Eight days into the 'mother of all exams' reports of hardware problems, software errors, poor administration, repeated questions) and other testing issues are still coming in.
It is time the directors of IIMs acknowledge this experiment has failed and call for a re-test - in old fashioned paper and pencil format. A high stakes exam like CAT is an act of faith. When that faith in its fair delivery and character of merit is at doubt, it no longer serves its purpose.
Just like when it physically leaked in Nov 2003; and had to be re-administered.
But the issue goes beyond this year. At some level we've all accepted that computer based testing is better, more efficient than traditional methods. Is that really the case?
The issue is not just hardware or software - but more fundamental. This exercise is a 'CAT and mouse' game - and not just because the exam went online this time.
On the one hand you have a couple of hundred IIM professors, a handful of whom would sit down, rack their brains and come up with the CAT paper. On the other hand, you had hundreds of 'experts' preparing mock CATs, analysing past papers, predicting future patterns. And many of these experts are IIM grads themselves.
When it came to setting one paper a year, the CAT could somehow pull it off. Remain distant, difficult, unpredictable - the Mount Everest of all exams. Putting it online - with a poorly set question bank - has taken it down to the level of a Sahyadri.
This destroys everything the CAT has stood for - all these years.
Now one can dispute whether CAT actually does select people with the best managerial potential in the first place. An article posted on fairtest.org notes that in 1985 Harvard Business School (HBS) decided to eliminate the GMAT from their admissions process.
John Lynch, the Admissions Director at the time, gave several compelling reasons. In a blind test, Harvard found that admissions decisions made with and without the GMAT were essentially the same. Success at Harvard depended on intangibles such as motivation, interpersonal skills, perseverance and hard work – all factors not measured by GMAT.
Looking at undergraduate grade-point average (UGPA), ethics, leadership, community activities, prior work experience and the interview made GMAT scores "superfluous".
However, 11 years later HBS reinstated use of the test. The point is, as long as you are using a GMAT or CAT, let there be no doubts about the administration and standards of that test.
Which brings me back to the question of computer based testing. In 2008 there was a GMAT Cheating Scandal involving Scoretop, where 'live' questions were posted on a members-only website. This article published at that time reveals some interesting facts:
1) The item pool is periodically refreshed, but the same questions are reused for at least several weeks.
2) The testing industry was well aware of the vulnerability of computer adaptive tests to what it calls “pre-disclosure.” Before the 1993 introduction of the computer adaptive Graduate Record Exam (GRE), two researchers at the Educational Testing Service (ETS) wrote about their “fear [that examinees] will remember questions and reveal them to their friends or to a coaching school” and that “a group of examinees [might] memoriz[e] subsets of the pool and combin[e] their knowledge.
3) To expose the problem, staff from the Stanley Kaplan Education Center took the computerized GRE, compiled a list of items they had memorized, and presented it to ETS officials. ETS, which then administered the GMAT as well as the GRE, responded by suing Kaplan for copyright violations, even though the questions were never made public (see http://www.fairtest.org/ets-and-test-cheating).
4) After this incident, test-makers said they began using much larger item pools and changing them more frequently, but there is no proof for this claim. In 2006, ETS lost the GMAT testing contract after a series of administrative and scoring errors. The test is now run by the global conglomerate Pearson.
Under 'Indian conditions' where stakes are so high for both students and the coaching classes, I think it will be far more difficult to maintain the integrity of the question bank!
In conclusion, computerised testing can work - but requires herculean effort and partnership between the IIMs and the testing agency. It's not an exercise which IIMs can simply sub-contract - like housekeeping!
Brand IIM is like the venerable banyan tree, and the CAT forms the mighty roots of that tree. Destroy those roots and the very tree will start withering...
The IIMs must reclaim the CAT immediately, or they will lose the ground beneath their feet.
For more on the issues related to effectiveness and fairness of SAT, GRE and GMAT see articles on www.fairtest.org
Showing posts with label IIMs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label IIMs. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Why the IIT faculty is on a hunger strike
Airline employees strike.
Bank workers strike.
But IIT professors? It is a very sad day when they go on strike!
Something must be very rotten in the state of Denmark - in a manner of speaking - for these gentle souls to take such an extreme step. Certainly IIT professors deserve far better salaries but rest assured it is not merely for a few extra bucks.
I am reproducing an email put out by the Faculty Forum of IIT Bombay which lucidly explains why they took this stand.
Dear Friends:
HRD Minister Mr. Kapil Sibal has been making comments which incorrectly portrays our protest as being for salary only. This is far from the truth and a look at our memorandum dated 21/09/09 will make it clear that the IIT faculty are fighting more for autonomy, dignity and honor that the MHRD is systematically robbing the IITs of. Our main concerns are the following:
1. In the UGC system there is a percentage cap on posts (like 10% only can be Professors). This has failed them since meritorious people may not be promoted if there is no vacancy. MHRD is trying to impose something like that on IITs, where, till now, promotion is by merit only. This is direct interference in the academic autonomy of IITs.
2. IITs heavily depend on recruiting bright young people as soon as possible after PhD. MHRD has offered that a fresh PhD graduate can only be given a contractual post with a salary of about Rs 28000. Does anyone think we can recruit the large number of good people, that IITs need, with this salary? (IITs need about 6000-8000 new faculty in the next 7-8 years)
3. The Goverment of India has honored DAE and ISRO by giving them something called PRIS (O) since they are “centers of excellence”. Everyone from the sweepers to the senior scientists are getting that which is a 20% added amount to salary. They have nt given this yet to IITs. Are IITs not as “excellent” as DAE and ISRO?
This is about prestige and honor of the faculty. All these can only have one outcome: destruction of the IIT system over the next decade or two. The faculty are fighting to prevent this from happening. The minister through the media claims that it is about money. IT IS NOT ABOUT MONEY. If at all it is about money, it is for people who are not yet a faculty member here, for students still doing their PhDs (or even in earlier stages of their career, who have the potential to teach in an IIT, but may not feel that such a career is viable)
I believe that honour and prestige is the crux of the issue. Yes, IIT and IIM faculty feel they should be paid better but I don't think they would ever go on strike for money alone.
In fact, whenever I speak to faculty about whether they would jump ship as soon as some fancy foreign university sets up shop they say,"Not necessarily."
Apart from salary, professors value academic and operational freedom.
Their status as members of a respected institution.
The kick of teaching the 'best' students in the country.
If the government keeps its hands off and allows the older IITs and IIMs to chart their own destiny, they'll have a fighting chance. Else, the war will be lost... even before the battle has begun!
Bank workers strike.
But IIT professors? It is a very sad day when they go on strike!
Something must be very rotten in the state of Denmark - in a manner of speaking - for these gentle souls to take such an extreme step. Certainly IIT professors deserve far better salaries but rest assured it is not merely for a few extra bucks.
I am reproducing an email put out by the Faculty Forum of IIT Bombay which lucidly explains why they took this stand.
Dear Friends:
HRD Minister Mr. Kapil Sibal has been making comments which incorrectly portrays our protest as being for salary only. This is far from the truth and a look at our memorandum dated 21/09/09 will make it clear that the IIT faculty are fighting more for autonomy, dignity and honor that the MHRD is systematically robbing the IITs of. Our main concerns are the following:
1. In the UGC system there is a percentage cap on posts (like 10% only can be Professors). This has failed them since meritorious people may not be promoted if there is no vacancy. MHRD is trying to impose something like that on IITs, where, till now, promotion is by merit only. This is direct interference in the academic autonomy of IITs.
2. IITs heavily depend on recruiting bright young people as soon as possible after PhD. MHRD has offered that a fresh PhD graduate can only be given a contractual post with a salary of about Rs 28000. Does anyone think we can recruit the large number of good people, that IITs need, with this salary? (IITs need about 6000-8000 new faculty in the next 7-8 years)
3. The Goverment of India has honored DAE and ISRO by giving them something called PRIS (O) since they are “centers of excellence”. Everyone from the sweepers to the senior scientists are getting that which is a 20% added amount to salary. They have nt given this yet to IITs. Are IITs not as “excellent” as DAE and ISRO?
This is about prestige and honor of the faculty. All these can only have one outcome: destruction of the IIT system over the next decade or two. The faculty are fighting to prevent this from happening. The minister through the media claims that it is about money. IT IS NOT ABOUT MONEY. If at all it is about money, it is for people who are not yet a faculty member here, for students still doing their PhDs (or even in earlier stages of their career, who have the potential to teach in an IIT, but may not feel that such a career is viable)
I believe that honour and prestige is the crux of the issue. Yes, IIT and IIM faculty feel they should be paid better but I don't think they would ever go on strike for money alone.
In fact, whenever I speak to faculty about whether they would jump ship as soon as some fancy foreign university sets up shop they say,"Not necessarily."
Apart from salary, professors value academic and operational freedom.
Their status as members of a respected institution.
The kick of teaching the 'best' students in the country.
If the government keeps its hands off and allows the older IITs and IIMs to chart their own destiny, they'll have a fighting chance. Else, the war will be lost... even before the battle has begun!
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Does India need 7 more IIMs?
The cabinet has just approved the setting up of 7 new IIMs over the next 2 years. Locations range from Tamil Nadu and Haryana to Chhatisgarh to J & K. A sum of Rs 1057crores has been alloted for this purpose, reports Business Standard.
My question is why - why set up SEVEN new IIMs in a single go?
There are 1000 + bschools providing management education in this country. No shortage of seats there. Yes, 'quality' education is offered only at a few but what guarantee do we have that these new institutes will live up to extraordinary standards in any case?
What does one expect from an IIM? Well:
a) Quality of students: Intake being through CAT, toughly contested etc
b) Quality of faculty: A committed set of high quality people
c) Infrastructure: Land, buildings, ek acchha campus
d) X factor: That special something in terms of academic orientation, student life and overall culture that sets it apart.
So far so good, but is all this likely to happen, all of a sudden, at seven new locations? I think not!
First of all, the idea of situating a management institute in remote areas cut off from civilisation needs to be examined. Take IIM Shillong, which I visited a few months ago. Beautiful, relaxing - but the nearest industrial town - and airport - is Guwahati, which is 3 hours away by road. How much industry exposure, CEO visits on campus or guest lectures can they hope to attract?
Not to mention placement. I *really* don't see companies taking the trouble to visit IIM Chhatisgarh when there are so many management institutes in Mumbai, Pune and Gurgaon offering eager-to-work, decent quality graduates.
Coming back to our original four points:
a) Students: New IIMs are not hot destinations for the brightest of
students. Many will opt for an SP Jain, XLRI, MDI or FMS over IIM Uttaranchal. IIM Shillong has had that experience.
b) Faculty: It's tough for IIM A, B & C to get great faculty - given current payscales. Wonder what extra incentive, if any, there is for an academic to join an IIM in the middle of nowhere. That too with only teaching, no research orientation in initial years.
c) Infrastructure: Sure, the new IIMs will have great campuses
within 5 years. But today there are plenty of private bschools with very nice campuses as well - SIBM for example. It's not that big a deal.
d) X factor: This is the toughest bit. Culture is a collective energy, a vibe which is part intent, part accident. It is the asking of questions, the seeking of answers: "Who am I" and "What do I stand for".
The DNA of an institution cannot be to be an "IIM". Because by today's definition that would boil down to "best students, best placements."
We don't need more government sponsored management institutes with no particular focus. Have some USP, some reason to BE and not just exist!
In short, I think we are simply wasting Rs 1000 crores. If we need to set up new IIMs - let's figure out why, where and who is going to benefit.
If the intention is regional social development, well then let's accept that an IIM in Srinagar is not really going to do anything for the youth of J & K. Just as IIM Shillong makes no difference to the youth of the Northeast.
