All Articles

wengi · August 26, 2009, 7:15am

Considering that everyone today believes that MBA education lacks the wherewithal to train managers, Fastcompany.com, a business magazine that reports on technology, design and digital media too has come up with a feature called 30second MBA where stalwarts of the industry answer basic questions on management for whoever might be interested.

How it goes is so: there is a question of the week, for example How would you deliver difficult news to staff, customers or the public?, which is answered by eminent personalities and businesspersons over the week, from Monday to Friday. The constraint is that the answers have to be only 30 seconds long and therefore, crisp and precise. The knowledge is as immense as brevity can offer, and some of the people answering the questions have been Eileen Gittins, Founder and CEO, Blurb, Barbara Fagan-Smith, Founder and CEO, ROI communications, Jason Silva and Max Lugavere, Producers, current TV and others such.

For the above question How would you deliver difficult news to staff, customers or the public?, Rebecca Segan, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Charles Schwab replies that the managers must have empathy towards the other person and his bad time, they should be honest about the bad news and enthuse hope in the affected party. Surely an efficient way to break bad news to people around; something that managers, especially in this scenario, have been doing quite a bit.

The fascination with compressing the learnings of an MBA to colloquial and concise metaphors is not new. Steven Stralser, a professor from USA's Thunderbird School of Global Management did his bit with MBAinaday.com. Not ones to be left behind, the venerable John Wiley & Sons have published MBA for Dummies, as part of the popular 'For Dummies' books franchise.

wengi · August 27, 2009, 8:18am

Management institutes are wholesome entities in themselves. Generally. Management institutes (or I should rather call them departments) in the North Campus of The Delhi University are pretty much the best bargain you will find between a conventional management institute and a University set-up with Management studies as just another department.

Colleges offering management education in DU are Faculty of Management Studies or FMS and Masters in International Business (MIB) and Masters in Human Resources and Organizational Development (MHROD) in Delhi School of Economics (DSE). Both of these institutes are situated within 100 meters of each other and thus are easily accessible to students from both the sides. Individually both of them are small; just enough to accommodate the essentials of a management institute. However, if you look around, they have on their disposal a whole plethora of resources from around the university which makes them one of the richest institutes in the management bracket in terms of the resources they offer.

Apart from their individual libraries, the institutes have access to the famous Ratan Tata Library of the Delhi University (commonly known as RTL by the students) Delhi University situated in the DSE which has a range of around 14 lakh books and a collection of rare dissertations and journals, copies of which are not available in any other library in India. The students, thus, have a vast collection of books to reference from as they are not limited to the libraries in their institutes.

Students at FMS, MIB and MHROD of DSE are not restricted to the courses offered by their own colleges but can take up different interdisciplinary courses anywhere across the University according to their interest and availability of time. The courses details are floated on the university website and/or are sent to the coordinators at the institutes for the interested students to register; during my visit, the students at FMS were taking up the foreign language course at St. Stephens college.

Its just not the courses and the library that the students have a free access to. Being a part of DU, which has around 80 colleges under it, the options for infrastructure are immense. Auditoriums, grounds, swimming pools etc from colleges across the university are also available to the students. Sometimes the students might have to get written permission from the institute heads for the use of the resources, which is not difficult to obtain and does not hinder the students from using any of the facilities available.

The biggest advantage of such a set up is the number of different students one gets to interact with. With a constant presence of many different students from all across the country in and around the campus, students are able to obtain view points of all sorts of people around, helping in developing managers with sound decision making capabilities.

And of course how can we forget food? There are as many canteens as there are colleges and sure enough there are no restrictions in eating at any of them. The prices are cheap and the food is delicious. Along with that you will get a healthy dose of interesting debates on all current topics in the country. I attended one on "One should be aware of his identity, not ashamed of it" at the North Campus canteen. Needless to say, the views were fascinating.

A definite cue for us to focus towards building more universitiy set ups than specialized institutes.

wengi · August 27, 2009, 2:40pm

For PG users, this requires no introduction or explanation. For the lesser mortals, I shall explain.
The Dream Team comprises of CAT aspirants who can crack the CAT even in their sleep if it may so be required. They are consistent 99 percentile scorers in the mock CATs and thus are almost demi gods for MBA aspirants. The PG dream team is a dream to be in; quite literally. In the previous years it had three members who scored the perfect 100 percentile in CAT; scores of the rest of team hovering around the 99.50 mark. As far as conquering the CAT is concerned, this is as close to perfection as it gets.

DT comprises of eleven members who are nominated by PG users (our very own Puys) based on their consistency of scoring exceptionally high percentiles in the mock CAT examinations. Apart from the 11 members, there is a Coach and also a few substitute players. The coachs job is to motivate the team members through posts, to arrange conference calls and keep the spirits up although he does not necessarily be an MBA aspirant. There is also a captain in the team of eleven and his primary responsibility is also to motivate the team and keep it going till the end.

The Underdogs team or the UDT is for the people who have the deep rooted confidence in their abilities to crack the CAT, even though their mock scores do not generally agree with them. They are the ones who have probably everything going wrong for them but their belief and confidence; sometimes the only two things that makes one come out as a winner in trying times.

The structure of the teams is the same as the Dream Team but the nomination process is a little different. Nomination for the UDT is done individually; i.e. if you think you have it in you (and you can convince the selectors) to obtain a high score in CAT even without the mock scores to back that claim, go ahead can nominate yourselves.

The people who get these teams together are our very own moderators, primarily Prem Ravi (prem_ravi). He is also assisted by puys who have been part of DT or UDT and are today in top b-schools across the country. The selection process is rigorous and the profile of every nomination is checked and re checked to find the perfect candidates for the perfect teams.

