Beer Game - Great Fun !

We had Operations Management class today from 06.00 to 09.30 PM. But it was great fun.

There were no slides,no theory and no notes to be taken.Instead, we played the Beer Game.!

The Beer Game is a role-playing simulation developed at MIT.The game is to clarify the advantages of taking an integrated approach to managing the supply chain; it particularly demonstrates the value of sharing information across the various supply chain components.

The purpose of the game is to meet customer demand for cases of beer, through a multi-stage supply chain with minimal expenditure on back orders and inventory. Communication is against the rules so feelings of confusion and disappointment are common
There exists an online version of the Beer Game too. Play it here.

The Leader

A good leader inspires others with confidence in him; a great leader inspires them with confidence in themselves-
Unknown

"Leadership" is a subject for us this term. We have HBR readings, cases to discuss, guest speakers sharing their experiences. The subject is taught by Dr. Bill Blake , the Associate Dean for MBA programs.

Towards the end of the first session, our class answered a questionnaire to determine their top 4 characteristics in the leaders .Here are the results :

Top 4 qualities that a leader should posses as per the MBAst Class of 2007

1. Inspiration
2.Forward Looking
3.Honesty
4 Competent

Once the results were published, Dr Bill shared another set of results.This was the results of survey taken by people(millions of them) from different continents. They too had to list the top 4 qualities. Below are the results from that survey.

1. Honesty ( 88%)
2. Forward Looking ( 71%)
3. Competent (66%)
4. Inspiring (65%)

What is interesting to know is that our class too picked up the same 4 qualities as that in the world survey. A conclusion that I can draw - No matter where you are from, leaders across the globe are expected to have these qualities.

"What is this life if, full of care,We have no time to stand and stare."
-Wm. Henry Davies

Life is really in the express lane.Completing the assignments..Catching up on the readings...Working with the team on projects.
I love blogging but right now I just don't have the time for anything.

Should take out some time this week to update about whatz happening here.
Till then, watch this space.

Recruit the best !

A Senior Design Engineer
Postdoctoral Scholar
Six Sigma Coordinator
Management Consultant
Research Scientist
Call Centre Service Representative
Factory Manager
Project Manager at Software company

These are some of the individuals who decided to come to Queen's to do their MBA.
The Queen's MBA graduates are among the most sought after in Canada and typically move on to cross-functional management positions in a variety of sectors including consulting, finance, hi-tech, telecom, manufacturing, biopharma and new ventures

The online resumes for the Class of 2007 are up. Visit this link to recruit talent from the MBAst Class of 2007

It's not easy being green...

We had 6 hrs of marketing class today. And to be honest, I didn't feel bored.Instead, I enjoyed the subjects. The professor(Louis Gialloreto) teaching us this subject is so good that you tend to think a lot while attending the lectures. He has style, humor, knowledge and content in his lectures and knows the art of teaching. The Professor has a rich academic and corporate experience. He is the president of Stowe & Breton Ltd., an international consulting firm which specializes in executive training, customer relationship management, brand development, innovation, marketing planning and competitive marketing strategies. Prof Louis has over 20 years of industry experience in airlines, wholesaling, retailing, and financial services, and has consulted to over 50 organizations.

The Internet has become a powerful weapon in this marketing age. So, a lot of discussion revolved around that. We also talked about how blogs can be used as a powerful channel for market communication. I also quizzed him on how a company could work towards recovering its brand if it got damaged ( I was prompted to ask this question as Pepsi and Coke brands have been hit in India because of pesticides issue !).

Marketing is a lot to do with numbers too. He briefly discussed the quantitative portion of marketing too. He shared his experiences while working on different marketing products and talked about the three market communication techniques – Funnel, Pipe and Cone.

Some of the articles that we discussed in the class today:

Ads that actually sell stuff:
Brand Tailing-The concept is to first uncover the underlying reasons why people don't buy (at all or as much as their clients would like) and assist their clients in addressing those issues. Then they build call-to-action campaigns and use tracking software to determine what ads have resulted in sales.