If you want to make a regional impact then go ahead and reserve 50% of the seats for locals. But that will dilute brand IIM, you say? Yes - so choose another name. ike we have IITs and we have NITs. And now IIITs.
Let the new institutes start with a clean slate. Let the old ones not be asked to carry new burdens.
And let it be an entire package deal: IIM + SEZ + airport. A stimulus package to grow the local economy by attracting industry, jobs and students. With the bschool being integrated - in a deep and meaningful way - with its immediate environment, and constituents.
Kapil Sibalji - are you listening??!
My question is why - why set up SEVEN new IIMs in a single go?
There are 1000 + bschools providing management education in this country. No shortage of seats there. Yes, 'quality' education is offered only at a few but what guarantee do we have that these new institutes will live up to extraordinary standards in any case?
What does one expect from an IIM? Well:
a) Quality of students: Intake being through CAT, toughly contested etc
b) Quality of faculty: A committed set of high quality people
c) Infrastructure: Land, buildings, ek acchha campus
d) X factor: That special something in terms of academic orientation, student life and overall culture that sets it apart.
So far so good, but is all this likely to happen, all of a sudden, at seven new locations? I think not!
First of all, the idea of situating a management institute in remote areas cut off from civilisation needs to be examined. Take IIM Shillong, which I visited a few months ago. Beautiful, relaxing - but the nearest industrial town - and airport - is Guwahati, which is 3 hours away by road. How much industry exposure, CEO visits on campus or guest lectures can they hope to attract?
Not to mention placement. I *really* don't see companies taking the trouble to visit IIM Chhatisgarh when there are so many management institutes in Mumbai, Pune and Gurgaon offering eager-to-work, decent quality graduates.
Coming back to our original four points:
a) Students: New IIMs are not hot destinations for the brightest of
students. Many will opt for an SP Jain, XLRI, MDI or FMS over IIM Uttaranchal. IIM Shillong has had that experience.
b) Faculty: It's tough for IIM A, B & C to get great faculty - given current payscales. Wonder what extra incentive, if any, there is for an academic to join an IIM in the middle of nowhere. That too with only teaching, no research orientation in initial years.
c) Infrastructure: Sure, the new IIMs will have great campuses
within 5 years. But today there are plenty of private bschools with very nice campuses as well - SIBM for example. It's not that big a deal.
d) X factor: This is the toughest bit. Culture is a collective energy, a vibe which is part intent, part accident. It is the asking of questions, the seeking of answers: "Who am I" and "What do I stand for".
The DNA of an institution cannot be to be an "IIM". Because by today's definition that would boil down to "best students, best placements."
We don't need more government sponsored management institutes with no particular focus. Have some USP, some reason to BE and not just exist!
In short, I think we are simply wasting Rs 1000 crores. If we need to set up new IIMs - let's figure out why, where and who is going to benefit.
If the intention is regional social development, well then let's accept that an IIM in Srinagar is not really going to do anything for the youth of J & K. Just as IIM Shillong makes no difference to the youth of the Northeast.
If you want to make a regional impact then go ahead and reserve 50% of the seats for locals. But that will dilute brand IIM, you say? Yes - so choose another name. ike we have IITs and we have NITs. And now IIITs.
Let the new institutes start with a clean slate. Let the old ones not be asked to carry new burdens.
And let it be an entire package deal: IIM + SEZ + airport. A stimulus package to grow the local economy by attracting industry, jobs and students. With the bschool being integrated - in a deep and meaningful way - with its immediate environment, and constituents.
Kapil Sibalji - are you listening??!
Sunday, April 19, 2009
If you want something badly enough...
You get it!
And here's a feel-good story for a Sunday evening that tells you how you can make it happen. This example is of a guy - let's call him G - who cracked the CAT exam but it could apply to anything in life.
I am sharing the letter he wrote to me, after being accepted at four IIMs ( reproduced as is, punctuated by my comments in italics).
Dear Rashmi,
I hope you remember me. I was one of the 9 or 10 CAT aspirants who took part in the survey you conducted on your blog, sometime last year.
I scored 99.86 percentile in CAT 2008. I got GDPI calls from IIM Calcutta, Lucknow, Indore and Kozhikode, and managed to convert all four of them. I'll obviously be going to IIM Calcutta.
Yes, I was a victim of IIM A's policy of looking at the 10th and 12th standard scores: I had a comparatively lower score in my tenth standard. (IIMA's loss, I am sure! :)
This is the time when I pause and look back at my CAT preparation. And one thing that instantly flashes to my mind is your Kung-fu Panda post written sometime last year.
"Lesson # 1: If you want something badly enough, you get it somehow."
Believe me, I wanted it badly enough. I shifted to a lower paying job in an IT firm, from a high-paying "core" firm, so that I'd get time to study for CAT. I was assigned to a project, and the timelines were tight- we had to work on weekends also.
Initially I whined a bit because I had shifted here to study in peace, but later I managed to 'beat' the system. On Saturdays, I juggled with CAT classes(4 hours) and office work(8 hours). I was determined not to come to office on Sundays(others in my team did come) by working harder on Saturdays. On Sundays I took two mock-CATs: one from IMS and the other from TIME.
(Many others would have given up - but you found a way to juggle both work and study. I do think this is a better strategy than quitting your job and only focussing on preparation - a question I am commonly asked!)
I did not score high consistently in the mock-CATs. Yet, I had a vague inner feeling that I'll hit a sixer on the last ball, and do extremely well in CAT. I just meditated on the last day before CAT, and repeated 15-15-25 in my mind. The numbers referred to the number of questions I would solve in Quant, DI and Verbal sections respectively. It ended up being 13-12-40.
(Meditation is a *must* no matter who you are and what you do. We brush our teeth everyday, but what about all the cobwebs in our minds?)
Frankly I find it very tough to determine causality, i.e. I did 'X' and scored well in CAT. All I can say is that if you are not convinced that an IIM is the only place for you, then it is impossible to succeed in CAT. One more thing: many people take CAT to escape from their IT jobs.
I quote from that post of yours:
"Clearing these super tough exams is like running a lawnmower through your own mental garden. It crushes the weeds of self doubt and self pity which we've allowed to grow. Exam or no exam, you can choose to yank out those weeds. Then look the guys who think they know better in the eye and declare,"My soup is as kick-ass as yours."
I couldn't agree more with you on this. The whole process of cracking CAT, clearing the interviews has changed me a lot. It is not that I have become cocky, or that I have acquired a "Bring 'em on" attitude after getting an admission into IIM-C. It is simply that I don't care about anything else.
I have become less self-conscious about my appearance. I am less anxious about what others will say. I know I can stretch myself to do bigger things after cracking CAT- after all if I could manage a tough office schedule and crack CAT(and eventually the interviews), I can face most (if not all) of the challenges that come in front of me.
And now I realize that those were the weeds of self-doubt and self-pity which CAT yanked out. The whole experience gave me confidence, yet it was humbling too.
(True confidence is really about humility. You know you are capable of anything, and that 'others' do not matter. You are really only competing with yourself... But, no matter how much you 'achieve' you accept that there will always more to seek, to experience, and understand.)
Well, that's all I have to say. Let me take this opportunity to thank you for the wonderful blog that you write. It has inspired me on more than one occasion. Believe me, I view self-help stuff with suspicion, contempt and even derision, but your words work for me.
Cheers,
G
Thank you, G, for sharing your experience. Wish you all the very best in the journey of life. May the panda in you continue to kung fu, even in that suit and tie.
More 'kung fu panda' experiences shared by readers here.
And here's a feel-good story for a Sunday evening that tells you how you can make it happen. This example is of a guy - let's call him G - who cracked the CAT exam but it could apply to anything in life.
I am sharing the letter he wrote to me, after being accepted at four IIMs ( reproduced as is, punctuated by my comments in italics).
Dear Rashmi,
I hope you remember me. I was one of the 9 or 10 CAT aspirants who took part in the survey you conducted on your blog, sometime last year.
I scored 99.86 percentile in CAT 2008. I got GDPI calls from IIM Calcutta, Lucknow, Indore and Kozhikode, and managed to convert all four of them. I'll obviously be going to IIM Calcutta.
Yes, I was a victim of IIM A's policy of looking at the 10th and 12th standard scores: I had a comparatively lower score in my tenth standard. (IIMA's loss, I am sure! :)
This is the time when I pause and look back at my CAT preparation. And one thing that instantly flashes to my mind is your Kung-fu Panda post written sometime last year.
"Lesson # 1: If you want something badly enough, you get it somehow."
Believe me, I wanted it badly enough. I shifted to a lower paying job in an IT firm, from a high-paying "core" firm, so that I'd get time to study for CAT. I was assigned to a project, and the timelines were tight- we had to work on weekends also.
Initially I whined a bit because I had shifted here to study in peace, but later I managed to 'beat' the system. On Saturdays, I juggled with CAT classes(4 hours) and office work(8 hours). I was determined not to come to office on Sundays(others in my team did come) by working harder on Saturdays. On Sundays I took two mock-CATs: one from IMS and the other from TIME.
(Many others would have given up - but you found a way to juggle both work and study. I do think this is a better strategy than quitting your job and only focussing on preparation - a question I am commonly asked!)
I did not score high consistently in the mock-CATs. Yet, I had a vague inner feeling that I'll hit a sixer on the last ball, and do extremely well in CAT. I just meditated on the last day before CAT, and repeated 15-15-25 in my mind. The numbers referred to the number of questions I would solve in Quant, DI and Verbal sections respectively. It ended up being 13-12-40.
(Meditation is a *must* no matter who you are and what you do. We brush our teeth everyday, but what about all the cobwebs in our minds?)
Frankly I find it very tough to determine causality, i.e. I did 'X' and scored well in CAT. All I can say is that if you are not convinced that an IIM is the only place for you, then it is impossible to succeed in CAT. One more thing: many people take CAT to escape from their IT jobs.
I quote from that post of yours:
"Clearing these super tough exams is like running a lawnmower through your own mental garden. It crushes the weeds of self doubt and self pity which we've allowed to grow. Exam or no exam, you can choose to yank out those weeds. Then look the guys who think they know better in the eye and declare,"My soup is as kick-ass as yours."
I couldn't agree more with you on this. The whole process of cracking CAT, clearing the interviews has changed me a lot. It is not that I have become cocky, or that I have acquired a "Bring 'em on" attitude after getting an admission into IIM-C. It is simply that I don't care about anything else.
I have become less self-conscious about my appearance. I am less anxious about what others will say. I know I can stretch myself to do bigger things after cracking CAT- after all if I could manage a tough office schedule and crack CAT(and eventually the interviews), I can face most (if not all) of the challenges that come in front of me.
And now I realize that those were the weeds of self-doubt and self-pity which CAT yanked out. The whole experience gave me confidence, yet it was humbling too.
(True confidence is really about humility. You know you are capable of anything, and that 'others' do not matter. You are really only competing with yourself... But, no matter how much you 'achieve' you accept that there will always more to seek, to experience, and understand.)
Well, that's all I have to say. Let me take this opportunity to thank you for the wonderful blog that you write. It has inspired me on more than one occasion. Believe me, I view self-help stuff with suspicion, contempt and even derision, but your words work for me.
Cheers,
G
Thank you, G, for sharing your experience. Wish you all the very best in the journey of life. May the panda in you continue to kung fu, even in that suit and tie.
More 'kung fu panda' experiences shared by readers here.
Sunday, March 08, 2009
Make your own road
What goes up, must come down. But just how much - we finally have some idea!
Placement statistics from IIMA confirm the worst fears of the graduating MBA class. The average domestic salary is down 32%. Foreign offers have dried up. Big recruiters are missing or making just a token offer or two.