While the nominations are exciting, the fun begins when the teams are formed and they start pitting against each other. The team members almost become a family till the final day of the CAT with everyone motivating and pushing each other to perform their best. And yes the DT members go ahead and post more and more jaw dropping scores, making it to difficult to make out who is ahead of whom!

Its a game to prepare for the bigger game, where learnings from the former highly affect the latter. Quite a few surprises come up after the CAT results from both these coveted teams and many of them do pass the limits of surprise to enter shocks (although most of them being nice ones)

2009 shall keep the excitement going! And yes, don't forget the nominations close on September 20th! Also look out for the nominations for the city dream teams that will be open soon!

Update:

Click here for nominations for regional dream teams!

wengi · August 27, 2009, 2:41pm

Seven new Indian Institutes of Managements proposed by Union HRD Minister Kapil Sibal have finally been approved by the Cabinet today on August 27, 2009. These new IIMs will come up at Tamil Nadu, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. Locations of four of these IIMs has already been specified in the earlier notifications given by the HRD, these are Raipur in Chhattisgarh, Rohtak in Haryana, Ranchi in Jharkhand and Tiruchirapalli in Tamil Nadu.

The new IIMs are proposed to be mentored by the existing ones after the initial plan of faculties of the present IIMs teaching at the new ones could not be carried out. However, since the HRD ministry is yet to send in any formal communication about the details of the mentoring, the Directors at the various IIMs were unable to provide details of the mentorship program.

In the meanwhile, the HRD ministry is already searching for Directors for the four new IIMs at Raipur, Rohtak, Ranchi and Tiruchirappalli (whose final locations have been decided). The remuneration of the new directors has been fixed up at Rs.80000.

wengi · August 28, 2009, 12:57pm

Entrepreneurship initiatives are on an all time high in B-schools (CSR initiatives too, though more on that later). Its amazing to see the high amount of management students interested in starting their own businesses; although some of them do admit that their zest is influenced by the lack of suitable jobs in the market.

Whatever be the case, starting up is in today, and again b-schools are not behind in giving the latest to their students. The e-cells or the committees looking after entrepreneurship have been revamped and are now infused with more enthusiasm. There are innovative competitions for students to discuss b-plans, plan their future companies and probably even get some funding for their ventures. For example the entrepreneurship competition by FMS (which has gone international from the year 2009) claims to offer up to Rs. 6 crores in funding to the winning team. A similar competition is held by IMT-Ghaziabad where the students select 24 best entrepreneurs for whom they develop an IPO. Apart from that many schools have started new courses on entrepreneurship or revised their existing courses to fit in the changes in the industry.

Guest lectures on campus by existing entrepreneurs, explaining how they worked through their initial hardships and developed their companies are also on the rise. Recently, IIM Banglore invited Rashmi Bansal, the famous author of Stay Hungry Stay Foolish (which is itself a book about MBA graduates who did not take the obvious path of a high paying job but decided to start something of their own) to deliver a guest lecture for their annual entrepreneurship summit. Many such summits are part of the event calendar at b-schools today and are equivalent in hype and enthusiasm of the more popular marketing and finance summits held in the institutes.

However, even with all the efforts taken by institutes to encourage the spirit of entrepreneurship in students, the students who actually start their own ventures hardly sum up to double figures. This is indicative of the fact that although the interest and enthusiasm of the students towards starting their own ventures has increased, a huge gap still exists between those who want to and those who actually start a business. One of the reasons for this can be the highly expensive MBA courses and consequently the high amount of education loans that the students have to pay after they graduate. Many of them thus prefer the safe and secure path of a job. Another reason is due to the lack of the right information on startups present in the industry; with more information present on the experiences of entrepreneurs after they started their businesses and not about their initial hurdles and what they did to get over them. Absence of a risk-taking culture can also be termed as a factor.

The initiative by b-schools today should be to make entrepreneurship more viable as a career option for a country where job security and safe career paths still rule the mindset of majority of the people.

wengi · August 29, 2009, 2:27pm

Management Development Institute or MDI Gurgaon, seems to be the b-school that authors prefer; probably that will explain the continuous presence of authors in here every year since 2007: Uma Natrajan who authored two academics books on economics and was a student of the post graduate program (PGP) 2007, Sachinn Garg, author of 'A Sunny Shady Life' and student of PGP 2008 and Durjoy Dutta, co-author of 'Of Course I Love You...Till I find someone better!' and 'Now That You're Rich....Let's Fall In Love!' who is a student of PGP 2009.

All the three novels have been well received by readers;Oxford Book Store put Garg's 'A Sunny Shady life' on the top ten best selling novels list. Datta's 'Of Course I Love You...Till I find someone better!' was on India Today bestseller list for 'seventeen straight weeks' and on the Hindu's for four weeks. It was also Statesman bestseller number 3. The easy style of writing and the youth centric stories find easy connect with the young generation making the books popular.

With an exciting life of an author going good for them, why did they choose to do an MBA? isn't management education a far cry from their creative profession of writing? On this Datta says, "writing is something that I love to do but I do not see myself doing it for a living as opposed to management which I want to take up as a career". Garg is still "testing" waters in writing and thus wants a secure career which he thinks management can give him. In his opinion, with the training at MDI to work at several things at once, writing is something he can do with another profession.

Management education seems to be the chosen qualification by those in the creative field to give their careers a much needed organized structure. Many study MBA to rev up their existing jobs and many like the above in MDI take up management full time. Lack of money in professions like writing, film making advertising etc. (initially) is also a reason for them take up management; agrees, Shouvik, a student of PGP in Human Resources at IMI who used to make short films back in undergraduate college. He says "there is no money in film making, so MBA was the best option for me, I can always make films if I want to". Indian culture too strongly demarcates between a 'career' as opposed to a 'hobby' hence, what you do for a living need not necessarily be something you enjoy doing. It can be argued in the contrary too; if you make what you like your profession, suddenly it ceases to be enjoyable.

