10cover story

11Monday noveMber 26, 2012 | the new IndIan express | edex

Frontrunnersin their domains

s h I l pa v a s u d e va n | c h e n n a I

The MBA market in India is as huge and diverse as the one for matrimony. With thousands of institutes, you are often at crossroads as to where to begin. But if you have made that crucial decision on which area to spe-cialise, your life just gets a littler simpler. Presenting the top institutes across five domains — communication

management, finance, rural management, global trade and export-import management

Communication is the centre of every business. And Mudra In-stitute of Communication Arts

(MICA), Ahmedabad, is your answer for communication management. Es-tablished in 1971, today it is a brand in itself. We spoke to Nagesh Rao, presi-dent and director of the institute on what makes it click. “In its relatively young history, MICA has helped nur-ture outstanding students, many who currently hold leadership positions within and outside the communica-tions industry. We has grown from having less than 50 postgraduate students to over 350 now,” he begins.

With the wider penetration of new media, communication management has assumed greater importance. Naturally, the demand for special-ised communication managers is on the rise. “Even as consumers you see and experience this rapidly chang-ing phenomenon. You engage with your bank, for instance, increasingly through internet banking and ATM services, rather than physically walk-ing into a branch,” seconds Rao.

MICA offers the following courses — fellow programme in management-communications, two-year postgrad-uate diploma in management, post graduate certificate programme in crafting creative communication and online postgraduate certificate pro-grammes in advertising management and public relations, market research and data analytics and retail manage-ment.

“Most business school curriculums focus primarily on the intelligence quotient and sharpen only the left side of the brain. The outstanding global leaders of today need to have an equally strong emotional and cultural quotient. MICA’s curriculum creates such professionals — those who can focus on multiple bottom-lines with equal emphasis on financial, human and environmental implications,” he explains.

Aware of lookalikes, he says, “Yes, we do have some institutes who are trying to follow the MICA example and are offering courses in commu-nications management, but we con-stantly innovate, improve and man-age to remain ahead of others.”

MICA’s students find placements in a diverse group of top companies, across industry verticals. “The MICA brand assures the delivery of current, reliable and cost-effective communi-cation management skills,” adds Rao. MICA periodically works on revising the curriculum and keeping it rel-evant to the current times.

When quizzed on how he manages to keep the good work going, he says, “We believe faculty is important for building excellent academic laurels. Hence we strive to hire permanent faculty with strong research and teaching skills. We continue to invite visiting faculty who have experienced and lived the reality of concepts they teach.”

Prof Rao also underlines the impor-tance of case studies and assignments as best teaching aids for ‘they help bring current relevance to students learning.’ MICA has seen consistent 100 per cent placements for quite a number of years now. “We have lead-ing companies and brands, across industry verticals, coming on campus to offer summer internships and final placements to our students including new media,” says Prof Rao.

Dimple Grover, an engineering graduate from Surat, who also runs her own online store, Maalgadi, says, “MICA promotes creativity with busi-ness sense. I believe the curriculum will help me understand my business better.”

International trade has been an integral part of the coun-try’s growth since the concept

of trading was introduced. Now, with the advancement in technol-ogy and emerging market trends it has become a necessity to sur-vive. This has not only influenced the market, but also the education sector. With this in mind, Indian Institution of Export and Import Management (IIEIM), Mumbai, was started as early as 1990 with a global perspective. The main focus is on foreign trade, interna-tional business education, train-ing and research.

Says Prof PP Radhakrishnan, founder-president, “The execu-tives of today need to constantly evolve and understand the needs of the international market. They must understand the movement of products and services and cre-ate an environment conducive to trade. It is with this aim that IIEIM was initiated.”

The institute offers a master’s in international marketing and business. This course covers man-agement of international mar-keting, business operations and analytical skills to identify new opportunities. An executive mas-ter’s in international trade is also available. This is mainly aimed at working executives, professionals and young entrepreneurs from trade, industry, business sectors, service organisations and gov-ernment departments. They also offer diploma programmes in export import management and logistics management and a cer-tificate course in export-import management aimed at students who have completed Class XII and are pursuing their diploma in any discipline. “All courses are job-oriented and IIEIM has a unique pedagogy which comprise guest lectures, workshops, port/

field visits, case studies, semi-nars, AV aids, student presenta-tions, group discussion, assign-ments, role plays, work shops, independent research, etc,” says Prof Radhakrishnan.

