The Indian School of Business (ISB), my alma mater, has been ranked no. 12 in the latest Financial Times (London) global B-School rankings! Way to go!

Here is a link to the rankings: http://rankings.ft.com/businessschoolrankings/global-mba-rankings

The official press release from ISB can be found at http://www.isb.edu/media/UsrNewsMgmt.aspx?topicID=138 and a portion of it is repeated below:

The Indian School of Business (ISB) has been ranked No: 12 in the global B-school rankings released today by the Financial Times, London. This is the third successive year that the ISB has featured among the top 20, in the list of top 100 B-schools in the world. Previously, ISB was ranked 15th in 2009 and 20th in 2008.

“We began with the idea of creating a school in India that would rank among the best in the world. Today, I am delighted that the ISB is consolidating its position as a top-ranked global business school. To receive this news on the eve of the completion of 60 years of the Indian Republic makes it all the more special. I congratulate the entire ISB community on this success” said Rajat Gupta, Chairman, ISB.

Echoing this sentiment, Ajit Rangnekar, Dean, ISB said, “This is indeed a proud moment for the ISB. Our goal has always been to pursue excellence in education and research. As an outcome of this effort, we accept any ranking that we get with humility, and rededicate ourselves to this goal. I would like to thank our alumni, our faculty, students, staff, our board, our associate schools, industry and our well wishers for contributing to this continuing success.”

The ISB was established in 2001 with the launch of its pioneering Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGPM). From an initial class of 126 students, the school has grown successively over the years, and currently has 570 students in the class of 2010. The school has over 2300 alumni who are making a strong impact in business and industry. The school has also established itself as a leader in Executive Education through its programmes designed and delivered for private and public sector corporations, small and medium enterprises, and central and state governments. The ISB faculty research papers are consistently published by top ranked peer reviewed international journals.

After a successful first phase of growth, the ISB has now entered its second phase of growth and expansion. It recently launched its second Post Graduate Programme in Management for Senior Executives (PGPMAX), which has generated a lot of interest among senior business professionals. It will soon set up its second campus in Mohali, Punjab. The first academic session at the ISB campus in Mohali is expected to commence in 2012.

My alma mater, Indian School of Business (ISB), has been ranked 15th in the latest annual ranking of B-Schools worldwide by Financial Times (click here for details). As our dean put it, “To be so young and to achieve such heights is no ordinary feat”. What ISB has achieved in just a few years since its inception as a world class B-School in India is indeed commendable and it looks to be on track to achieve still greater heights. Way to go!

Proud to be an ISB-ian!

This one is for prospective ISB (Indian School of Business) applicants. This year, the admissions department plans to conduct over 50 information sessions across India. Details of the same and the procedure for registration are available at http://www.isb.edu/pgp/AdmissionEvents.Shtml?menuid=109

The list of venues and dates are given below for convenience.

