"What consultants lack in depth, they make up in hype & presentation."

Anonymous

Reality Bites: Indian School of Business

Flashbook 2001
ISB, India's latest and most hyped B-school, was launched with all newspapers covering the launch. Projected as an "Idea whose time has come", ISB was a truly Indian International B-school with international faculty, courtesy its tie-up with Wharton, Kelloggs and LBS, and a global student profile with over 3 years work experience. People behind ISB were McKinsey's CEO - Rajat Gupta - who managed to rope in Indian professors at Wharton, Kelloggs, and LBS's Dean - Soumnatra Ghosal, besides involving Indian corporate like Reliance, Godrej, Mahindra, Bajaj, etc. Potential students were told that there would be international placements with fat salaries. All management professionals have been waiting with interest for the news about placements at ISB - placements that would define the student quality ISB would be able to attract in future, for at any management institute, worth its salt, quality of faculty and also the students are the two most critical parameters that can make or break its reputation.

Fastforward: Feb 2002
Placement season for the first batch has started and potential applicants are waiting for results of first batch before applying for ISB. PPTs which commenced in October 2001 have given way to final placements which started from Jan 11, 2002, on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, till Feb 10, and on all days from Feb 11-Feb 17, 2002. However, in comparison to much-hyped launch, the placements at ISB are conspicuous by its absence from major newspapers. Has placements at ISB fizzled over? Is it the end of an idea touted as 'having arrived?'

Placements 2002
The companies which have visited ISB so far are Bajaj Auto, Dr. Reddy's Lab, Godrej, Satyam, ICICI, Whirlpool, besides HLL, Gillette, ITC, Standard Chartered Bank, Mckinsey, etc.
Mckinsey has to participate as it's a co-promoter of ISB. But it is not expected to make more than its usual 4-5 offers at any Indian Institute. HLL is a regular at all major B-schools. Surprising is, however, the presence of DRL, Bajaj Auto, Whirlpool, ITC at ISB. Surprising in sense that some of these do not even get a chance to pick the IIM graduates. Here they are looking at students from ISB, an institute touted as a gateway to International job offers!!!
Is this a list of companies participating in placement that would encourage the best brains from India?
Sadly, No is the answer.

With the lack of international offers coming in way of students (except perhaps that from Satyam), ISB failed to fulfill an important commandment - Thou shalt not lie. ISB promised to the students international jobs with fat salaries. True, recession worldwide affected investment banking, consulting, finance and its effect would be there on ISB as well. But an International B-school supported by Wharton, Kelloggs, LBS and promoted by McKinsey is supposed to bear that with a shrug. Isn't that so? If the foundation is as shaky as it seems and cannot take recession in its stride even in its first year, then how will it deliver its promise year after year after year?

Companies
Less said the better.
Bajaj Auto, Dr. Reddy's Lab, Godrej, Satyam, ICICI, Whirlpool, HLL, Gillette, ITC. Not really the names to run imagination of potential applicants wild! Predictably, ISB's campus is not on fire with these firms. It requires names like Lehman Brothers, Barclays, CSFB, MSDW, BAH, Bain, Monitor, Goldman Sachs, Kleinfield Beyer Perkins, etc., to make its presence felt and to wean the Indian students from IIMs. However, the names so far there have made no impact, and correspondingly, the placements at ISB, though started a good 30 days back, have not made it to any newspapers. Perhaps self-moratorium is the need of the day. And is being followed in true sense of the word.

Students
When elephants make love. Grass should be prepared for the worst, as an African saying goes.
Perhaps it should be rephrased as: When consultancies plan to start something, prepare for worst (Keeping in mind Venture funding plans by McKinsy and BCG in 2000, which fell apart).
After paying almost 10 lakhs for one year to get to PGP program at ISB, it's no surprising that students feel cheated; cheated of their one year of professional life wherein they could have used the same GMAT score for admission to US MBA; robbed of Rs. 10 lakhs, which many had taken as education loan. Being taken for a ride is a feeling rife at the campus.
Few of the Indian corporate would pay Rs 10 Lakhs p.a. as starting salary to ISB graduates which have around 5 years work experience (by last reports Bajaj Auto and ITC have offered between 3-4 lakhs). If they do, it would cause resentment in the managerial cadre. Many students are worried about how they would be able to repay the Rs. 10 lakhs they have taken. And the despair of students can be best summed-up by participants at the various internet placement discussion board. There are postings which urge other potential entrants to take up MBA at US or IIMs, instead of risking one year at ISB.

Promoters
Mckinsey was the mover behind the idea. It "conned" the Indian corporate that they would be able to get MBAs with international education at fractional cost. However, Indian corporate did not bargain with the fact that no Indian MBA (whether from IIMs or from ISB), in right frame of mind, would join any of these Indian corporate. Would anyone in full senses expect any Indian, or for that matter, any foreign student at ISB, to join Godrej, Bajaj Auto, ITC…after paying Rs 10 lakhs as study fees (mostly from education loans)? How would a person getting Rs 4-5 lakhs p.a. as salary repay such huge loan? Hence, the feeling of despair among institutes.

Perhaps, it's too early to judge ISB. Final placement week will start from Feb 12 onwards. Mckinsey and Goldman Sachs, are expected there. However, a lone sparrow does not make spring!

Perhaps ISB will have a premature end as the Mckinsey's much vaunted Indian Venture 2002 wherein it invited applications for bright ideas from Indians and promised to provide them funding and their consultancy. It never took off and no one got their funding and support. Same thing happened with BCG's much promised support to ideas. It's an apt saying: Those who can, they do; those who can't, they consult.

Students are saying:
"Stop the world, I want to get off!" - As Anthony Newley said in a musical. But sadly in the world, you can't get off in the middle. PGP 2001-02 at ISB learnt the lesson in the hard way. Dreams shattered, trust shaken.

Lets, welcome the class of 2002-03. The tallest, the bravest of MBAs venturing into unknown.....

Caveat This article has been written by the author on the basis of data gathered from various sources including Internet. The observation is of the author and CoolAvenues will suggest the viewers to use their own discretion before forming any opinion. CoolAvenues will not be liable in any matter whatsoever for the views expressed in this article.