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

Anonymous

ISB… the grapevine buzz

What the Alumni of other B-schools are talking about….

ISB, the latest entrant to small Indian B-school fraternity, is the most talked about B-school in the management circles. Partly because of the high profile backing of Mckinsey & Co., and partly because it is positioning itself as a B-school with a difference. Its one year program is focussing on producing leaders for tomorrow, a la Insead.

Has ISB delivered its promise in the first year?

Skepticism is rife! A look at the ISB discussion board on CoolAvenues provides an insight into the prevailing feelings in the MBA community with more than 200 messages posted on the performance of ISB.

MBA alumni, mostly from IIMs, are none too impressed with the initial data pouring in from ISB. With average salary of Rs. 8.5 Lakhs, it's not that high and is in reallity a dampener with all the tall preposterous claims made at the launch of ISB. Even the foreign salaries are on an average $ 70,000-80,000, which is at par with IIMs. Remember IIMs take mostly students with 0-2 years work experience whereas average work experience at ISB is around 4.5 years. And with average salary of Rs. 8.5 lakhs being taxed @ 31.5%, final amount after taxation in India comes to around Rs. 5.5 Lakhs, which after repaying the education loan of Rs. 8-10 Lakhs, leaves around Rs. 2-3 Lakhs loan remaining to be paid. With high amount of educational loan, it will take a minimum of 3 years for students to have a positive ROI. However, before we pass a judgement, we also have to include the future benefits that having ISB on individual's resume will bring. Besides, the average salary hasn't factored in the advantage of a fast track MBA programme for professionals.

Potential applicants on the other hand are apprehensive. Many students who have the admission letters from ISB have sought advice from present batch at ISB through CoolAvenues' ISB discussion forum. With the conflicting media reports, confusion is rife. Perhaps situation will be clear when the final placement data is released in June.

Corporate on the other hand have maintained a dignified silence, as it would be premature for them to comment until and unless ISB graduates join the corporate world and start delivering.

Meanwhile, to counter the looming image of IIMs, ISB is projecting itself as a B-school with different perspective. It says that it has positioned its one-year program for people with 4-5 years or more work experience to prepare them for future leadership, unlike IIMs where average work experience and age is lower than ISB's.

As one ISB student argued :

Quote
People with 3-6 years experience are being hired for lateral positions at salary levels which are 1.5 to 3 times the salary they were drawing earlier. People with >6 years experience have got jobs which have helped them to move from middle level management positions to senior management positions at salary levels which are again 1.5 times to 3 times the salary they were drawing earlier. I fall in this category and I have a job which is paying me 3 times what I was earning before I came to ISB. More than the salary, it has catapulted me into the senior management. I will be spearheading the company's entry strategy into India and rest of Asia Pacific in times to come. Frankly, ISB has fulfilled my career aspirations by providing me with this window of opportunity.
Unquote

Whether it succeeds or not, only time will tell!

It's still too early to join the Cassandras!

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.