Global Institute for Corporate Education

Reading comprehensions are typically the most favoured questions for any entrance exams and sometimes even job interviews. The important thing to understand is what an examiner/interviewer is trying to judge through RC’s (reading comprehensions).
Reading Comprehensions are used to test:
Clarity of thought while reading someone else’s views: Is the reader able to understand what the writer is trying to convey?
The opinion the reader would create while reading the writers work: Hence, questions like, what can be the title of the paragraph? Why does the author state …. ? are asked in examinations.
Inferences drawn from the RC: Since a RC is generally a portion of an entire article or an article based on a larger understanding of a topic, what are the assumptions, conclusions that are drawn by the reader?
How can one answer RC’s correctly: Tips and Strategies
Reading habit: To be able to answer RC’s correctly one needs to develop the habit of reading. Start by reading newspapers. One should then move onto short stories and novels. Initially one can start with easy to grasp novels (many Indian authors have begun writing; these novels are easy to understand and have a storyline that is enjoyable). When one begins to read, one should not worry about speed. Speed increases when one begins to enjoy reading.
One should also read comics. It helps one to learn how to visualize while reading. When one is able to visualize in pictorial forms reading becomes a joy. A student once remarked how one visualizes the 2G scam. Now when the word 2G scam is read by the brain, the image that I can visualize is that of a mobile, Mr. P Chidambaram and A Raja. This ability to visualize keeps me interested while reading; hence I would not mind reading practically anything.
Vocalization: Vocalization is also an important thing that one needs to keep in mind. Vocalization is the practice of reading out. As children our school teachers, parents would ask us to read out aloud. This was to maintain attention because our minds wanders at the slightest noise that would be heard. But at this stage that is not required. We now know how to maintain attention. So this practice of reading out aloud needs to be curbed. Because it hampers speed and it also makes one lose concentration. One begins to take liberty of letting the mind wander as one thinks that one is reading out aloud so the words are automatically falling on ears (or deaf-ears as I may say!).
Skimming and scanning: The next technique would be skimming and scanning. Skimming and scanning requires the reader to browse through the text casually, to take in an idea of what the text contains, is it a subject that one is comfortable with, does the language seem full of jargons. First understand the length of the passage. Next browse through each paragraph by not reading each and every word or line, but by letting the eyes glide over the text. Let the eye try and capture the gist of the passage by understanding what the passage talks about in the general sense.

Choosing an MBA Specialization can be as difficult and confusing as the decision to choose a career for yourself or deciding from where you want to pursue your MBA Degree. Though MBA institutes keep coming with highly specialized courses and programmes, such as MBA in Sports Management or MBA in Hospitality & Tourism, most Indians are wary of their credibility and reputation in the job market.
Here are the top 5 MBA Specializations that strike a chord with Indians:
Finance
MBA in Finance does not lead only to investment banks and securities firms. It offers numerous possibilities in the corporate world too. Finance Managers can become Accounting Managers who prepare finance reports for the company, or Financial Analysts who focus on developing financial strategies and go about money management for the company.
Finance MBA coursework can provide a solid background for the prestigious CPA (Certified Public Accountant) exam or the equally venerated CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) exam.
Those who do MBA in Finance can go on to become:
• Cash Managers
• Risk and Insurance Managers
• Credit Managers
• Management Consultants
• Investment Banking Associates and later Investment
• Bankers
• Treasurers and Finance Officers
• Controllers (who prepare budget reports for regulatory agencies and business management, do audits and prepare cash management strategies)
• The ‘C’ Position: ‘CFO’ or Chief Financial Officers supervise all financial and accounting operations, strategies, and policies of the company.

Marketing
The single most popular specializations amongst MBA graduates in India, Marketing is a hard-core front-end job and is meant for leaders. MBA Marketing is very dynamic and competitive. You need excellent communication skills, resource mobilization skills and an undying zeal to excel to make it to the top-level positions in the field of sales and marketing.
If you have an outgoing and spontaneous personality, can influence people with your words and actions, and live in the moment, marketing management might be your cup of tea.
MBA in Marketing can lead you to fat pay packages as Brand Manager, Project Manager, Sales Manager, Marketing Manager, Market Research Analyst, Area/Regional Manager and even to the position of Chief Marketing Officer (CMO).
A large chunk of CEO positions in top multinational companies are dominated by people from the Marketing background.
Operations
MBA in Operations equips you to deal with Production Management or Shop Floor Management. You learn how to come up with and maintain process flows, develop vendor and inter-departmental relationships, do ancillary management etc. to ensure smooth and efficient business operations. With Business Operations as your MBA specialization, you may start off as Product Manager or Technical Supervisor and reach the position of Chief Technology Officer (CTO) or General Manager of a company, especially in manufacturing, engineering and IT sectors.
Business Operations offers a varied and fast-paced work environment. Operations Management specialization can be further sub-divided into:
• Production or Manufacturing Operations
• Service Operations
Most candidates with engineering backgrounds go for MBA Operations, as it gives them an edge over their peers in product development and designing, intranet development and process optimization. Companies too give preference to MBA Operations students with technical or engineering backgrounds during campus placements.