City Venue Date Timings
Hyderabad ISB, Hyderabad 30-May-08 6:00 PM- 7:30 PM
Kolkata Taj Bengal 1-Jun-08 10:00 AM – 12 noon
Kolkata Taj Bengal 1-Jun-08 3:30 PM – 5:30 PM
Pune Taj Blue Diamond 1-Jun-08 10:00 AM – 12Noon
Pune Taj Blue Diamond 1-Jun-08 3:30 PM – 5:30 PM
Hyderabad ISB, Hyderabad 6-Jun-08 6:00 PM- 7:30 PM
Chandigarh Reliance Web World @ Sector 9 D 7-Jun-08 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
Indore Reliance Web World @ MG Road 7-Jun-08 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
Jamshedpur Reliance Web World @ Jamshedpur 7-Jun-08 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
Ludhiana Reliance Web World @ Chaura Bazaar 7-Jun-08 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
Raipur Reliance Web World @ Krishna Complex 7-Jun-08 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
Hyderabad ISB, Hyderabad 13-Jun-08 6:00 PM- 7:30 PM
Chandigarh Reliance Web World @ Sector 9 D 14-Jun-08 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
Amritsar Reliance Web World @ Mall 14-Jun-08 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
Bhopal Reliance Web World @ Bhopal Bitten Market 14-Jun-08 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
Nagpur Reliance Web World @ CA Road 14-Jun-08 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
Lucknow Reliance Web World @ Faizadabad Road 14-Jun-08 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
Hyderabad ISB, Hyderabad 20-Jun-08 6:00 PM- 7:30 PM
Coimbatore Reliance Web World @ Gandhipuram 21-Jun-08 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
Madurai Reliance Web World @ Annanagar 21-Jun-08 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
Pondicherry Reliance Web World @ Kamraj Salai 21-Jun-08 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
Visakhapatnam Reliance Web World @ Dwaraka nagar 21-Jun-08 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
Hyderabad ISB, Hyderabad 27-Jun-08 6:00 PM- 7:30 PM
Allahabad Reliance Web World @ Balson 28-Jun-08 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
Gwalior Reliance Web World @ Gwalior 28-Jun-08 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
Agra Reliance Web World @ Kamla Nagar 28-Jun-08 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
Patna Reliance Web World @ Fraser Road 28-Jun-08 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
Ranchi Reliance Web World @ Club Complex 28-Jun-08 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
Hyderabad ISB, Hyderabad 4-Jul-08 6:00 PM- 7:30 PM
Kolhapur Reliance Web World @ Kolhapur 5-Jul-08 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
Aurangabad Reliance Web World @ Aurangabad City 5-Jul-08 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
Nasik Reliance Web World @ Nasik Road 5-Jul-08 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
Belgaum Reliance Web World @ Belgaum 5-Jul-08 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
Sholapur Reliance Web World @ Sholapur 5-Jul-08 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
Hyderabad ISB, Hyderabad 11-Jul-08 6:00 PM- 7:30 PM
Ahmadabad Reliance Web World @ CG Road 12-Jul-08 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
Vadodara(Baroda) Reliance Web World @ Fatehgunj Baroda 12-Jul-08 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
Surat Reliance Web World @ Parle Point 12-Jul-08 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
Rajkot Reliance Web World @ Neptune Towers 12-Jul-08 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
Jaipur Reliance Web World @ City Center 12-Jul-08 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
Hyderabad ISB, Hyderabad 18-Jul-08 6:00 PM- 7:30 PM
Cochin Reliance Web World @ Alwaye 19-Jul-08 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
Trivandrum Reliance Web World @ Vazhutacaud 19-Jul-08 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
Mangalore Reliance Web World @ Bunts Hostel Circle 19-Jul-08 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
Mysore Reliance Web World @ Devraj Urs Road 19-Jul-08 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
Bhubaneswar Reliance Web World @ Fortune Towers 19-Jul-08 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
Hyderabad ISB, Hyderabad 25-Jul-08 6:00 PM- 7:30 PM
Hyderabad ISB, Hyderabad 1-Aug-08 6:00 PM- 7:30 PM
Hyderabad ISB, Hyderabad 8-Aug-08 6:00 PM- 7:30 PM
Hyderabad ISB, Hyderabad 22-Aug-08 6:00 PM- 7:30 PM
Hyderabad ISB, Hyderabad 29-Aug-08 6:00 PM- 7:30 PM
Hyderabad ISB, Hyderabad 5-Sep-08 6:00 PM- 7:30 PM
Hyderabad ISB, Hyderabad 19-Sep-08 6:00 PM- 7:30 PM
Hyderabad ISB, Hyderabad 26-Sep-08 6:00 PM- 7:30 PM
Hyderabad ISB, Hyderabad 3-Oct-08 6:00 PM- 7:30 PM
Hyderabad ISB, Hyderabad 10-Oct-08 6:00 PM- 7:30 PM
Hyderabad ISB, Hyderabad 17-Oct-08 6:00 PM- 7:30 PM
Hyderabad ISB, Hyderabad 24-Oct-08 6:00 PM- 7:30 PM
Hyderabad ISB, Hyderabad 31-Oct-08 6:00 PM- 7:30 PM
Hyderabad ISB, Hyderabad 7-Nov-08 6:00 PM- 7:30 PM
Hyderabad ISB, Hyderabad 14-Nov-08 6:00 PM- 7:30 PM
Hyderabad ISB, Hyderabad 21-Nov-08 6:00 PM- 7:30 PM
Hyderabad ISB, Hyderabad 28-Nov-08 6:00 PM- 7:30 PM

I was greeted by some very exciting news when I woke up this morning. Indian School of Business (ISB), my alma mater, has been ranked 20th in the latest Financial Times global ranking of full-time MBA programs. Three things make this a very significant achievement:

• This is the first time a business school from India has achieved a place in the global top 100 !
• ISB is probably the youngest institution ever to find a place in this list. The school just started 6 years back!!
• This is the first time ISB participated in the rankings and it achieved a position in the top 20 straightaway !!!