Whether enjoyable or not, there is no dearth of books at MDI. Both Garg and Datta are working on their second and third ones; While Garg's is still untitled and about the stories of eight people who go across the country, Datta's is called 'Of all the women I have loved...' , plot of which is still in the developing stages.

pagalguy · August 29, 2009, 5:07pm

This is something you've been waiting for! IIMB's site now display the CAT demo. It is a very brief demo and it gives you the first look at the format and style of the Prometric IIM CAT exam to be conducted this year. The demo gives you some idea into what you will face during your actual CAT test on D-Day.

The URL for the demo is http://www.iimb.ernet.in/cat2009/cat%20demo/index.htm

Alternate URL: http://www.prometric.com/demos/iim-cat/index.htm

Please feel free to post your findings on the demo as you check it out.

A hat-tip to Paras Desai for the tip: http://twitter.com/parasdesai22 , send him a thank you tweet :)

pagalguy · August 30, 2009, 2:34am

The CAT notification is out. The Advertisement is out in all major news papers and the count-down begins in earnest. If you have been finding excuses to not study, they better stop now. Here are the details.

CAT 2009 Vouchers will be on sale from September 9, 2009 till October 1 2009.

Eligibity criteria - 50% in bachelors degree (final year students need to get a certificate), 45% (SC/ST)

Dates of exam: 28.11.2009 to 7.12.2009

Exam duration - 2.5 hours

Sale of Vouchers starts on: 09.09.2009

Sale of Vouchers ends on : 01.10.2009

Booking your slot: 09.09.2009 - 01.10.2009

Registration: www.catiim.in

Vouchers would be sold at various branches of Axis Bank (Check the pdf link below)
Application cost: 1400/- General & Obc, 700 /- SC/STApplication can be obtained from :-AXIS Bank, IIM & can be downloaded from www.catiim.in

CAT Score card will be available on cattiim.in website from: 22.01.2010

IVR - 1 800 103 9293

Only one voucher to be sold to an individual, candidate should have a valid email ID

Download the notification here.

For more detailed analysis by the junta, check out the forum thread.
Update: Prometric provides a useful FAQ website for IIM CAT

pagalguy · August 30, 2009, 3:17pm

Prometric and the IIMs have released a video on Youtube about the procedure to be followed during registration. They have laid down the process very clearly and have provided information on scheduling the exam. While it does answer some questions, it does however create new doubts as well.

For example: They mention that you need to choose the colleges you are applying to - i.e IIMs/Non IIMs during the registration process.

To view the video you will need to goto the Youtube website. Linking has been disabled by the video uploaders on this one. Click the play button and the appropriate link will show.

wengi · September 1, 2009, 6:41am

We have talked earlier about how studying in Australia can be unsafe for students and thus how many of them are making the choice to stay at home. Many of the schools in India termed these attacks as unfortunate and something that influenced the relations between India and Australia to a very high degree.

However, the Australian government seems to be interested in maintaining its relations with India and thus Australian deputy Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, who is also a minister for education, employment and workplace relations in Australia, is on a five day visit to India to reassure Indian students that any amount of violence, racial or any, will not be tolerated by the Australian Government.

In a meeting with Kapil Sibal, India's minister of Human Resource and Development, Gillard said, "Today we also talked about the concerns that there have been for Indian students visiting our country and are there for the purpose of education. I have advised Mr. Sibal that our local police have cracked down the mischief makers; we have extra police in the streets. We have zero-tolerance for violence in Australia, zero-tolerance for violence against Indian students." Gillard also assured Sibal that the Indian students who were targeted by mobs a couple of months ago in Australia would be taken care of. Earlier this month, India's foreign minister SM Krishna also visited Australia to talk about student safety in Australia.

Another problem that plagues Australian education system and adversely affects many Indian students every year is the many fraudulent schools that have set up shop there. Many migration and education agents have been found cheating Indian students (along with many other foreign students) with assured admissions in Australian Institutes and were also offering fake work experience certificates. Gilard said that Australian institutes not providing quality education to Indian students would be driven out of business. Sibal added, "they have assured us that either they (the students affected by fraud institution scams) will be accommodated in another educational institution to continue their studies or they shall be compensated for the loss of money that has been caused on account of the fact that the education institution(s) have been closed."

These are welcome developments for students targeting Australian institutes for higher education. In 2007 alone, close to 40,000 students from India went to Australia to pursue higher education. Although it has still not been ascertained if the attacks were racists or were a media hype or whether the actual numbers were inflated, the assurance given by the deputy Prime Minister will make sure that Indian students who want to pursue higher education abroad can keep their options open.

wengi · September 7, 2009, 11:10am

The CAT demo at the IIM Banglore website and the CAT video on YouTube have answered a lot of questions and in the meanwhile created a lot of confusions too. The earlier post on the demo at PG had 43 comments riddled with queries. We talked to Ramesh Nava, Prometric Vice President & General Manager, Asia Pacific, Japan and Africa and tried to understand the finer aspects of the demo for ourselves.

To end all confusions, yes the CAT online exam will be divided into three sections, thus calculating one's sectional scores will not be a problem.

