroics that used to consume my passion, as I am growing up, the story, the strategy, the ploy, how a small battles fits a bigger objective gains my attention. �If you can now Read up about world War I , II, and some historical wars and site the same in context of few movies at least when you walk out of that door, at the end of the day after seeing 40 candidates, one of the panel members would be able to put a FACE to your name.

It just requires 2 concrete hours to explore yourself, explore your likings and then constructing a TASTE for yourself. You may find that actually whenever you have some free time, rather than sitting at home and sulking or watching TV , you always call up some friends and meet them. So, you can come across as a social person, who likes to meet up friends, exchange ideas, debate on topics. Its like when you met a girl ( or a girl met a boy) and you ask � what you like to do ? � . The purpose is to know more about a person and discover HOW MUCH FUN is HE/SHE? Same, give the interviewer an idea that you are a fun person to be with.

About Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM)

shabbir — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:54:27 GMT

Are you looking for a different dimension to provide to your career? If you are then there is a very high chance that you are considering to pursue a higher degree to add to your kitty. If that�s the case then a post graduate diploma in management is an incredibly lucrative option for you regardless of what academic background you hail from or for that matter to what work you had been doing. In that case there must be a number of questions in your mind that seek answers if you are planning to do a Post graduate diploma in Management of two years duration.

The very primary question that comes to the mind is regarding the criteria. For any leading Business school providing the Diploma the criteria is to be a graduate from any recognized university with a minimum of 50 percent marks. The university as told earlier has to be an UGC or AICTE or AIU approved. Students in their final year of graduation can also apply. The admission process is simple. The first step is to apply for the Common Admission Test. After cracking the Common Admission Test or CAT you must apply to the college you intend to do join. The particular institution would then short list the candidates who would meet the requirement of their particular CAT score. Following this step would be to summon the shortlisted candidates on the basis of CAT score for another round. This round commonly includes the group discussion and the Personal Interview.

The final selection is done on the basis of your performance in CAT, in the Group Discussion and Personal Interview Past Academics and Work Experience.

The next question that may tickle you is what is the CAT cutoff required to get a call for GDPI in a PGDM course. The answer to that is that the particular cut off varies from one institution to another based on the overall performance in the exam in the year. It also depends on the application forms it receives.

The next question must be about information. After the entire procedure gets over the names of shortlisted candidates are put on the Web site or informed through emails and very seldom through post.

Then you may be worried about the courses that are usually offered by all leading colleges. These courses are mainly Marketing, Finance, HRM and Production and Operation Management and in a few cases colleges have courses of individual preferences like communication or rural managements or other specialization.

One of the major questions related to pursuing a management degree is the cost factor. It should be known that almost any good college is costly. But all major B schools have facilities to opt for loans as they have collaboration with leading banks.

Finally, the biggest of them all is the placement factor. Placement is arguably the most important factor .There is a variety of colleges that offer PGDM ranging from the very best to the not so good colleges. The leading colleges are really efficient with placements providing hundred percent placements but it�s a debatable question with the mediocre ones. Thus its better to fight and find a top notch B school for yourself.

Case Interviews: Explained

sidgoyal — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:00:34 GMT

I explained in my last article about the various formats in which a candidate is tested with case methodologies during his life cycle in an MBA program. Towards the end of it, in most cases, come placements � the happy as well as very anxious times. Here many companies choose Case interviews as a method to interview candidates. This is very popular among consulting companies � Management Consulting, IT Consulting, Strategy Consulting firms or any such Consulting company. The typical idea is to look for a candidate who would be put in front of their clients to understand his problem, and he would be able to figure out a way to solve the problem. The actual solution may take time, but he might be able to comment on aspects to explore about the problem and go about initiating the search for the solution.

Typically a MBA student is expected to be versed with their core concepts on marketing, able to understand the word �Profitability, turnarounds, financial ratios and he is also expected to link the same with the operational goals as well as financial goals of the firm. Complex Modeling skills, excel sheeting, advanced operation concepts like transportation problems, Linear equations etc. are not required or tested in a typical case interview. The most fundamental concepts which can help the candidate to under the clients business and understand the drivers in the business will just do fine.

Types of Case solving

1) New product / Service entry

This type of cases generally talks about a new company starting a business or exploring a business opportunity. This can come also in shades of an existing company starting a new line of business or launching a new product. The key aspect to be handled is to understand the business environment, the product/service, competition, the customer, the strength and weakness of the company etc. Typically this type of cases are marketing intensive and all aspects of Marketing � Product, Price, Place & Promotions needs to be inspected. These 4 Ps can be good initial framework to start solving the problem.