The placement process was officially closed after 8 days but rumour has it a few students are still looking for jobs. Or maybe they have jobs, but are still looking for something 'better'.
The same stories are coming in everywhere. Top bschools like XLRI, MDI and IIFT are reporting 70-90% of the batch has secured placement. The rest I am sure will eventually find jobs, although at salaries much lower than expected.
Naturally junta is not in the best of spirits. But you know something - I think good will eventually come out of all this.
For some years now the MBA had become not a stepping stone into a corporate career but a kind of express elevator.
Now it's back to basics. Start modestly, learn the business, figure out what really works outside of textbooks. It may not be out of choice but more MBAs are moving out of their comfort zone into new and uncharted sectors.
Stories like this one are especially heartening. The Economic Times reports:
Manishbhai Patel went shopping, and came back with an IIM graduate. Patel, who runs the Rs 3-crore Varun Radiators in Kalol, Gujarat, had been scouting for a chief executive to spearhead his ambitious expansion plans...
He made his pitch, convinced the 26-year-old IIM student of all the possibilities that a growth-hungry company had on offer, and bagged his new CEO for Rs 6 lakh per annum. “It’s a breakthrough. He will add value to our company, and we want to touch Rs 15 crore within a year,” says Patel, elated at his prize catch.
It's not going to be easy for the CEO. Or for Mr Patel. But if this 26 year old can adjust his attitude and apply his aptitude, he can work wonders. I say this with confidence because I've heard stories like this from a previous generation of MBAs. Among them, super successful people I interviewed for 'Stay Hungry Stay Foolish'.
In the 70s and 80s, many IIM grads joined organisations such as FAIR - Foundation to Aid Industrial Recovery. The concept of FAIR was to take a sick industrial unit from a bank, put a young MBA in charge as the chief executive and turn around the company in two years. Retaining all the existing employees.
Sunil Handa, who later set up Core Healthcare and Eklavya school (but is of course best known and loved as the professor who's inspired so many towards entrepreneurship) said of his stint at FAIR:
"To take a 23 year old fresher from IIM-A and throw him into Bhavnagar to revive a sick unit, required a lot of guts and the density of learning was very high. If I had spent 19 months in Hindustan Lever as a management trainee, I would not have learnt even one per cent of what I learnt in 19 months as a chief executive of a sick unit".
Others like Vinayak Chatterjee (founder of Feedback Ventures) worked as executive assistant to Raunaq Singh and became part of the team which turned around Apollo Tyres.
So to the graduating class of 2009 I have one simple advice. Wherever you work, whatever you do, and no matter how lousy your take home...
Treat the next 2 years as if enrolled for another degree. Awarded by the University of Life.
Strive to learn, to grow, to polish the rough edges. Make friends with the salesman, the doorman and the chairman. Good relationships can take you a long long way.
Be humble yet do not be subservient. Understand the ground reality, gain trust and you will definitely get a chance to challenge the status quo.
You, the graduating class of 2009, are brand ambassadors for the animal known as the 'MBA'. Prove the critics wrong. Show them that the education you receieved was more than a ticket to a fancy paycheque.
What goes down, must go up. When the economy recovers - as it definitely will - you will be a valuable and wise asset for any company. Until then, enjoy each day. Struggle is the sweetness we stir into our souls as we brew our own special brand of success.
A brand bigger than the bschool you graduate from. Or the very label 'MBA'.
Placement statistics from IIMA confirm the worst fears of the graduating MBA class. The average domestic salary is down 32%. Foreign offers have dried up. Big recruiters are missing or making just a token offer or two.
The placement process was officially closed after 8 days but rumour has it a few students are still looking for jobs. Or maybe they have jobs, but are still looking for something 'better'.
The same stories are coming in everywhere. Top bschools like XLRI, MDI and IIFT are reporting 70-90% of the batch has secured placement. The rest I am sure will eventually find jobs, although at salaries much lower than expected.
Naturally junta is not in the best of spirits. But you know something - I think good will eventually come out of all this.
For some years now the MBA had become not a stepping stone into a corporate career but a kind of express elevator.
Now it's back to basics. Start modestly, learn the business, figure out what really works outside of textbooks. It may not be out of choice but more MBAs are moving out of their comfort zone into new and uncharted sectors.
Stories like this one are especially heartening. The Economic Times reports:
Manishbhai Patel went shopping, and came back with an IIM graduate. Patel, who runs the Rs 3-crore Varun Radiators in Kalol, Gujarat, had been scouting for a chief executive to spearhead his ambitious expansion plans...
He made his pitch, convinced the 26-year-old IIM student of all the possibilities that a growth-hungry company had on offer, and bagged his new CEO for Rs 6 lakh per annum. “It’s a breakthrough. He will add value to our company, and we want to touch Rs 15 crore within a year,” says Patel, elated at his prize catch.
It's not going to be easy for the CEO. Or for Mr Patel. But if this 26 year old can adjust his attitude and apply his aptitude, he can work wonders. I say this with confidence because I've heard stories like this from a previous generation of MBAs. Among them, super successful people I interviewed for 'Stay Hungry Stay Foolish'.
In the 70s and 80s, many IIM grads joined organisations such as FAIR - Foundation to Aid Industrial Recovery. The concept of FAIR was to take a sick industrial unit from a bank, put a young MBA in charge as the chief executive and turn around the company in two years. Retaining all the existing employees.
Sunil Handa, who later set up Core Healthcare and Eklavya school (but is of course best known and loved as the professor who's inspired so many towards entrepreneurship) said of his stint at FAIR:
"To take a 23 year old fresher from IIM-A and throw him into Bhavnagar to revive a sick unit, required a lot of guts and the density of learning was very high. If I had spent 19 months in Hindustan Lever as a management trainee, I would not have learnt even one per cent of what I learnt in 19 months as a chief executive of a sick unit".
Others like Vinayak Chatterjee (founder of Feedback Ventures) worked as executive assistant to Raunaq Singh and became part of the team which turned around Apollo Tyres.
So to the graduating class of 2009 I have one simple advice. Wherever you work, whatever you do, and no matter how lousy your take home...
Treat the next 2 years as if enrolled for another degree. Awarded by the University of Life.
Strive to learn, to grow, to polish the rough edges. Make friends with the salesman, the doorman and the chairman. Good relationships can take you a long long way.
Be humble yet do not be subservient. Understand the ground reality, gain trust and you will definitely get a chance to challenge the status quo.
You, the graduating class of 2009, are brand ambassadors for the animal known as the 'MBA'. Prove the critics wrong. Show them that the education you receieved was more than a ticket to a fancy paycheque.
What goes down, must go up. When the economy recovers - as it definitely will - you will be a valuable and wise asset for any company. Until then, enjoy each day. Struggle is the sweetness we stir into our souls as we brew our own special brand of success.
A brand bigger than the bschool you graduate from. Or the very label 'MBA'.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Slumdog MBA
ISB is over the sun and the moon for cracking the Financial Times bschool rankings once again. They have in fact moved up 5 places - from # 20 last year, to # 15.
I have the highest regard for ISB but to be honest, I do not buy the # 15 ranking. Reasons are as follows:
* These are 'global MBA' rankings. But how global is ISB? The student community is 96% Indian. Only 4% hold non-Indian passports (and my guess is many of those would be of Indian origin).
The faculty is only 82% Indian, despite the many many visiting professors.
* In the area of research ISB is ranked no 75 out of 100. It does not have a 'doctoral rank' at all because it did not have a PhD program till recently.
So where does ISB score? The weighted salary (calculated in PPP) and % salary increase (before and after the MBA). Those figures stand at $148,339 and 160% respectively.
These two parameters account for 40% of the weightage when calculating the ranking.
The question however is, if you were anywhere in the world and aspiring for an international MBA would you place ISB higher than Northwestern Kellogg (#21), Duke University: Fuqua (#22) or UCLA Anderson (# 29)?
I think the absence of international students at ISB is telling. But who know what came first - the chicken or the egg? A few more years in the FT top 20 is just what ISB needs - to make that demographic shift.
The second big question everytime the FT rankings are released is: "Where are the IIMs"? Well, they do not qualify as 'MBAs' under the criteria used by FT as they also admit fresh graduates.
As far as I know IIMs do plan to approach FT to rank the 1 year PGP X program where work ex is compulsory. These programs become eligible only after 3 batches graduate as the survey requires historical salary data and alumni responses.
But PGP X is not the flagship program of the IIMs, so it will still seem unfair - at the end of it.
Reminds me of the hoo-ha in India over our films making it to the Oscars. A Bollywood film - no matter how good - is only going to be considered under the category of 'best foreign film'. It takes a movie like Slumdog Millionaire, in an Indian setting but with a Western sensibility to get 10 Oscar nominations.
But the box office reaction to Slumdog in India is mixed.
Similar is the case with the IIMs. For the average 21 year old they are THE bschools of choice. ISB will never get 250,000 applicants for its 400 odd seats.
And yet, IIMs - or at least their alumni - do itch for the 'Oscars'. But are the institutes willing to cater to the international audience? Or take an interest in marketing themselves?? The answer is "no".
So they remain kings of the local market (for the near future - aagey ka keh nahin saktey). Like the quintessential hit Hindi film!
My comment on ISB in FT rankings last year
I have the highest regard for ISB but to be honest, I do not buy the # 15 ranking. Reasons are as follows:
* These are 'global MBA' rankings. But how global is ISB? The student community is 96% Indian. Only 4% hold non-Indian passports (and my guess is many of those would be of Indian origin).
The faculty is only 82% Indian, despite the many many visiting professors.
* In the area of research ISB is ranked no 75 out of 100. It does not have a 'doctoral rank' at all because it did not have a PhD program till recently.
So where does ISB score? The weighted salary (calculated in PPP) and % salary increase (before and after the MBA). Those figures stand at $148,339 and 160% respectively.
These two parameters account for 40% of the weightage when calculating the ranking.
The question however is, if you were anywhere in the world and aspiring for an international MBA would you place ISB higher than Northwestern Kellogg (#21), Duke University: Fuqua (#22) or UCLA Anderson (# 29)?
I think the absence of international students at ISB is telling. But who know what came first - the chicken or the egg? A few more years in the FT top 20 is just what ISB needs - to make that demographic shift.
The second big question everytime the FT rankings are released is: "Where are the IIMs"? Well, they do not qualify as 'MBAs' under the criteria used by FT as they also admit fresh graduates.
As far as I know IIMs do plan to approach FT to rank the 1 year PGP X program where work ex is compulsory. These programs become eligible only after 3 batches graduate as the survey requires historical salary data and alumni responses.
But PGP X is not the flagship program of the IIMs, so it will still seem unfair - at the end of it.
Reminds me of the hoo-ha in India over our films making it to the Oscars. A Bollywood film - no matter how good - is only going to be considered under the category of 'best foreign film'. It takes a movie like Slumdog Millionaire, in an Indian setting but with a Western sensibility to get 10 Oscar nominations.
But the box office reaction to Slumdog in India is mixed.
Similar is the case with the IIMs. For the average 21 year old they are THE bschools of choice. ISB will never get 250,000 applicants for its 400 odd seats.
And yet, IIMs - or at least their alumni - do itch for the 'Oscars'. But are the institutes willing to cater to the international audience? Or take an interest in marketing themselves?? The answer is "no".
So they remain kings of the local market (for the near future - aagey ka keh nahin saktey). Like the quintessential hit Hindi film!
My comment on ISB in FT rankings last year
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Past perfect II: the other side of the story
My previous post brought out a great deal of angst. But here's the thing:
CAT + past performance may not be the best way to identify future business leaders. But it is the most OBJECTIVE method available.