Absence of the undo button raised a point of concern for all who took the CAT demo exam. Nava assures candidates that such will not be the case. He says, "While the CAT Demo familiarizes candidates with the 'look and feel' of the CAT, it does not demonstrate all of the robust functionality that will be available during the exam itself". Hence, while a button called 'undo' may be absent from the exam, the candidate may change his/her answer by either selecting another choice or by de-selecting their original choice (by clicking on the answer a second time). Also, clicking on the 'Mark' button will mark an item for later review and clicking on it a second time will turn the 'mark' feature off.

In the demo CAT online test, once the candidate clicks on 'review marked questions' on the review sheet, he is directed to the first 'marked for review' question. However, on doing so, the previously marked answer gets erased. According to Nava, there is nothing to worry about as the CAT demo does not "actually record a candidate's responses". According to him, "The actual CAT will of course capture and record everything a candidate does so when he/she moves from one question to another, any previous response will be clearly shown on the screen".

The pattern of the question paper will be as shown in the demo test i.e. the questions will be presented one by one as opposed to a list of questions. Candidates can skip the question(s) that they do not want to answer. They can also go to the review screen at any point during the exam to check what questions they have skipped or have marked for review. Nava says, "Our experience over the past 18 years has shown that presenting one question at a time is actually the preferred approach because it eliminates the need to scroll back and forth through an exam to locate a particular item".

apurv · September 7, 2009, 1:38pm

Here's to all the friendships we've made on PaGaLGuY, all the people on the forums who've become important to our lives and the force that PaGaLGuY has become in all our lives in the last seven years. We finally recorded The PaGaLGuY Song - until now performed live only at the All India PaGaLGuY Meet - at a studio in Hyderabad. Listen to / download the song now!

Click the Play button to listen to the song here.

Download the song for your iPod/computer/MP3 player (Right click and save as...).

Feel free to forward it, copy it as much as you want to whoever you please. If the comments here cross 100, we will release a club mix dance version of it. Enjoy!

PS: The voice is that of Sarang Tatimatla (IIFT Delhi batch of 2009) and everything else has been played by Apurv Pandit. Recorded in Mumbai and Hyderabad over a period of two years!

wengi · September 8, 2009, 1:01pm

Form Applications for MBAs at the Indian Institute of Technologies has begun. Following are all the details you will need to know before applying for JMET-2010

Commencement of submission of data for online applications starts on Monday September 7, 2009

Last date for submission of data for online Application: Friday, October 9, 2009

Receipt of completed offline and online application form at IISc Bangalore office: Friday, October 16, 2009

Date of test: Sunday, December 13, 2009

Announcement of results: Monday, January 4, 2010

Application fee: Rs 750 for General Category candidates

Rs. 350 for SC/ST/PD candidates

How to apply:

There are two ways to apply

a) Core banking

b) Demand draft

The application process can be understood in detail here

In case of core banking method send

a) SC/ST/ OBC certificate if applicable

b) Physical disability certificate, if applicable

c) Duly filled and printed online form if in case the images are not uploaded on the website

In case of demand draft:

a) Demand draft

b) SC/ST/OBC certificate if applicable

c) Physical disability certificate, if applicable

d) Duly filled and printed online application form

To: The Chairman, GATE Office, IISc, Bangalore-560012

Points to remember:

a) If choosing the core banking method, keep a soft copy of the digital images of your photo and signature handy as you will need to upload them in the form. The resolutions are:

PHOTO aspect = width x height: 4 x 5 (resolution = 200dpi)

SIGNATURE aspect = width x height: 5 x 1 (resolution = 200dpi)

b) Use only speed post to post all the documents

c) Get attested copy of all relevant documents ready

pagalguy · September 9, 2009, 7:22am

CAT CAT Vouchers are available today at Axis bank branches and along with it came violence, parents, lovers and god's blessings - ok, and some vouchers were finally acquired by students as well.

The following pictures were taken at Hyderabad by kk_karthik , knows as highflyer on PG, while he stood in line with hundreds of others to take a shot at being one of the first to buy the CAT vouchers. Better resolution pictures are below:

http://twitpic.com/h23ot

http://twitpic.com/h247y

http://twitpic.com/h239j

http://twitpic.com/h23gf (Check out the line at 8.30AM)

http://twitpic.com/h23di

Rohit aka estranged_gnrs, being the enthu guy he is, travelled from Chembur to Vashi (in Mumbai) and was one of the early ones to go and try to buy the forms. Early morning he tweeted the following - "There r ppl with god's blessings, parents bunkin office, lovers givin moral support,standing in queue to buy the CAT voucher".

Apurv headed to Shivaji park at Dadar to buy forms and sent us this pic

http://twitpic.com/h22px

Send us pics of violence, love, peace and hope. Tell us the best branches, the worst ones and the most awesome things you noticed while being in line!

CAT is here people, rock on!

wengi · September 9, 2009, 3:26pm

There is a blaring mistake in the online registration process of CAT 2009 that might, in the worst case, lay waste your Rs 1,400 voucher and make you buy a new voucher and re-register. However, there is no need to panic; according to Prof Satish Deodhar from IIM-Ahmedabad, the IIMs are in talks with Prometric and a final solution to the problem will be declared by tomorrow evening.

Update: IIMs and Prometric clarify on all problems. Read clarification.

Even though the IIMs require you to enter your HSC and SSC scores as admission criteria, the CAT online registration process that opened up on September 9 will not throw up an error if you forget to enter those scores in the Educational Qualifications section of the form. The system will happily complete your registration process and send you an admit card, even though you did not enter this vital information. Eventually your CAT score, however good, will be of no use because the IIMs need your HSC and SSC scores during GD shortlisting, which would have been absent from your profile, leading to automatic disqualification from the IIMs.