Information Technology (IT)
Information Technology (IT) or Management Information Systems (MIS) has recently emerged as one of the most important MBA specializations. For those who have IT background (as a software engineer or IT graduate), MBA IT can open up positions like System Analyst, Technical Systems Manager, Technical Consultant, and Business Development Manager – all the way upto the position of the Chief Information Officer (CIO) or Chief Technology Officer (CTO). IT, ecommerce, and related industries often offer good placements to MBA IT graduates.
In the high-tech environment of today, MBA IT opens up several career opportunities for you as:
• Business Analyst: where you can interact between customer requirements and document them properly for developers.
• Pre-Sales or Business Development Manager: where you prepare presentations for clients and basically, translate technical innovations of your company in terms understandable by laymen.
• Sales or ERP Consultant: where you deal with customizing ERP solutions (like SAP) to suit client requirements.
• Project Manager: where you are directly involved with implementing a project – right from planning and estimation to managing resources to time management.
• QA Manager: where you are responsible for assessing and controlling the quality of the software solutions being provided to clients.
• Functional or Process Consultant: where you configure and re-configure processes and chalk out verticals to complete efficient operations within an IT company.
• Management professionals with technical skills gain tremendous respect among their peers in today’s world.
Human Resources (HR)
Human Resources or HR is one of the trickiest jobs in the corporate world. From Recruitment and Selection of personnel to deciding Compensation to Employee Training and Development to Job Analysis and Performance Appraisals, an HR manager is the ringmaster in the business jungle. Besides, those who choose MBA in HR can also develop themselves as Industrial Relations Manager or developing cross-cultural working environment in multinational and global companies, which are highly specialized jobs.
Human Resources Management is concerned with internal marketing of a company. The credit for how your employees work for you and how well they understand HR policies of the firm depends on HR. Recently, India has noticed a big change in the way people view HR professionals. Salary packages are getting fatter, and educational institutions known for their Human Resources programmes are getting adequate support from the corporate world.

XLRI Pune, IIM Lucknow, TISS and MDI Gurgaon reported 100% placements in their HR programs. The average salary for MBA HR at MDI Gurgaon was Rs 8 lakh per annum! Since only 10% of MBA aspirants choose HR as their specialization field, it seems that Marketing and Finance has higher level of corporate interest. But the truth is that if you do MBA in Human Resources from a good B-school that offers high-quality curriculum with an expert faculty programme, you will find several good career options in the global marketplace.
Conclusion
Your MBA specialization basically depends on your personality, skills, and career goals. The traditional fields of Marketing and Finance will always remain popular. Those who prefer to crunch numbers and are comfortable relegating to the background with balance sheets may do well with Finance specialization. Those who love to interact with clients, are creative and innovative, and can influence people easily can choose Marketing as their specialization.

How do you envision a two year MBA program?  Lots of studying? Lots of work? Everyday packed back to back? All in quest of a dream job….. we at GICE make that journey a simply unforgettable one. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, right? So lets make it lots of play and lots of work too. How do we do that? By keenly listening to your needs and acting appropriately on it.  For Holi March 2013, GICE threw a lavish party as we were aware of the tension building up, with examinations around the corner. To help you get out of monotony our management decided to host a party at the Lalit Ashok. The success of the party was in a word ABSOLUTE and we helped create so many fond memories , forge lifelong bonds and of course achieved the purpose we started out with which was – Relax and Recreate.

FIVE-POINT SUCCESS RULES FOR MBA STUDENTS

1. SKILL SETS: They must acquire hard skills in their area of specialization like Economics/Finance, HR, Sales and marketing, IT and Operations Management and soft skills such as Leadership skills, conflict resolution skills, problem solving skills, assertiveness skills, influencing skills, creative thinking skills, time management skills, public speaking skills. Learning happens through exploration and experimentation and very little is handed down knowledge. Along with strong domain skills, the MBA student also needs to develop integrative, systematic and emotional intelligence to facilitate decision making in unambiguous circumstances.

2. NETWORKING: Building relationships with alumnus, faculties and business/community leaders is key. This would assist them in placements, developing career path and building business relationships.

3. COMMUNICATION/PRESENTATION SKILLS: This is one of the most important attributes of being an MBA graduate, who is expected to articulate his/her ideas and solutions in a crisp, confident and professional manner.

4. ANALYTICAL SKILLS: An MBA student should be competent in decision making, team interactions, technical work and be able to proactively solve problems that arise. Analyzing one’s own strengths and weakness will help them in balancing their limits and converting the areas of weakness to strengths.

