In today’s world, with the blurring of boundaries and a fundamental shift in the world economy, the workplace has become more global. Business success in this globalized world calls for skillful navigation through cultural minefields lending credence to the theory that culture is the real power of globalization. Every human mind is shaped by experience, history, and context and has some cultural filters through which it views the world. Understanding situations with the backdrop of culture assume a lot of significance and very often is the key driver of employee performance, engagement, and innovation. Hence, not surprisingly business leaders cite intercultural understanding as the single most crucial factor in international business success. At the SDA Bocconi Asia Center, the pan-Asian hub of SDA Bocconi School of Management, Italy, we pride ourselves on not only providing our students with a first-rate academic experience but also equipping them with intercultural communication skills needed to succeed in the ever-globalizing business arena. We believe the best way to develop a global outlook is to acquire the first-hand experience from around the world. Our students exhibit the most personal and professional development when they are compelled to solve problems in new environments and are part of diverse teams. This is evident when all of them participate in the international exchange program at Bocconi University which hosts students from 80 different nationalities and allows our students to acquire a competitive global approach along with a balanced, cross-cultural perspective. Another way in which we foster global perspectives is through the faculty; they come from diverse cultural backgrounds and nationalities and bring in a wealth of their global experience of working and consulting companies throughout the world. We also host study tours from global business schools such as Bocconi Italy, CEIBS China, ESSEC Paris, and Rotman Canada; these schools conduct their courses or modules here at the Asia Center for participants from more than ten different countries, further adding to the cross-cultural synergy for all our students. We also focus heavily on bringing in guest speakers from across industries, functions and multinational companies who share their experiences in managing talent across teams and geographies, further enhancing the first hand learning for our participants. At SDA Bocconi Asia Center we understand the importance of intercultural communication skills; we provide our students with cultural models for decoding how cultural differences can affect business and how invisible cultural boundaries can impact the effectiveness of global teams. The concept of cultural sensitivity permeates our teaching across programs so that students desist from falling into cultural traps. Some of the key focus areas are: 1. The role of language in intercultural business communication: Language and culture are intertwined and shape each other; every time we send a message we make cultural choices. Although language helps in communicating with people from different backgrounds, it is essential to be culturally literate to understand the nuances of the language. This is because words in themselves do not carry much meaning; the meaning is largely embedded in the context or arises out of a cultural usage. 2. Cultural rules for establishing relationships Symbols for authority and power vary across different cultures, as also the concept of what constitutes ethical behavior. Understanding cultural norms is exceptionally vital as each culture also has its unique rules and customs regarding what is acceptable social behavior; in fact, rewards for performance are also based on cultural considerations. 3. Persuading and negotiating across cultures Persuasion and negotiation are two very critical business skills which do not function in isolation but are deeply rooted in a culture’s philosophical, religious assumptions and attitudes. It is the culture that decides the goals and tells negotiators what is essential and enables them to assign meaning to the other party’s messages. 4. Orientation to time. Possibly, nowhere do cultures differ as much as they do that in their approach to time. Western European and North American cultures view time as linear and precise, South American and African cultures see time as more circular, whereas East and South Asian cultures could be either, depending on where you are located. None of these classifications regarding time are consistently true for any region or place – they only provide generalizations and guidelines. However, the concept of time orientation is necessary to understand at the beginning of any relationship to reduce conflicts over workload and deadlines. According to Prof. Seema Khanvilkar who teaches Business Communication at the SDA Bocconi Asia Center, “Culture is defined as the lens through which we view the world and we believe that individuals can widen their cultural lens (of course, an open mind is imperative) and work effectively in global teams with practice and experience. At the SDA Bocconi Asia Center, our focus is to orient our students towards a more collaborative future where cultural diversity is a given. Our students and executive candidates leave the program with real-life experience in inter-cultural understanding – applying this knowledge to sought-after leadership roles around the globe.” The SDA Bocconi Asia Center is the hub for SDA Bocconi in India and Asia at large. The school of management based in Milan, Italy, inaugurated its Indian presence in 2012 through MISB Bocconi catering mostly to the local Indian audience. As MISB completes six years, SDA Bocconi establishes it as SDA Bocconi’s pan-Asian hub, with a broader scope across India, the Middle East, China and the rest of Asia. SDA Bocconi Asia Center offers International Master in Business (IMB) a full-time postgraduate program which accepts CAT-17&18, our CAT average has been 90%ile. Know more about the school or speak to a program advisor. SDA Bocconi Asia Center is the prime sponsor of free CAT preparation on QS LEAP this year. This article has been republished. It was originally published in the Business Standard. Here's the link to the original article.