Live-action advertising
They represent the launch of a new ad medium--part TV, part billboard, and all Internet in its network sophistication.Even the most ad-resistant consumers are considered good targets. Digital displays give advertisers something else they crave--the ability to precision-target different audiences by the hour.The digital signs allow ads to be changed immediately

The future of advertising:
The average American is subjected to some 3,000 advertising messages every day With an annual budget of more than $4 billion, America's Procter & Gamble (P&G) is the biggest advertiser in the world.

Best Buy's giant gamble
Figure out which customers make you the most money, segment them carefully, then realign your stores and empower employees to target those favored shoppers with products and services that will encourage them to spend more and come back often.

The best thing since the bar-code
RFID systems are made up of readers and “smart tags”—microchips attached to antennas. When the tag nears a reader, it broadcasts the information contained in its chip

And the Coolest New PC Is Made by ... Best Buy?
Best buy came out with a computer that was labeled as a “ machine a geek would like to build himself, if only he had the time”. The "vpr" in "vpr Matrix" stands for value, performance and reliability.

There were other articles too..but I cannot find the web links for those..! If you are looking for web based market communications such as Pop ups, Superstitials,Skyscraper etc, check out this site

BTW, a few folks in the earlier Marketing class had noticed that the Prof has a fetish for green color.So, the class today had decided that it would be funny if everyone in class came in green and so did we. When the Prof asked us, we said it was "pure coincidence".
We had a good laugh. There were green shirts, tops, jackets. !!

Enjoy the pics below of the Mena and Women in Green.

She is considered to be the "God Mother of IT in Canada". She is an advisor to Bell Canada, has written articles in Harvard Business and was here to address the MBA students to talk about "Disruptive Innovation".

Wikipedia defines Disruptive Innovation as
"a new technological innovation, product, or service that eventually overturns the existing dominant technology or product in the market. Disruptive innovations can be broadly classified into lower-end and new-market disruptive innovations."

She quoted an example of Intel that made its own low-margin cheap chip - "Intel Celeron" that has become one of the most successful microprocessors of all time. She also talked about Infosys from India following a Disruptive Innovation technique. I enjoyed the talk.

IndiOne Hotels Moves into Canada?

"You have been hired by the Tata Group to provide a marketing plan for the launch of Indione chain of value based business hotels. The first two locations are planned for Toronto and Montreal. As the consultant you are tasked with developinig a proposed market assesment and launch plan that includes a review of segmentation, positioning, targeting ....."

Can you believe this? Am not sure if this is true but that is definitely our Individual assignment for the Marketing subject this term.

Everyone in the class is expected to come out with a plan. We have folks from 15 countries being represented. So, it will be great to get different views. The challenge for me will be to sell a concept that works in India and fit that into a market that am not very familiar with.!
It'll be challenging but am sure will be a lot of fun too !

BTW,Indione hotel is the brainchild of C.K Prahlad."Indian consumers want world class quality at local prices" said Prahalad.The first indiOne Hotel was profitable within a month, and Prahalad calls it a model for global expansion. So, is it the time for global expansion now ?
We shall wait and watch.

Student Personality Quotient.

Business Week Quotes

"How well you fit in at B-school may depend on your Student Personality
Quotient. The role you play among your classmates has the potential to
predetermine everything from your grades to your first post-MBA job. But it also
has a more immediate impact—how annoying you are to your fellow classmates, and, ultimately, your own personal enjoyment of B-school. Think of the combination of
factors—classroom behavior, interaction with peers and teachers, approach to
B-school and life—as your personal SPQ, or Student Personality Quotient. "

Take the Student Personality Quotient test here

An interesting incident happened today. We have “class norms”- where we have decided that students will not bring laptops to class, keep mobile phones switched off, and avoid taking a bio- break during the middle of the class. This is to allow the professor to continue their flow of thoughts and minimize any distraction. The class has followed these guidelines since the beginning of the MBA program and we have hardly had any cases of concern till now. But, during the Finance class today, one of the mobile phones suddenly rang out loud. The class was disturbed. People looked at the guy who got the call. Our pal, not expecting this was taken by surprise. He was about to apologize but before he could speak anything, the professor quickly looked at him and said "Tell the person on the phone that I am busy and can't take the call!" The whole class was in splits and we all had a good laugh. !:)

