I have just received an acceptance letter from MISB Bocconi but I have a few doubts regarding it.So while looking to find avenues from where I can get this answered,I came across FindMBA. Following are my doubts
1. The degree isnt AICTE approved, how much of a factor is it if you are looking to be a working in India,hopefully in a decent profile/job.
2. The faculty seems really nice to me as most of them will be coming down from SDA Bocconi but for someone looking to work in India, will an Italian teacher's perspective helpful(will he understand the Asian market)?
3. How do you guys see this school growing in a few year's time?Since SDA Bocconi seems to have a very good reputation,will this school also grow on the same lines?
4. The study abroad sems with Universities like NUS, McGill, UCLA(Anderson) tells you anything about the credibility of the school and will it be helpful?

I really hope people can give some detailed answers to my queries.

While I dont question the quality of MISB program, but to be in india you should look for those schools which have deeper roots in country itself. If post MBA you plan to work abroad than may be MISB is a good option.

Ok,if I plan to work abroad for some time before coming back to India,do you think then MISB is a good choice?Are you sure about its credibility and you think students enrolled here will have decent post MBA work opportunities? As it is not approved by AICTE,should that be a concern?some idea about return on investment too.

JK Duncan, ralph, mba hipster...guys please!! I need something to base my decision on. I dont have much time since I need to submit my enrollment fee pretty soon.

I think this really depends on your goals.

On the plus side, you'll get an experience which generally reflects the differences between top business schools outside India, and the IIMs. Bocconi is a qualitatively better preparation for management. You will get teamwork and, as far as is possible, diversity in a way which will not be the case in a top Indian school. It is an excellent programme, and a great preparation for life.

You can also expect the general positives of a new programme: leading edge insight, an emphasis on quality and great responsivness.

On the other hand, there are several of the generic weaknesses of a new programme, and the general struggle which many Indian students and employers have with Western schools. The first year is slightly experimental and, while the pros outweigh the cons, that requires students with some tolerance for ambiguity. Remember, Italy is oriented towards high quality, not just process consistency, and they will wnat to refine the programme.

You can also expect integrated thinking, interactive classrooms and intensive group work. Not all Indian students and employers will value that. In particular, it must be understood that many Indian employers think of MBAs as being very young functional specialists that cannot be easily assembled into self-managing teams. I'm not sure how far India can easily integrate the Western MBA, either in terms of demand or supply.

If I was an Indian who was unable to study abroad then I would jump into Bocconi with eyes wide open, and two feet first. But the important thing is to understand the risk that a Western MBA might open up broader vistas than might be expected.

It is obvious that India has the talent to fill Bocconi many times over. I would be interested to see how easily graduates get jobs which take advantage of the richer education.

How exciting! To be a pioneer!

Thanks a lot for the wise words. So,it is fair for me to expect to graduate with decent business management skills but will I get to work in India,that remains to be seen. If this is true then I think it is worth a risk to educate yourself with quality and hope that eventually this training will lead to monetary returns,be it from being placed in a decent company or being an entrepreneur.
Do you think Italian companies in India will be interested in a Bocconi graduate?

I suspect that it's hard for Bocconi to fail. But I think it might be a niche player eventually. Which companies or industries most need Bocconi-shaped people? I will be curious to know. I suspect that family businesses will be interested in Bocconi.

Italian companies in India will be very intersted in Bocconi alumni: you will be able to understand both the western mindset and the European one. More importantly, at least a part of your loyalties will be to the Italian firm.

Such positive words. I hope MISB lives upto the hype. Thanks for sparing the time to write sir.

Well, no-one can tell what will happen, but the ingredients are all right. The first year will certainly have frustrations, employers will be uncertain and the alumni network will scale up from a small base. But MIBS will be a brave experiment.

I heard that Uday Karmakar maybe the dean http://www.pagalguy.com/news/the-number-good-b-schools-india-too-less-uclas-dr-uday-karmarkar-who-may-join-misb-bocconi-dean-a-27685 He taught me when I took courses at UCLA, and will really shake things up. He is world class.

Hi all
Previous posts have been very informative
So if someone is taking a decision and putting in all that money in a course how can one be really sure .
Like if you would have been taking a decision about joining MISB with all its pros and cons what would have governed your decision.
I know its a personal decision but your prospective about it will help students like us to take an appropriate decision.