5. PRESEPECTIVES ON ISSUES: As most learning objectives are taught through case studies students should develop their own way of expressing their view point about a particular topic/situation. MBA graduates should widen their way of thinking, they should be able to reflect on various topics and develop their own point of view.

-

A MARGARET DUA

Saurabh Sonawala 

MANAGING DIRECTOR,

HINDITRON 

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND SERVICES

Sir has Master of Science (M.S.), Computer Engineering (University of Washington), B. Tech, Electrical Engineering (Indian Institute of Technology, Madras)

Sir is also MEMBER of CSI Mumbai chapter and Computer Society of India an Nonprofit; 10,001+ employees; Nonprofit Organization Management industry Sales-Digital Equipment Corporation Public Company; 10,001+ employees; HPQ; Information Technology and Services industry.

SAURABH SONAWALA, is also the founder of USIIC (U.S.-IMDIAN IMPORTERS’ COUNCIL)

Mission Statement: The US-India Importers’ Council acts as an Intermediary Organization to facilitate partnership and trade between Indian and American businesses, thus acting as a catalyst in promoting economic growth between the United States & India.

Mr. Saurabh Sonawala had helped us in realizing what we as an MBA graduates or an employee require to meet the current and future requirements of an organization. He shared his experience about how the organization performs, what are the organizations looking for in an employee. He told us that A good employee/ manager/ leader is one who is taking Initiative, one who is ready to face problem, one who is able to bring in innovative thoughts or ideas to solve those problems. He also told us that a good leader is one who is able to communicate. Communicate his/ her thoughts, plans, objectives, vision and mission of the Organization effectively. He also told that we have to make use of opportunities, try to explore our talents at the right time in the right place.

It was being great listening to him. We had lots of input that is very useful for each and every step in our life.

We thank him for his contribution and are looking forward to hear lot more from him.

-

GICE

Mrs. ANCHAL M DUA

Chief Mentor

M A, B. Ed, M B A.

A person can choose the right path when there is a right mentor; one of the best examples is Mrs. Anchal M Dua. Mentor doesn’t mean a person who corrects the lives but shows the right path towards excellence. Personality varies from person to person which is because of human nature.

Mrs. Anchal M Dua creates her own path and creates her own destiny, she is adventurous and tries to find out more about which has already been known. She motivates the students and she believes that every individual has some unique qualities. She is very optimistic and looks at the brighter side of life; she is a person who looks for the holistic development of pupils. All and all what seems like the end point for others she takes it as a starting point.

On 29^th September 2012, the Health Committee at GICE, Bangalore organized a Dental Checkup on the occasion of ‘World Heart Day. We were privileged to have not one but three Dentists in our campus who checked each and every student free of cost and advised every student as per their dental status. Each of the dentists shared his valuable advice and tips for proper dental care.

The Health Committee member had a meeting earlier and came up with a great idea. We had long discussions on the events to be conducted by the Health Committee. Then we got an idea for dental checkup because many of the students have teeth problems and are not aware of proper dental care.

But the idea could not have been implemented without the support and guidance of our chief mentor Mrs. Anchal M Dua. She was very pleased with the idea of dental checkup and gave her full support as well as encouraged us. She was a great support for making this event successful.

Health committee coordinator Mr. Gopal extended advice and support. He helped us in coming up with some very good presentation on ‘Dental Care.’ And also gave his brilliant idea on the format of the show.

As we were celebrating World Heart Day, Mrs. Dua threw some light on the functions of the heart, symptoms of the heart attack and what to do if one gets attack with the help of some very beautiful presentations. It was of great help for the students as many of us are not aware of it and Heart diseases are very prominent these days in any age group.

Last, but not the least, hearty cooperation of our Director Prof. Anuradha Kamath was also one of the reasons for making this event successful. But each and every member of the committee had left no stone unturned to make this event a grand success.

On 1^st Oct-2012, we the students of GICE (Global Institute for Corporate Education, Bangalore) went to Club Cabana to celebrate the Freshers’ Party organized by our seniors and loving staff members.

Club Cabana is located away from the hustle and bustle of the city and takes us right into lap of nature. This is the perfect place to conduct conferences, picnics, parties and get together. It is just 25kms away from the city of Bangalore.

At 6.30am we were asked to assemble in college. Then we had a photo session in college. We departed from college to Club Cabana at 7.30 AM in a bus. While going to the resort we had lot of fun, sang songs and played Antakshari with our seniors. At 8.30 AM we reached Club Cabana. At 9 AM breakfast was served and we were told that as soon as we finished the breakfast we could go for swimming and rides. Then we had wholesome lunch at 1PM. After the lunch, some small indoor and outdoor activities were conducted. The Indoor activities were lemon and spoon race, three-legged race, mimicry and shayari (poem recital). Outdoor activities such on treasure hunt etc..

