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It’s possibly the oldest rhetorical question and dean of Darden School of Business, Robert Bruner asks it once again for the sake of asking – Are business schools really worth it? Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), Steve Jobs (Apple), Bill Gates (Microsoft), Sergey Brin/Larry Page (Google) didnt go to business school……” In his recent blog Bruner states, “that b-schools actually kill whatever entrepreneurial instinct a person might….. If you want to start a company just do it! B-school turns you into a big corporate type and deadens the entrepreneurial spirit. Just hang out in Silicon Valley or one of the other rich entrepreneurial ecosystems and learn how to start companies there. Who ever heard of a company being started in B-school? These are in fact, some of the hackneyed thoughts that Bruner questions in http://blogs.darden.virginia.edu/deansblog/2011/09/but-steve-jobs-didnt-go-to-b-school.

Still on the questioning the MBA, line, another piece in the Financial Mail asks whether the MBA bubble has finally broken. With the world reluctantly ushering in another round of recession and financial scams taking over public memory, will the MBA grad fall short of what he is basically expected of find a job? Especially, with so many of the scams of the past decades partly caused by MBAs! The article reads: An MBA may teach students about leadership, finance and management … but does it teach them how to find a job?” The article continues “the degree still has enormous benefits, particularly in emergent regions where economies are booming. The London Financial Times reported that graduates are in huge demand in Mexico and Brazil. Its the same in parts of Asia: in India, the qualification even opens up social standing and marriage prospects.”

The above makes sense given the fact that unlike India in most b-schools abroad, ‘placements’ is a foreign word. Students have to drive themselves to find jobs with little or no help from their school. Yes, job fairs and such are there but it’s not like a thousand companies swooping on the campus in a few days and and taking their pick. For more, read http://www.fm.co.za/Article.aspx?id=154713 .

But there are good tidings for India and they come from none other than MIT. At a conference held last week at the MIT Lab, it was broadly discussed that “despite a global economic downturn that has rippled across India, the country remains one of the worlds fastest growing economies, second only to China. India is also the planets second most populous nation, expected to overtake China by 2030. Going into a bit of history, MIT Chancellor Eric Grimson noted that the friendship between MIT and India began in 1906 when Ishwar Das Varshnei became the first Indian to graduate from MIT. In 2010, his great-great-grandsons, twins Kush and Lav, followed in his footsteps, earning PhDs in electrical engineering and computer science. Today, more than 270 students of Indian descent attend MIT; Grimson cited the institutes many India-related projects fifteen of which were featured in a Technology Showcase during the conference as a strong bridge between the Institute and India. Read more in http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2011/india-conference-0927.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm;_medium=email&utm;_campaign=Feed%3A+mitsloan+%28MIT+Sloan+News+Feed%29

On the happy note, one start-up making tremendous news abroad is MassChallenge, which was “born in December 2008 when the world was in a deep, deep hole. While most were talking about the next Great Depression, CEO John Harthorne Harthorne, and his co-founder Akhil Nigam, decided to quit their consultant jobs at Bain & Co. and launch MassChallenge. Both Harthorne and Nigam were long-time Boston residents, with MBAs from MIT Sloan School of Management and Harvard Business School, respectively. MassChallenge – the world’s largest start-up incubator is also a non-profit one. In its second year, it incubated some 125 companies. Interesting read at http://seaportinnovationdistrict.com/2011/boston-innovation-district-superstar-innovative-masschallenge-accelerator-continues-to-roll

Surely, the MassChallenge bosses do not fall into the CEO-trap that the latest issue of Harvard business Review talks about. The article states that in the past 25 years, CEOs of many major corporations have relied on a flawed set of beliefs to lead their organisations. And these beliefs have helped spread the general impression of mistrust with the public. This set has influenced them to place way too much emphasis on maximising shareholder value and not enough on generating value for society. Today we are mired in the Great Recession, which was brought about by the near collapse of the financial system. Read more at http://blogs.hbr.org/hbsfaculty/2011/09/ceos-need-a-new-set-of-beliefs.html?referral=00563&cm;_mmc=email-_-newsletter-_-daily_alert-_-alert_date&utm;_source=newsletter_daily_alert&utm;_medium=email&utm;_campaign=alert_date

Kindle Fire expected-launch at half the price of an iPad was also much discussed. Read a bit on it is

“>http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevedenning/2011/09/30/how-amazon-created-the-kindle-fire-part-11

Back home a bit of happy news on the fees bit. It’s no secret that many engineering and b-schools are not very prompt when it comes to returning fees after a candidate has withdrawn application and sought admission elsewhere. But last week, according to the Indian Express, ” the Chandigarh Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum-II directed Swami Vivekanand Institute of Engineering and Technology (SVIET) to refund Rs 45,980 to a student who withdrew admission, after deducting Rs 1,000 as per the guidelines issued by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).” The article reads on that the “President of the Forum has also directed the institute to pay Rs 10,000 to the student for the harassment caused to him, along with Rs 5,000 as cost of litigation. The complaint was filed against the institute by Nitish Arora, a resident of Sector 7 in Panchkula.”

Some more interesting or rather hilarious news from home concerned that babus in the Maharashtra government who want none other than Harvard to teach them a lesson or two in management. According to an article in the Business Standard published last week, the US-based Harvard University has, in principle, agreed to partner with the Maharashtra government to provide training for its elected representatives, bureaucrats, executives and academicians on issues relating to governance and development. This will be the first time Harvard University has agreed to be part of such a venture in Maharashtra.

Sanjay Kumar, higher and technical education secretary has been quoted in the article: We kept all four proposals for consideration of Harvard University which includes training for elected representatives, propelling of a quality research programme in Mumbai University and other universities in Maharashtra, and the university’s engagement in the development of a world class training institute and using its expertise in the resource mobilisation for the education sector.

And we only wished that business schools be it Harvard or any other also taught people a good deal of ethics and some table manners too, so that we could have fewer scams and better behaved politicians in the Parliament.

But wait, one cannot conclude ‘weekend-reading’ without glancing at the biggest financial story of the week – the two big G’s in the news – Germany and Greece and how Germany stepped up to do its bit to quell the Greece crisis. See how it happened on September 29 on http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/8798314/Debt-crisis-live.html