IIM-L Students Playing Mentors Role For Aspiring MBAs

LUCKNOW: Students at Indian Institute of Management – Lucknow (IIM-L) are playing mentors role for the aspiring MBAs during the Aspirant Mentorship Programme – Ignicion 2011. This programme is organized in order to guide MBA aspirants, who received group discussion and personal interview calls from the management institute.

The programme is a student-driven scheme that aims at mapping the profiles of aspiring candidates with those of student mentors currently pursuing management programmes at IIM-L. By assigning mentors to each candidate, based on their profile and background, prospective students are able to understand how best to handle tricky questions during personal interviews and group discussions. Himanshu Agarwal, mentor and first year student at IIM-L said that mentors address key concerns about ways in which crucial group discussions (GD) and personal interviews (PI) must be handled. In my own experience of having being mentored, inputs by my mentor made for the most important contributions.

As per sources, currently, the institute has over 1,000 students who registered for Ignicion 2011 soon after the declaration of CAT results and after IIM-L released its lists of students who made the cut for the GD and PI rounds. Typically, every mentor has about 8 to 10 mentees who they help. Each student gets two mentors. The idea is to familiarize them with how the entire processes that are followed at the institute. According to Abhishek Saha another mentor and first year student of IIM-L said that the idea is that students should be entirely prepared for what they experience during the selection rounds. He said that they also try to indicate the variety of questions that could possibly asked of a student, depending upon their skill sets, previous work profiles and so on.

In addition, this year, to offer give them an edge over other IIMs, the students at Lucknow have uploaded, for the first time, video testimonials by first year students about their experience of the mentorship programmes. Till the end of April, by which time the group discussions and personal interviews will be scheduled, students will be put through a variety of mock telephonic interviews, interviews over Skype, or through social media portals like Facebook, Twitter, Buzz and YouTube, where students will get a glimpse of life at the IIM-Lucknow. Saha said that the pull-push factor comes into play. It depends on the mentee as to how much he/she is able to extract out of the mentors.

Furthermore, a Lucknow-based student, on condition of anonymity, said that the mentorship programme has been quite helpful for him because he was introduced to the nuances of how he should handle tricky questions about his work experience. He added that, also, since his mentors went through processes themselves, they were able to tell him areas he should highlight in my work and educational profile to swing the interview in my favour.

Contact address: IIM Lucknow Lucknow Uttar Pradesh

 

IIM-Lucknow Wins Tata Crucible Quiz 2011

Luckow: On Sunday i.e. on March 6, 2011, the Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow (IIM-L) has won the Lucknow round of Tata Crucible Campus Quiz 2011.

As per the sources, the winning team will now compete with regional winners from 23 other cities in India for berth in national finals in April in Mumbai. UP Principal Secretary (technical education) Vrinda Swarup felicitated the winners with cash prize of Rs 75,000. Moreover, the Lucknow round saw the participation of over 350 teams from the region.

IIM-L is one of the premier management institutes of India. The Government of India established Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Lucknow in 1984, as a national level school of excellence in management science. It is the first IIM to open a second campus. The institute offers courses at the Postgraduate level, to enhance knowledge of the Management Studies.

 

Contact address: IIM Lucknow LucknowUttar Pradesh

 

IIM-B Witnesses 100% Jump of Visiting Firms During Lateral Placements Session

Bangalore: This year, the number of visiting companies at Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIM-B) during the lateral placements has increased by 100%, compared with 2010, according to a statement issued by the institute. Also, the number of students accepting offers increased by 70% year-on-year.

As per sources, the management consulting firms dominated the lateral placements with more than 55% of the offers. While Deloitte was a clear favourite with 13 acceptances, Infosys Consulting had 11 acceptances. Other firms with management consulting positions were Accenture, Ernst & Young, PwC, Virtusa, Cognizant Business Consulting and Wipro. Infosys Consulting, ZS Associates and Siemens showed a clear preference for IIM-B as they did not visit other IIMs.

Furthermore, sources also informed that the lateral placements from financial Services increased this year too with Yes Bank and Chrys Capital being the largest recruiters. A Dutch bank offered a student an international assignment as well. Around 15% of the lateral offers were made in the general management sector that included multiple offers by the Aditya Birla Group, the Hinduja group, Philips, Schneider and the Adani Group. Companies like HCL, Indus Valley Partners, InfoEdge, McAfee, Microsoft and NetApp offered product management profiles.

For the batch of 2011 the final placement session is going to commence from March 5, 2011. It is expected that more than 100 companies are likely to roll out offers to 348 students. Around 16 have opted out of the placement process to pursue entrepreneurial ventures.

 

Contact address: IIM Bangalore BangaloreKarnataka

 

IIM-C Receives Rs 20 Cr Grant for Finance Research

Ahmedabad: Indian Institute of Management-Calcutta (IIM-C) receives Rs 20 crore grant for upgradation of its Finance Research & Trading Lab. Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee has announced the grant during the 2011 Budget Session. The institute had sought grant from the finance ministry to improve amenities of the lab and make it the world-class lab.

