Hard to digest

It is fair to expect a certain level of disbelief and criticism to see a young school like ISB to make it to the top 20 but I think some people in public and even the press are taking it a little too far. Had to encounter this in two of my regular media channels. One was in http://www.pagalguy.com/ (PG) and the other was in the popular business daily Economic Times. So in PG one particular guy goes on a rampant criticism saying ISB can never be in the top-20 etc. etc. Anyhow there seems to be a personal angle as to why it pains that one person so much and finally the administrator came in and locked the thread.

And today Economic Times has published a write up on ISB's 4th rank in the PG survey right next to the news item on ISB's 20th rank in FT rankings. Pagalguy had published its b-school rankings based on student/aspirant surveys on 20th Jan 2008 (10 days ago).It does not take rocket science to figure out what the newspaper is getting at.

We at ISB are very clear. There have been detractors in the past and have been critical of the ISB model but they have all been proven wrong. ISB is young and has lot more to achieve and as our Dy. Dean Ajit Rangnekar said "We have to accept this honor with dignity, humility and sensitivity". We at ISB have always and will continue to admire the IIMs. Our Dean's and top administration went to IIMs and even several of our professors went to IIMs. At the same time we appreciate it if we are not compared with IIMs 'coz they have a unique model, which is an incredibly good one too. ISB is fundamentally different from IIMs and I'll not go to explain why.

Info: I have nothing against Pagalguy.com. I have benefited a lot from PG during GMAT prep and b-school admissions and to that end I have posted over 325 responses answering queries of prospective applicants. FT is a leading brand from UK and are reputed as the second best b-school rankings by none other than GMAC which conducts the GMAT test.

Request: Anyone commenting on this post please don't bring in the ISB vs. IIM angle. Such comments will be deleted by me.

Financial Times Rankings

Yesterday a group of us were discussing what kinda rank our college would get in the Financial Times world rankings. A top 25 would be the best possible outcome, we concluded. And the sweetest email came this morning from our dean Rammohan Rao.

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Dear All,

Today, the 28th of January 2008, is a red letter day in the history of the ISB.

The latest list of the 100 top Global MBAs in the world released by The Financial Times today ranks ISB at Twenty (20), making it perhaps the youngest institution ever to be ranked among the top business schools in the world. The fact that we have been ranked 20th in the first time we have participated in rankings, makes this announcement so much more gratifying. (The details will be shortly published on http://www.ft.com/businesseducation/mba)

We set out in 2001 with a vision to be an internationally top-ranked, research driven and independent management institution that grooms future leaders for India and the world. It is therefore a great moment for us, as it marks the accomplishment of an important part of the vision that guides and inspires every action that we take.

Each one of you has played a critical part in scripting this success - our faculty for their research work and publishing in top tier journals and teaching, our students, who are all successful professionals today, our staff, who are passionately committed to excellence, and our families for making the ISB such a vibrant community that it is. I thank you all for your invaluable contributions, and look forward to your continued support and commitment towards strengthening this great institution.

To celebrate this momentous occasion, I welcome you all for a get-together at the Atrium at 12:15 pm today.

With best regards,
MR
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Cheers ISB. Thank you Rajat Gupta and team!

Heat

So the ding from O came very quickly last weekend, but not before a good dinner at Taj Ahala, what a solace. So back to square one. One strange trend is appearing on campus. Companies come in and talk about picking the 2-4 years experienced IT guys and wanting to groom them into Engagement/BD managers in about 3-5 years post MBA. That is definitely a good prospect, I would say. And the 8+ yrs categories are gonna rake in the moolah this time with roles in Corporate strategy, Delivery and the like up for grabs.

So what about the wonderful 5-8 yr experienced bracket? What are we to these organizations? It is quite scary to hear so many companies clearly avoiding this category. 25 days to placements and the stock markets are plunging. Can't forget 2001 when I passed out of engineering and entered a market battered by a major US slowdown. Till some shortlists come, a slightly negative sentiment will linger.

What timing?

Seriously. After more than 1.5 years I have got this sore back as a result of the silliest of things I can do on campus. Well I flew kites on saturday. And what great fun it was. Donno what kind of crazy monkey jumps I did. I shouldn't have played so much with D's son.

But what to do now. Interview is gonna happen in 3 days. Will be my third interview so far. G was the first to shortlist me. Did a phone interview first. I thought I messed it but and then she called me for second round. It has been a month now and we are still faced with scheduling problems. Donno when this round will ever happen!!! Then B shortlisted me and I thought had a cracker interview. But somehow she didn't like me :(, cha too bad !

And now O wants to meet me. So J & S have been doing cases with me for a while now and today all of a sudden A administered a couple of cases in a totally new style and flummoxed me. So I came up with beautiful MECE strategies that will ensure that the problem is structured well and is presented convincingly. But what crap if I don't understand the question properly and just focus on structuring the problem. Oh God where are you!

Drama

"I hate you. I hate myself. I will never talk to you again...sob...sob" said Harish and perched up the huge drum in the balcony. Every one in his class was going for the school excursion to Ooty, but for him. Momma says "no" and says she has her reasons. It was so disturbing. Kishore and Harish had been planning for this excursion for so long. They had even saved on their pocket money so that they could go boating and even have ice-cream in the cold weather. Nikhil had even promised to bring his brother's camera. Now everything was ruined.

There was never enough money for anything. Even last month when Harish wanted a Indian cricket team jersey momma said no. "What a worthless childhood it was?" thought Harish. Before he knew, Harish dozed off in the balcony and woke up early morning realizing he had slept hugging Momma. He was distraught and decided to put up a face till he went to school. It was a really bad day for him except for the fact that Vikas also was dropping out of the excursion. He decided to go to the ground and play cricket after class, even though he knew that Momma would be waiting at home.

Finally at 7 PM he reached home still maintaining the face. Kiran chacha was home and seeing Harish said "Here comes my lion". But Harish was in no mood and went straight to the balcony. Momma said "This drama started last night". He could not take this anymore. A huge tear just rolled down his cheek and just then he felt his uncle's hands on his shoulder. He decided not to turn, but his uncle gave him a key and said "My son, Momma has been saving Rs.100 every month since last fall for this bicycle. I want to see you to take a ride".

Harish did not know what to say. He ran and hugged Momma.

"I'm sorry Momma. I've been such a bad son".

"No dear...I've been quite a bad mom the whole of last year"

Chacha said "Now you both stop the drama". Everyone burst into a big laugh.

The week that was

It was a totally sinusoidal week. Some lows compensated with some big highs. Lows first

• Tel Aviv University canceled this years exchange program leaving me shattered. All my Israeli, Egyptian and Turkish tour plans lay derailed now :'(
• Languishing in Chennai I forgot that I had to revise core terms. Now wondering how I'll catch up

Now for the highs

• Received the keys for my new apartment in Chennai. News is that DLF is entering Chennai with a complex right opposite my apartment. My mom is a visionary :)
• Got my first consulting shortlist. It was a company I was hoping will shortlist me for my domain knowledge and they didn't let me down.
• Won the ISB Torchbearer award. My friends say it was expected but nevertheless it is very sweet.

It is placement prep season from now on. Just three subjects next term should help me prepare better, provided I keep away from timepass activities. God bless the week that went by.