Why are we saying that you may forget to enter your HSC and SSC scores? It is because the user interface of the online registration system is not designed to place stress on this important step. On the first day of the registration, a lot of CAT aspirants on PaGaLGuY have reported forgetting to enter their school-level scores. All these users thought that they had to enter their highest educational qualification in the section of concern, and not all educational qualifications. The system does not allow one to go back and enter these scores again.

If you have not filled the CAT online form yet, this article is a heads-up for caution. Make sure you do not make this mistake.

If you have filled the CAT online form and have made this mistake, all may not be lost yet. According to CAT 2009 Convenor Prof Satish Deodhar, talks are on with Prometric and a possible solution would be announced by tomorrow. So in case you were planning to rush to buy another voucher, hold it and wait for what they have to say.

I'd like to add a remark here. To be fair to Prometric+IIMs, the system does say 'Select all that apply' in educational qualification section, implying that one has to click all educational milestones in their life and enter the respective scores. However, from a Human-Computer Interaction or Interaction Design point of view, this is very bad design. Human behaviour with computers is a separate science altogether and plays by its own rules. On a paper-based form, the IIMs can get away with putting stern rules and punishing those who do not abide by them. But what works on paper does not work on computers. I wonder if Prometric ran rigorous usability tests on this form, because if they had done it with a sufficient number of users, this error in the user interface would have exposed itself.

Furthermore, if the eligibility for a management degree includes having passed HSC and SSC, the CAT 2009 online application form should not allow submission until these fields are completed.

Added later: Here are two features that ought to have been in the user interface:

Error-checking before submission: If the candidate hasn't completed fields that form the minimum eligibility criteria of the IIMs, he shouldn't be allowed to submit the form.

Review details page before form submission: Show a summary of all information entered by the candidate before making the final submission. Allow editing at summary level. This will allow people to realize any mistakes or omissions they might have made and let them correct them.

The following pictures will explain the problem better.

Glitch

The educational qualifications section in CAT 2009 online registration might make you assume that you have to enter only your highest/latest qualification (below).

what you tick

Instead, what you should do is first check all educational levels that you have, and then enter scores for each level (below).

what you don't tick

In case you forget to enter these details, you will not be allowed to enter them later.

wengi · September 11, 2009, 7:15am

Editing You will be able to edit your information in the online registration for CAT 2009 now. Finally. We talked to Prof Satish Deodhar, CAT 2009 convener and professor at IIM Ahmedabad who told us how the online registration will become simpler in the days to come, solving many problems reported by anxious CAT aspirants on September 9. You will also get a refund if you bought a second voucher in panic.

The following clarifications are based on our conversation with Prof Satish Deodhar on Thursday evening.

Will there be an Edit button in the online registration for CAT 2009?

"I mistakenly left some fields in the form empty, will I be able to complete them?"

Yes. In ten days from now, Prometric will provide an 'edit' button in the online registration for CAT 2009. All candidates (including the ones who have already registered) will then be able to edit their information in the online registration form.

During the registration process, candidates receive two emails from Prometric. The first arrives when they create a profile (stating personal information) and the other email contains the admit card.

After the edit option is introduced ten days from now, you will be able to change/update information in your form (academic scores, degree details and so on), following which you will receive an updated personal profile email. In case you edit information such as name (see errata below) address, location and such, you will receive a new admit card. This will be the admit card you will take to the CAT 2009.

"I entered my state of residence as Maharashtra in the form, but the email I received put my location as Andaman and Nicobar Islands. How do I correct it now?"

All such candidates will be able to edit their information once the 'edit' button is introduced, thus, all problems of misspelled names and wrong states will be taken care of.

"After I entered my information wrongly, I panicked and bought another CAT voucher to register myself correctly. Will I get a refund now?"

Yes. All the candidates who registered again because they entered wrong information will be reimbursed. For the reimbursement, they will have to go to the 'Contact us' page on the CAT website and call the helpline at the toll-free number: 1 800 103 9293. Else they can contact Prometric using the form at http://www.prometric.com/IIM-CAT/contactus and state their case. Personnel from candidate care services will then contact them about the refund process.

"But I now have two registrations. Which one should I correct for final usage and which one should I ask refund for?"

It is upto you. Prometric will free up the slot for usage by someone else.

There is no option for a middle name in the registration form. What does a candidate with a middle name do in such a scenario?

The middle name can be entered along with your first name, in the area given for first name, with a space in between both the names. For example, if your name is 'Amit Kumar Sharma' then you enter your name as:

First Name: Amit Kumar

Last Name: Sharma

Candidates who have names such as 'IJ Krishna' can either enter IJ as their first name and Krishna as their last name or they can expand the 'I' and 'J' and enter it as their first name.

(Added later)

According to Prof Satish Deodhar, a candidate can choose how he wants to represent his name in the registration. For example, if the candidate's name is Srinivas Shekhar Rao, he can choose what name he wants to put first. The instructions for registration also state:

"Name and surname: Enter your name as it appears in the school leaving certificate. You can decide what part of the name should go into the Surname and First Name fields".

So relax folks, and prepare peacefully for the D-day!

Errata (added on September 11, 2009): Editing names will not be possible in the CAT online registration form. We apologize for stating earlier that you can do so. If you have entered your name wrongly, first clarify with the CAT helpline if your manner of entering the name will get you in trouble. If they say so, then you might have to re-register using a new voucher.

wengi · September 15, 2009, 9:19am

Backpacker Dr. Anwar Ali, the newly appointed director of Institute of Management Technology (IMT), Ghaziabad enjoys competition in the education sector and feels research in management is the only way to move forward for business institutions. Following is what he had to say about IMT-Ghaziabad and about IMT as a brand:

What are the unique propositions that IMT-Ghaziabad stands for? List three ways in which it is different from B-schools in the same league

IMT Ghaziabad is unique in the sense that it starts training of students as managers from day one. All committees are run and managed by the students, which gives them an early exposure to the managerial life. Secondly it offers the largest number of alliances with foreign universities. Exchange programs with these international universities help the students form relationships that enhance their career. We also have an agreement with the Harvard Business School (HBS) through which we buy their case studies on a per student basis, thus providing the students with authentic study material from HBS.

