Pic from World Economic Forum photostream

Two big happenings were of concern to the b-school community last week. One of course The Common Admission Test (CAT) 2011 which was kick-started on October 22 (so technically last week) and the other, the arrest of former Indian School of Business’ Founder Chairman Rajat Gupta’s on charges of insider trading.

Nothing anomalous on the CAT exam front, except a growing trend of candidates reaching exam centres without the admit card and/or some other proper identity proof. One such candidate’s brother called up the PaGaLGuY office last week pleading that something be done for his Goa-based sister who was being debarred from taking CAT at a centre in Bangalore because she did not have proper ID proof. He told us that the particular CAT centre had asked him to call one of the Institutes of Management (IIMs) for help. He claimed he called and was told to call yet another IIM. He called the second IIM and was again asked to call one more IIM. In a matter of fifteen minutes, the person told us he had called four major IIMs and when nothing fruitful came by, called PaGaLGuy. His begged that his sister be given a slot later in the day or any another day. Just yesterday, yet another candidate called with the same query.

There is little that PaGaLGuY can do in such circumstance except advise that the candidate log on to http://www.catiim.in/faq.html and read the rules well before taking the exam.

CAT Convenor for 2011 Pof Janakiraman Moorthy also confirmed to PaGALGuY, that the only black lining to the CAT season so far, is candidates forgetting to take along proper ID proof. Not many cases but yet the only problems reported. Candidates have been repeatedly told to carry valid identification, yet they don’t. Prof Moorthy reiterated that there will not be a re-test for those who fail to carry adequate ID proof for the exam. Apparently, the usual mistake that candidates have been making is carrying their under-graduate college IDs or using photo copied or scanned versions of correct IDs. Incidentally, the UID (Unique Identification Number) has also been added to the list of legitimate Ids.

Some universities abroad have something called the ‘Consideration Clause’ under which queries such as these are addressed, not neccesarily solved. If a candidate falls ill on a particular day or arrives at the examination hall without proper ID, he can take advantage of this ‘clause’ and apply online to the exam authorities and state his reasons of absence. The exam conductors then analyse every such request and decide whether the candidate should be allowed a re-exam.

Still on CAT, a random talk with candidates outside CAT centres after the exam, seems to imply that the two section pattern with time limit on both, is actually a good thing. Every student PaGaLGuY spoke to said that the new pattern did not interfere with their speed or performance. A statement by Prometric states that about 9311 took the test yesterday. Today’s figures are yet to come in.

On the subject of entrance exams, the All India Council for Technical Education’s (AICTE) CMAT exam is finally going to be a reality. Dates of the exam have been announced (between February 20, 2012 and February 28, 2012) and about 250,000 students are expected to participate in the online test. Which company will run this exam is yet to be decided by AICTE, though tenders have been invited. While AICTE hopes this exam will eventually become ‘the‘ MBA entrance exam in years to come (barring CAT), difficult to tell right now whether it will succeed with strong contenders such as XAT (Xavier’s Aptitude Test) and MAT (Management Aptitude Test).

Internationally, Rajat Gupta’s mug was all over the television channels and newspapers last week – the latest to be arrested in US’ largest insider trading case. Gupta, formerly a board member at Goldman Sachs and Proctor Gamble and who has visited the White House in 2009 for a state dinner honoring India, is charged on one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and five counts of securities fraud.

An MBA from Harvard Business School, Gupta was born in Kolkata. His father was a journalist with the Anand Bazaar Patrika Group and also a freedom fighter and his mother a teacher. Gupta was ranked 15th in the IIT Entrance Examination of 1966 and was admitted to to IIT Delhi on a scholarship. He later entered Harvard too a scholarship. Gupta, it is believed said in an interview, that Harvard was easy for him because of the excellent education that he had received at IIT.

Gupta was earlier also accused of ‘tipping his good friend and hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam with inside information. A report quotes FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Janice Fedarcyk: His eagerness to pass along inside information to Rajaratnam is nowhere more starkly evident than in the two instances where a total of 39 seconds elapsed between his learning of crucial Goldman Sachs information and lavishing it on his good friend. That information (captured by the FBI) was conveyed by phone so quickly it could be termed instant messaging. Read the whole report in http://www.clearingandsettlement.com/2011/10/ex-goldman-board-member-surrenders

What also makes an interesting read is a Rajarathnam’s interview in Newsweek, where he claims that FBI agents offered him a plea bargainjust five years jail-time in exchange for wearing a wire and taping his conversations with Gupta. He refused but the offer, if made, suggests that prosecutors werent just on the hunt for Wall Street traders but big-time business leaders as well. http://www.economist.com/node/21534793?fsrc=nwl|wwp|10-27-11|business_this_week discusses possible motives too. Another detailed piece of news on how Rajaratnam operated in http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/r/raj_rajaratnam/index.html

IBM’s first female CEO drew much attention last week as well. Virginia Rometty, 54, an executive vice-president who has been with IBM since 1981, will succeed Samuel Palmisano, 60, who will continue as chairman. A Harvard Business School professor Rosabeth Kanter who knows Rometty for a decade said in an article:. She has a background in engineering, yet shes worked on the business side and been concerned with customers. Thats a tremendous combination. Read more in http://bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1376313&position;=1

A light and interesting look on myths and beliefs at workplaces in the http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/careers/career-advice/careers-book-excerpts/top-12-workplace-myths-misunderstood-by-all-generations/article2214071/ Titled ‘The Top 12 Workplace Myths, as Commonly Misunderstood by All Generations’ the analysis says that it is not necessary to like your job to be happy – what is popularly believed to be true.

In Asian news, the China market continues to enthrall the west – though not the freshest bit of information. US retailers are updating business plans to include the world’s second-largest economy as well as the rest of growing Asia. Just as Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Apple (AAPL) have erected temples of capitalism in cities like Shanghai and Beijing, Western apparel makers are infusing their clothing lines with Asian sensibilities in look, feel and size while embarking on aggressive store campaigns in this part of the world. Read more in http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_19208338

The news that Harvard Professor Emeritus Richard S. Rosenbloom (7 died on October 24 is of little importance to us, but the fact that he was faculty for 40 long years at Harvard is definitely extraordinary. Having taught courses on innovation and the management of technology, Rosenbloom reportedly had way of engaging students in class. A little about him in http://www.hbs.edu/news/releases/richardrosenbloomobituary102511.html

And to end on a lively note, read the debate on whether the PC is set to become a piece of junk or not in http://www.economist.com/debate/overview/216?fsrc=nlw|newe|10-28-2011|new_on_the_economist