“Education is a luxury, not everyone can afford”.
~Prof. Laura Zoni
Business School entrée are extremely diversified, not only in terms of linguistics and location but in terms of Educational Background. A full batch comprises of Engineering, Commerce, Arts, CA, Pharma, Biology and Civil graduate students. Thus Pre-courses becomes a necessity for all the students so that they all start on the same page. Courses like Finance require an accounting background. Engineers who form the maximum percentage of the batch are generally unaware of the basic concepts and terminologies of accounts. Thus, the first pre-course that SDA Bocconi has accounts itself followed by Statistics, Marketing, Finance, and Operations. The pre-courses individually are a week long and covers the basic roots of individual streams for which faculties fly from Milan.
PGPB 6 was under the same programme of pre-courses last year. According to the Class Representative of PGPB6, pre-courses were a very important and an exigency to the whole batch. He mentioned that the whole program helped them transition smoothly into the MBA college life. Since students have been into corporate for a long time, they generally take time to adapt back to the school and educational structure. Since the syllabus is not very bulky and arduous, the adaptability to it as a whole becomes natural. Gradually, everyone becomes accustomed to the time structure and regularity in the education field.
On the same line was the review of the present IMB 2018 batch after attending the pre-course for Accounting by Prof. Laura Zoni. They found the course very insightful. There are a total of 3 Pre-courses which act as a prelude to the advanced courses- Quantitative Methods, Accounting and Case Methodology. The Professors make sure that the Precourses are practical yet challenging. The course is filled with umpteen assignments and serve as the perfect bridge to the different backgrounds in the classes. The catch here is that failure to understanding pre-courses result in difficulty on grasp in the advanced courses upcoming in the strenuous 1st year of MBA.
We thoroughly enjoyed the courses and found them very useful and unique. We got accustomed to their way of teaching and learned the practical aspects. Right from ANOVA in excel, to balance sheets, to have the first-hand experience in solving a complex case served as an exquisite warm up and a trailer to the upcoming 2-year movie of MBA. Take all the courses in your curriculum. Do the research. Ask questions. Find someone doing what you are interested in! Be curious!
Which Aditya Birla Group Would You Join and Why?
Aditya Birla Retail Limited
The $43 billion giant is where I would choose to join. Its a retail venture deals in Food and Grocery Sector since 2007. It is indeed one the most successful giants in the country. It implemented the concept of Supermarkets and Hypermarkets and is the first ever Indian food and grocery retailer the Food Safety Management System certification. This certificate is awarded only to those who deal in safe and hygienic food items. The supermarkets cater to day to day needs like vegetables, groceries, personal care, home care, and apparels. The Hypermarkets is similar to supermarkets with the exception being that it lays strong emphasis on general merchandise, apparel, consumer durables and IT goods.
The reason for me to be inclined towards this industry is that I have prior experience in the same field. I have worked in coagulation with India’s top brands. The industry is and the brand name is huge and has great scope for both learning and development. Learning because, the certification and the concept of Super and Hypermarkets would help me a lot in the future ventures, as it is unique and the implementation of the same is worth learning and experiencing. Also, the tie-ups and the market level is very high and would help me work with the leading challengers.
-Hari Shankar Aggarwal
IMB 2018-2020