Prof Ashok Banerjee, in-charge of the Financial Research & Trading Lab, said that the 48-seater lab was started in November 2008 and it is one of its kind in India. He said all the terminals of the lab get real time data from Indian financial markets and they do research about stock and commodities markets. He added that the Lab requires huge investments for activities related to research and with the grant announced, we aim to make the Centre one of the best in the world. He said that they will utilize the fund to support the research and policy papers on behavior of financial markets.

IIM-A does not seek any financial assistance from the government. According ot a statement issued by an IIM-A official for the last couple of years, they have not asked for any grant for any projects. They manage their all running expenses on our own. However, as per sources, Finance minister has raised education allocation by 24% over last year to Rs 52,057 crore, of which Rs 21,000 crore will be allocated towards the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. The FM has also proposed to provide special grants to recognize excellence in universities and academic institutions including Rs 200 crore for IIT Kharagpur; Rs 50 crore each to upcoming centres of Aligarh Muslim University at Murshidabad in West Bengal and Malappuram in Kerala.

 

Contact address: IIM Calcutta KolkataWest Bengal

 

IIM-A Students to Join P&G

Ahmedabad: Ten students from the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIM-A) will join the P&G, after they finished the second group for final placements for the Post Graduate Programme (PGP) batch of 2009-2011, on Saturday i.e. on February 19, 2011. As per sources, the second group in the cohort-based placements was dominated by EXL service that gave highest number of job offers to the students.

As per sources, P&G – the FMCG giant got nod form ten students to join the company, while Indian conglomerate- RIL- gave eight offers to the students. Also, the next group is queued up for the placement session is scheduled for February 26, 2011. The second group witnessed cohorts such as Indian investment banks, corporate leadership programmes and international FMCG firms.

According to an official message from the IIM-A states that group discussions for the recruitment process were held on Friday and the short listed students were interviewed on Saturday. Global Head of HR for EXL Service, Sanjay Gupta has said that having come with multiple roles to offer, EXL interviewed candidates with diverse profiles and was impressed with the quality of students that IIM-A had to offer. He said that a smooth recruitment process further facilitated EXL to finalize more than 10 candidates.

Moreover, IIM-A also claimed that international marketing firms gave more offers to students than last year’s final placement. P&G India Talent Practice, has said, that the process was extremely well-managed, and gave sufficient opportunity to both the firm and the student to make an informed choice. However, last year, in the final placement for the PGP batch 2008-2010, cluster of Indian investment bank, corporate leadership program and FMCG operations had made 60 offers, of which, 52 were accepted by students.

 

Contact address: IIM Ahmedabad AhmedabadGujarat

 

IIM-Kolkata Student Bags the 2011 Traders Trophy India

Kolkata: Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Kolkata student Himanshu Rewani bags the 2011 Traders Trophy India. The trophy was presented by Religare Capital Market in partnership with the National Stock Exchange of India, NSE,

As per sources, Himanshu Rewani of IIM Kolkata has the Traders Trophy India 2011, which is part of the globally renowned competition Traders Trophy Worldwide, arranged by Oxyor. Also, Rewani, the winner has qualified for the world final to be held in Amsterdam in May 2011 with winners from 15 other countries.

The qualification rounds of the Traders Trophy India 2011 were held at Kolkata, Bangalore and Ahmedabad campuses of Indian Institute of Management.  The best 10 student traders from the qualification rounds at each of these centres took part in the finals held at the National Stock Exchange in Mumbai.

 

Contact address: IIM Calcutta KolkataWest Bengal

 

IIM-A Witnesses 10 % Jump in Foreign Students

Ahmedabad: This year, Indian Institute of Management – Ahmadabad (IIM-A) has witnessed a jump of 10% in the enrollment of foreign students. As per sources, while the institute had 68 foreign students in 2009-10, the number has grown to 75 students in the academic session 2010-11. It anticipated that with more tie-ups with international institutes in the pipeline, the country’s top management school expects the number of foreign students only to grow.

Talking about the foreign students who come to the IIM-A through student exchange programme, faculty coordinator of the programme, professor AK Laha said, that they have a large number of institutes across the globe partnering with the IIM-A for the student exchange programme. He also added that of late, they have seen lots of interest towards the IIM-A from various institutes and students. This year, they have seen a 10% increase in the number of foreign students coming to study in IIM-A.

As per sources, the IIM-A has an association with around 50 different institutes in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, USA and Canada among other countries. While the institute has a double-degree programme agreement with ESSEC in France and Bocconi University in Italy, it is in the process of adding more to the list. Proffessor Laha added that they will soon be tying up with institutes from Brazil and France for the double-degree programme.

Furthermore, talking about the IIM-A’s relationship with the foreign institutes, professor Laha has said that in partnership with the institutes, they will be looking beyond the student exchange. They will also be having a doctoral exchange and faculty exchange to explore a deeper and closer functioning with the partnering institutes. Moreover, most of the foreign students visited the IIM-A between September and December in 2010. This academic year, more than 90 students from the IIM-A have left for studies in various international institutes.