Duncan thanks for your posts n the fact that you wrote about Mr Uday Karmarkar being an excellent teacher has really left me to think that I should take the offer if I think quality is more important than quantity.n if I have the confidence in my own ability than there is not much to think in this proposition. One last thing, if a few years down the line I have a diploma from SDA Bocconi, would it be like a diploma from a world class institute or it will be like a diploma from any tier one institute anywhere?

I think Bocconi is fairly ranked. I think SDA Bocconi will have advantages over MIBS Bocconi because of its diversity but, broadly speaking, I think they will be seen on the same level.

@ jk duncan : will the fact that MISB has 2 diplomas ( 1 Post graduate diploma in business from MISB Mumbai and 1 diploma from SDA Italy ) be equivalent of an MBA ?

In the sense that the PGDM's from the IIMs and ISB are MBAs, then yes. Of course they are legally not masters degrees, but they have similar standing. I imagine that some universities would not accept the PGDM or PGCM for entry into PhDs.

Thanks for the reply. One more question, is the 2nd batch too early to try out MISB ? As in, the college is hardly a year old so will joining it be a gamble ? Also, how would you rate MISB wrt the colleges apart from the IIMS in INDIA

I think I've answered this already. But the 'upside risk' and the 'downside risk' are higher, and will continue to be if MIBS is successful. If you have no tolerance for risk, don't go there.

I expect MIBS to easily stand in the top 10 to 20 schools in India.

Hello people
I am a student of MISB Bocconi currently, as a part of the first batch. I think it'll be a good idea for me to address a few of your queries as a first hand experienced person.

1. A lot of you naturally are apprehensive about Indian employers' response to MISB. Allow me to state that in our batch of 30, there has been a 100% internship placement, of which 28 were through the college. We had companies like Ray Ban, BNP Paribas Italy, Piaggio Vespa, Fiat, DMA Yellow Works, ICICI Bank, MCX Stock Exchange, Deutsche Bank, Walmart, Givenchy and several other very highly coveted corporates of India recruit us in roles that are only provided to students of ISB, IIMs. I myself am interning at DY Works, which is one of the top branding firms in India and recruits only from Symbi and IIMs and I was placed by the college.

Most of us have a decent stipend. The highest being to two of our classmates who got into BNP Paribas Italy with a monthly stipend of 1.5 lacs approx. I think it should solve most of your doubts.

2. The faculty is indeed the highest point, with professors currently operating in each of their areas of expertise actively and not just solely teaching. They have very high profiles, being on the Boards of top Investment banks in Europe, a few who are on the Boards of ECB, a few CEOs, entrepreneurs and consultants to the very top world corporations. They have so much knowledge and are so open to sharing all of it with us and they keep in touch with us, sharing with us interesting articles about each of our personal areas of interests and addressing the oddest of our questions!

3. Our course is very intensive. We are always on our toes, with cases articles, discussions, presentations and simulations every single day. The best way to learn. It actually makes us think hard about things! There is relatively lesser importance to the written exams, and more on the actual learning.

4. As for the AICTE approval, most international courses with autonomously regulated courses do not seek the approval because AICTE regulations require them to follow particular syllabii and prescribe particular books. Employers do not pay attention to the AICTE ranking and I know this because of having been a Recruiter at an Executive Search firm before joining the school. There have recently been talks of making AICTE approval requirements not applicable to MBA courses anyway.

4. I will be attending a course on Digital Marketing at the Campus Abroad option at UCLA Anderson School of Business and I strongly recommend the PGPB for everyone especially for the international exposure it allows us. Most of our class is attending the Exchange Semester at SDA Bocconi, Milan too.

5. Infrastructure wise, it is of the highest quality. The location at Hiranandani in Mumbai is very strategically advantageous due to the large corporates surrounding the campus! It is also very well connected to all forms of transport. It is really well built, spacious, and technically advance. I would recommend visiting it once.

So that answers most of the points I could remember confusing me when I was taking admissions last year. I'd be happy to address any other questions anyone may have.

Smiti Mohan

Class of 2014, MISB Bocconi
Initiative of SDA Bocconi, University of Bocconi, Italy.
India Campus: 9th Floor,Hiranandani Knowledge Park,
Powai, Mumbai.

Hey. Thanks for sucha detailed reply Smiti. There are a few apprehensions that I have and I feel somebody like you will be in the best position to address them. They are-
1. Since you have just talked about the school in a positive light, shudnt I feel it too good to be true? I mean c'mon, there must be certain things you want to be improved upon. I'd like to know that.