Have the admissions been affected in the light of recession? What changes have been incorporated in the curriculum to counter recession?

Although the admissions haven't been affected due to recession, there have been few changes in the curriculum to prepare the students of IMT for recession like situations. We have strengthened the course in risk management and have got the most recent cases from Harvard Business School on how companies collapsed during recession. This is to teach the students the practices in management they should avoid in their careers. We are also teaching students the aspects of the governance of PSUs through which they successfully overcame recession.

What is the general profile of the candidate who is called for GD-PI at the IMT? What do you look for in a candidate in the GD-PI round; how much weightage is given to work experience?

At IMT, candidates are called for GD-PI solely on the basis of their CAT scores. During the GD-PI round we look for a candidate's communication skills, confidence and also his passion for management. The weightage given to work experience has been increased from this year although there is no minimum requirement criterion. We have increased the weightage of work experience to initiate more valuable discussion in the classroom, since the students who have worked before will be in a better position to ask relevant questions. This in turn will also encourage our faculty to update itself regularly.

What is the strength of your faculty? How do you ensure that they deliver the best to your students?

We have around 420 (errata: 60) faculty members in our institute. Most of them are involved in research; there are over 150 publications on current topics by our faculty. To ensure that they deliver the best, we have an annual performance management system where we evaluate the faculty member on the basis of units earned. Any member of the faculty is required to earn a minimum of 300 and a maximum of 700 units where 300 units is equivalent to teaching 6 courses. Apart from that there are a number of faculty meetings where issues relating to teaching are discussed openly and thus resolved amongst the members.

How have the placements been affected in the light of recession? What steps have been taken to counter that?

The placements have been affected considering that we took almost five to six months to place the batch that usually took only a couple of days. To avoid such situation in the future, we are targeting more companies and also targeting companies in the sectors that are doing well. Students are also being counseled to take up different kind of jobs, like in profiles apart from marketing and finance which may place them remote areas of the country.

Throw some light on the IMT Dubai campus. How did that come into being?

IMT Dubai was started when Dubai was at its helm of growth and development and the demand for business graduates was high. The target students were both the student population of India and Dubai. We also realized the need for part time MBA for working professionals in Dubai and thus we offer part time MBA with evening classes for people who are already working in Dubai.

What relations do IMT Ghaziabad, IMT Nagpur and IMT Dubai share with each other? Do you think each one of them will become competition to each other in the coming years?

All the institutes of IMT are separate independent institutions and thus just share the brand name between each other. IMT Nagpur was started in 2004 but it has developed faster than any other institute in its league. Talking about competition, we will be happy to compete with more quality institutions in the market and thus will enjoy the competition.

What is your take on interdisciplinary studies and developing IMT as a university offering other courses such as BA, BSc etc?

Lack of funds do not allow IMT to develop into a full fledged university and provide degrees in different disciplines like History, sociology etc. However, there are a large number of clubs and committees that take care that the student gets to study different subjects, apart from their core management studies. There are foreign language courses in languages such as French and Mandarin, clubs such as yoga, music, finance, consulting etc. ensure all round development of the students. We have also planned to integrate all the electives provided by the PGPM course so that all managers are well versed with all areas that management has to offer. Exchange programs between foreign universities too make the students learn many new insights that help them when they move into the job world.

wengi · September 16, 2009, 12:55pm

IIM Charity begins at home; for MBA students at IIM Indore, it begins at the Library basement. The social sensitivity cell of IIM Indore, 'Pragat-I' is distributing more than 1,500 text books left by the Post Graduate Program (PGP) students to needy students in management institutes in Indore who cannot afford to buy them.

The books, which include titles from authors such as Hamdy A. Taha, Philip Kotler, Stephen P. Robbins and Kenneth E. Kendall will be distributed in the institute library basement on Saturday, September 19, 2009 from 2 pm to 6 pm. The books will be available to any student pursuing a two year post graduate management program in Indore. Only one copy per title will be allowed so that every student gets a fair chance to avail the opportunity. The students will have to show their college identity cards as a proof that they indeed belong to management schools.

According to Aamal Mishra, a second year management student at IIM Indore and head of 'Pragat-I', most of the IIM I PGP students leave behind many management related books when they graduate from the institute. He says, "The books just pile up in the college without solving any purpose." Thus, Mishra and the community members of 'Pragat-I' decided to give away the books to management students in Indore, as according to them, there are many management institutes in Indore and some of their students might not be able to afford the many expensive books on management studies. Also, Mishra adds, "This activity will act as a platform for students to serve the society, especially their fellow student community."

wengi · September 18, 2009, 10:03am

As promised, Prometric testing Agency, responsible for conducting the online CAT 2009 has introduced the 'edit' option in the CAT registration. Candidates now can edit all information in their registration page, except, as previously stated, the details of their name. This is a huge relief to many applicants who either forgot to enter certain important details during registration or, in their haste, entered the wrong information. The IIMs promised to introduce the option to edit information on the evening of September 18, 2009. However, it has been introduced early. Worries about CAT 2009 registration can now lay to rest.

It is simple to edit your details in the CAT IIM-Prometric registration:

After you login using your voucher number, you will see two new options, 'Edit Profile' and 'Edit Application' on the welcome page of online registration for CAT 2009.