Way to go !!!!

The September issue of Outlook magazine has an article on entrepreneurs from Indian B-Schools (the article can be read here). Among those featured are Nitin Vyakaranam and Suparna Chopra, my batch mates at ISB. Way to go !!!!!!

(Thanks to Amit Sharma for the link)

Indian School of Business (ISB) info sessions are in full swing. Click here for city-wise details in India and other countries and for registration. Details of sessions scheduled for the next few months are being posted below; please keep checking the link on the ISB site for updates:

India Locations

City	Hotel	Date	Timings
Ahmedabad	Fortune Hotel Landmark	May 12, 2007	11:00 am – 1:00 pm
Chandigarh	Hotel Mountview	May 20, 2007	1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Chennai	Taj Connemara	May 13, 2007	10:30 am – 12.30 pm
	Taj Connemara	May 13, 2007	3:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Coimbatore	The Residency	May 12, 2007	11:00 am – 1:00 pm
Guwahati	Hotel Dynasty	May 19, 2007	11:00 am – 1:00 pm
Hyderabad	Indian School of Business	May 27, 2007	11:00 am – 1:00 pm
Kolkata	Taj Bengal	May 20, 2007	10:30 am – 12.30 pm
	Taj Bengal	May 20, 2007	3:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Ludhiana	Fortune Klassic	May 19, 2007	7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Mumbai	Leela Kempinski	May 13, 2007	10.30 am – 12.30 pm
	Leela Kempinski	May 13, 2007	3:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Pune	Taj Blue Diamond	May 13, 2007	10.30 am – 12.30 pm
	Taj Blue Diamond	May 13, 2007	3:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Vizag	ITC Welcome Hotel	May 27, 2007	11:00 am – 1:00 pm

International Locations

ISB Information Session
Country	City	Day	Date
Nepal	Kathmandu	Monday	May 28, 2007	Tentative

Other International Education Fairs
Country	City	Day	Date
Kazakhstan	Almaty	Tuesday	June 5, 2007	Tentative
Kazakhstan	Astana	Thursday	June 5, 2007	Tentative

 

World MBA Tour
Country	City	Day	Date
USA	Washington DC	Tuesday	Sep 18, 2007	Tentative
Canada	Toronto	Sunday	Sep 23, 2007
USA	Atlanta	Tuesday	Sep 25, 2007	Tentative
USA	Chicago	Thursday	Sep 27, 2007
USA	Los Angeles	Saturday	Sep 29, 2007
USA	San Francisco	Tuesday	Oct 2, 2007	Tentative
USA	Houston	Saturday	Oct 6, 2007
UK	London	Saturday	Oct 13, 2007

The agenda for each session includes:

• A short film on the ISB (10 mins)

• A presentation on Admissions (50 mins)

• Question and Answer session (60 mins)

Indian School of Business (ISB), my alma mater, declared placement results for the recently graduated Class of 2007. Details can be found here. What pleases me more than the records that ISB continues to break every year is the following statement made by the Dean in the announcement: “We need to take a balanced view of international offers given by multinational companies. I urge everyone to use these figures in the proper context so that potential students may get the correct picture of what they can achieve in a management institution” and the fact that the report also stresses on students not just looking at money alone.

Let me try to expand on this and write quickly about what I think is important for every prospective B-School applicant to keep in mind. Placement information released by top Indian B-Schools gets splashed in the media every year and it won’t be long before this year’s ISB salary stats are the talk of the town. It is true that B-Schools try to and have to market themselves and media have to publish something sensational to grab public attention. In fact reports comparing ISB stats with IIMA stats have started to appear. What is important however is that prospective applicants, and the people who influence their decision to do an MBA and the school to do it from, read the placement information released by the institutes and associated media reports with the right perspective.