2. You pointed that a couple of students wernt placed by the school so was it by choice or forced?

3. Dont you think the number of International placements is a little small and the two who have been placed are in Italy. Since its a global brand, dont you think internship opportunities in places like singapore and hong kong which are the business capitals, should also be available or can be made available in the near future? How do you look at that?

4. If someone wants to specialize in luxury brand management than do you think during final placements some national or international offers will be available? If you will touch this topic in regard to famous companies like Gucci, prada etc. it will be wonderful.

5. What do you think about the Big Four? I have not read any mention of them anywhere even though they are so actively involved in terms of campus activities or final recruitment at the SDA campus. Am just curious to know....

6. The stipend that the students are getting in India, what is the average of it and since you touched on the roles being equivalent(to my utmost delight) to the roles being offered to IIM students, first, can you specifically quote one of such roles that are same as being given in IIM and second, if the roles are same, does that also mean the remuneration is of the same order?

I know that I am being poignant in my questions but like you wrote a candid post, so did I,well am a little more curious than most pepl so I hope you will be happy to write about each of the points I have mentioned above.

RJ

haha. Thank you for your response Rashi. Here are your answers:
1. As a student I'm naturally positively biased. Having said that, I believe there are things they need to address and a few of these are being improved upon. We have had some teething problems, because of it being the very first year but the college is learning as it goes. Most of them are small internal friction that occur in most colleges, about communication, some facilities etc, not really anything that must concern one who is looking to take admissions, rest assured. They are just everyday settlement issues.

2. See, out of the 3 students that were not placed by college, one chose to join a company at his father's reference by choice, the other got placed at a Tata company with personal contacts and the third had difficulty getting placed initially because of the typical role he was looking at, but the college got him placed too. So that's how it is.

3. See, the companies that have come to our college are mostly MNCs. But considering how the Western Economies are performing they are not hiring foreign students irrespective of colleges very easily. Also, the management seems to be in talks with the major companies and pulling all stops for the final placements. Another thing is, ours being a very new college, the top MNCs are looking to wait and watch the internship performances and standards the college has these two years. I have no doubt in my mind that they will be able to get us international placements for the final thing and internships in the next few years.

4. On the luxury branding front, as I said before we have had placements with Chalhoub Group, which is the sole distributor of brands like Ralph Lauren, Givenchy, Coty Prestige, Davidoff, CK, Prada, etc. I have two classmates working with Givenchy and Davidoff and one working at Luxottica (Owner of Rayban, Sunglass Hut, one of the largest brand portfolio owners in the industry).
If you wish to pursue a career in Luxury Branding, you may choose to specialize in the same during the exchange semester at Milan, and attend the very famous Bocconi Job Fest, which houses the very top corporates of the world and is open to all SDA as well as MISB students while in Milan. We have these companies you mention come in there, I believe.

5. We haven't had the Big4 for internship placements but we can expect them at Bocconi Job Fest and I think college management may be in talks with them (it is hard to be sure, as these negotiations are obviously not disclosed to us). I think they may be at least in talks because our college seems to be at least in discussion with most top companies so it is hard to leave these out.

6. I am unsure of the average, you are going to have to check with the admission guys on that. Most of us are working with companies are offered only to tier one colleges in companies like Luxottica (which very rarely goes anywhere other than ISB), Ferrero, my own DY Works Branding does not hire from colleges other than IIMs and Symbi. I am unsure of remunerations at other companies. But at my own, there is no such difference. Our classmates have been offered Branding roles, wealth management roles, investment banking, digital marketing, retail strategy management, operations management and other such coveted roles. Most of us report to the top management.

I hope that answers these queries satisfactorily. Let me know if you need more clarifications.

There's something very interesting here, which is the possibility that the 'satellite' campus gets better results than the hub. Bocconi is so strong in the Italian market, but it's a market that has limited growth in its domestic market. Perhaps we can imagine the time when students get more senior roles from MIBS than from SDA one day, even if the Indian salaries don't line up with the Italian ones. It certainly reminds me of the experience with London Business School's campus in Dubai, where we (I am an alum and interviewer) found much more favourable conditions than in London because of the domestic market for talent, which was trained to have hierarchical, rather than creative, approaches to business.