Now we can debate the amount of weightage that should be given to various parameters (this year weightage given by IIMA to class 10 & 12 marks in the tie-breaker seem excessive to me). We can also ask for normalisation across boards.
But can we really ask for a more subjective process, a la Stanford and Wharton? In the Indian context that may not work.
One of the foundations of the IIM brand is that the intake is purely on merit. There is no room for influence, money, or any other means of 'getting a seat'. Whether you are the Prime Minister's nephew or the director's son, the IIMs are above bhai -bhatijawaad.
The moment you include more subjective criteria, there are questions. Now you may say ISB also follows a subjective process but then it is not a government institute. Rejected candidates do not go and file RTI.
In an interview to Mint's Sidin Vadukut, last year IIM A director Samir Barua stated that the fall in diversity of the batch (the 94% engineers) was a direct consequence of 'things like the RTI act'. To quote from the article:
... because of RTI and extreme pressure on the IIMs and IITs (Indian Institutes of Technology) to explain admission procedures, the institute could no longer be “fuzzy” in the selection process. “Previously, we ensured some sort of diversity by picking up a mix of people from those who cleared the written test. We could introduce a level of subjectivity at the interview stage. But now, because of RTI, applicants who don’t make it demand to know why they weren’t selected when they scored better than another admitted student in the written test.”
But this seems to bother me more than it does Barua. “I think engineers are just as creative as arts or commerce graduates. What irks me is that I lose the ability to pick up someone even if they scored a little less on the test but impress in the discussions and interviews,” he adds.
Of course, I still think it is upto the institute's prerogative to figure out a means to have more diversity (eg lay out a lower cut-off for students from non-engineering streams if they feel it is important to get the right mix in the class!). I think IIM Bangalore has managed this process best amongst all IIMs.
But it is upto the students to accept that either way there will be some 'arbitrariness' in selection.
For all those who hold up the high standards of Ivy League schools, I recommend a book called The Price of Admissions: How America's Ruling Class Buys Its Way into Elite Colleges -- and Who Gets Left Outside the Gates by Daniel Goldman.
The book mainly looks at undergraduate admissions, not bschools, but it outlines how subjective an admissions process can become!
Ideally we should have objective criteria, with some room for subjectivity. Which is what we did have, until the IIMs became more transparent.
In my time, if you didn't get in, you accepted that as your destiny and moved on. Now, people take the CAT again and again, and some will use instruments like RTI to know 'why'.
Incidentally, IIMs do use the 'international' method to select candidates for the 1 year PGP X program. But there, applicants are in hundreds, not lakhs!
Given the 246,000 test-takers in the fray for the PGP program, and how important this test has become to them, methinks we'll be fighting CAT and dog over weightages and percentiles for some years to come!
CAT + past performance may not be the best way to identify future business leaders. But it is the most OBJECTIVE method available.
Now we can debate the amount of weightage that should be given to various parameters (this year weightage given by IIMA to class 10 & 12 marks in the tie-breaker seem excessive to me). We can also ask for normalisation across boards.
But can we really ask for a more subjective process, a la Stanford and Wharton? In the Indian context that may not work.
One of the foundations of the IIM brand is that the intake is purely on merit. There is no room for influence, money, or any other means of 'getting a seat'. Whether you are the Prime Minister's nephew or the director's son, the IIMs are above bhai -bhatijawaad.
The moment you include more subjective criteria, there are questions. Now you may say ISB also follows a subjective process but then it is not a government institute. Rejected candidates do not go and file RTI.
In an interview to Mint's Sidin Vadukut, last year IIM A director Samir Barua stated that the fall in diversity of the batch (the 94% engineers) was a direct consequence of 'things like the RTI act'. To quote from the article:
... because of RTI and extreme pressure on the IIMs and IITs (Indian Institutes of Technology) to explain admission procedures, the institute could no longer be “fuzzy” in the selection process. “Previously, we ensured some sort of diversity by picking up a mix of people from those who cleared the written test. We could introduce a level of subjectivity at the interview stage. But now, because of RTI, applicants who don’t make it demand to know why they weren’t selected when they scored better than another admitted student in the written test.”
But this seems to bother me more than it does Barua. “I think engineers are just as creative as arts or commerce graduates. What irks me is that I lose the ability to pick up someone even if they scored a little less on the test but impress in the discussions and interviews,” he adds.
Of course, I still think it is upto the institute's prerogative to figure out a means to have more diversity (eg lay out a lower cut-off for students from non-engineering streams if they feel it is important to get the right mix in the class!). I think IIM Bangalore has managed this process best amongst all IIMs.
But it is upto the students to accept that either way there will be some 'arbitrariness' in selection.
For all those who hold up the high standards of Ivy League schools, I recommend a book called The Price of Admissions: How America's Ruling Class Buys Its Way into Elite Colleges -- and Who Gets Left Outside the Gates by Daniel Goldman.
The book mainly looks at undergraduate admissions, not bschools, but it outlines how subjective an admissions process can become!
Ideally we should have objective criteria, with some room for subjectivity. Which is what we did have, until the IIMs became more transparent.
In my time, if you didn't get in, you accepted that as your destiny and moved on. Now, people take the CAT again and again, and some will use instruments like RTI to know 'why'.
Incidentally, IIMs do use the 'international' method to select candidates for the 1 year PGP X program. But there, applicants are in hundreds, not lakhs!
Given the 246,000 test-takers in the fray for the PGP program, and how important this test has become to them, methinks we'll be fighting CAT and dog over weightages and percentiles for some years to come!
Monday, January 12, 2009
Past perfect?
Do people peak in performance at class 10 and 12?
Should poor performance in these exams haunt you for the rest of your life?
The IIMs certainly seem to think so. And particularly, IIM Ahmedabad. The institute recently released a document which laid out the selection process it is using for the 2009-11 intake.
In the general category, you would need to score at least 98 percentile overall and 94, 94 and 94.5 in sections 1, 2 and 3 respectively.
Now 1160 candidates from the 2.46 who appeared for the CAT this year qualified under this criteria. That number was further whittled down to 609 based on your past academic performance - in class 10 and 12.
The bottomline is that the institute needs to use some kind of tie breaker and it has opted for class 10 & 12 marks.
Unlike IIM Bangalore or IIM Lucknow, IIM A does not consider work experience, graduation marks or any other factor at the tie-breaker stage. I guess that is IIM A's prerogative - they basically want all the 'toppers'.
But there are two issues with this profiling
One is a technical one. Ankit Doshi is a BCom graduate from Mumbai with 3 interview calls, but he missed out on A. He believes it is because marks across different boards were not 'normalised'.
Giving his own example, Ankit states that he cleared the pre-screening criteria but probably lost out on the Academic Performance score as he scored 85.86% in class 10 (SSC) and 85.13% in class 12 (HSC). According to which his AP = 12
But in the ICSE or CBSE board (or even a state board like Andhra) scoring above 90% is common and those students would have an unfair advantage and score an AP of 16.
I think this is a very valid point and the institute should take this into account!
Ankit adds, "If you study the marking and scoring patterns of students, such a criteria completely closes the doors on students of Arts and Humanities across India . How many Arts std XIIth toppers even cross 85%?"
Well, that is a whole separate Pandora's box. At the 15th year reunion of IIMA's class of '93 held two weeks ago, we had a raging debate with some of the faculty on the changed student profile. From a 70: 30 ratio (70 being engineers and 30 being 'other streams'), we now have 93% engineers in the batch.
The faculty says it's because most smart kids in India gravitate towards engineering and hence more engineers crack the CAT. But factors like 'AP' make it that much more difficult for even the smartest of arts and commerce grads out there to get that interview call.
The second - and more fundamental - issue is should the past be given so much importance at all? Is it really an indicator of 'success' in the future?
One way to look at it is that if I am successful at an early age, I get a lot of positive strokes for it and therefore remain motivated to continue succeeding in the future.
But the other side of it is that now that I have the label of being 'successful', I no longer really need to peform. To do something more, or better. Because I am already 'there'.
Psychologist Carol Dweck has written a book on this subject called 'Mindset: the new psychology of success'. Which inspired Guy Kawasaki to make this post explaining why most 'hot' companies eventually drift into mediocrity.
Let’s say a startup is hot. It ships something great, and it achieves success. Thus, it’s able to attract the best, brightest, and most talented. These people have been told they’re the best since childhood. Indeed, being hired by the hot company is “proof” that they are the A and A+ players; in fact, the company is so hot that it can out-recruit Google and Microsoft.
Unfortunately, they develop a fixed mindset that they’re the most talented, and they think that continued success is a right. Problems arise because pure talent only works as long as the going is easy. Furthermore, they don’t take risks because failure would harm their image of being the best, brightest, and most talented. When they do fail, they deny it or attribute it to anything but their shortcomings.
I think those two paras precisely explain why we've seen that enormous mess on Wall Street! The sub prime mess is the ghastly creation of bschool bred minds who firmly believed they could do no wrong. And even if they did, the safety net of being part of an elite club would save them.
Carol postulates that people have two kinds of mindsets: growth or fixed. People with the growth mindset view life as a series of challenges and opportunities for improving. People with a fixed mindset believe that they are “set” as either good or bad.
The issue is that the good ones believe they don’t have to work hard, and the bad ones believe that working hard won’t change anything.
As far as I can see the past performance, topper-centric intake of our most wanted bschools is only reinforcing the fixed mindset. A mindset which is certainly not suited for an increasingly unpredictable world.
Should poor performance in these exams haunt you for the rest of your life?
The IIMs certainly seem to think so. And particularly, IIM Ahmedabad. The institute recently released a document which laid out the selection process it is using for the 2009-11 intake.
In the general category, you would need to score at least 98 percentile overall and 94, 94 and 94.5 in sections 1, 2 and 3 respectively.
Now 1160 candidates from the 2.46 who appeared for the CAT this year qualified under this criteria. That number was further whittled down to 609 based on your past academic performance - in class 10 and 12.
The bottomline is that the institute needs to use some kind of tie breaker and it has opted for class 10 & 12 marks.
Unlike IIM Bangalore or IIM Lucknow, IIM A does not consider work experience, graduation marks or any other factor at the tie-breaker stage. I guess that is IIM A's prerogative - they basically want all the 'toppers'.
But there are two issues with this profiling
One is a technical one. Ankit Doshi is a BCom graduate from Mumbai with 3 interview calls, but he missed out on A. He believes it is because marks across different boards were not 'normalised'.
Giving his own example, Ankit states that he cleared the pre-screening criteria but probably lost out on the Academic Performance score as he scored 85.86% in class 10 (SSC) and 85.13% in class 12 (HSC). According to which his AP = 12
But in the ICSE or CBSE board (or even a state board like Andhra) scoring above 90% is common and those students would have an unfair advantage and score an AP of 16.
I think this is a very valid point and the institute should take this into account!
Ankit adds, "If you study the marking and scoring patterns of students, such a criteria completely closes the doors on students of Arts and Humanities across India . How many Arts std XIIth toppers even cross 85%?"
Well, that is a whole separate Pandora's box. At the 15th year reunion of IIMA's class of '93 held two weeks ago, we had a raging debate with some of the faculty on the changed student profile. From a 70: 30 ratio (70 being engineers and 30 being 'other streams'), we now have 93% engineers in the batch.
The faculty says it's because most smart kids in India gravitate towards engineering and hence more engineers crack the CAT. But factors like 'AP' make it that much more difficult for even the smartest of arts and commerce grads out there to get that interview call.
The second - and more fundamental - issue is should the past be given so much importance at all? Is it really an indicator of 'success' in the future?
One way to look at it is that if I am successful at an early age, I get a lot of positive strokes for it and therefore remain motivated to continue succeeding in the future.
