In Defence of IBS-Gurgaon, AICTE Fiasco

Background- The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) — the body that regulates technical
education in India — has decided to approach state governments and ask them to
close unapproved institutions, including several premier B-schools and technical training institutes, operating in their regions. http://www.ibsrocks.com/forum/ibs-g-on-aicte-s-hit-list-t480.html

This article brings to fore the great Indian MBA Dilema once again (notably just at the time students start filling Mba forms.

The Issue - Institutes like ISB,Gr8 Lakes, ICFAI. IIPM , CHRIST , not having AICTE approval to run their MBA courses. AICTE thus is unhappy that they are not getting the due ego boost and respect, so they go ahead to ask state governments to close down such institutes.

Now thats something really uncalled for. Id once again like to clarify few things wrt this issue

1. AICTE approval is voluntary and not mandotory

2. Universities or deemed universities DO NOT require AICTE approval in the first place as they fall under UGC which offers DEGREES. AICTE is meant for approving DIPLOMA's equal to degrees. So while an IIM needs AICTE , a SYMBI or NMIMS or ICFAI for that matter DOES NOT SEEK AICTE approval , as they are under UGC

3. ISB or gr8 lakes offer 1 yr diploma courses , which AICTE cannot approve anyways , as they cover only 2 year course.So its actually doesnt make sense for AICTE to ask them to close down. Do they mean to say 1 year courses are not relevant? thats a separate issue and they better leave it on INDUSTRY forces to decide that !

4. AICTE has 800+ approved institutes under it , most of which are so poor in terms of infrastructure , faculty base or student quality , that AICTE would do much better regulating them rather than creating just baseless outrageous claims !

5. At end of the day MBA is about INDUSTRY....no piece of paper (wether AICTE or UGC for tht matter) can gurantee one a place in the industry. So if the industry accepts an ISB or an IBS as a top notch institute - the students shoudl really not be a worried lot

Hope this helps. Aspirants are advised not to press the panic button, dont loose focuss from preparations.... !

Adsense Refferals- It Pays !

Google Adsense Referrals now has host of advertisers in various categories instead of just the google products(which nvr was a money spinner).

One advertiser i have used is by blackbooks2.com, under the business category - which is paying alomst $ 4 per referral (user has to signup for the website).

Now this beats the traditional adsense products like adsense for content/links or search. Makes them look peanuts ;-)

Hope other publishers too take advantage of this new product. Adsense beats all once again !

Within Me - Kathleen Sheppard

Scarlet lips as red as a rose,

perfect hips in a seductive pose.

On the outside this is what I may be,

but what about looking at the heart within me.

Long black hair, surrounding my face,

baby blue eyes and full of grace.

This is what most men chase,but my soul and feeling cannot be erased.

Long, untouched legs with a snug fitting skirt,

a short and sexy tube top shirt,

I take my looks with little pride,

for what I care about is what's inside.

They say that these looks are a sensation,

that I am one of God's best creations,

But all I really want is for you to see,all the good that is within me.

Handle with Care !

This could be a rumour or may be applicable to few ATM's of SBI - bt take this as a note of caution

ICICI ATM / Debit cards can be used at SBI ATMs to withdraw money andmost shocking thing is, it does not ask for your PIN**.

Even if it asks for pin and if u cancel it, it goes on to the next screen and enablesyou to withdraw cash. This security vulnerability was shown live on TV-9 news channel at SBI ATM in Bangalore

So please take utmost care ofyour ICICI ATM / Debit cards to avoid any such misuse.

IbsRocks Books Service - Coming Soon

Our online community portal www.IbsRocks.com is pleased to introduce books service soon. We plan to source MBA textbooks and provide them at highly discounted price to our student members (across 21 centres of IBS).

This comes out of our experience and observation of the tedious process of procurring these books as students - travell long distances , negotiatewith bookstores and search for the books. Here is where we feel we could derive synergines out of IbsRocks.com . A win-win proposition.

We are in talks with several national book distributors as well as online bookstores for a tieup for the same and we hope we can get the best deal on behalf of our student community

Cheers to Brand IBS , IbsRocks !

