Saturday, November 19, 2011

Why continuing education is the need of the hour

"Contemplating all the men of the world, who come together in society to work, struggle and better themselves, cannot but please you more than any other thing"


~Antonio Gramsci

India is going through an interesting phase of social and economic significance. The nation is said to be enjoying "demographic dividend" which essentially means that India is (and will remain for some time) one of the youngest countries in the world. In 2020, the average Indian will be only 29 years old, compared with an average age of 37 in China and the US, 45 in Western Europe and 48 in Japan. This means that the dependency ratio (ratio of people in the non working age groups of less than 15 years or more than 64 years to the number of people in the working age group between 15 to 64 years of age) in India is lesser than most other countries of the world. What this also means that by 2050 India will have to supply manpower to the rest of the world including China which is currently the most populous country of the world. In order to cash upon this window of opportunity we need the people in the working age group to be actually working. This will be possible only if this young population is sufficiently skilled and educated to cater to the employment opportunities coming up.

What is continuing education and how does it fit in?

I have deliberately used the term "continuing education" for formal studies while working rather than "part time education" which I believe is a misnomer. Many so called "part time studies" require a full time commitment from the student. The beauty of continuing education is that you upgrade your skill and prepare yourself for greater challenges while simultaneously continuing to contribute productively to the economy. What's more your education will most likely be debt free and you will relish the fruits of the new learning without worrying about paying back loans. It's like the proverbial "having your cake and eating it too". It also acts as an insurance against the capricious business cycles, saving you the anxieties of finding a new job as soon as your course gets over. As we continue to grow we need to have more and more education programs in various fields that cater to this need. This is where a course like PGSEM really shines through.

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Open House Agenda & PGSEM Hot Line

Please find below the agenda for PGSEM Open House 2011

Date: November 20, 2011, Sunday


Timings Agenda
09:00 - 09:30 Open House Registration
09:00 - 10:00 Coffee/Tea
10:00 - 10:05 Welcome Address
10:05 - 10:15 Address by Prof. Narendra M Agrawal Chairperson, CSITM & PGSEM
10:15 - 10:20 Presentation by PGSEM Students' Affairs Council
10:20 - 11:00 Panel Discussion
11:00 - 11:30 Coffee/Tea
11:30 - 01:00 Panel Discussion / Q & A

We are also happy to inform you that we are kick starting a student run initiative to enable a 1-1 interaction between aspirants and present PGSEM students. More information and registration form @ http://bit.ly/pgsemhotline

We look forward to meet all of you. Make sure to use this opportunity to interact with students, faculty and PGSEM alumni!


Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Profit Power Economics: CSITM lecture by Dr. Mia de Kuijper


Business strategy is one of the hottest areas of study and research in B-schools. Getting to hear leading thinkers in this area is one of the added privileges of studying at IIMB.

CSITM organized a talk by Dr. Mia de Kuijper, a Harvard trained economist, few days ago. Apart from having held senior positions in global giants like Pepsico, Shell and AT&T, Dr. Mia is also the author a recent book researching successful business strategies - "Profit Power Economics: A New Competitive Strategy for Creating Sustainable Wealth".

In her talk Dr. Mia went into great depths to explain the idea behind transparency and power nodes. She insightfully portrayed how access to information is shattering the economic theories around information asymmetry.. this beautiful Banglalink advertisement clearly brought out this reality. The 21st century business model needs new organization forms, she stressed. The vertically integrated companies of the world are under serious attack - AT&T can no longer debate if it has to 'manufacture' the phones it sells - it simply can't!

I would remember this lecture for the many vivid illustrations that Dr. Mia presented. In a short animation, she showed us the growth of Wal-Mart super-center's across US geography which left the audience in a wide gasp. She brought to life the 'idea' behind the birth of Pepsi's bottled water 'Aquafina' - a massive challenge even for this soft-drink giant - to produce uniform taste and quality water across the globe. And I dont think many would know how capital intensive pepsico's snack-chips business is..

For students of business like in PGSEM, where the focus is on case-based learning, its always a great opportunity to listen to real life practitioners. Many of the concepts and problems in those business cases come to life. And our worldview of business continuously expands.

Finally, a 'Thank you' to Dr. Mia and CSITM for this wonderful lecture.

Wednesday, November 02, 2011

PGSEM 2012 Admissions

The 14th PGSEM Program is scheduled to start from June 2012. The open-house is to be held on Nov 20th at IIMB.

Click here to register for the open house.

The important dates for the process can be read here - Important dates

Admission announcement details, process details and brochure can be found here - Brochure etc



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