Innholdsfortegnelse for 1-Nov-20 i Business Today

Is The B-School Campus Dead?

A GROUP OF SECOND-YEAR MBA students from XLRI-Xavier School of Management, Jamshedpur, persuaded Prof L. Gurunathan, Associate Professor in Human Resource Management, to postpone his course on compensation to the next semester. They did not want to attend the course from their star professor online. But since B-Schools are not opening anytime soon, the elective will now be offered ed online much to the students’ dismay. “We can’t postpone it anymore,” says Gurunathan. B-Schools across India have been shut due to the pandemic since March. What is certain is that whenever they open, the campus as we knew it will no longer be the same. Says Ranjan Banerjee, Dean, SP Jain Institute of Management nt and Research (SPJIMR): “The fundamentals of the B-School will continue to be relevant but certain…

8 min

Small Town Troubles

A WEST INDIA-BASED business house was looking for an executive assistant for its CEO. The group had a business school as well. On the advice of Management Consultant and Trainer Rajiv Khurana, the CEO invited 12 shortlisted students. Khurana, along with the CEO, interviewed them, but their performance was so bad that all interviews were done within 25 minutes. Needless to say, no one was selected. “It stumped me. When they could not hire students from their own institute, how did they expect them to get placed elsewhere?” says Khurana In another incident, the management of one of the institutes from a small town requested Khurana to interview the ‘brightest’ MBA graduate for the position of training and placement coordinator at an educational institution. “I asked her to write a…

8 min

Working With A Free Hand

Rajesh Kumar (name changed) faced an unexpected problem when he was in race for a senior management position in a Europe-based multinational in 2005. Despite having the requisite experience and qualifications, including a management degree from a prestigious Indian Institute of Management (IIM), the company favoured another candidate with an international MBA degree. The problem arose primarily because IIMs used to offer a two-year Post Graduate Programme (PGP) in Management and not a formal MBA degree. They were also not empowered to offer PhDs and gave those finishing doctoral studies the title of a Fellow instea That was then. Students who have passed out of IIMs starting 2019 are not likely to face the problem. The IIM Act, cleared by President Ram Nath Kovind on the last day of 2017,…

How We Did It

THIS YEAR’S EDITION of the BT-MDRA B-School Ranking 2020 to rank the best programmes in business education has been prepared in association with research partner Marketing & Development Research Associates (MDRA). The Objective questionnaire seeking latest and relevant information from the institutes on each parameter/sub-parameter was put up on the websites of MDRA and Business Today, and more than 2,500 institutes were contacted through emails, telephonic calls and advertisements in the magazine. Despite most of the B-Schools being closed due to the lockdown, 293 of them submitted their responses within the timeline. One institute was excluded from the final ranking for not fulfilling the criteria. A comprehensive list of B-Schools offering fulltime classroom management programme (PGDM/MBA), established at least five years ago with minimum three passed-out batches, was prepared. Four…

B-SCHOOL TRENDS

56:44 Ratio of government B-Schools to private B-Schools in top 25; in top 76-100, it drops to 12:88 71:29 Ratio of engineering to non-engineering students in top 25 B-schools, compared to 84:16 in 2015 AVERAGE SALARY HAS BEEN RISING CONTINOUSLY Mean average annual domestic salary (₹lakh) LESS STUDENTS OPTING FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP Average number of students who opted for entrepreneurship 7.3 Average number of students who opted for family business in top 100 private B-Schools compared to 2.3 in government ones in 2020 ₹10.94 LAKH Average course fee of government B-Schools compared to ₹10.59 lakh at private ones (among top 100) this WOMEN ENROLMENT RISES B-SCHOOLS IN EASTERN REGION MORE REWARDING Average annual domestic salary (₹lakh) MUMBAI TRAILS DELHI & BANGALORE IN ROI ROI: average annual domestic salary/course fees. Data for…

HOW WILL THE CAMPUS CHANGE

MORE INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDED TO ENSURE SOCIAL DISTANCING. IT COULD BECOME A NORM, WITH THE CAMPUS WORKING IN SHIFTS 12 PER CENT FALL IN THE NUMBER OF ACTIVE B-SCHOOLS IN THE COUNTRY TO 3,037 IN FY20, FROM 3,450 IN FY16. COVID-LED DISRUPTION HAS MADE MATTERS WORSE Classrooms will be like studios to help transmit classroom experience digitally to students studying remotely Trans-disciplinary courses will be introduced in collaboration with engineering or liberal arts institutes Online will form 30-35 per cent of MBA programmes and interactive part will happen in classrooms…

Foreign Varsity Campus A Distant Dream?