2) Merger & Acquisition

This type of Case interview deals with the Macro understanding of an Industry or a business. In the previous example it was about the microeconomics, products and marketing. Here a typical example would be a decision to acquire a particular Company, forward integration or backward integration. How you can identify the drivers in the industry, which phase the industry is in ( growth , matured, nascent ) ? How you can compare a position of a company not only in the particular industry but also with respect to possible substitutes. Points of investigation would include Market Attractiveness, Company Attractiveness, Company Strength and Weakness, The Investments and the Return on Investments.

3) Estimation case

These are more of Quick cases. Here you are supposed to estimate the value of the key driver in the business scenario like if advertisement revenue is the large source of revenue for a firm, viewership is the driver for this revenue. You might be asked to estimate the number of viewers of a channel at a given time slot. While you will again looked at how you break the problem into solveable smaller parts, you will also be expected to work the numbers along and at the end of it come with a number of the viewers. To work a small thing along, you may start with the total number of television sets sold in a store in city, no. of such stores in the city, no. of cities, thus assume a growth factor , assume that 50% of the televisions in the city were sold in the last 5 years ( so you have to only calculate sales for 5 years ) , so it gives to the total number of televisions. Average number of people in a family is 5, so if its night time slot, assume 4 people watching per TV set, if its day time, assume 1 person per tv set, and you can get the total viewers. Dividing by Channel market share, and amount of promotion you can get to a number of viewers for that show. The key is the put in assumptions; don�t worry about the quantum of the assumption. Once you finally arrive at the number of viewers, this number should come as a rational number. For example, your viewership cannot come in as 5000 or 50 million. It should be a reasonable no. like 0.2 million or 2 million. If the numbers are coming irrational be quick to acknowledge the same and get back to the assumptions, and find where you made the mistake.

Best ways of Go about cases

Best way to go about a case is to divide it into Mutually Exclusive and Collectively Exhaustive Steps. Like Profit = Revenue � Expenditure. Here all the elements Revenue and Expenditure are two independent items and can be inspected separately, in the same time, they together form the whole of the case. So, if the question if profitability, the issue may be Low revenues or High Costs, which can be found by independently investigating each of the elements.

Case studies, Case interviews and Case discussions.

sidgoyal — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 17:12:46 GMT

I am sure many of MBA aspirants are puzzled about Case studies, case solving, and cases. Often even I used to wonder about the much hyped Case Study. I used to imaging a few thick pages of information, lot of graphs, charts, data, number crunching etc. Most important aspect of the case study which seemed puzzling to me was what to do with it? I am just trying to make things a little clear here, so that the term, hence forth, sounds friendlier than actually menacing.

Typically there are Case studies, Case interviews and Case discussions. They are largely 3 different things to test 3 different attributes and used in 3 different processes.

Case Studies

Typically, small to elaborate material, used in B School curriculum and assessments. These are used to simulate a particular situation. Most of the managers are hired in already established and running concerns with 50 or more years behind them. So, they are always initiated in a situation. Similarly in a Case Study you are given a history and a situation. You are also given certain numbers to quantify the current status in order to add objective decision making than totally subjective one. Sometimes you may be just testing in your subjective understanding and may not be given many details.

In Data intensive Case studies you are expended to see trends in the data, or calculate ratios to spot the problem areas or the major strengths. This basically tests a real life scenario in which how you use various data available around you to take business decisions, how to pick the useful data and discard the irrelevant data. You may also be expected to fill in assumptions based on some other data, to get the actual number of work with.

For example, if you are asked to increase the sales of petrol of an oil company in a state. You might need to estimate the need for more petrol pumps. You may not have this data ready, but may have data on the Car sales in the state. So you may calculate average run of car per day, fuel consumed by the car and total number of cars , thus the incremental requirement for fuel.

The emphasis is to test the interpretation of the situation, data mining or drawing Knowledge from the random piece of data, reading the situation, and determining the forward steps. This may involve testing your academic knowledge strongly. But at times, it may also test your soft skills like ethics, human relations, creativity etc.

Case discussions

These are typical small situations - like a business scenario, or a newspaper article or any small set of facts. This is typical used in a Group Discussion to facilitate generation of ideas, communication of the same and adapting with the discussion trend. Here it�s unlikely to be much of data, so there is no objective or well specified conclusion or objective of the case. Mostly subjective cases are given so that they can easily provoke ideas in multiple directions giving each participant a fair chance to contribute. It�s a total open field and as long as a person�s responses are logical, it doesn�t matter which direction or side one is headed.

A Case discussion doesn�t necessarily require any pervious background, technical knowledge or any academic knowledge. It�s a level playing field to give each participant a fair chance. It�s largely tests the self kills of the candidates and having good business skills can be a definite plus.