#SDA Bocconi Asia Center

David Bardolet, Dean of SDA Bocconi Asia Center and Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at SDA Bocconi School of Management, Italy's premier management school, is a man on a mission. In an interview with The Economic Times, Prof. Bardolet shared his aggressive plans for the SDA Bocconi Asia Center in Mumbai which is guided by the vision to create a unique 'branded educational experience.' Business education is a crowded space with more entrants every year. Tell us how the SDA Bocconi School of Management is unique. Indeed, business education is undergoing a profound transformation. In the past, we could focus on offering top-ranked MBA and executive programs to stay atop of our competitors. Don't get me wrong; we still have those best-in-class standard programs. For instance, our Full-time MBA program at SDA Bocconi is ranked #29th worldwide by Financial Times. But that is not enough anymore. The increasing fragmentation and sophistication of industries have led to a complete re-evaluation of the skills that individuals and companies require in their business education, as well as the ways to acquire those skills. For example, basic functional knowledge in finance, or marketing, or operations can now be learned in a massive online open course (MOOC) at a fraction of the cost. Therefore, business schools must now learn to provide much more sophisticated learning paths - we call them "branded educational experiences"- to those individuals and companies. These learning paths must be tailored in both content and delivery. We believe customization is the way forward and what makes us different right now. We are currently ranked 4th Worldwide by Financial Times in Custom Executive Education that demonstrates our ability to take it further and make it our distinctive quality. We create a close link between our faculty and each particular company that comes to us for a custom program to design training modules that genuinely respond to the strategic needs of the organization. For individuals, customization means providing not only actionable content but also access to high-competence professional networks, coaching, counselling on career development and more, on a one-on-one basis. SDA Bocconi inaugurated its presence in India in 2012 through MISB Bocconi, catering mostly to the Indian audience. As MISB completes six years, it becomes SDA Bocconi Asia Center, SDA Bocconi's pan-Asian hub, with a broader scope across India, the Middle East, China and the rest of Asia. We will focus on bringing SDA Bocconi's brand of executive education to India and increasingly to the rest of Asia, following the growing business relationships that are forming across the Middle East, India, China and South East Asia. We want to contribute to the fascinating transformation that is happening in the continent. We believe that our natural strengths can be of great use to the people leading that transformation. For example, as the top business school in Italy, we have developed an in-depth knowledge on what it takes for a small or medium-sized family-owned company to successfully grow and expand internationally, often outcompeting much larger corporations. We think this knowledge can be of great use to so many companies and managers in India and the Middle East that are contemplating a future of expansion from a similar starting point. Other areas in which SDA Bocconi distinguishes itself are Finance and Healthcare. What type of programs will be offered at SDA Bocconi Asia Center? On the executive front, we have an International Executive Masters in Business (IEMB) for professionals with over eight years of experience and a specialized program in Business Analytics as well as a growing number of custom initiatives that we have developed with various corporate customers like Larsen & Toubro and Future Group. In addition to the strong focus on executive education, the center will continue to grow the Post Graduate Program in Business targeted at freshers and young professionals. It is a full-time program that brings a unique combination of Indian identity and global perspective, thanks to strong industry connections and a truly international faculty. In fact, I am delighted to share that the upcoming 7th edition of PGPB at the Asia Center will be the largest batch so far since the inception of the former MISB. Interesting. What else happens at SDA Bocconi Asia Center say on a weekly basis? Our mission is to empower lives with knowledge and imagination, so we take the role of generators and aggregators of knowledge to heart. If you pass by the school on any given week, you might find an event with corporate experts on a particular topic - much like the one we recently organized with The Economic Times on design thinking. Then on some days, you might run into a group of international participants from schools like CEIBS, Rotman or ESADE among others that conduct their courses or modules here at the Asia Center, interacting and engaging with our students leading to a robust cross-cultural immersion. Almost on a daily basis, student clubs invite senior leaders for guest sessions so they can share their insights, industry knowledge, company roles, etc.This kind of meetings also helps our students to identify their career paths. During the week and sometimes on weekends, the Corporate Development Services team works with our students to build their profile based on their career objectives. They conduct regular mock interviews, case practices, and workshops for students such as Spin selling, Six Sigma, Advanced Excel, digital marketing, etc. to have them better prepared for Live projects, internships or placements. And then you might also find the faculty engaged in a topical conversation or even a fierce foosball competition with a bunch of students. Despite all this activity, the majority of time is dedicated to interactive lectures in which our faculty apply SDA Bocconi's practice-based approach, cross-cultural knowledge exchange and enhancement of soft skills that aim to develop thought leadership across all programs. Also, our research-focused Centers of Excellence in CSR, India business, Insurance and Retail and Luxury allow us to develop cutting-edge knowledge that is very grounded in the Indian context. In summary, we are very excited to bring SDA Bocconi's unique approach to business education to the business leaders of today and tomorrow, in India and Asia. SDA Bocconi Asia Center offers International Master in Business (IMB) a full-time postgraduate program which accepts CAT-17&18, our CAT average has been 90%ile. Know more about the school or speak to a program advisor. SDA Bocconi Asia Center is the prime sponsor of free CAT preparation on QS LEAP this year. This article has been republished. It was originally published in Economic Times. Read more here - //economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/64091719.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