The stage 2 has gained momentum.Nah, am not talking about the classes but about the other events. The consulting club has started conducting mock case interviews. The Finance club is conducting knowledge info sessions. The club had been to a few 'Wine and Cheese' sessions organized by some leading banks in Canada. Tomorrow, a few of them visit the trading floor of a leading financial institution. The other thing that is being discussed a lot these days is the MBA games. The MBA games is the highlight of the MBA program.” Every January, students from more than 20 business schools from across the country meet at a Canadian city to participate in numerous academic, athletic and team spirit competitions in an event known as the MBA Games. This competition is a social high point of the year for many students and is the perfect venue to exhibit Queen’s pride and spirit".The MBA game was started by the Queen's University in 1998. At every MBA games, a dinner party is hosted by the Queen's School. We had a poor performance last year but the folks in this year's class are determined to "bring home the club”.

A Very Happy Independence Day.







A very Happy Independence Day to India.
Indra Nooyi unfurls the tricolour atop Pepsi HQ
Pepsi appoints first female boss

Got these questions from a friend of mine today. Try them out.

ACUMEN 2006 - National B-School Challenge

Written Preliminary Round – For B-Schools ( North Region)

Do you think you are sharp enough to take on the best in the business? Welcome then to the written prelims for the ACUMEN 2006 National Quiz Challenge for B-Schools across India, brought to you by Business Today and Aditya Birla Group. There are 25 questions in this round. The asterisk-marked questions are to help resolve a tie, if any. No negatives, so feel free to guess – imaginative and “educated” guesswork will take you a long way in this quiz. Top four teams go into the finals. All the best!

1. By the year 2000, the company was recognised as the world's lowest cost producer of steel. In 2005, the company was recognised as the world's best steel producer. Which Indian company?

*2. The first one opened in 1965 in New York City at the corner of First Avenue and 63rd Street on Manhattan's upper East side. The first menu was a chalkboard and it quickly became the meeting place for young adults grossing over $1 Million in revenues in the first year. It was further popularized by the 1978 movie by the same name, starring Donna Summers. Nowadays, this is used extensively in advertising and promotion materials around the world. What?

3. Tea was rationed during World War II, but it was not until 1953, just after rationing finished, that this company launched the tea bag to the UK. It was an immediate success. Which company?

*4. Built in 1826 by James Robertson, an infamous illicit distiller of Aberdeenshire, rival distillers burnt it down in 1841. The unit was rebuilt in 1845. Its famous prefix came after a visit and tasting session by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert who were camping in the nearby Balmoral castle in 1848. Name the brand.

5. ABCTCL is a Rs. 300 crore ISO 9002 certified company. What is its 16 page, all colour, monthly tabloid called?

6. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recently given the go-ahead to which Indian pharmaceutical firm for a three-ingredient fixed dose anti-AIDS cocktail pill for adults?

7. Which Indian company has a license to distribute the premium fashion watch brand Tommy Hilfiger in India?

*8. She was named after a department store. Although she is generally considered African American, she is biracial, with a white English-born mother and a black American father. Who?

9. "I do not sell products. I sell an entire civilization in a jar." Quote from whom?

10. The music industry is to sue it for allegedly providing links to pirated tracks. "We've started the process and as far as we're concerned we're on a track to litigation," John Kennedy, chairman of the IFPI, told Bloomberg.com. Who?

*11. For the first time, the U.S. authority manufacturing it has said that it is costing more than its value to make this year, thanks to higher metal prices. "It is going to disappear soon unless something changes in the economics of commodities" is the popular perception. Gallup polling has shown that two-thirds of Americans want to keep it from disappearing. What?

12. He's the only head of state to use the internet daily as a means of communicating with his subjects as well as people outside the country. The royal site also details royal activities – state visits, aid to the poor - and some of this East Asian country's modern history. Name him.

*13. The Indian Railways are running two passenger locomotives (Thanjavur to Nagore section) and six diesel trains with a special fuel. What is it?

14. The radio station WHRB (95.3FM Cambridge), is run exclusively by students, and is given space on the university campus in the basement of a freshman dormitory. It is also home of the notorious radio "Orgy" format, where the entire catalogue of a certain band, record, or artist is played in sequence. Which university?

15. Suvir Sujan and Avnish Bajaj, both Harvard Business School classmates, joined together to form which popular Web site?