Furnishing external information may not be required and in fictitious setups, adding industrial data to your discussion may not be seen as very positive also. You need to argue the case within the scope of given facts; you need to draw conclusions from the same. However, you can comment on the nature of the industry which can be considered a common knowledge. For example, if the cases talks about a fictitious Hotel X, then the candidate can right fully point to higher inventory costs of hotels or the Hotel industry, more emphasis on customer care, servicing, etc. But, relating to the hotel to Taj President, Mumbai having a 300 rooms and Monthly Revenue of Rs. 15 crores, may not be welcomed or to say the least add to your discussion.

The emphasis is on Communication, Ability of introspect all angles of the problem, adapting to the conversation and sense of reasoning.

Case interviews

These are favorites of Interviewers when Recruiting from B School campuses or entry into corporate jobs (general management), consulting, etc. Here, you walk to mid way between a Case study and case discussion. You are given a situation or business problem. A case interview is a very unique method of interviewing a candidate.

A Case interview may start in two ways

With some preliminary information on an industry/company/product. For example, A Cycle manufacturing firm have 5 type of products depending on the age group and gender targeted. They have 3 plants situated at 3 locations to capture 3 markets. The capacity of A is 1500 cycles a day, B is 1000 cycles a day, C is 1000 cycles a day. The company is currently producing at 60% capacity. They are planning to launch a new product, Advice which plant to be used to produce the product and how much to be produced.
A business statement like A company wants to expand his telecom operations in a new country. How will you estimate project feasibility?

In both cases the data seems to be inadequate and you cannot solve the question upfront and come to an answer or solution by working anything on your paper. You need more information, most assistance to answer these questions. That�s why it�s an interview (now commonly called interaction) not an examination. This method clearly tests your problem solving skills � How you approach a problem, can you come of your clutter and evolve into a clear path to solve the problem, how you learn more about the problem through interaction.

To put it more aptly, the candidate is expected to interview the interviewer. While the first type gives the candidate a head start in terms of direction to think, the latter can be a very open problem. Similarly, in the former you are expected to arrive at a number of cycles, in the latter your are like to come up with decision framework. The key is to arrange the problem into a custom framework.

Like in the first problem, you need to estimate the number of cycles produced and the plant to be chosen. But what is the product? Which is the market? Apart from capacities what is different among the plants. So, the questions which appear in your mind, create a framework like �ok, I will first investigate the existing products, and the new product, Then I will investigate the Customers and the market. Then I will investigate the Plants and the capacities. � . Then you can take one part and get deeper into it, the key is to ask pertinent questions, seek answers and increase your clarity. You can add your domain knowledge or industry knowledge to the discussion, but having the same is not necessary or expected.

The emphasis here is on testing your approach the problem, the kind of questions you ask, your comfort level while solving the problem, and your reasoning skills.

MBA in Australia

shabbir — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 11:31:10 GMT

In the recent past there has been lots of talk about Indian students studying in Australia and I also got too many emails asking about the same. So lets answer this now.

If you are amongst many who are on the crossroads of their career or if you are one of those who is planning to make a major career move by pursuing a Master degree in business administration, or if you intend to add a valuable degree to your kitty to promise yourself a better career then a MBA from a leading Australian University can be a decision you would not regret.

An Australian MBA is considered to be an immensely esteemed foreign educational qualification that can work wonders for you in any part of the world. Pursuing a Master degree in Business Administration from an Australian degree can be done in more ways than one. These are extremely flexible and designed entirely according to the convenience of the candidate. There are options for pursuing the degree in the form of distant education and even over the internet. So for people who would not find it convenient to go all the way to Australia to earn the qualification, they have a number of alternatives at their disposal.

After you take a decision of pursuing a MBA from Australia your first job at hands would be to make a thorough search according to your educational requirement. This searching would include Australian MBA locations, Study mode, MBA specializations offered and last but not the least the course fees of various universities.

Searching of MBA locations in Australia is very helpful as it unveils the locations from where you can study and acquire the degree. This is extremely vital to know about the location as lots of factors depend upon the location. Major locations like Adelaide, Melbourne New South Wales are ideal places to pursue from as these are hubs of industrialization.

The major aspect that follows the location is the mode of study you would like to opt. There are a number of modes you can take up. You can choose one from any of the full time MBA where you have to devote your full time energies towards it. The part time programme on the other hand would let you devote much of your time to your work, families or other priorities. Another option is studying the course in the mode of a distant education or as in a number of cases over the internet that can help you take up the course according to your own convenience from any part of the world.

The next vital aspect definitely happens to be the specialization you intend to opt for. Australian University offers a plethora of specialization that you must thoroughly search and opt for University that has provisions for particular areas that you particularly intend to pursue.