#CAT Preparation,#MBA in India,#SDA Bocconi Asia Center

“If you thought your friends were impressed by the fact that you got into Harvard with its 6.2% acceptance rate in 2011, it's time to think again. As more and more students worldwide seek tertiary education, some students are fighting against even more incredible odds worldwide to attend their top schools—and in some cases, Harvard's admissions rate looks positively gigantic”, says Michael C. George of flyby, the blog of The Harvard Crimson. Harvard Business School is tough but the IIMs are tougher. Don’t believe me? Look at the stats. Consider the case of Namrata Narain of batch ’15. One of the students from India studding at the prestigious Harvard University. Back home, she had the pressure of making it to a higher education institution that rules only on the marks a student achieves in their school leaving exemption or on test scores where the seats to applicants ratio are usually horrific to say the least. Namrata said, “[I] thought of applying to American universities as a ‘second option’ while preparing for the IIT exam.” She got into Harvard two days before taking the examination. IIMs aren’t a different story. While we have seen Michael George offer some perspective, lets look at the statistics on the India’s top B-School from Bloomberg news. Acceptance rates for MBA programs at Stanford University stands at 7%. The dreaded Harvard University accepts 13%. Offering a bit of perspective, the news site says further, “Not even 1 percent of applicants were admitted to India’s top business school last year.” The Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A) accepted only 0.25% of its applicants in the academic tenure of 2012-14. Entry there is based on what your CAT or Common admission test scores are, the school also considers GMAT. “The minimum GMAT score for students in IIM-A’s postgraduate program in management, equivalent to a two-year MBA program, was 770, compared with an average score of 730 at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business”, the magazine substantiated. Looking at this we can safely assume that Harvard indeed is a safety school considering the competition which fairly fierce in this nation of ours.   Read: How to build your CAT 2017 Resume?

#CAT Preparation

A lot changed between the year 2015 and 2016. The CAT (Common Admission Test) made major changes to not only the pattern of the paper but the syllabus, allotment of marks and the basic structure and functionality. After the change, if you didn’t make it and are wondering why, take a look at your resume and if necessary, buff it and buff it well. Include skills that are relevant: Don’t go unnecessarily padding up your resume. Put in experiences that you have had, internships that matter and would be interesting to look at for the people at the screening desk. Your internship at the local pool does not count but the one at Tech Mahindra or Larsen and Toubro definitely does. Make the call wisely. State the challenges you have faced on the jobs that you’ve been on. These can be expressed as goals you have achieved. Citing as many numbers as possible can be a good tool as they make you seem dedicated. Emphasize your educational and extra curricular accomplishments Where did you go to school? Where did you go to college? What societies were you a part of? Did you have skills that picked up from the time you spent at school and college? Of course. Never forget to list them out. You debated, put it on. Danced? Put it on. Wrote? C’mon, put it on! Remember, in this section, leave nothing out, nothing. Kick-start your resume with an executive summary For your screeners who have a pile of resumes similar to the size of mount Olympus, will find reading all of them stressful (i.e., most of them). “Avoid vague terms like “hard working” and “results oriented”; rather, use specific descriptors like “published,” “award-winning,” “multi-lingual,” and “prehensile tail.” Just remember to keep it short! You’ve got the rest of your resume to tell the whole story”, says Freddy J. Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Self-Marketing Advocate. Begin your resume with a two or three line summary that encapsulates the person you are and the selling points and objectives you want to portray. Remember to keep this in the third person. Your executive summary should read concise, decisive and confident. However it should also be factual and objective. Discuss CAT with experts. Join QS LEAP

#CAT Preparation

A lot has changed since the time people used to consider IIMs as the be all and end all of Management education in India. With a lot of good b-schools coming around, aspirants are now increasingly showing interest in the private schools than just relying on the conventional ones. More than 230,000 candidates appeared for approximately around 4,300 seats in a total of 19 IIMs. Naturally, the responsibilities on the private b-schools are growing by the days. Hindustan Times says, “The ratio stands at 1:53, which is needless to mention makes CAT the toughest test in the country.” However, there is no “end of the world” factor that really is important to factor in. XLRI Jamshedpur: Xavier Institute of Management, Jamshedpur was established in 1949 by Father Quinn Enright S.J to be a partner in the liberation and development journey of the independent India with a vision of "renewing the face of the earth.” Now, CAT aspirants, what makes this college unique is that apart from CAT, there’s a dedicated test to get into XLRI named Xavier Aptitude Test (XAT) which is accepted by over 100 B Schools and is conducted over 47 test centres. Bear this in mind.   S.P Jain Institute of Management and Research, Mumbai: “We are a part of the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan and function as an autonomous Institute with entrepreneurial agility. We build on this mission through pedagogic innovations and pioneering programmes, which have helped us stand out for our unique and distinctive path in management education”, says the management at S.P Jain Institute of Management and Research, Mumbai. SPJIMR primarily focuses on the idea of profile-based selection to ensure diversity within the classroom and has excellent placement record to go by. Management and Development Institute, Gurgaon: MDI is considered to be the first internationally accredited Indian B-School. It has constantly endeavored to grow and develop sound network around the globe. As a result, the Institute has collaborative partnerships with leading management schools in several regions of the world. “The international relations at MDI encompass a gamut of interest which includes joint research, executive education, faculty and student exchange and other collaborative initiatives”, says the chairman, elucidating why you should consider Management and Development Institute, Gurgaon as one of your top options.

#CAT Preparation