But the other side of it is that now that I have the label of being 'successful', I no longer really need to peform. To do something more, or better. Because I am already 'there'.
Psychologist Carol Dweck has written a book on this subject called 'Mindset: the new psychology of success'. Which inspired Guy Kawasaki to make this post explaining why most 'hot' companies eventually drift into mediocrity.
Let’s say a startup is hot. It ships something great, and it achieves success. Thus, it’s able to attract the best, brightest, and most talented. These people have been told they’re the best since childhood. Indeed, being hired by the hot company is “proof” that they are the A and A+ players; in fact, the company is so hot that it can out-recruit Google and Microsoft.
Unfortunately, they develop a fixed mindset that they’re the most talented, and they think that continued success is a right. Problems arise because pure talent only works as long as the going is easy. Furthermore, they don’t take risks because failure would harm their image of being the best, brightest, and most talented. When they do fail, they deny it or attribute it to anything but their shortcomings.
I think those two paras precisely explain why we've seen that enormous mess on Wall Street! The sub prime mess is the ghastly creation of bschool bred minds who firmly believed they could do no wrong. And even if they did, the safety net of being part of an elite club would save them.
Carol postulates that people have two kinds of mindsets: growth or fixed. People with the growth mindset view life as a series of challenges and opportunities for improving. People with a fixed mindset believe that they are “set” as either good or bad.
The issue is that the good ones believe they don’t have to work hard, and the bad ones believe that working hard won’t change anything.
As far as I can see the past performance, topper-centric intake of our most wanted bschools is only reinforcing the fixed mindset. A mindset which is certainly not suited for an increasingly unpredictable world.
Sunday, August 03, 2008
The CAT Survey: Result
Thank you to all those of you who filled in my CAT questionnaire (just - because I asked you to!) The exercise was not 'scientific' but I am sharing with you the results, coz some of it has been an eyeopener!
8 out of 9 people who responded were male and engineering students/ graduates.
Don't know if this reflects the readership of my blog or the general skew in the CAT-taking population (esp the male bit). But weirdly enough, it reflects the approximate class profile at India's top business schools!
Of these 9 people all are currently working:
Two were taking CAT for the first time (both are final year students - but doing their internships and hence technically, 'working')
One for the second time
And six for the third time!
Wow. The reason, I deduce, is that all the engineers are in good jobs and hence aiming only for a top 10 school. So they would rather attempt the exam again and again than settle for the school they got the first time.
The question is, does one's performance improve by taking the exam multiple times?
Well, this came as a revelation to me - YES! One guy's performance has jumped as much as 18 percentile while the average jump from one year to the next appears to be 10 percentile.
As regards classes:
One person has taken absolutely no classes.
Of the rest, TIME appears to be most popular (5 of the respondents were from South India).
Second most mentioned classes were IMS.
Since most were CAT veterans test series/ AIMCATs/ SIMCATs were more popular than classroom coaching. 2 of the 9 had taken a TIME + IMS combo while one had take Time + a local classe (Byju's) for Mock CATs (in Pune).
Problem areas:
While some fit the mythical 'engineer' profile and are struggling with verbal ("I had problems with RCs and am looking to improve by reading books"), others are finding quant to be challenging.
Says one such banda, "English: 98-99 percentile, consistent; Quantis poor, DI is poor.". So, one cannot generalise :)
In fact DI seems to be an even bigger pain in the butt than quant. As one aspirant notes: "My quant is improving, but I am a slow starter. I go in this order: DI, Verbal, Quant. The Verbal section relaxes me. I am a bit rusty when I start. So I underperform in DI. Let's hope I start scoring in DI".
As far as study schedules go here is a typical response:
"On an average I manage around 2 hours everyday, 3 hours on a good day and 1-1.5 hours on a bad day. On Saturdays I manage around 2-3 hours excluding classes (4 hours)".
Only 1 out of 9 claims to put in 5.5 hrs a day. The average study period is about 2 hours. Surprisingly, half the people prefer to study in the morning, before leaving for work!
While all are somehow juggling work and prep, a few are making adjustments in their career to make it happen.
"I used to work in a startup earlier. I was there for 6 months just after graduation. But the work was gruelling, and since it was affecting my CAT prep, I left it to work at a Big Software Company (I was already placed here through campus placements)".
What is your strategy is going to be to improve over next 3 months?
Most plan to just 'read more' and take more Mock CATs. Here is a sample:
"Practice 2 RC and 2 DI sets daily. Honestly, just RCs will be good enough. The DI sets are thrown in just to do well in AIMCATs and increase the feel-good. I feel the real CAT will not have totally difficult DIs like TIME has. This is my idealistic strategy, which I may or may not follow, depending on mood. Weekly AIMCATs should do it for me".
Bschools they are aiming for:
The two freshers are interested 'only in IIMs'.
The repeater junta is a bit more pragmatic and includes a wider range of top bschools. Besides IIMs, they mentioned the following:
XLRI, FMS, MDI - 6
SP Jain - 4
IIFT - 2
SJSOM IITB - 3
NMIMS - 1
others - 1
Was a bit surprised to see S P Jain not in the XLRI/ FMS / MDI category in the minds of prospective MBAs. Average no of schools applied to seems to be 10 (some have counted all IIMs are 'one school' in which case that no is closer to 15!)
Which b-schools do you think you will get?
I asked this question, just. Maybe to see how confident people are... Three out of nine said they are expecting at least one IIM call. The rest had 'no idea' and one actually said 'none'.
He added,"My nondescript verbal communication and my excessive belief in my intelligence, coupled with lack of seriousness should stop me in the interviews. Last year I did not utter a word at the GDs, and later tried to justify this in the interviews".
Finally, a couple of the respondents shared the fact that they're confused. CAT karna bhi chahiye ya nahin?
The lone non-engineer says:
"I find the math section really hard to score on. Sometimes I think that may be I should do a course in Mass Media or Literature as I work in media. But then I'm told that MBA is more lucrative and also because my background is from a different faculty I am not eligible for the full time MA at Mumbai University.
Also I'm not sure how much weight a Mass Media degree really holds, in term of growth in my job. From I can see, it is mostly freshers who do the course at XIC or Sophias".
And one of the engineers is even more ruthless in his assessment:
"I pity those (including me), who have no idea why they are pursuing MBA. There's a vague incentive of money, but what will I do with the money if I have no time to use it?
And still we keep crowding the place, maybe because we are not smart/ brave enough to find anything better to do, or maybe because everybody else is also doing it".
Baat sahi hai but I say now that you are giving CAT, give it your best. Beyond that, que sera sera. What will be will be. Thanks to all of you for sharing and I'll be in touch!
P.S. 'Cracking careers' kicks off a special series called 'Countdown to CAT' from next week. If you are a CAT aspirant who'd like to be mentored by our experts in your weak areas, or have any questions regarding preparation and applications, I'd love to hear from you. As always, drop me a line at rashmi_b at yahoo.com.
8 out of 9 people who responded were male and engineering students/ graduates.
Don't know if this reflects the readership of my blog or the general skew in the CAT-taking population (esp the male bit). But weirdly enough, it reflects the approximate class profile at India's top business schools!
Of these 9 people all are currently working:
Two were taking CAT for the first time (both are final year students - but doing their internships and hence technically, 'working')
One for the second time
And six for the third time!
Wow. The reason, I deduce, is that all the engineers are in good jobs and hence aiming only for a top 10 school. So they would rather attempt the exam again and again than settle for the school they got the first time.
The question is, does one's performance improve by taking the exam multiple times?
Well, this came as a revelation to me - YES! One guy's performance has jumped as much as 18 percentile while the average jump from one year to the next appears to be 10 percentile.
As regards classes:
One person has taken absolutely no classes.
Of the rest, TIME appears to be most popular (5 of the respondents were from South India).
Second most mentioned classes were IMS.
Since most were CAT veterans test series/ AIMCATs/ SIMCATs were more popular than classroom coaching. 2 of the 9 had taken a TIME + IMS combo while one had take Time + a local classe (Byju's) for Mock CATs (in Pune).
Problem areas:
While some fit the mythical 'engineer' profile and are struggling with verbal ("I had problems with RCs and am looking to improve by reading books"), others are finding quant to be challenging.
Says one such banda, "English: 98-99 percentile, consistent; Quantis poor, DI is poor.". So, one cannot generalise :)
In fact DI seems to be an even bigger pain in the butt than quant. As one aspirant notes: "My quant is improving, but I am a slow starter. I go in this order: DI, Verbal, Quant. The Verbal section relaxes me. I am a bit rusty when I start. So I underperform in DI. Let's hope I start scoring in DI".
As far as study schedules go here is a typical response:
"On an average I manage around 2 hours everyday, 3 hours on a good day and 1-1.5 hours on a bad day. On Saturdays I manage around 2-3 hours excluding classes (4 hours)".
Only 1 out of 9 claims to put in 5.5 hrs a day. The average study period is about 2 hours. Surprisingly, half the people prefer to study in the morning, before leaving for work!
While all are somehow juggling work and prep, a few are making adjustments in their career to make it happen.
"I used to work in a startup earlier. I was there for 6 months just after graduation. But the work was gruelling, and since it was affecting my CAT prep, I left it to work at a Big Software Company (I was already placed here through campus placements)".
What is your strategy is going to be to improve over next 3 months?
Most plan to just 'read more' and take more Mock CATs. Here is a sample:
"Practice 2 RC and 2 DI sets daily. Honestly, just RCs will be good enough. The DI sets are thrown in just to do well in AIMCATs and increase the feel-good. I feel the real CAT will not have totally difficult DIs like TIME has. This is my idealistic strategy, which I may or may not follow, depending on mood. Weekly AIMCATs should do it for me".
Bschools they are aiming for:
The two freshers are interested 'only in IIMs'.
The repeater junta is a bit more pragmatic and includes a wider range of top bschools. Besides IIMs, they mentioned the following:
XLRI, FMS, MDI - 6
SP Jain - 4
IIFT - 2
SJSOM IITB - 3
NMIMS - 1
others - 1
Was a bit surprised to see S P Jain not in the XLRI/ FMS / MDI category in the minds of prospective MBAs. Average no of schools applied to seems to be 10 (some have counted all IIMs are 'one school' in which case that no is closer to 15!)
Which b-schools do you think you will get?
I asked this question, just. Maybe to see how confident people are... Three out of nine said they are expecting at least one IIM call. The rest had 'no idea' and one actually said 'none'.
He added,"My nondescript verbal communication and my excessive belief in my intelligence, coupled with lack of seriousness should stop me in the interviews. Last year I did not utter a word at the GDs, and later tried to justify this in the interviews".
Finally, a couple of the respondents shared the fact that they're confused. CAT karna bhi chahiye ya nahin?
The lone non-engineer says:
"I find the math section really hard to score on. Sometimes I think that may be I should do a course in Mass Media or Literature as I work in media. But then I'm told that MBA is more lucrative and also because my background is from a different faculty I am not eligible for the full time MA at Mumbai University.
Also I'm not sure how much weight a Mass Media degree really holds, in term of growth in my job. From I can see, it is mostly freshers who do the course at XIC or Sophias".
And one of the engineers is even more ruthless in his assessment:
"I pity those (including me), who have no idea why they are pursuing MBA. There's a vague incentive of money, but what will I do with the money if I have no time to use it?
And still we keep crowding the place, maybe because we are not smart/ brave enough to find anything better to do, or maybe because everybody else is also doing it".
Baat sahi hai but I say now that you are giving CAT, give it your best. Beyond that, que sera sera. What will be will be. Thanks to all of you for sharing and I'll be in touch!