Last but not the least arguably the most important factor happens to be the course fees for the entire programme. This fees is not uniform and varies from institute to institute depending on the infra structure, course pattern and other factors.

So if you are concerned about the issues in Australia relating to racism think twice before giving up. You can try online or distance MBA if you hesitate to go there.

Profile of b-school-Entrepreneurship Development Institute

shabbir — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 13:33:41 GMT

Founded in 1983 in Gandhinagar in Gujarat, the Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India has been making conspicuous impacts in the field of making managers out of student. Not to look for job but to generate employment is the mantra of the institute. Thinking like an Entrepreneur and benefiting the society by generating employment is what is chiefly taught out there.

The institute has successfully broken the myths that entrepreneurs cannot be made but only born. The conspicuous success of the institute has led the central government along with the state governments to seek help from the same in matters entrepreneurial. Till date almost seventy countries have received help from the institute.

EDI is an autonomous institution having collaborated sponsors in putative banks like IDBI, ICICI Ltd. and a number of others renowned organizations. The institution runs a two years of full time residential curriculum. The course offered is named as post graduate diploma in management-business entrepreneurship.

The chief aim of this institute is to create students who would be able to create entrepreneurs who would be able to generate more employment in the areas that are emerging and less cultivated like the agricultural sector and the even in the service sectors.

The course offers specialization in new enterprises, family business management, agri-entrepreneurship and such others. The eligibility to gain admission in this college is a minimum of 50 percent marks in graduation .Students in their final year of graduation can also apply for this post .Aspirants applying for the institutions has to go through a number of processes. They have to crack tests like CAT, MAT, and XAT. Shortlisted candidates have to then appear for an entrepreneurial aptitude test. It is estimated that the tuition fees for the two years of education sums up to 5, 05,000 INR.

The course successfully stands out of the rest and is unique in its own way. It has its own signature style of learning that includes business games, computer stimulation, live projects, case studies and interaction with experts. The institute has gifted a number of notable researchers, academicians to the world. The curriculum is designed by able management figures.

EDI also offers a one-year post graduate diploma in management of NGOs. The eligibility is a bachelor�s degree in any discipline. Students appearing for the final the year examinations can also apply if they have the interest in the particular area. The total number of seats for this curriculum is thirty. Apart from these the institute also runs a couple of open learning programs. These are diploma in business entrepreneurship and the other is diploma in social entrepreneurship.

The library of the institute has almost every kind of book that serves the purpose of the students and the professors. It subscribes to almost 133 national and international journals of approximately 15,000 books.

Thus it can be concluded that if any one pictures himself to be an entrepreneur. This institute is the ideal place for him to start his journey.

More B-School Profiles

Profile of "b school"-IIM (indore) - MBA Guys

Things you should know Before you think about doing an MBA

shabbir — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 13:26:11 GMT

Are you looking to take your career to a different dimension? Do you intend to take it to a different height of achievement .Do you want a better salary or a career in a different sector. Are you an undergraduate student in the final year of your course intending to take leap into higher studies without seeking any sort of a job? To give shape to all that are you planning to pursue higher education and gain a degree in management. In that case this article may be tad bit more useful for you than any other.

Before taking the decision of going for an MBA course one should know about the course. What exactly Masters of Business Administration is and how does it help you in attaining a better career or as a matter of fact higher salaries. This degree is usually granted by a university or a body after one or two years of learning the theoretical and practical aspects of Management from an institute. The MBA is basically a type of document that certifies that its owner has acquired accomplished knowledge in all aspects of management that would be in any major corporation .The MBA thus can be considered to be an accelerator over many industries promising a wider scope to excel as a professional.

The correct time to an MBA varies from person to person. Fresh graduates with little or no job experience must have a very clear idea about their decisions because no top notch institute is going to admit a fresh graduate without a relevant job experience.

A particular job seeker must be clear about whether he wants an MBA as a working professional on a part time basis or not. If not then does he have enough financial capability as leaving the current job and pursuing it full time or as a matter of fact a person must know whether he can have the opportunity of his current employer funding the course. He must also be clear about the fact that whether he requires an MBA degree in order to change the career or to excel in his present field.

Another very important factor is the economic scenario .If we discuss about the present economic slump that has made the job scene not so pleasant MBA must be a thing that would depend upon perception .Few must be of the opinion to pursue a master�s degree and avoid the tough job market for the time the economic turmoil persists. These people should know that if he economic continue to be down even after they graduate there would be no practical assurance that an MBA would earn them a lucrative job. Thus a person must have the knowledge of the entire above factor before coming to the decision of pursuing an MBA degree.

Further Reading

Thinking about mba?
General Guide to an MBA program - Part I
Executive MBA