The

'Edit Profile' lets you edit your contact information. Thus, you will receive a NEW admit card after you make changes here. The address, telephone number that you enter here is what will be used for further communication with you after CAT 2009 is over, so please enter carefully.

'Edit Application' lets you edit information that will be needed post the CAT 2009 (HSC, SSC marks, work experience and all of that). As this does NOT affect the details in the admit card, you will only receive an email stating the new information that you have entered. Cross check all details in the email with what you have entered in the registration form.

edit profile page in online CAT

This is the 'Edit profile page'. Note that the option to edit details of 'name' is absent. However, all other fields can be edited.

message after editing profile

After you edit your profile and hit the 'save' button, this is the message that will appear on your computer screen. You will receive the new admit card within a few minutes of this message. This is the admit card that you will take to CAT '09 examination center.Kindly check your email settings for spam filter in case you do not get the mail.

editing application

This is where you will be able to edit all information regarding age, gender, educational qualifications and work experience. Please read all instructions carefully and fill in the required fields. However, there is no need to rush as you can always go back and edit your details.

message after editing application

After you edit your profile and hit the 'save' button, this is the message that will appear on your computer screen. You will receive an email stating your changed details within a few minutes of this message. Kindly check your email settings for spam filter in case you do not get the mail.

guest_writer · September 23, 2009, 7:27am

As India positions itself into a knowledge center for Information Technology, Finance, Manufacturing, Pharmaceuticals, Media and Energy, a new breed of professionals are in demand. Diligence, problem solving, strategic thinking and innovation capability in young professionals is being sought after for management consulting jobs.

Strategy or Management Consulting is profession that is attracting a steady demand as more and more global firms are setting up consultancy arms. Guest Writer Saibal Sen compiles a list of 25 most frequently asked questions about consulting from his training sessions.

What are the signs of a good consultant?

A good consultant is one who is requested by the client for repeat business. To make yourself in demand you need to be creative and diligent. In addition, consultants should develop a work style to that of a Trusted Advisor -- a phrase coined by a Harvard Profession David H. Maister. In short if you are hard working, enthusiastic about solving challenges and complement your clients capabilities, you will automatically become a good consultant.

How important is it to possess work experience to secure a job in Strategy Consulting?

Any type of past experience in creativity and problem solving is essential. The quality of experience is far more than the quantity of experience. If you are a fresher out of B-School, then make sure your internships can demonstrate your ability to solve problems.

Should I be jack of all or try to become domain expert?

In the true sense a business or a strategy consultant need not be a domain expert. They need to be excellent problem solvers. Do recognize that to become a domain expert is not as difficult as becoming an expert problem solver.

What is the difference between strategy consulting and domain consulting?

Strategy consultants assist with operational issues in business such as re-structuring, mergers, diversification, performance improvement, and expansion, cost reduction, market or product development. These tend to be domain agnostic. Meaning the underlying issues are un-related to industry verticals such as Telecom or Finance. Domain consulting is about assisting clients with implementing projects, systems or processes related to industry verticals such as Telecom, Manufacturing or Energy.

How do I master the art of information gathering?

It is true that consultants have to spend a lot of time gathering information and facts. Plan your information gathering strategy before you start. If you dont, you will end up getting misled. Seasoned consultants practice the art of developing an initial hypothesis for data gathering. See more on initial hypothesis in another article I wrote before. Other things to keep in mind are to be a good listener and develop the art of sensing the important issues. Too much information is a distraction. Focus is critical when gathering information.

What is the difference between secondary research and primary research?

Secondary research is also known as desk research. You can do this by collecting and analyzing pertinent information in published material such as news articles, databases, journals, books, and company filings. Primary research involves conducting surveys and talking to experts, consumers, clients, and other relevant stakeholders. Both forms of research have their merits and de-merits. A combination of both methods is the best solution.

What are some of the career growth options for a consultant?

Rarely anyone stays on as a consultant forever. Typical growth path is general management roles, venture capital and entrepreneurs. Lou Gerstner, the former CEO of IBM did a spectacular turnaround for IBM. He was a former Mckinsey Consultant. Management Consulting is a fast track into senior roles because you are able to experience so many business issues across industry in a very short time.

What is the difference between a Business Analyst and a Consultant?

A business analyst sometimes also known as Research Assistant is a junior consultant. They do data collection and analysis work. Consultants will take on the work done by research analyst and take it to the next level such as solution development and implementation. Business Analysts contribute significantly in large systems implementation projects. Research Assistant term is more commonly used in Consulting Industry.

How should I handle a situation when I am unprepared?

If you are faced with a situation where you are unprepared, a good consultant will request more time for investigation and seek immediate assistance from his peers, seniors or even the client. Its absolutely a bad idea to improvise or bluff your way out because you should never mislead your client.

What are typical pitfalls in consulting?

Wrong attitude is the number one killer. If your doctor or lawyer is condescending and acts as a know-it-all, you will unlikely go back to him/her. In addition, if your style of working is that of taking short cuts and chasing short-term gains, you will witness failures in your career very quickly.

How different is it to handle an international client versus a domestic client?

Frankly there should not be any difference. A consultant should handle both situations with equal dedication and seriousness. However, the biggest pitfall is how seriously international clients take deadlines and clarity of deliverables. If you miss deadlines or claim to misunderstand your deliverables, you will get into serious trouble with your trustworthiness quotient. Once this happens, you have damaged your reputation.

How does one win clients confidence?

Here are seven important attributes of winning client confidence. Be ethical, be eager to solve challenges, offer options dont dictate, bring new perspectives, be a good listener, be a team player, and finally treat all engagements as special.

How to deal with a difficult client or one who is an expert in their field?

