ISB in the News!
There was a sizzling news item in Today’s Economic Times about ISB. Attached below is the press clip.
ISB grads rake in $200,000 packet
• Dollar Dreams Hit New High
VIVEK SINHA, NEW DELHI
THE B-school moolah route has hit a new high this year. Five students of the Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad, have been offered $200,000 plus (about Rs 1 crore) pay package. This is just the floor level. While the figure is one of the highest ever, the fact that as many as five students from one batch have been offered such a package is unprecedented in the history of ISB.
You would be surprised to note that chief marketing officers in America earn base salaries of that level, and here we are just talking about MBA grads out of India. To be fair, these are lateral placements, and so these students are not 23-year old fresher who have bagged such a deal.
Though exact figures are still under wraps, it is believed that at least one of them could have even been offered more than the all-time record in India clocked by an IIM-C grad five years back — $225,000 per annum.
ISB spokesperson declined to confirm or deny the news saying: “We will be making a public announcement about the placements this year next week.”
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To my knowledge there is only partial truth to this news. May be I am ignorant! But the issue here is not about the news, it’s about the media’s intention about the news.
I wonder how “word-of-mouth” news about placements can be published just like that without proper verification. Media people are clearly after selling “hot” news without verifying if the news is authentic or not-authentic. The situation is same in all countries especially as far as B-schools are concerned. I can see this news in two ways…Either there are some people in ISB who are providing “insider” information or News reporters are trying to hype the situation and setting up the institute for failure! To be honest, I am fed up with these kind of “Highest salary 1 crore” (The figure which is apparently a result of B-schools converting the GBP/EUR figure into Dollars and then into Rupees, each at the highest possible exchange rate at any point of the year!!!)…Phew! There is much more about B-schools than just placements or salaries….
PS: Couple of weeks back, I mentioned that 25 odd people are jobless and searching for their fit. The situation has vastly improved with many of those people getting a job offer according to their requirements. One of my friend in that 25 group, now has 4 offers to choose from ! It’s just the question of time….Patience is the key!
Boss, had it been word of mouth it would not have appeared.
Having said that if you read carefully, the spokesperson did not deny it because she just can’t deny the truth.
Since the exact figure was not known it mentions that it “could” have been more than the highest ever recorded in India.
Rs 1 crore stems (not from some juggling of exchange rates… $’s not gonna reach Rs 50 anytime soon) but because the package is “$200,00 plus” and its “about Rs 1crore”
One more thing.. going through you guys’ blogs is part of the research..
Its better not to judge without knowing the facts!!
Comment by Vivek — March 31, 2006, Friday @ 1:58 pm
laughing my ass off reading these news da machan…. Media is really making ajoke out of the management education system in India…FYI Infy consulting (not IT)offers 68K British Pound Salary at Sr Consultant level in London. Now thats well over half crore. SO we can make a news like : Infy salary ranges for MBAs is from 10lac to half crore for same levels of experience ??
Comment by Jeeva — March 31, 2006, Friday @ 5:46 pm
No wonder that the “news” was published in Economic Times and not in reputed newspapers like Financial Express and Business Standard. The Times group is well known for publishing crap. Probably they have ran out of nude mms scandals, bird flu kinda happening news and turned to MBA salaries instead.
Even the dumbest person in ISB knows that this news is utter non-sense.
Dear Vivek, the avg american family inome is around $50K. If you convert it into INR, the figure is Rs 22.5 lacs. By your logic, the 80% of general American population must be richer than 15% of rich Indian population isn’t it? I have heard something called PPP (purchasing power parity) and standard of living..Have you??
I think the ISB spokesperson is not knowledgeable enough to know what is going on in the institute or the ET correspondent is ultra smart to apply the PPP/standard of living funda while converting INR salaries to $$ salaries. By that logic, any Indian salary above 20 lacs is equivalent to $200K salary in US east /west coasts and downtown London.
Comment by Black Rock — March 31, 2006, Friday @ 8:21 pm
It was interesting to read Aamir Khan’s interview lambasting the callousness with which media - Indian media especially - reports these days. The interview can be found on tehelka website. I don’t understand how different these people are from the photographers that pursued Diana just before her death. Only thing these people haven’t managed to “achieve” anything that unfortunate yet.
Why can’t ET wait 2/3 days more and publish the right figure authorized by the institute instead of publishing some hearsay account.
Comment by Karthik — March 31, 2006, Friday @ 10:00 pm
Hey Black Rock.. you are trying to explain PPP to an eco post grad.. simply forget it. Ok, keeping aside all that jazz..lemme take your points..I am with you when you say there is lotta(actually more than what you might even imagine) crap in media(spec.. T Group) even tho the examples u mention may sound just like sleazy stuff to u but reflect on them and you might get a hang of the fact that it can actually affect our lives… Bird Flu.. again might seem like chicken shit of a news but it can shave off points off GDP. I’ll leave that upto u to think about..u can hv your counter views.. no problem.
As far as the story goes.. where does it talk about rich/poor/standard of living??? The only sentence which comes close to it when it talks about the comparison with the “base” salaries of American CMOs.. This is as per the latest Mercer salary report. Nowhere does the article say that these 5 students would start living like the top paid CEOs in India.
If you really think about it.. your views are formed because you interpret it that way. It was a news report of somethin that has happend(its not utter nonsense either.. you wud get to know next wednesday).. if you wud then ask for certified copies of the offer letters then you might be the dumbest person in ISB!
Karthik… if that is the impression coming out of the story.. its unfortunate that bright minds can stretch a “news” report to such an analogy..
Cheers
Comment by Vivek — April 1, 2006, Saturday @ 12:58 pm
For those who wanted to flush out the ET report heres another un..
MSN Money control - News about ISB
This is a CNBC take on the subject.. This is what you guys shud be #$@#%& about. This is plagiarism and misreporting of the first order!
Try to find the difference and you wud be just one step ahead in understanding media. Ignorance is not the solution.. you would know it when you get to higher positions of corporate ladders
Comment by Vivek — April 1, 2006, Saturday @ 1:31 pm
Anonymous AKA Vivek,
Firstly…You have done whatever you thought was right, but now you have gotten reaaaaly defensive about it. Forget it dude…the actual news will come out in a short while and hopefully you wont look too bad….its in your best interest to wait.
By the way…this is not the karthik with the FM radio station job…I think you jump to conclusions very quickly (Just like your report)
Whay are we all worked up about…well because it affects our institution’s name and the way it is projected, it puts a lot of us under pressure. We do not want our B-school to be known as just a place for higher salaries, but as a great place to study, learn and build networks (you would know if you ever come down here!)
Well…My 2 cents on it…..after all this gyaan you will still do your job in the best way you know…but please do think twice before you publish anything sensational.
Ferrari
Comment by Ferrari — April 1, 2006, Saturday @ 5:56 pm
Cool
Sorry about the FM radio jingle jangle.. The initials lookd similar.
Usually, we dont get direct comments on our stories so when I saw a few thought atleast some doubts should be cast aside. I probably got carried away.. but it was fun reading how students view media…
sensational..projection of ISB…Gosh! I will leave it you and your interpretations
Best of luck
Comment by Vivek — April 1, 2006, Saturday @ 6:33 pm
I have doubts about the “number” of people getting 200,000$+. Period.
Comment by Administrator — April 3, 2006, Monday @ 3:08 am