At 4 PM we had tea and snacks and then we were given the time to get ready for the main event. The main event was the Talent Show. It started at 5 PM and the first event was the singing competition which was divided into solo, duet and group performances.

The second event was the dance competition. This was also divided into solo, duet and group performances. After that we had ramp walk, where the entire fresher’s had to participate. We had 2 rounds, 1st round was the ramp walk and in the 2^nd round we were supposed to answer the questions asked by the judges. Total 30 fresher’s participated in the 1st round out of which 10 were short listed for the 2^nd round. Marks were given based on the participant’s confidence, attitude and their answer to given question.  After taking the above points into consideration, Mr. and Miss FRESHER were selected crowned.

Prizes were distributed by our Chairman Mr. Somendra Choudhary, followed by DJ night where, everyone danced away to glory and had lots of fun.

At 10 pm we all moved towards the dining hall. After dinner we all collected our belongings, boarded our bus and left for home.

It was a very memorable day for everyone. Personally I enjoyed a lot and saw that our teachers also mingled with us very freely.

About the Author

Gouranga Sundar Datta is a First Year PGPM + MBA Professional (Batch 2012-2014)

I feel very fortunate to have Mr. Venu Puthuserry as a guest lecturer. I am very much fascinated about his thought and ideas. I think his thought and speech will help all the students to hold a better place in a corporate world. He didn’t talk much but stuck to the four points which are of great importance for us students who are aspiring to be in corporate.

Those four points were-

• Becoming a specialist.
• Developing a point of view.
• Team work is the way of life.
• Working with your passion.

He told a very good thing about specialization that “specialization and division of labor represents a qualitative increase in productivity.” He told us that specialize means to devote time exclusively to an interest, skill or field of study. I think his idea will help many of the students to choose their specialization subject. Then he talks about ‘Developing a point of view.’ According to him, it is very important to create an identity for us and also to appreciate others’ point of view. But for the creation of an identity knowledge of the domain plays a vital role.

As all the successful corporates keep on telling about networking he also lays emphasis on ‘Networking’.  He also believes in team work and advised to share our knowledge and experience with others which will help us in being an effective team player.

I personally am very much fascinated about his thought of ‘working with your passion.’ He shared with us some of his personal experiences. He likes he is passionate about traveling, tourism and food. This is the reason why he joined the finance sector. He gets an opportunity to tour around the world without harming his job. He gave a formula to fulfill our passion by linking our passion with the work. He told us that if we have passion in our work we can easily reach the height we want.

To sum up, I would say he shared with us four magical thought or idea. If we follow these four points we can achieve whatever we want.

About the Author

Reshmi Manjari is a First Year MBA (Mysore University) Professional (Batch 2012-2014)

GICE’s PGPM programme was inaugurated on 27^th August 2012.

Captain O. P.  Dua delivered the inaugural address.  During his inspiring speech Captain OP Dua talked about the challenges and opportunities awaiting management students   and stressed on the skills and competencies to be acquired by students for a successful corporate career.

This was followed by another motivational address by Dr. Manu Kulkarni, a doyen from industry and academics who was the Guest of Honour for the day.

The afternoon session belonged to Mr. H. L. Krishnamurthy fondly called as HLK, an accomplished Corporate Trainer and Health care Industry veteran. As regards his qualifications, Mr. H. L. Krishnamurthy holds a post graduate degree in Psychology and is certified Neuro Linguistic Programme (NLP) Fractioned. He has been in the Health industry for the past 21years and has got 10 years of experience in Corporate training and Mind Management.

“Mind Management” is the brainchild of Mr. H. L. Krishnamurthy and he has successfully conducted more than 600 workshops on “Mind Ur Mind” for various groups across the country.
The 21st century managers have to go through a lot of stress and make various vital decisions at the workplace. “Mind Management” plays an important role in defining work-life balance for managers. In his session, he introduced to us various concepts of mind management and different ways of conditioning our minds. It was better explained by “Pavlovian Theory of Classical Conditioning.”
Mind Management is therefore gaining increasing importance in today’s world. Mr. Krishnamurthy successfully taught us such a complicated subject through very simple activities. “One of the main awareness that we should all have is which part of the brain (Left or Right) controls which activities that we perform on a day to day basis” said Mr. Krishnamurthy. Through his activities in his session Mr. Krishnamurthy created awareness among the entire audience about which part of the brain dominates the other.

On the whole I would like to conclude with a quote by Rabindranath Tagore “Most people believe that mind is a mirror, more or less accurately reflecting the world outside them, not realizing on the contrary that the mind is itself the principal element of creation”

About the Author

Bhavana is a First Year PGPM + MBA Professional (Batch 2012-2014)