16. What would you be going for "when you care enough to send the very best"?

*17. Fund-raising under the guise of market research (using an opinion poll or contact poll) is an abuse of the MRA and ESOMAR guidelines, and is called what?

18. In June 2004 the UK's Private Eye reported that this fast food chain was handing out meal vouchers, balloons, and toys to children in pediatric wards. Which chain?

*19. The beloved founder of this company signed his companywide memos "Dad". However, his company was taken over after a long and harsh 18-month battle. The new owner is worlds apart in culture, bragging about a policy of firing the least-effective ten percent of employees every year. Which company?

*20. The original assets of which company were a hundred acres of garden along the Allegheny River - 30 acres of horseradish – along with 24 horses, a dozen wagons and a vinegar factory in St. Louis?

*21. "Take Leo Burnett, David Ogilvy, Bill Bernbach and Mark Twain. Combine their brains and shave their heads. What's left? ___ ___.” Fill in the blanks.

22. This brand of jewellery sponsored The Jodhpur Polo Season of the year 2004. The brand has now planned to host a grand party in Delhi in Feb in presence of the Yuvraj of Jodhpur to honour the champion teams with diamond studded trophies. The brand is named after a Greek mythological princess who was known for her passion for exquisite jewellery. Name the brand.

*23. With which celebrity couple would one connect Vivid Mercantile Pvt. Ltd, Lira Tradecom Pvt. Ltd, Imperial Mercantile Pvt. Ltd and Stallion Commercials Pvt. Ltd which were in the news a while ago?

24. In 1992, Kaplan and Norton introduced this as a method intended to give managers a fast, comprehensive view of the performance of a business. What method??

25. This office building has its own zip code, 60606. It towers at a height of 442 meters and more than 25,000 people walk through the doors of this fully automated building every day. Name it.

Answers
tata steel
2. TGI FRIDAY’S (THANK GOD IT’S FRIDAY)
3. tetley
4. royal lochnagar
5. the beat (abctcl is the company behind coffee day)
6. aurobindo phaRma
7. titan
8. halle berry (after halle’s departmental store in cleveland, ohio)
9. shahnaz hussain
10. yahoo china
11. the penny (one cent)
12. king norodom sihanouk (cambodia)
13. biodiesel (or jatropha)
14. harvard
15. baazee.com
16. hallmark greeting cards
17. frugging
18. mcdonalds
19. peoplesoft (taken over by oracle)
20. heinz
21. seth godin
22. arisia
23. mukesh and nita ambani (holding companies of reliance infocomm)
24. balanced scorecard
25. sears tower

ACUMEN 2006 - National B-School Challenge
Written Preliminary Round – For B-School Alumni

1. The apex conveys the desire of the people to excel and the need for progress while at the same time maintaining the leader’s initials. The red stands for energy while the blue stands for peace and the universal confidence associated with the brand name. In order to retain the brand’s stature and reduce institutionalism there is a mixed use of upper and lower case in the lettering. Which company’s new logo?

2. The Economic Times newspaper edition dated the July 7, 2006 had a special guest editorial team. Who was the editor-in-chief?

3. Name the first single malt whiskey made in Japan. It featured in the movie “Lost in Translation.”

4. Which company introduced flavours like "Astronut" and "Lunar Cheesecake" that were named for the NASA space missions in the late ‘60s but were only introduced after the astronauts returned home safely?

*5. The founder of which popular chain, known as much for the tight T-shirts of its waitresses as for its chicken wings, had a simple explanation for its success -“Good food, cold beer and pretty girls never go out of style?”

*6. Which is the only company to be on the Fortune 500 list, every year since its inception?

7. What connects the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League and the Portland Trailblazers of the NBA?

8. What connects East Timor, Ecuador, Marshall Islands, Federal states of Micronesia, Republic of Palau and El Salvador (HINT: something financial)?
*9. It is owned by the Dutch conglomerate VNU and it uses the Nielson Soundscan to track sales. What am I talking about?

10. When the brothers Anton and Gerard set up shop in 1891 at Eindhoven, the first thing they made was light bulbs. What was their surname?