Wah Taj ! - Wonder or Marketing Gimmick

So the results of the New 7 Wonders of the world global contest are finally out - and our own Taj Mahal is on the list ! Party time folks? Hold on.... did you get it wrong? Who is behind this global accceridation? In the presence of a beaming Bipasha Basu, Emperor Shah Jahan's Taj Mahal was declared one of the Seven Wonders of the World - on the basis of a global poll attracting nearly 100 million voters - at a glittering ceremony in Lisbon on Saturday. The catch;the poll,verdict and organisers have no official standing - UNSCO has distanced itself from the entire process

The real winner of the campaign arguably is New 7 Wonders, a not for profit organisation started in 2000 by Swiss author filmmaker Bernerd Weber. Besides the massive publicity it generated, it also netted millions of dollars through SMSes and phone calls as well as sale of merchandise (as high as $23 for a t-shirt). It also earned heft revenuesfrom sponsors around the globe.

Now that's what one calls a true blue marketer ! A scam or a boon to the travell industry - the jury is still out

The Toyota Way !

Background - Toyota overtakes GM, now world No. 1.

Tokyo, June 12: Toyota Motor Corp. edged past
General Motors Corp. to become the world`s biggest automaker by sales volume in
2006, reports said.

The Toyota Vs GM battle reflects a classical example of how it’s business strategy rather than the actual business activity that determines the winner in the battle of champions.

GM being the world’s leading car marker for decades lost out to Toyota – a one time underdog which emerged from the woods to put brakes on GM dream run and re write history – using business strategy and efficient operations management to beat GM at its own game.

It all can be traced back to a critical strategic decision by GM to discontinue it’s focus on hybrid electric cars, taking into account the low demand, huge overheads and lack of visible profits. Toyota on the other hand played the long term game-realizing that this hybrid car segment was where the future lies. Toyota aggressively pushed Prius, which not only went on to be a super seller as well as created a environment friendly and technologically savvy image of Toyota – but more importantly beat GM at its own turf – the U.S.A. It was this strategically diverse paths adopted which symbolizes why Toyota has become profitable in the United States while GM has been loosing its shirt in its home market!

GM in the process has not only lost out market share, but also market reputation. It is seen as a technologically laggard, a short term quick fix seeker, while Toyota has proven itself to not only be environmentally friendly and operationally efficient – but also a market savvy risk taker and a true champion.


While GM was shutting down its plants in the states in favor or other low cost manufacturing destinations – Toyota chose to setup a huge plant in the heart of Texas. This again was more of a strategic decision than a purely operational one – setting up camp at the heart of the consumer’s territory helps them relate to the brand and connect to it.

While Toyota was always focusing on its Toyota Production System, GM was busy finding quick fixes or imitating best practices – this reflects in the cost advantage of $ 1800 per car that Toyota enjoys over GM

While GM gave away almost $73 Billion as benefits to its workers over the last decade – Toyota invested its resources into R&D – resulting in Toyota having the trendiest and most up to date portfolio of cars, while GM struggles to come out with any innovation in the last decade. Toyota’s recently launched pickup truck Tundra helps Toyota shed the image of a toy carmaker – and pull’s in the Ford and GM loyalist!

GM’s game plan of dumping cars at airport car rentals just to keep production moving, Resulted in after sales value of the GM cars going down drastically as they retain only 43% of their initial value vis-à-vis 52% of Toyota cars.


It’s GM’s quick fix approach and flawed strategic direction that resulted it in loosing out to Toyota. Toyota has a stock market value of $200 Billion, almost 12 times that of GM. Its proposed acquisition of the money losing Chrysler would probably be another flawed strategic decision – as it would lead to critical issues in driving synergies between the two culturally diverse automakers. Such an acquisition rather seems to be another quick fix desperate bid by GM to retain it’s world’ leading car maker status.

The one time leader now finds itself in an uncomfortable position as an underdog. As rightly said, now GM can now afford taking higher risks and being more aggressive. However it’s no surprise if GM fails to ever regain its lost glory.