 

Contact address: Indian Institute of Management New DelhiDelhi

 

IIM-C Feast Gets French Flavor This Year

Calcutta: Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IIM-C) annual fest – Carpe Diem has witnessed French flavor, this year, with a French theme and a band from the UK. The three-day event presented in association with t2 commences on Friday i.e. on January 28, 2011. Many colleges across the country have been signing up for events, which include fashion, music, dramatics, gaming, quiz and debate.

As per sources, in keeping with the theme, IIM Calcutta has invited Indo-French experimental Jazz band A-plus for the fest. In addition, on offer is a ballet performance by Helene Savoie and musical trio Froggy French Festival. “Carpe Diem is going international this year, that too with not one but four foreign acts,” said one of the organizers.

Furthermore, on Saturday i.e. January 29, 2011, Naya Theatre, the group that lent its magic to Peepli Live, will present a play on the Joka campus, in association with Spic Macay. Theatre buffs can also look forward to Abhinaya, the dramatics competition that includes stage theatre and street plays. In addition, other attractions at the fest include an F1 Pit Stop Challenge by Force India F1, where the participants can experience the exciting world of Formula One, adventure sports like wall rappling, street soccer and gaming.

This year, the major attraction will be Razmatazz, a fashion competition with designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee and Miss India Earth Jyoti Brahmane as judges. Armageddon, the rock competition that saw over 100 bands battle it out last year, is expected to be bigger and better in 2011. The winners of Armageddon will receive prize money and sign a recording deal with Saregama. They will also open for Higher-On-Maiden, the official Iron Maiden tribute band from the UK, and Indian band Junkyard Groove on Sunday.

 

IIM-L Inks Pact With ESCP Europe

Lucknow: Indian Institute of Management Lucknow (IIM-L) inks pact with the ESCP Europe, a European business school, to offer a dual degree programme. Students now will able to walk away with dual management degrees from IIM-L and ESCP, Europe. As per sources, a co-operation agreement, to this effect, was inked between the two business schools on January 12, 2011. The IIM-L and ESCP Europe dual degree programme agreement has been signed for a period of five years.

Also, the dual degree programme will debut at IIM Kolkata campus, with effect from the academic session 2011-13. Devi Singh, Director, IIM-L, has said that the dual degree programme has been available to students of IIM-L since 2003. The aim was to expose our students to the European business markets and job conditions. He added that they have decided to extend this facility and alter a few clauses for everyone’s benefit.

Moreover, the new edition of the dual degree programme, which will be offered to students from the academic session starting June 2011, will only be open to students of post graduate programme (PGP) in business management at IIM-L. For enrolling to the course, students will be selected by an in-house panel of the two institutes. In addition, IIM-L and ESCP, Europe will also set up a joint interview panel, including at least one representative from each institution, who will award a mark to each applicant for an oral interview. Selected students are not required to pay any additional fee for pursuing the dual degree.

According to the agreement of the dual degree agreement, an exchange of students and faculty members from IIM-L and ESCP Europe in programmes at both academic institutions will also be undertaken. Besides, as per the prescribed curriculum of the dual degree programme, students who enrol will need to complete Semester I, from June to December 2011, at IIM-L. The period between January and May, 2012 will be spent at ESCP Europe, Paris campus, while students will have to attend internship programmes between June and August 2012. In the second year of the PGP programme, from September to December 2012, IIM-L students will continue their study at ESCP Europe, and return in the last semester, from January to March 2013, to IIM-L.

Students pursuing the dual degree during their period at ESCP, Europe will be assessed by the host institute using the same measures as for regular local students. Also, the performances of students enrolled in the dual degree programme will be monitored by a supervisory committee which will comprise of permanent faculty from both institutes. Apart from monitoring students accepted into the programme, the committee will also be responsible for pre-selecting students for participation in the programme and putting together the assessment panel for the Master’s thesis.

(Source: www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com)

 

IIM-A Plans to Fund Marketing Researches in Emerging Economics

Ahmedabad: On Thursday i.e. on January 6, 2011, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIM-A) Director Samir Barua has said that IIM-A plans to create a fund that will sponsor research on marketing in emerging economies.

Mr Barua has also said that academics from outside the premier b-school would also be eligible for funding through this. He has made the announcement during the inaugural function of the 4th IIM-A conference on marketing in emerging economies.

He informed that discussions are at a preliminary stage and a definite figure has not been decided. However, he assured that it would be “substantial” enough to sponsor a “considerable amount of research projects”. He added it might be instituted by November.

Furthermore, he said the fund would be consolidation of the past and present conferences. Since the conference series began in 2005, a total of 1,011 abstracts on the topic have been received by the institute. This year alone 441 abstracts were received and reviewed by 113 reviewers.

Contact address: IIM Ahmedabad AhmedabadGujarat