11. Which fresh-from-his debut director shot ads starring Kareena Kapoor, Preity Zinta, Fardeen Khan and Saif Ali Khan for Pepsi over the last year?
*12. The company founded by Bob Swanson and Herb Boyer in 1976 uses the motto In Business For Life. In 1982, they made human insulin, which became the first biotech drug to go on the market. Which company?

*13. Since 1964, its gas stations have sold a toy truck around Christmastime. Each year, the model changes to a new design. Older models are considered collectibles and the 1964 truck sells for about $1,400-2,000, depending on condition. It periodically has a rare truck such as the 1995 and 2002 chrome which were given away at a stockholder meeting. Which company?

14. A history teacher, an English teacher and a writer discovered that all of them loved fine coffees and exotic teas. So they opened a store across from the Pike Market place, a public market overlooking the Elliott Bay waterfront. For some unknown reason, they named it a character in Moby-Dick. What?

*15. The universal symbol of three chasing arrows arranged in a triangle, used to depict recycling or recycled material is a modified version of what mathematically important artifact?

16. On July 1, 1941, the world's first television commercial aired on NBC, at that time known as WNBT-TV. The 10-second advertisement occurred at 2:29:10 superimposed over a test pattern. Which brand?

17. The date is 21st Jan 1976. The announcement was 'Passengers of Air France flight 085 are kindly requested to go to embarking gate' for the flight leaving Paris for Rio via Dakar. Why is this announcement significant?

*18. Christopher Scholes and Carlos Glidon invented a machine to number the pages in books. They attempted to extend the machine’s functions beyond numbers and took their idea to a firearms company that had fallen on hard times after the American Civil War. The company bought up the idea. Name the invention and the company?

19. What connects the transistor, the modular phone, and display on digital watches, Vitamin B1 and faint background radiation confirming the Big Bang?

*20. Which car manufacturing firm had the "Star of David" as its logo or emblem?

21. In 1895 he drove in the Paris-Bordeaux race. He had to change the tyres twenty two times over the 1200 km long route. Who was this person?

*22. Which Indian brand has its head offices at 3E, Park Plaza, 71 Park Street, Calcutta-700016, West Bengal, India?

23. The first of its kind was performed by Mona at the Four Artsball at the Moulin Range on Feb 9 1893. What?

24. These are weblog sites which the author uses only for promoting affiliated websites. The purpose is to increase the PageRank of the affiliated sites, get ad impressions from visitors, and/or use the blog as a link outlet to get new sites indexed. What are they called?

25. Nobody is sure of her age. She is an ever smiling dollish woman social worker giving advices to women on AIDS. O&M created this animated icon for the West Bengal State, but now her success is taking her past state boundaries. Name this popular ad icon.

Acumen 2006 North (Delhi) Alumni Quiz Prelims - Answers

1Reliance-adag (just reliance will not do)
2 n r narayanmurthy
3 suntory
4 baskin-robbins
5 hooters
6 hershey foods
7 both owned by paul allen
8 us dollar is the national currency
9. billboard magazine
10. philips
11. shaad ali
12 genentech
13. hess corporation (or amerada hess corporation)
14starbucks
15 mobius strip
16 bulova (watches and clocks)
17 first concorde flight
18 typewriter and remington
19 all discoveries at AT&T bell labs
20 dodge
21 edouard michelin (founded michelin tyres)
22 rupa banian and underwear
23 the first strip tease 24. splogs (spam+blogs) 2 5. BULA-DI

Hype Cycle Special Report for 2006.

Gartner assess 1,500 technologies and trends across 70 IT topics, markets and industries to provide the most comprehensive assessment of technology maturity in the IT industry.
The Hype Cycles examine technologies and trends driving innovation in business applications as well as IT and network management.

As the article states, pay attention to Gartner’s Hype Cycle - hot technologies in the near future.

I haven't blogged for some time now. I wonder why?

Could it because of the lack of time or is it because I thought I could utilize the "blogging time" to do something else. Or is it just that I am concerned about the workload and I feel I should be working towards completing an assignment. Or is it that I am just bored ! ?

I honestly don't know. But blogging helps me relax, unwind and feel good. So, here I am on a Saturday night typing my thoughts on the computer.

The Stage 2 of the MBA program is almost like the previous one - classes are as hectic, there is lots of work load, lots of pre-readings. But, most of us have got used to it and don't panic much now. J We have either learnt to handle pressure or are getting better at time management or just don’t bother thinking too much about it !