P.S. 'Cracking careers' kicks off a special series called 'Countdown to CAT' from next week. If you are a CAT aspirant who'd like to be mentored by our experts in your weak areas, or have any questions regarding preparation and applications, I'd love to hear from you. As always, drop me a line at rashmi_b at yahoo.com.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Are you giving CAT this year?
If yes, I would like to hear from you with the following details:
a) Is this yr first attempt?
b) How much are you scoring right now in different sections
c) How much more is this from when your started
d) What is yr daily study schedule like?
e) What classes, if any, have you joined
f) Have u joined different classes for material and Mock CATs?
g) What your strategy is going to be to improve over next 3 months
h) What bschools are you aiming for?
i) Which bschools do you think you will get?
j) How many bschools do you plan to apply for in all (approx no)?
k) What is your educational background
l) Are you working or studying?
m) Anyhing else you'd like to share
And of course, your name, city of residence and contact details. You can mail me at rashmi_b at yahoo.com
Kyun chahiye? Well, rest assured it's for the greatest common good. All will be revealed in due time, trust me.
Break over. Kindly hit the books!
On a separate note, I am also looking for an MBA (Systems) to interview. This is for the Cracking Careers show on UTVi.
a) Is this yr first attempt?
b) How much are you scoring right now in different sections
c) How much more is this from when your started
d) What is yr daily study schedule like?
e) What classes, if any, have you joined
f) Have u joined different classes for material and Mock CATs?
g) What your strategy is going to be to improve over next 3 months
h) What bschools are you aiming for?
i) Which bschools do you think you will get?
j) How many bschools do you plan to apply for in all (approx no)?
k) What is your educational background
l) Are you working or studying?
m) Anyhing else you'd like to share
And of course, your name, city of residence and contact details. You can mail me at rashmi_b at yahoo.com
Kyun chahiye? Well, rest assured it's for the greatest common good. All will be revealed in due time, trust me.
Break over. Kindly hit the books!
On a separate note, I am also looking for an MBA (Systems) to interview. This is for the Cracking Careers show on UTVi.
Monday, April 07, 2008
CAT goes online
Ending months of speculation the IIMs recently annnounced that the CAT exam is going online from November 2009.
Now this raises several issues. As the TOI notes:
If the exam goes online, not all students will be able to take the exam on the same day as is the case now. The exam will have to be conducted in staggered batches within a window period of a few months. The other change will be that instead of the current single exam paper, the online test will have several different papers of the same level of difficulty.
The report also notes that the exam will be 'similar' to GMAT and GRE except that the results will not appear instantly.
However, I am not sure if that is factually correct. The GMAT and GRE follows a Computer Adaptive model. As the Princeton Review explains:
The computer adapts the test to how you answer the questions. You’ll start off the test with a question of medium difficulty - if you answer it correctly, question number two will get a bit more challenging. Get that one right, and question number three gets harder still. The opposite is true as well. This system continues until you get to the end of the section and your ability level on that subject is determined.
Will the CAT also go the computer adaptive way or will it be a random set generated each time from a master bank of questions? We don't know yet.
Change is always difficult to accept and there may be some hiccups. But I am sure a way will be found to ensure the test is 'fair', computer adaptive or otherwise
Currently there are two admission tests in India which are solely online:
a) BITSAT - for BITS Pilani, Goa (and now Hyderabad)
b) NMAT - for NMIMS
Any of you who've experienced these tests, pls do drop me a line at rashmi_b at yahoo.com with your contact number. Folks who've taken GRE/ GMAT - I'd like to hear from you as well.
And of course, all are welcome to join in the discussion in the comments!
Now this raises several issues. As the TOI notes:
If the exam goes online, not all students will be able to take the exam on the same day as is the case now. The exam will have to be conducted in staggered batches within a window period of a few months. The other change will be that instead of the current single exam paper, the online test will have several different papers of the same level of difficulty.
The report also notes that the exam will be 'similar' to GMAT and GRE except that the results will not appear instantly.
However, I am not sure if that is factually correct. The GMAT and GRE follows a Computer Adaptive model. As the Princeton Review explains:
The computer adapts the test to how you answer the questions. You’ll start off the test with a question of medium difficulty - if you answer it correctly, question number two will get a bit more challenging. Get that one right, and question number three gets harder still. The opposite is true as well. This system continues until you get to the end of the section and your ability level on that subject is determined.
Will the CAT also go the computer adaptive way or will it be a random set generated each time from a master bank of questions? We don't know yet.
Change is always difficult to accept and there may be some hiccups. But I am sure a way will be found to ensure the test is 'fair', computer adaptive or otherwise
Currently there are two admission tests in India which are solely online:
a) BITSAT - for BITS Pilani, Goa (and now Hyderabad)
b) NMAT - for NMIMS
Any of you who've experienced these tests, pls do drop me a line at rashmi_b at yahoo.com with your contact number. Folks who've taken GRE/ GMAT - I'd like to hear from you as well.
And of course, all are welcome to join in the discussion in the comments!
Thursday, April 03, 2008
No more IITs, we need Indian Institute of Talent
Sorry to be cynical about it, but this whole announcement of 4 new IITS and 6 new IIMs is nothing more than an election year carrot for middle class India.
First of all, do we need more IITs and IIMs in this day and age? This is not the 1960s or 70s when the concept of management or engineering education was a new one. And hence the government played the role of catalyst, evangelist and capitalist - all in one.
Now, it's more like mere neighbouring state mein ek IIT hai, mujhe bhi chahiye. Jaise Vijay Sales mein LCD TV dekh kar aayr aur socha, ek din hamare ghar mein bhi hoga.
Today there are 1600 engineering colleges and 1000 + bschools in India. The demand for these courses is being met adequately by private enterpreneurs. You can dispute the quality of many of these institutes but the thing to do then is to institute mechanisms to improve that quality.
"Building one more quality institute' will not address the problem. Assuming you can genuinely build quality - not just affix the tag IIM onto a good looking campus and take in all the wait listed students off the existing IIMs.
Speaking of mechanisms AICTE urgently needs to a makeover. The class bully cum school monitor approach is clearly not working. We need a regulatory body, but one which is effective, impartial and recognises that excellence is not just about square feet of campus area but academic integrity and intellectual capital.
So should the government completely exit higher education? I'm not saying that. But I think its role has to be more of playing the pioneer, of entering new and virgin territories.
So a National Law School University was an excellent idea and several more such institutes have come up along the same lines. This has certainly resulted in more bright young people taking up law as a career.
Let's take education as an example of a career the government could pick up and invest in. If you set up an IIT-IIM-NID like instiute of excellence where entry is based on a prestigious national entrance exam, I am sure that within 5 years the teaching profession as a whole would become respectable.
And there would be recruiters willing to pay attractive salaries to these graduates.
But going back to the whole concept of IITs and IIMs, I think the time has come to abandon this compartmentalised approach. Let's recognise that most students who join these institutes are not doing so out of deep interest in technology or management. They are in it for the chhaapa and the placement.
The situation is especially bad in case of IITs because the students are 17-18 years old. And they've slogged so hard to get in to the institute, many have little interest in what they actually study on campus.
So if I were the government I would set up an IIT which is an Indian Institute of Talent. You come in, get exposure to a number of different subjects (engineering, science, commerce and arts) and then in your 3rd year choose a
specialisation in one or the other subject which turns you on. Basically, the American university model where undergraduate education is all about choices. Not 'the best course I could get in with my marks'.
Come to think of it, we do not have any institution in India where Arts, Commerce, Science, Engineering, Design, Music, Medicine and Management co-exist on a single campus. At best we put up techno campuses where a medical, dental and engineering may co-exist.
The IITs are in fact the only technical institutes with Humanities departments but these depts don't enjoy the same status and importance as others because an undergrad cannot major in these subjects.
Imagine how much human potential would be freed if we de-linked 'intelligence' from the study of technical subjects. Left to themselves, we would find students who choose to major in organic chemistry out of love for the subject, not JEE rank.
And maybe we wouldn't need more IIMs to escape to... after graduating in 'I never cared for this' kind of subjects!
First of all, do we need more IITs and IIMs in this day and age? This is not the 1960s or 70s when the concept of management or engineering education was a new one. And hence the government played the role of catalyst, evangelist and capitalist - all in one.
Now, it's more like mere neighbouring state mein ek IIT hai, mujhe bhi chahiye. Jaise Vijay Sales mein LCD TV dekh kar aayr aur socha, ek din hamare ghar mein bhi hoga.
Today there are 1600 engineering colleges and 1000 + bschools in India. The demand for these courses is being met adequately by private enterpreneurs. You can dispute the quality of many of these institutes but the thing to do then is to institute mechanisms to improve that quality.
"Building one more quality institute' will not address the problem. Assuming you can genuinely build quality - not just affix the tag IIM onto a good looking campus and take in all the wait listed students off the existing IIMs.
Speaking of mechanisms AICTE urgently needs to a makeover. The class bully cum school monitor approach is clearly not working. We need a regulatory body, but one which is effective, impartial and recognises that excellence is not just about square feet of campus area but academic integrity and intellectual capital.
So should the government completely exit higher education? I'm not saying that. But I think its role has to be more of playing the pioneer, of entering new and virgin territories.
So a National Law School University was an excellent idea and several more such institutes have come up along the same lines. This has certainly resulted in more bright young people taking up law as a career.
Let's take education as an example of a career the government could pick up and invest in. If you set up an IIT-IIM-NID like instiute of excellence where entry is based on a prestigious national entrance exam, I am sure that within 5 years the teaching profession as a whole would become respectable.
And there would be recruiters willing to pay attractive salaries to these graduates.
But going back to the whole concept of IITs and IIMs, I think the time has come to abandon this compartmentalised approach. Let's recognise that most students who join these institutes are not doing so out of deep interest in technology or management. They are in it for the chhaapa and the placement.
The situation is especially bad in case of IITs because the students are 17-18 years old. And they've slogged so hard to get in to the institute, many have little interest in what they actually study on campus.
So if I were the government I would set up an IIT which is an Indian Institute of Talent. You come in, get exposure to a number of different subjects (engineering, science, commerce and arts) and then in your 3rd year choose a
specialisation in one or the other subject which turns you on. Basically, the American university model where undergraduate education is all about choices. Not 'the best course I could get in with my marks'.
Come to think of it, we do not have any institution in India where Arts, Commerce, Science, Engineering, Design, Music, Medicine and Management co-exist on a single campus. At best we put up techno campuses where a medical, dental and engineering may co-exist.
The IITs are in fact the only technical institutes with Humanities departments but these depts don't enjoy the same status and importance as others because an undergrad cannot major in these subjects.
Imagine how much human potential would be freed if we de-linked 'intelligence' from the study of technical subjects. Left to themselves, we would find students who choose to major in organic chemistry out of love for the subject, not JEE rank.
And maybe we wouldn't need more IIMs to escape to... after graduating in 'I never cared for this' kind of subjects!
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Congratulations, ISB
ISB Hyderabad has been ranked # 20 among top 100 bschools in the world by the Financial Times.Naturally, ISB students and alumni are elated while all iim egroups have been buzzing since the news broke last night with the question: "Why are we missing??"
Before I answer that question let me put down a few things about the ISB campus which impressed me when I visited it last month:
a) A high degree of enthusiasm, efficiency and commitment among the faculty and the administration. At IIMs you notice these traits among individuals, not the institute as a whole.
b) Impeccable and international standards in terms of infrastructure and maintenance. Everything is shiny, new and working!
I have already mentioned what I thought of IIM Calcutta. On a recent visit to IIM A I took a quick round of the campus and it's in need of a lot of repair and overhaul.
