(Photo credit: Ludovic Toinel)

All of last week, our inbox at PaGaLGuY was packed with summer placement reports from b-schools. The annual drill of going through the reports is quite a bit of fun actually – since one has to mesh through all the marketing jargon to get to the relevant numbers. There were lofty numbers this year and interesting companies (2 IPL franchises offered jobs) but whether they were better than last year, few divulged. Apparently, some b-schools reported lower figures than last year.

And really, how could they be better, the European crisis is far from over. After Greece grabbed headlines, Italy’s demanded its share after its bond market began to slide. And that meant ripples in Portugal, Spain, the world banking system and so on…….If you have not caught that, read it inhttp://www.economist.com/node/21538161?fsrc=nwl%7Cwwp%7C11-12-11%7Cpolitics_this_week” target=”_blank”> .”>http://www.economist.com/node/21538161?fsrc=nwl%7Cwwp%7C11-12-11%7Cpolitics_this_week. And France can’t be faraway. In the same issue of the The Economist, an interesting read on Nicolas Sarkozy and his handling of the austerity wave sweeping his country. http://www.economist.com/node/21538219?fsrc=nwl|wwp|11-12-11|politics_this_week

Internationally, the news that got all management students all ears was Facebook’s Mark Zukerberg return to Harvard Business School to recruit for his company. Ironic, that it was at Harvard that Mark gave birth to the Face book idea. Harvard students were ecstatic to meet their idol. For more on this excitement, read http://www.citytowninfo.com/career-and-education-news/articles/mark-zuckerberg-visits-harvard-and-mit-to-recruit-graduates-11111102

Still on the US techno-greats, an article in The Businessweek compares Steve Jobs to Bill Gates and how they impact/ed the world. The article reads: Both Jobs and Gates had immeasurable impacts on the world. Apple ushered in the era of personal computing in many respects. Microsofts platform made it possible for a generation of computer scientists to learn and flourish. Apple seems to have perfected the art of delivering fantastic consumer products. Microsoft has worked diligently to make the enterprise more and more efficient. Steve Jobs has likely been our generations most important leader in the world of business. But Steve Jobs is not the most important leader from the world of business.

http://www.businessweek.com/management/idolize-bill-gates-not-steve-jobs-11012011.html

Another piece of news that had management students and b-schools all wired was one on “$8-million US in prize money up for grabs for business schools, including Canada, to come up with innovative ideas to improve graduate management education. Sponsored by the U.S. Graduate Management Admission Council, the Ideas to Innovation Challenge contest began earlier this year with the selection of 20 top ideas gleaned from more than 650 submissions from faculty, students and industry in 60 countries. More can be got fromhttp://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/careers/business-education/business-school-news/b-schools-offering-8-million-us-for-ideas/article2233909/” target=”_blank”>

“>http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/careers/business-education/business-school-news/b-schools-offering-8-million-us-for-ideas/article2233909/

The Rajaratnam stories never end. This time The Outlook magazine has taken on The Newsweek’s interview with Rajaratnam. Outlook says that Newsweek article is a racist attack on Indians settled in the US. Read the Outlook take in http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?278870

On a lighter tone, interesting article in the Harvard Business Review on marketing and how it needs to revolutionise and take into account that it makes sense for TV advertisements to be thought of as an element in a broader narrative arch for the brand – a narrative arch that allows the brand to tell a more complete and a more interactive story. But what are the implications for marketers today… Read it all in http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2011/11/the_new_role_of_television_adv.html?referral=00563&cm;_mmc=email-_-newsletter-_-daily_alert-_-alert_date&utm;_source=newsletter_daily_alert&utm;_medium=email&utm;_campaign=alert_date

A little bit of positive news in the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai being invited by the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) to set up a new campus for Applied Science courses there. IIT-B has formed a committee to finalise a proposal which is expected to be sent to New York next month. Would be good to see an IIT board standing tall amongst the skyscrapers in US’ busiest city.http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/iit-mumbai-to-set-up-campus-in-new-york-city-83921″ target=”_blank”>

“>http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/iit-mumbai-to-set-up-campus-in-new-york-city-83921