The shift now in the class is towards placements. The consulting club and the finance clubs are the most active ones these days. Plans are being chalked out as companies are confirming dates for the campus information session. One can see people talking about the "stories" they want to share in the interviews. Or can watch folks following the newspaper and events regularly. You can also people working on their networking skills.

The best class of last week was the "Managing IT" session. The course is being taught by Prof Salman Mufti - one of the best professors in Canada. Before the start of the class, he took a survey to understand the pulse of the group.

He asked us to label ourselves into one of the 4 groups
A- I am an IT professional
B-I was directly involved in 1 or 2 IT projects
C-I was indirectly involved in one or more IT project
D- What is IT.?
Interestingly, the class strength was equally distributed.

I look forward to this course as the course takes a "management" perspective and not a “techie” one. In the first class, we discussed about the role of technology in Business. We talked about the “Strategy and Internet" Harvard Business article by Porter and concluded that Technology is a complement to business. The second session was on IT Leadership that resulted in very interesting class participation. We had a case where we had to find the person responsible for the failure of an IT project – CEO, CFO or the CIO. There were mixed opinions in the class. We also talked about what qualities CIOs should have. Prof Mufti is highly knowledgeable , and uses research cases from HBR,LBS for the class. I look forward to the remaining sessions.

The interesting part about this subject is that for the individual assignments we have to write “journals”. We need to reflect on what we learnt ( or did not learn) in the class and write a journal on it. We also need to relate what we write to our past work situation. For the entire class, this is a new concept. Prof Mufti told us that he decided on this style of assignment after discussing it with Henry Mintzberg ( Author of the book "Managers NOT MBAs"!!. )

Last evening , as part of the Marketing Fundamentals class, we talked about an article called "The craziest ad guys in America" I found some ad commercials created by the Crispin Porter + Bogusky's. Have fun watching them.

On the Volkswagen
“Unpimp Your Auto” : Helga and Wolfgang introduced the hatchback !

Ad 2

Ad 3

The Rabbit is back !

The Jeta Ad -"Holy..."

V iral Marketing - subservient chicken for Burger King. Type in nearly anything at this website and get a response from the chicken. He could do jumping jacks, dance, do push-ups and even watch television. !!

There's a blog born every half second

According to recent statistics from blog-tracking site Technorati, the blogosphere has doubled every six months for the last three years. That's 175,000 new blogs per day worldwide. Technorati added its 50 millionth blog on July 31, 2006.
Read the article here

The Boat Cruise
To celebrate the end of stage 1 (Ah ! What an accomplishment!), the MBA office organized a Boat Cruise for us. It was a treat to watch everyone unwind and have some fun. Partners, spouses & children too accompanied the folks.

We had some great food! - Highlight was the vegetable/shrimp/chicken/beef kebabs.
The Karaoke was fun to...some of our classmates sang some popular numbers. Prizes were given the next day for the Karaoke event. The categories ranged from "The most daring singer" to the "singer who killed the song!!" :)
Check out some pictures below




( Good Food !!...I am lovin it !)




( Let us see how the land looks from the sea!)


( Hurry Up ! I got to get onto the cruise !)


( Everyone wants to be in the picture !!)


( The baby is the star with whom everyone wants a picture)



( Assistant Director singing a number)


( The man who just had the style, voice and the moves!)



( Letz all sing together - Queen's is all about team work..isn't it ?)

MBA Job Market Remains Strong
"The MBA job market is stronger than ever, equaling or topping the peak years of 1999 and 2000, according to a new report. After surveying 3,055 undergrads and MBAs at top-tier programs around the U.S., the firm ranked the most preferred employers. The top five were McKinsey & Co., Goldman Sachs (GS ), Bain & Co., Google (GOOG ), and The Boston Consulting Group". Read the article here

According to the Graduate Management Admissions Council’s recently released 2006 Global MBA Graduate Survey, MBA graduates are commanding significantly heftier salaries in 2006 than their counterparts did last year, with the average starting base salary topping $92,000. The report also shows that two-thirds of job offers to MBA graduates in 2006 come with signing bonuses that average $17,603.Read the article here