Of course those buildings are 40 years old so wear and tear is inevitable. But what's the excuse for general untidiness? This junk lying underneath my old dorm D5 has been there quite a while. I remember it from my visit a year before! Maybe this kind of thing has no impact on rankings but it reflects a chalta hai attitude and that translates elsewhere...c) Amazing facilities for the MDP participants. The catering and housekeeping for the MDP centre as well as student housing and cafetarias is handled by Sarovar hotels.
The experience of staying in KLMDC at IIM A by contrast is.. sad. No reason why they cannot outsource the same! PGP students of course can't ask for the same pampering, given the far lower fee structure.
d) The international faculty ISB attracts is mind blowing. I would love to take courses with some of those profs!
Many of the ISB visiting faculty is ex-IIM. Would they be open to teaching for a few weeks at our institute? I am sure they would. But we can never sort our the whole issue of how much to pay, who will pay and most importantly convince the profs on campus this is not an indictment of their abilities. That truly, there is much for both sides to gain from each other!
e) There is a very organised effort on the part of ISB to keep in touch with its alumni, in the way an HBS or Wharton does.
No doubt IIMs also keep in touch but the effort is not spearheaded by full fledged professionals and treated as a revenue centre.
And well, I could go on but coming back to the FT ranking. I say: Well done ISB! I hold the institute in very high regard. The really commendable thing is the speed at which they've got here - it's been just 6 years!
But to get back and answer the original question: where are the IIMs? Let's first take a closer look at the FT ranking.
FT's ranking is based on:
- Weighted salary
- % salary increased before and after MBA
- Employment (% of students who found employment within 3 months of graduating)
- Research
There are other parameters but that's over 50% of the weightage.
Now open this webpage and click on each column. You will find that:
Weighted salary: ISB has the HIGHEST weighted salary among ALL bschools in the world: $169,355. The figure is calculated taking purchasing power parity into account and I surmise it's extrapolated from the average salary which ISB grads got in 2007.
Incidentally, the use of PPP salaries by FT is the main reason why 11 of the top 20 are now from outside the US.
% increase: ISB students got a 129% salary increase after graduating placing them at # 14 on this parameter.
Employment: ISB ranks # 1 on the 'employment' parameter with 100% of its students getting jobs within 3 months of graduating
Research: ISB ranks # 88 our of 100 bschools when it comes to research (calculated as the no of papers faculty published in 40 odd international academic and practicioner journals).
Wonderful. I am not sure if IIMs participated in this exercise at all. But if they were to, let's see how an IIM Ahmedabad would score on all these points
.
- The average Indian salary @ IIM A in 2007 was Rs 13.6 lakhs. Using the ISB formula (their average domestic salary was Rs 15 lakhs in 2007), the PPP weighted salary of IIM A grads translates into around $154,627.
Taking into account the average US dollar salary at IIM A in 2007 was $115,300 (accepted by 63 students out of the total 224 who took placement) the combined average PPP weighted salary would be in the region of $143,000. Placing IIM A at a respectable # 14 out of 100 on the salary front.
And so on. IIMs would rank equally high on 'employment' and salary increase, and possibly around the same in research.
It's just that nobody at IIM probably took the trouble to submit the info in the required format... Wonder if we even track data like % increase in salary before and after the MBA!
I feel a sense of deja vu, because I noted this exactly 2 years ago, when the Economist rated IIMA # 69 our of 100 bschools. With a more careful submission of data we could have ranked far higher.
The point I am making is not about who's superior. ISB is likely score higher than IIMs in areas like diversity, for example while IIMs will rate higher on the 'value for money' parameter.
It's not about 'winning' or 'losing' but making an honest attempt to compete at the highest level of the game.
The folks at ISB are obviously far more motivated to make the best efforts to score well in ranking exercises, especially by reputed agencies and publications. Whereas the IIMs are full of people who cannot even decide if rankings are important or not.
When we get ranked high, everyone is happy. When we don't, we say rankings don't matter instead of:
a) taking it as constructive criticism
b) examining the fine print in rankings and creating a strategy to improve our performance.
And that sums up the difference between IIMs and the ISB. Why we need to take the FT ranking seriously, whether we believe in rankings or do not.
We need the spirit of private enterprise at the IIMs - the desire to be the best, and be seen as the best. It's a classic case of the 'boiling frog' except the water is not yet so hot that we can't summon all our strength and jump out.
Update: As I was posting this a student @ the IIMA campus tells me the reason we don't feature at all is that we did not meet FT's qualifying criteria. Only bschools accredited by AACSB, Amba or Equis were considered.
IIM A is currently being reviewed by Equis and all I can say is: abhi tak hum kyun so rahe thhe? Well, better late than never. Hope we take it up as a challenge and make it to the top 10 next year!
Monday, August 27, 2007
Update on IIM Shillong
Just noticed, it's Rajiv Gandhi Indian Institute of Management Shillong. RGIIM? As anyone who's attended an IIT or IIM would know the acronym 'RG' is strangely ironic!
Actually more than the name it's the location which will RG this new effort. That's what happened to IIM Kozhikode. In an insightful column published in Mint Premchand Palety notes :
There is no direct flight from Delhi to Kozhikode. The only Indian Airlines flight goes via Mumbai and it takes six hours. After the usual delay, the flight finally landed in Kozhikode...
...From the airport, it is a 45-minute drive to the IIM-K, which is located at Kunnamangalam, a small town famous for a large number of small, green hills. Situated on two hillocks, the institute is a great place for nature lovers... Had the government set up a resort there instead of an IIM, it would have been an instant success.
Based on feedback from students, faculty and a former director Palety concludes:
“Setting an IIM in a place so far away from industry is a mistake. Setting the same campus in Cochin would have been a relatively better idea.”
I'm guessing the next best option for an IIM Shillong is to combine placements with an IIM Calcutta. But what about faculty? Once again it boils down to social objectives over practical ones. But that's the pound of flesh the government takes for its funding.
So where would I recommend setting up new IITs/ IIMs? In the general proximity of large metros. For example: New Bombay or Pune (near Mumbai), Gurgaon, Jaipur or Chandigarh (near Delhi). Even a destination like Goa with great connectivity.
Meanwhile if we can have an RGIIM we can well imagine an RTIIM (Ratan Tata IIM), SMIIM (Sunil Mittal IIM) and so on and so forth. After all who were 'Harvard' and 'Stanford' but wealthy donors?
Actually more than the name it's the location which will RG this new effort. That's what happened to IIM Kozhikode. In an insightful column published in Mint Premchand Palety notes :
There is no direct flight from Delhi to Kozhikode. The only Indian Airlines flight goes via Mumbai and it takes six hours. After the usual delay, the flight finally landed in Kozhikode...
...From the airport, it is a 45-minute drive to the IIM-K, which is located at Kunnamangalam, a small town famous for a large number of small, green hills. Situated on two hillocks, the institute is a great place for nature lovers... Had the government set up a resort there instead of an IIM, it would have been an instant success.
Based on feedback from students, faculty and a former director Palety concludes:
“Setting an IIM in a place so far away from industry is a mistake. Setting the same campus in Cochin would have been a relatively better idea.”
I'm guessing the next best option for an IIM Shillong is to combine placements with an IIM Calcutta. But what about faculty? Once again it boils down to social objectives over practical ones. But that's the pound of flesh the government takes for its funding.
So where would I recommend setting up new IITs/ IIMs? In the general proximity of large metros. For example: New Bombay or Pune (near Mumbai), Gurgaon, Jaipur or Chandigarh (near Delhi). Even a destination like Goa with great connectivity.
Meanwhile if we can have an RGIIM we can well imagine an RTIIM (Ratan Tata IIM), SMIIM (Sunil Mittal IIM) and so on and so forth. After all who were 'Harvard' and 'Stanford' but wealthy donors?
Saturday, July 28, 2007
IIM Bangalore and the Order of Admissions
A top secret, highly classified document has just been released. Not by the CIA, but IIM Bangalore.
The cloaked in mystery, shrouded in enigma, super secret selection procedure to one of the most elite management institutes in the country is now a matter of public record. A 5 page document outlining exactly how IIM B admits candidates into its flagship 2 year PGP program is now available on the institute website.
All those of you giving CAT this year will no doubt be excited by the contents of the release. Like the CAT RC section, it's a bit of a daze to read so let me sum up what it says:
PHASE 1
a) Stage 1 shortlist: This is prepared solely on the basis of performance in CAT. You need to achieve certain minimum cut offs in each section. Of course these cut offs vary from year to year, depending on how test takers have performed as a whole.
No big surprise here, we've kind of known this.
b) Stage 2 shortlist: Here is the real bombshell.
For all candidates in the first shortlist as stated in Table 1, the weighted total of the five components namely (a) work experience or professional course, (b) CAT, (c) 10th board, (d) 12th board, (e) bachelor’s as stated above was used to prepare a pre-GDPI rank list for calling candidates for the GDPI.
This means having a high CAT score is not enough to get an interview call to IIM B. Your past academic performance matters a hell of a lot.
How much? Well, the weightage is as follows:
CAT = 20
10th board=15
12th board=10
Bachelors= 15.
(If you have not completed Bachelor's your marks in undergrad years will be considered instead).
Weightage for work experience and/ or professional course was assigned as 10. Interestingly, CA is the ONLY professional course eligible for weight under the criteria 'professional course'. And the formula for work ex gives the highest score to candidates with an experience of 36 months duration.
Thus the profile of the candidate most likely to get a call from IIM B is as follows:
* High CAT score, cleared all sectional cut offs
* Consistent academic performance across 10th, 12th and graduation.
* 1-3 years work experience.
* A CA with good CAT scores and impressive academic record could have a small advantage.
However there are always exceptions to the rule and IIM B ackowledges that.
For all candidates in the first shortlist as stated in (1), the top 10 candidates in each sectional and total score in CAT, adjusted SSC, HSC, Bachelors and professional (CA) (from the first shortlist, as created in Table 1) automatically qualified for GDPI.
IIM B explains: These candidates were given a chance to appear for GDPI due to their exceptional performance on one parameter.
At the end of the process, however, they were treated like any other candidate and had to qualify on the basis of 'composite aggregate score'.
PHASE TWO
For each of the three elements of evaluation during the GDPI process – Group Discussion, Group Discussion Summary, Personal Interview - the average of the scores given by the two interviewing faculty was considered.
Weights as follows:
GD score - 7.5
G D summary - 7.5
Personal Interview - 20
Frankly, I never knew 'G D Summary' was important!
During the interview 'work experience quality' is evaluated on a 5 point scale (0 – 0.5 – 1 – 1.5 – 2) by each member of the panel. The average quality of work experience score was multiplied by the pre-GDPI work experience score and accordingly revised in Phase 2.
The Group Discussion score, Group Discussion Summary score, Personal Interview score, after standardization within interview panels, were added to the pre-GDPI total (with revisions in Work Ex Score, if any) to arrive at the final aggregate score.
And that is the basis of the final ranks. The 'total' scores were out of 105.
There is a separate note on candidates admitted through GMAT which is around 3-4 students a year.
My observations:
# When the IIMs started revealing percentile scores, one layer of secrecy was peeled away. Now, IIM B has gone fully public.
The revelations come following an RTI application filed by a disabled candidate who was not called for interview. However IIM B says it will reveal the 'formula' for this year's selections (which is tweaked from year to year) before CAT 2007. Wonder if other IIMs will decide to go 'transparent' as well!
# The subject of deepest debate re: the IIM B admit procedure is the amount of importance it gives to 'consistent and high performance in past academics'. This makes your class 10 boards one of the most crucial milestones in life!
The coaching class guys will have a lot of explaining to do. No matter how well you do in the present ie in clearing CAT, your past can and will will drag you down!