THE MIDDLE OF the pandemic, the Central government came out with National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. Even though the policy was in the works for quite some time — five years to be precise — its release in late July received mixed response. On the one hand, it talks about adding 35 million seats and achieving the gross enrolment ratio of 50 per cent by 2035 in the higher education category. On the other, it paves the way for global institutions to set up operations in the country. High-performing Indian universities will be encouraged to set up campuses in other countries, and similarly, selected universities e.g., those from among the top 100 universities in the world will be facilitated to operate in India. A legislative framework aiding their entry will…

6 min

Will The Pandemic Reshape MBA Education In India?

COVID-19 has disrupted the world forever, including the way formal business education is imparted. In India, with longer nationwide lockdown and recent increase in coronavirus cases, the impact has been prolonged. Consequently, B-Schools that could leverage technology, had visionary leadership to quickly build an ecosystem of virtual learning, teaching, evaluation and community-building were less impacted. As the pandemic has not yet ended, it would be imprudent to evaluate the nature and magnitude of the impact. So, how does Covid-19 impact business education? 1 Covid-19 has caused huge job losses, salary cuts and potential unemployment in more sectors. While some have decided to pursue an MBA, many are considering it as a devalued asset. The B-Schools that MDRA interacted with have said there is minimal impact on admissions and enquiries. In…

OVERALL RANKING 2020

Ranking is based on objective data only. Only those B-Schools which submitted their objective data have been ranked. Institutes like IIM-L, ISB Hyderabad, etc., who did not submit their objective data on time or refused to participate have not been ranked. Only those colleges which fulfilled the below criteria were considered eligible for participation in ranking: i. Minimum three batches passed out, ii. Offering fulltime Postgraduate Programme in Management. All scores have been rounded off to one decimal place, so this may result in rounding off errors while adding the parameter-wise score. Overall Ranking-2020 THE LIST (16-55 / 292) Ranking is based on objective data only. Only those B-Schools which submitted their objective data have been ranked. Institutes like IIM-L, ISB Hyderabad, etc., who did not submit their objective data…

9 min

PICKING THE RIGHT ITR

With the deadline for filing income tax returns (ITR) approaching, we a look at the significant changes in the process this year. We tell you how to zero in on the right form for filing your ITR this year, among other things. Important Changes The deadline for filing ITR for Assessment Year (AY) 2020/21 by individual taxpayers has been extended to November 30, 2020. The last date for filing revised or late ITR for AY 2019/20 has also been extended to November 30. You can now claim new deductions under Section 80EEA for interest paid on loan for affordable housing and under Section 80EEB for interest paid on loan for an electric vehicle according to the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2019. In fact, you can now file ITR even without…

7 min

Starry-eyed

Business Confidence Rises For Two Quarters BCI, though, has been below 50 for seven quarters now BCI by Sector No Uptick in Sentiment in Services BCI by Size Big Businesses Are Most Upbeat Size by turnover Big businesses: >₹500 cr; Medium businesses: ₹100-500 cr; Small businesses: ₹5-100 cr; Micro businesses: <₹5 cr Macro Pain Points Industrial growth and inflation at worrying levels More than five months after the launch of the ambitious Atmanirbhar Bharat Mission by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, there’s a slow realisation in policy and corporate circles that the odds are pretty much against its success. The key purpose of the mission is to not only reduce dependence on China but also provide massscale jobs to the large unemployed population in the country. But for India to follow…

5 min

Job Market: Down, But Not Out

RAJESH ANAM COMPLETED his MBA from a Mumbai-based business school earlier this year. But even before he could get his degree, he had an offer letter from a leading digital marketing company. Just when Anam believed he had secured his future, Covid-19 brought the economy to a halt. Several businesses shut down as a consequence of the prolonged lockdown and many were stranded without jobs. A multitude of businesses were also unable to honour their hiring commitments on campuses across the country, since they were grappling with survival issues. Anam’s employer also sent him a polite regret letter saying the company won’t be able to honour its commitment of hiring him. “I don’t have a grouse against them since most of their clients are in travel, hospitality and retail sectors,…