B-School Is Hip Again
Applications to full-time MBA programs are on the rise after a three-year decline, according to a study by the Graduate Management Admission Council.Read the article here


MBA- Reality Check
M.B.A. students have high expectations when it comes to their careers and especially their salaries. That's understandable, when you consider that the average cost of earning an M.B.A. is $100,000. So are graduates' salary expectations on target? They're pretty close, according to a new survey of this year's M.B.A. recipients from the country's top 30 business schools. On average, M.B.A. grads asked for $2,889 more than they received, according to WetFeet Research & Consulting's eighth annual State of Recruiting Report, which will be released this week. This year's typical M.B.A. grad expected a base salary of $98,670 and received $95,781 for full-time positions. Signing bonuses weren't too far off, either. The average expecation was $18,214; the average bonus received was $17,511.Read the article here


IT back on the MBA agenda
When the dotcom bubble burst in 2000 it was not just budding entrepreneurs and investors who had their fingers burnt. Business school professors who had pinned their hopes on teaching e-commerce and information technology courses also felt the pain. These days, though, it would seem that IT is increasingly creeping back on to the agenda in US business schools.
Read the article here

Web 15th Anniversary

The web has changed the way we live life.
All it takes now is to plug the computer to the network and get immediate access tothe world of information. As the Web celeberates its 15th anniversary, BBC has come out with a special.

Check out the articles :
Fifteen years of the web
Evangelising the internet
Where does the web go from here?

BTW, as a part of the IT Management class, we read a Harvard Business article on
""Strategy and the Internet" by Michael Porter.

Starbucks - The Inelastic Coffee

Starbucks is expensive coffee.
Starbucks is known for the experience.
Starbucks invests a lot on the location.
There are folks who are addicted to the Starbucks coffee.
In the past,Starbucks has increased its price but has done fine with the price increase. The sales did not get impacted.

There is the Cofee Day in India..There is Barista in India...and soon, we will have Starbucks in India

Indian School of Business, Hyderabad
University of Mannheim, Germany

We had a representative from the Centre for International Management address the class about the MBA exchange program. The schools selected for this year are Indian School of Business, Hyderabad and the University of Mannheim, Germany

The selection process would be based on grades,attendance, answers to a few essay questions and the interview with the program executive.
This implies that in the stage 4 of the program, we will a few new faces in the class !

CAP -2

The Career advantage program (CAP) -2 started this Monday.During this CAP week-2, we learnt the skills necessary to market ourself to prospective employers.

We are given an over view of the On Campus Recruitment and are taught how to fine-tune our interviewing skills. We also had a Cover Letter Workshop and were provided tips to make our resume better. A representative from the Stauffer Library explained to us how to research companies in depth before an interview. Queen's Library subscribes to a lot of journals, magazines and databases ! There is a lot of information available.

The afternoons were occupied by guest speakers. We had an interview and industry panel where we had recruiters, alumni talking to us about what is expected from MBA students and how we could be more aware of our career options. We had representatives from the consulting, finance, bio technology, health care industry.

The market this year for MBA students appears good. There is going to be a lot of consulting and finance companies that will be visiting the campus. Also, as Health Care is an important sector in Canada, there are a few students from the class who would like to have a career in that field.

Academic classes start tomorrow and there is a lot of pre-reading to be done. For the operations class, we have been provided with the book – “The Goal” by Eliyahu M. Goldratt and asked to go through it !!.One of the students in the class has read the book and even written a review on it at Amazon.com. Go through his review here and if it was helpful to you, select "Yes" so that the rating is improved and more readers will get to read it.

Today morning, we have a session on “Working with mentors” and in the evening we have a etiquette dinner tilted “Shaken not stirred”. We would get some tips from Karen Mallett from the Good Company .

Queen's at World MBA Tour

Here is your chance to make an informed decision.

If you are thinking about the Queen's MBA program, meet the representatives from Queen’s MBA at events around the world!
Figure out the details of the program,talk to the representatives about your expectations, get answers to your questions, discuss your short term and long term goal with them and check if Queen's MBA is the "best match" for your needs.

The details of the Fall 2006 MBA fair schedule is available on-line here
For folks in India,World MBA tour will be held at New Delhi,Bangalore and Mumbai between Sep 25 to 30th.