# Of course once you are shortlisted for an interview your communication skills in the GD and the impression you make in the interview do play an important role. The vague explanation given about what the panel looks for in the PI clearly indicates there is a level of subjectivity.
Each faculty used the Personal Interview to comprehensively evaluate the candidate’s motivation and ability to fit in and benefit from the PGP program.
Sounds like the 'X factor' rating to me. A bit of extra currics,confidence minus cockiness and wide eyed earnestness should see you through. Clarity of fundas on your undergrad subject also matters. Also...
All candidates were required to provide three confidential reference letters from their employers or faculty and this was also used in the personal interview evaluation.
Never knew about that one! But a positive step, in building a more 'complete picture'. Overall the subjective part of the admisson process - GD & PI - make up 33% of the aggregate score. That means there is a chance to play catch up relative to the ubergeeks who've made it with you so far!
# The other interesting thing is the amount of detailing involved at each stage. For example:
For all candidates in the first shortlist as stated in Table 1, the candidates’ percentage scores in the 10th and 12th board exams are standardized by dividing each score by the 90th percentile score obtained in that board. The database of 10th and 12th scores of all CAT applicants of the past two years was used for identifying the 90th percentile score for each 10th and 12th board for this purpose.
Ah. That's a lot of number work!
# Another point to note: OBC qualifying cut offs were specified although following the SC judgement OBC candidates were not actually called for interviews separately It's heartening to know the OBC cut offs were pegged very close to General cut offs.
eg In Data & Logic section General candidates needed to score 85% while OBCs neededt 75%. The qualifying score for SCs, STs and disabled was 50%.
# There is no mention of any 'quota' for people of different academic streams, or gender. Those from elite institutions don't get preference except that they are more likely to have been toppers in class 10 and 12 to begin with.
There is some debate on this subject going on here.
# Lastly, the mathematicalness of it all is astounding. This 'multi variate analysis' or whatchamacallit is very impressive and very Greek to the general public. Transparency cloaked in invisibility - Shri Harry Potter would have been pleased!
A current PGP at IIMB remarks: It can’t be proved that it’s the best way to process admissions, but it sure is the only way that is objective and looks successful, from the outside, at least.
In the final analysis I would say IIMs are designed to attract well rounded geeks. But emphasis on the geek aspect is higher, the well rounded bit a happy coincidence.
There are a lot of 'been a topper throughout my life' on these campuses. The exam and subsequent process is designed to admit this profile.
Someone should now study the co relation between ranks at the time of admission and ranks while on campus. And ten years later, co relate the same two ranks with the individual's performance in the corporate world.
I am sure some formula taking into account size of company, designation, pay packet, role, reporting relationships and so on could be figured out as a metric of 'success'.
The analysis should include a 33% weightage to an interview where personal satisfaction and that elusive thing called 'quality of life' is factored in.
And on a more philosophical note, I wonder when we will be freed of past patterns of thinking. Yes, the past can predict the future but it can also constrain it. The 'yesterday predicts tomorrow' line of thinking discounts the power of the human spirit to achieve and overcome. To rise to new challenges.
Regardless of what IIM B might say, you gotta shed the baggage of the past, live in the present and dream for the future!
The cloaked in mystery, shrouded in enigma, super secret selection procedure to one of the most elite management institutes in the country is now a matter of public record. A 5 page document outlining exactly how IIM B admits candidates into its flagship 2 year PGP program is now available on the institute website.
All those of you giving CAT this year will no doubt be excited by the contents of the release. Like the CAT RC section, it's a bit of a daze to read so let me sum up what it says:
PHASE 1
a) Stage 1 shortlist: This is prepared solely on the basis of performance in CAT. You need to achieve certain minimum cut offs in each section. Of course these cut offs vary from year to year, depending on how test takers have performed as a whole.
No big surprise here, we've kind of known this.
b) Stage 2 shortlist: Here is the real bombshell.
For all candidates in the first shortlist as stated in Table 1, the weighted total of the five components namely (a) work experience or professional course, (b) CAT, (c) 10th board, (d) 12th board, (e) bachelor’s as stated above was used to prepare a pre-GDPI rank list for calling candidates for the GDPI.
This means having a high CAT score is not enough to get an interview call to IIM B. Your past academic performance matters a hell of a lot.
How much? Well, the weightage is as follows:
CAT = 20
10th board=15
12th board=10
Bachelors= 15.
(If you have not completed Bachelor's your marks in undergrad years will be considered instead).
Weightage for work experience and/ or professional course was assigned as 10. Interestingly, CA is the ONLY professional course eligible for weight under the criteria 'professional course'. And the formula for work ex gives the highest score to candidates with an experience of 36 months duration.
Thus the profile of the candidate most likely to get a call from IIM B is as follows:
* High CAT score, cleared all sectional cut offs
* Consistent academic performance across 10th, 12th and graduation.
* 1-3 years work experience.
* A CA with good CAT scores and impressive academic record could have a small advantage.
However there are always exceptions to the rule and IIM B ackowledges that.
For all candidates in the first shortlist as stated in (1), the top 10 candidates in each sectional and total score in CAT, adjusted SSC, HSC, Bachelors and professional (CA) (from the first shortlist, as created in Table 1) automatically qualified for GDPI.
IIM B explains: These candidates were given a chance to appear for GDPI due to their exceptional performance on one parameter.
At the end of the process, however, they were treated like any other candidate and had to qualify on the basis of 'composite aggregate score'.
PHASE TWO
For each of the three elements of evaluation during the GDPI process – Group Discussion, Group Discussion Summary, Personal Interview - the average of the scores given by the two interviewing faculty was considered.
Weights as follows:
GD score - 7.5
G D summary - 7.5
Personal Interview - 20
Frankly, I never knew 'G D Summary' was important!
During the interview 'work experience quality' is evaluated on a 5 point scale (0 – 0.5 – 1 – 1.5 – 2) by each member of the panel. The average quality of work experience score was multiplied by the pre-GDPI work experience score and accordingly revised in Phase 2.
The Group Discussion score, Group Discussion Summary score, Personal Interview score, after standardization within interview panels, were added to the pre-GDPI total (with revisions in Work Ex Score, if any) to arrive at the final aggregate score.
And that is the basis of the final ranks. The 'total' scores were out of 105.
There is a separate note on candidates admitted through GMAT which is around 3-4 students a year.
My observations:
# When the IIMs started revealing percentile scores, one layer of secrecy was peeled away. Now, IIM B has gone fully public.
The revelations come following an RTI application filed by a disabled candidate who was not called for interview. However IIM B says it will reveal the 'formula' for this year's selections (which is tweaked from year to year) before CAT 2007. Wonder if other IIMs will decide to go 'transparent' as well!
# The subject of deepest debate re: the IIM B admit procedure is the amount of importance it gives to 'consistent and high performance in past academics'. This makes your class 10 boards one of the most crucial milestones in life!
The coaching class guys will have a lot of explaining to do. No matter how well you do in the present ie in clearing CAT, your past can and will will drag you down!
# Of course once you are shortlisted for an interview your communication skills in the GD and the impression you make in the interview do play an important role. The vague explanation given about what the panel looks for in the PI clearly indicates there is a level of subjectivity.
Each faculty used the Personal Interview to comprehensively evaluate the candidate’s motivation and ability to fit in and benefit from the PGP program.
Sounds like the 'X factor' rating to me. A bit of extra currics,confidence minus cockiness and wide eyed earnestness should see you through. Clarity of fundas on your undergrad subject also matters. Also...
All candidates were required to provide three confidential reference letters from their employers or faculty and this was also used in the personal interview evaluation.
Never knew about that one! But a positive step, in building a more 'complete picture'. Overall the subjective part of the admisson process - GD & PI - make up 33% of the aggregate score. That means there is a chance to play catch up relative to the ubergeeks who've made it with you so far!
# The other interesting thing is the amount of detailing involved at each stage. For example:
For all candidates in the first shortlist as stated in Table 1, the candidates’ percentage scores in the 10th and 12th board exams are standardized by dividing each score by the 90th percentile score obtained in that board. The database of 10th and 12th scores of all CAT applicants of the past two years was used for identifying the 90th percentile score for each 10th and 12th board for this purpose.
Ah. That's a lot of number work!
# Another point to note: OBC qualifying cut offs were specified although following the SC judgement OBC candidates were not actually called for interviews separately It's heartening to know the OBC cut offs were pegged very close to General cut offs.
eg In Data & Logic section General candidates needed to score 85% while OBCs neededt 75%. The qualifying score for SCs, STs and disabled was 50%.
# There is no mention of any 'quota' for people of different academic streams, or gender. Those from elite institutions don't get preference except that they are more likely to have been toppers in class 10 and 12 to begin with.
There is some debate on this subject going on here.
# Lastly, the mathematicalness of it all is astounding. This 'multi variate analysis' or whatchamacallit is very impressive and very Greek to the general public. Transparency cloaked in invisibility - Shri Harry Potter would have been pleased!
A current PGP at IIMB remarks: It can’t be proved that it’s the best way to process admissions, but it sure is the only way that is objective and looks successful, from the outside, at least.
In the final analysis I would say IIMs are designed to attract well rounded geeks. But emphasis on the geek aspect is higher, the well rounded bit a happy coincidence.
There are a lot of 'been a topper throughout my life' on these campuses. The exam and subsequent process is designed to admit this profile.
Someone should now study the co relation between ranks at the time of admission and ranks while on campus. And ten years later, co relate the same two ranks with the individual's performance in the corporate world.
I am sure some formula taking into account size of company, designation, pay packet, role, reporting relationships and so on could be figured out as a metric of 'success'.
The analysis should include a 33% weightage to an interview where personal satisfaction and that elusive thing called 'quality of life' is factored in.
And on a more philosophical note, I wonder when we will be freed of past patterns of thinking. Yes, the past can predict the future but it can also constrain it. The 'yesterday predicts tomorrow' line of thinking discounts the power of the human spirit to achieve and overcome. To rise to new challenges.
Regardless of what IIM B might say, you gotta shed the baggage of the past, live in the present and dream for the future!
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Quota Chaos
Summer follows winter, June comes after May. These are natural cycles but we have man made ones as well
IIMs declare results before other institutes. Yes, a few do try to force students to make a quick decision, even put down large (non refundable) deposits. But eventually, nature has its way.
Students simply shift to what they perceive is the 'better institute'. Forgoing any time or money already invested.
In this light, it's hard to understand the government asking the IIMs to put their admissions on hold. The new quotas introduced were incremental. Declaring those who've made it from the general / SC/ ST list does not affect anyone.
But delays will lead to chaos for MBA admissions in general.
I also fail to understand why it took the Hon. Supreme Court 9 months to hear the petition. These are constitutional matters and the court must have a busy schedule but the lives of thousands of students are affected!
The next SC hearing is on April 23. If appeals and counter appeals are a must, can the time frame at least be compressed?
The new academic year starts in June. Or will that too be held ransom by Mr Arjun Singh and his government?
IIMs declare results before other institutes. Yes, a few do try to force students to make a quick decision, even put down large (non refundable) deposits. But eventually, nature has its way.
Students simply shift to what they perceive is the 'better institute'. Forgoing any time or money already invested.
In this light, it's hard to understand the government asking the IIMs to put their admissions on hold. The new quotas introduced were incremental. Declaring those who've made it from the general / SC/ ST list does not affect anyone.
But delays will lead to chaos for MBA admissions in general.
I also fail to understand why it took the Hon. Supreme Court 9 months to hear the petition. These are constitutional matters and the court must have a busy schedule but the lives of thousands of students are affected!
The next SC hearing is on April 23. If appeals and counter appeals are a must, can the time frame at least be compressed?
The new academic year starts in June. Or will that too be held ransom by Mr Arjun Singh and his government?
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