Decision to join a B-School should not be based only on the domestic/international highest salary, the average salary, the number of international placements etc. Agreed that these statistics show the respect a school has in the industry and to a great extent reflect the faith expressed by recruiters on the students of the school. What should be kept in mind however is that not all students can fit into all the job profiles offered in a B-School. This essentially means that just because someone got a salary greater than Rs. 1 crore this year doesn’t necessitate that you will be the one to get an equivalent or a higher amount next year.

Every person who joins a B-School (especially a B-School where people come in with good work experience backing them) has a particular background. Expecting that, just because one has joined a top B-school, one will be able to get any job he/she wants in any of the fields that companies come to recruit in is nothing but foolishness. It all depends on what is required to get that job and that position and whether one is qualified enough to get the same. Other things to be thought about are whether one would be happy in a job just because it pays him/her a lot of money. Is the job one that he/she would be happy doing for a long time? Money is important. But what is more important is a good role and by good role I mean a role that one considers good for oneself, not one that makes everyone feel good about him/her by virtue of the designation or the name of the organization.

In short:

• Evaluate a B-School not just by the financial metrics but using the non-financial ones as well
• Keep your expectations reasonable and in line with what you want to do. Do not just try to get into something only because that is what the world around you seems to be rushing into
• Most importantly, do not do an MBA just because the world seems to be doing it. That being said, not every B-School admit is clear why he/she wants to do an MBA. But the clearer one is, the better it is for him/her.

Wow !!!! Feels great to visit the ISB campus after a long gap. In fact on entering the campus I felt as though I was just living there till about a few days back. Went to almost all the hangout spots. Visited the DVD library where I have spent sufficient part of the time during my year at ISB scouting for movies. Looks like there hasn’t been much addition to the collection since the time my batch left. I couldn’t find much life on campus both yesterday as well as today as people were  mostly either busy attending pre-placement talks or holed up in the student villages.

Here is wishing everyone at ISB and other B-Schools all the best for placements. Just hang in there. Its just a matter of time before you get the job you like. Remember that the job you get just after B-School is not the end of it all. So even if you haven’t for some reason been able to find the (realistic) fit you are seeking immediately after your B-School, you will surely find one in due course of time.

ISB is celebrating its fifth anniversary this year. In a very short span of time, it has emerged as one of the finest management institutes in the country and I would say it is well on its way to become one of the finest in the world in due course of time. I think I have spent the best year of my life at ISB. There have been a lot of takeaways for me from my stint as a student there in last year’s batch.

Though what has been achieved by the institution is commendable and might have been dismissed by many as impossible when it was started five years back, there is a lot to be achieved in the coming years. The following summarizes views of eminent personalities about the achievements and the path ahead. The listing is not just because these are the views of eminent people but because I believe that these convey a true picture about the present and about aspirations for the future.

*****************

” A great saga of adventure, forward thinking and enterprise …… a fine example of public private partnership …..” – Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh

“It is easier to build facilities than to run an institution. People make institutions, and not the other way round. India has created many top class institutions, but we have not been able to sustain it. I hope ISB grows and continues to renew the institution by investing in people …… This happens to be a plant which is beginning to yield excellent results. I sincerely believe that in years to come we will see lot more creativity, lot more spirit of adventure and enterprise and innovative thinking on the part of both the faculty and the student” – Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh

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“You have achieved in five years what INSEAD took 30 years” – Prof. Gabriel Hawawini, Dean of INSEAD

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” When the ISB was launched in 2001, we faced a lot of scepticism. We were breaking new ground on almost all fronts. The one year programme, the unique faculty model, the participation of three top business schools who had never before come together to support a new school, the students requiring work experience, lateral placements, the emphasis on research and a lot more. Today, I am happy to say that in hindsight we have been proved to be wise pioneers ………

…….. The ISB combines the wisdom of the ages with the spirit of Modern India. We are entrepreneurial, hard working, and committed to our goal. We are committed to taking India forward to newer levels of achievement – to explore new ideas, to better the best, to carve a new way. We have many challenges ahead, no doubt, but the road is exciting, and it has just begun. I promise you, Honourable Prime Minister, we at the ISB will remain steadfast to our commitments, and will walk with you on this exciting new path for creating Modern India“ – Rajat Gupta, Former Managing Director, McKinsey & Company and Chairman, ISB

ISB alumni in Bangalore met over lunch on Sunday. The alumni from our batch outnumbered the alumni from all the other batches. We primarily exchanged contact information with alumni from the earlier batches and came to know a bit more about those who were present there. I think the interactions will pick up as more such meetings are organized.