It is true that most clients will possess a high degree of domain knowledge than a consultant who is a starting out professional. Your value is not in domain knowledge but in ability to solve problems and bringing new perspectives. Highlight your firms tools and methods, analytical capabilities, and access to experts (in your firm or the industry). Remember, you represent your firm and your capability as a problem solver.

How do I back out gracefully out of over commitment to a client?

It can happen sometime. You may suddenly realize that you have signed up for too much. In such situations, be up front. Sit down with the client and offer options. Request more time, re-prioritize the deliverables and cut down the work to only critical ones, ask for more resources or just make a polite refusal. The worst thing to do is to accept the over commitment and fail.

How do I avoid over commitment?

Common causes of over commitment are when you do not plan your work, you are a procrastinator, you cannot say no or you did not realize the size of the task. The first three should be dealt with by making an attitude shift. If you still cannot address them, you should not become a consultant. For last part on size of the task, always break down all jobs into sub tasks to size the effort. Its a common practice by consultants to not immediately offer time and cost commitments. Consultants come up with proper proposals that specify exact deliverables, time, cost and conditions. This practice will help you plan your time.

Some client members may be very against the use of consultants. What should I do in these situations?

Immediately seek help from your client sponsors (who should be on your side) and or your senior consultants. Dont battle this on your own. Consulting is a very people intensive industry and high-pressure politics is very common. Always keep in mind that its a job and there is nothing personal against you. You represent your company and you are there to solve their business issues.

What do I need to do to get new assignments?

Consultants are expected to generate new business. Large engagements come through formal Request for Proposals (RFPs), but typical consulting engagements, which range around $100k to $2M always come through informal channels. To secure new assignments, you need to build trust with your client and you will automatically hear about challenges clients are facing. You may have to give some free time up front in small focus workshops and research work to assist clients in formulating a case. This is purely pre-sales effort. Though consultants dont get paid for this work, the chances of winning such deals are 80% as compared to RFPs that rarely achieves a win rate over 20%.

How do I switch context when I am working in multiple projects?

You will always find yourself in multiple projects as a consultant. Plan up front. Chart your milestones with clear deliverables and keep good documentation and notes. Set up a timetable to work on each case or project based on your deliverable schedule. Stick to commitments and reach out for help if you find yourself falling behind. I would recommend that you do not work on more than 2 large engagements or 4 short ones at given time.

How to maintain work life balance and reduce stress?

Consulting is not for everyone. You have to be prepared for long hours and intense pressure of deadlines. One has to understand that there will be relief during down times or bench time as its known in consulting industry. This is the time when you are not working on a project. During billable time you have to be prepared to practice to turn off your mind when you go home or back to your hotel room. Keep fit; eat well and practice yoga and meditation. Never deal with problems on your own. Ask for help from your teammates, your manager and also clients. Maintain high standards in ethics and you will have a clear conscience. Do not over commit yourself.

What do I do to build up my confidence?

Confidence will come to you over time. Work on simple projects first. Get a feel for the dynamics of consulting. Build up the challenge element in your projects at a pace that you feel comfortable and you will be fine. Constantly educate yourself by reading and networking on consulting methods, and case studies.

How do I become a critical resource in a project?

While you may want to become a critical resource in a project and is a good ego booster, I do not recommend you work actively to become one. There is a subtitle difference between being wanted versus being indispensible. If you practice the attributes of a good consultant you will become wanted.

How can I develop problem-solving skills?

Challenging the status quo always helps. Always think of how things can be done better and faster at home and work. Another good way to practice this is when you read your daily news. Read the news title and then close your eyes and think of the possible outcomes or causes of the news incident. In effect, here you are thinking of various hypotheses. Each hypothesis should be distinct from the other and try to think of as many as you can. Then open your eyes and read the article. (1) Did you think of that outcome/cause as reported in the news article? (2) Do you agree with the outcome or cause of that incident? The first question will develop your analytical capability and the second question will develop your problem solving capability.

What are the options of joining a course for learning management consulting?

Still a very emerging area in India and there are only very few options. ZENeSYS offers a six-week distance program with certification and the opportunity to work a live case. CMC is internationally recognized but requires some prior consulting experience. Some degree and diploma courses are starting up in India that is a part of specialization during an MBA curriculum.

How to find a good mentor?

Once you take up a consulting job. It is a good idea to find a mentor. Good mentors are those who are performing well and are interested in developing others. Attitude of the mentor is important. You should feel uplifted in their presence. Negative thinking mentors should be avoided. Lastly you should find a clever way to compensate your mentor for his/her time and effort. If you are good at PowerPoint, offer to work on their reports. You will be amazed at what you will learn with any odd hands-on collaborative work as opposed to just chatting.

How do I start my own consulting firm?

Going your own way is one of the attractions in consulting after life. There are several books on how to start your own consulting firm that will tell you about the nitty-grittys. I remember I found Alan Weiss books quite helpful. Here are some pearls of wisdom from my viewpoint. Prove your analytical and relationship building capabilities first and then go into business. Biggest challenge you will face initially is to focus on delivering and developing business at the same time so make sure you have a long haul client before you jump in. Always focus on areas that are still evolving for maximum benefit. For example if you can offer consultancy on Corporate Social Responsibility or Alternative Energy, you will find it easier going than say Telecom Market Development. And lastly, dont waste your money in advertising. It rarely works. Build your business through personal relationships.

Saibal Sen is the founder of ZENESYS, a professional services training organization. ZENESYS has trained hundreds of engineers in consulting skills at leading consulting organizations in India and abroad. ZENESYS also runs distance workshops for consulting certification. Saibal was formerly a management consultant at Arthur D. Little and founder of KUBER consulting in Boston MA. He can be reached at [email protected]