The swift change in the world trading system requires a breed of new managers and entrepre-neurs who can work in the com-plex international business en-vironment. And as he promises, IIEIM has played a significant role in instilling this change in

the Indian youth. But he also feels there is a need for awareness and importance to be given to these unique courses. Placements are not a problem at IIEIM as almost all organisations have now moved into the concept of globalisation. Companies like Reliance Indus-tries, Johnson and Johnson, Coates of India, Siyaram Mills, NOCIL, Tailor Made Polymers India, Bombay Customs, DCW, OTIS Elevators, Godrej Agrovet, Tata Iron and Steel, etc, have re-cruited students from IIEIM.

Prof Radhakrishnan says that the future will see a world where world trade will be supreme and there will be a need for huge num-ber of people in this sector. This will automatically lead to manag-ers with specialised management qualifications which may be more useful for specified tasks.

— kaviya@newindianexpress.com

MICA, Ahmedabad

IIEIM, Mumbai

Rated by CRISIL as A*** and A** at the state and national levels respectively, Institute of

Financial Management and Research, Chennai, is a name to reckon with for finance studies. Started in 1970, IFMR is recognised by the Union ministry of finance as an institution of national importance. IFMR offers postgraduate diploma in financial engineering and a postgraduate diploma in development and sustainable finance. Edex spoke to Prof L Ramprasath, associate profes-sor at IFMR on why students make a beeline to the institute.

“First of all, financial engineering, which deals with quantitative finance is a niche course here, though its wide-ly popular in USA and Europe. IFMR is one of the few institutions in India of-fering this course. In fact, our syllabus was designed with a little help from New York University’s Stern School

of Business. That speaks volumes for the credibility of the programme,” he begins.

On development and sustainable finance, he says, “Micro-finance is a huge area and requires professionals who can help out with designing prod-ucts for rural finance.”

IFMR also has special research cen-tres dedicated to finance — Centre for Microfinance, Centre for Development Finance, Small Enterprise Finance Centre, Centre for Advanced Finan-cial Studies and Centre for Innovative Financial Design. “In fact, the finan-cial engineering programme was an outgrowth of Centre for Advanced Fi-nancial Studies. Our students research market data and theories pertaining to the US and check if they can be applied to Indian settings,” says Ramprasath.

Acknowledging IFMR’s reputation for being a leader in finance curricu-

lum, Ramprasath shares a few point-ers, “There is a misconception that fi-nance is all about making money, while in reality, it deals with much more than just inflow and outflow of cash. It encompasses asset management, legal and tax aspects of money, etc.”

Commenting on the USP of the in-stitute, he says, “IFMR has excellent tie-ups with financial institutions such as ICICI Bank, RBI, etc. This is as huge as it can get. Our faculty is top-notch. Though IFMR is known for its finance programmes, we are just as strong in other streams, be it HR or marketing and such.” IFMR will move to a big-ger campus soon and is also looking at inducting more students for its MBA courses.

On what led to IFMR cementing its place strongly in finance, Ramprasath offers, “We believe novelty is not in de-livery but lies in strong content. There is a huge gap between what is taught at b-schools and what really happens in the market. Through well-planned re-

search, we hope to bridge this gap. For example, there is no need to discuss case studies left, right and centre, just because it happens to be creative than the usual lectures. Common sense would be to pick only ones relevant for the students keeping in mind the man-agement settings here.”

Says Shweta Jain, a final-year finan-cial engineering student, “IFMR is your ideal destination for finance. They pro-vide a good platform for growth. Expe-rienced teachers, culfests and quizzes around the year were major draws for me.”

Pramod E echoes her sentiment. “Inclined towards mathematics, IFMR provided perfect fodder for my finance appetite. Plus, they take in a lot of freshers and also manage to secure them good pay packages,” he says. IFMR’s liberal attitude towards its stu-dents with regards to dress code and usage of cell phone has also gone down well with them. For details, visit www.ifmr.ac.in.

IFMR, Chennai

IeIM has a un Ique pedagogy wh Ich coMprIse guest lectures, work -shops, port/f Ield vIsIts, case stud Ies, seMInars, etc

k av I ya s a n j e e v I | c h e n n a I

Students of MICA

Pic: ExprEss