11 min

THE CHALLENGES

If studying at a B-school campus of a global university in India is likely to cost the same as studying abroad, students would rather go overseas Even after paying the equivalent fees, students are not likely to get the same pay packages at the entry level here Recent models adopted by Singapore, the UAE and China to attract global reputed institutions in their countries have not worked well so far Emergence of new technologies has made the world far more integrated The government doesn’t realise that setting up an education institution is different than setting up factory at a foreign location, according to experts…

The Tech Takeover

WHEN MAHARASHTRA CLOSED EDUCATIONAL institutions from March 16 due to the coronavirus outbreak, Mumbai-based S.P.Jain Institute of Management & Research (Bhavan’s SPJIMR) went live with online classes the very next day. It could do so because of advance planning, but, more importantly, due to tie-up with technology enablers such as Zoom for meetings, TCS iON for enterprise resource planning (ERP), ExamSoft and eKOSH for online assessments and Padlet for collaboration among students. SPJIMR is not alone. Technology providers are fast taking over B-school campuses with the promise of better student engagement and learning outcomes. The change has been happening for years, but the pandemic, and the need for technology to enable remote teaching, have encouraged them to press the pedal. “The pandemic made virtual examination platforms indispensable to education continuity…

8 min

Borrow Smart To Boost Your Wealth

Borrowing as a tool for wealth creation may sound surprising, but not when the loan comes at a very low interest rate and helps you build an appreciating asset or minimise high interest cost liabilities. Since March 27, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has slashed the rate at which it lends to banks twice — 0.75 per cent in the first tranche and 0.40 per cent later — bringing down the repo rate to a historic low of 4 per cent, a level last touched 11 years ago during the 2009 recession. As a result of four reductions in the past one year, the home loan interest rate is less than 7 per cent. Not just new borrowers, existing ones, too, can benefit following the RBI’s mandate to banks…

9 min

How to Get Regular Income Post Retirement

Retirement funding is an important goal for everyone. But it is nowhere on the radar for most people till they are into their forties. It is then that realisation dawns and they start putting away some money for retirement. Of all the goals one has, retirement is the least glamorous. Buying a home, children’s education and marriage, buying a vehicle, vacations, have a positive, feel-good aspect to them. Retirement, on the contrary, denotes ceasing work, which for some people means loss of prestige and descent into irrelevance. No wonder, it does not get much attention. For most goals, one can take a loan and get by — except retirement. Retirement Funding For those in salaried jobs, a significant portion of the retirement fund comes from retiral benefits. But again, the…

5 min

Network

Finding Rhythm Geetu Verma, Global Vice President, Nutrition and Natural Platforms, Unilever, has been working especially hard during the last six months, trying to offer her consumers immunity-building products. After a tiring day at work, she de-stresses herself by humming old Hindi film classics. She is equally well-versed in Hindustani classical music. “Relaxing to me is trying to learn a classical song. I have learnt Hindustani classical music in Sangeet Mahabharati in Mumbai. It has helped me develop basic appreciation of the ragas,” she says. Music has taught her to find rhythm in everything. “Sometimes you may have challenges at work, or friction with some people… one way to look at it is to tell yourself that this is the flow, the rhythm of the workplace and you need to…

“TALENT WINS GAMES, BUT TEAMWORK WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS”

SANDEEP GULATI, MD, EGIS INDIA What was the problem you were grappling with? When I joined Egis India in 2017, one of the biggest challenges we faced was to enforce fiscal discipline in the company. Being an engineering company, it didn’t come naturally to many people. It needed to be reinforced that revenues are never complete without money in the bank. Who did you approach and why? approached the Domain Directors and laid the position threadbare. I explained to them very clearly that they must own the business E2E (end-to-end). Unless people take ownership, it doesn’t work. The first step towards ownership is empowerment. I strongly believe in collaborative style, by empowering people. What was the best advice you ever received? Talent wins games, but teamwork wins championships — our…