News on the admissions front … this one is a bit old and may be you know about this already, but just in case there are some people who haven’t heard about this: ISB has been invited to join the board of The Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) and will not from now onwards accept GRE scores for admission. GMAT scores will be the primary means and CAT scores will be accepted for provisional admission.

I had ordered an external hard disk from a Hyderabad dealer just a few days before the orientation week for the new batch came to an end. This is how the initial part of the conversation with the guy (HDDwala) who came to deliver the hard disk went (just imagine that guy speak Hindi Hyderabadi style):

HDDwala: Aap foreign jaa rahe ho naa?
Ram: Mein samjha nahi?
HDDwala: Naukri ke liye foreign jaa rahe ho naa? Yahaan toh sabki naukri baahar hi lagti hai?
Ram: Nahi …. meri naukri abhi toh India mein hi hai.
HDDwala: Kyun? Aapke number ache nahi aaye kya?
Ram: What? @#$%^$#
HDDwala: Maine suna hai jinke number ache aate hain unka naukri baahar lag jata hai
Ram: (Thinking …. poor McKinsey guys …. got such good grades but will be based out of India)
HDDwala: Matlab aap kabhi baahar jaa hi nahi paaoge kya?
Ram: (Thinking – abe bas kar yaar) Nahi maine aisa nahi kaha … naukri mein ho sakta hai baahar jaana pad jaaye
HDDwala: Acha … aapko ek crore ka tankha (salary) mila kya?
Ram: (Thinking .. when will this guy stop) Nahi
HDDwala: Kisko mila
Ram: Woh mein nahi bata sakta
HDDwala: Aapko kitna mila?
Ram: Woh bhi nahi bata sakta …. aap hard disk ki baat karenge please?
HDDwala: Haan ji … waise naye class ke log aa gaye hain kya?
Ram: Haan … hard disk laayen hain aap?

………….

A group of students from our batch (including me) went for an outbound activity at the beginning of last week to Greenfields, located at the outskirts of Hyderabad, near the Usman Sagar lake. We had two full days of fun, fun and just fun. We played a lot of games, learnt and/or reinforced our learnings on a lot of stuff and also decided what all games to include for the new batch of students, to be conducted as a part of the “Bind Unwind” activity during their orientation. Here are some snaps from the same …….

Girish a.k.a Giks getting his harness strapped from Piru (one of our hosts at Greenfields)Thats me on the Burma Bridge

Thats a sample of the greenery @ greenfields for you

Ashok, who was one of the guys in my group, doing the group’s dance

A group of students has their hands knotted while playing the “Knotty Game”

Thats probably how worse the knots can get

Zenobia, our sweet instructor, doing CP … i.e., explaining some fundae

My group having some real fun moving around playing “Tied in a rope”

Zenobia in action … fundae again

Our tents getting drenched in the rain

The landing terminals prepared by the three groups in the egg-drop game

Thats the entire group of students

Here is a sample gyaan given by one of my batchmates during orientation:

“Your mobile phones should be switched off when you come to class. Else you can use your vibrators” 🙂 🙂

Most activities planned for the orientation week have been completed. Some of us left yesterday to go back to our homes. Many are leaving today, including me. The rest few will move by this Saturday after the “Talent Nite” happens. I think my next visit to ISB will be during “Solstice”, our annual alumni reunion …… don’t know if I will get a chance to visit this place before that.

I will soon post snaps from the outbound activity camp that we went to recently, to play and select games to be played by the new batch during the “Bind Unwind” activity. We had lots of fun there.

Thats it then for now from ISB …… goodbye.