Jun 26, 2004 07:38 PM
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(Updated Jun 26, 2004 07:38 PM)
SPJIMR...one of the top ten B-schools in India. . .well, supposedly. More likely, one of the top ten stamps in India. My experience was with FMB program held at SPJIMR intended for wards of entrepreneurs. This program is a 1.5 yr course divided in 18 bacthes of 1 week each, held every month.
The funda is ''Immersion Learning''. . .learn the theory for one week and apply the concepts for remaining 3 weeks at your organization. Sounds better than what it actually is, which is a whole lotta C-R-A-P.
Get this, the first thing that you are made acutely aware of is that you are a spoilt brat who could not get an admission any where and has therefore joined this course at SPJIMR. This is the reigning attitude towards the FMB participants of both staff and regular students (these are the ones attending the other courses such as PDP etc.)
Then comes the administration. Poor poor and poor. There is no one to guide the newcomers at FMB to their rooms when they first arrive at the institute. No arrangements are made considering the background of the students. Rather you are expected to take all the bull thats sent your way because ''the real world is not fair''.
There are 3 students living in a room that was originally designed for 2. Add to that the bathroom scenario and its 6 students shaing a single toilet. Talk about cramped accommodations. Haphazard cleaning schedules and no maintenance of amenities are an added bonus at SPJIMR.
All this is still borne considering that one is there for education and not visiting Club Med right?! . . .wrong. There are no clear teaching schedules. Meaning there is no clear structure of what topics will be undertaken and when. All you get is a list of subject titles. This is not very surprising in the light of the fact that there is NO ADEQUATE FACULTY at SPJIMR for FMB.
The subjects undertaken are all screwed up. For example, in my batch, advanced operations management topics such as MIS were taught for the first few classes. Wouldve been alright except for the fact that more than half the class did not have a clue what exactly operations management is. We had this lecturer that they had borrowed from one of the IIMs as a visiting faculty for Organizational behaviour. This person had prepared wonderful charts from an OB textbook used in the developed world. So we were being taught to implement the human resource fundas of the deveoped world in a third world country. Way to teach SPJIMR.
The field trips where one is supposed to see the industry in action by visiting various companies were quite moronic. Each and everything was organized and arraged for by the participants with no input or help from SPJIMR. Everything ranging from the companies to be visited to the mode of transportation and staying arrangements. No review was done by the institute about the comapnies, neither were the students intimated about what to look for in the visiting company. Should one look at their operations, or their quality systems or their managerial styles. . .well, look at whatever you want, its a free for all smorgasboard.
The only good aspect about SPJIMR FMB is their marketing subjects taught by a south indian gentleman who has been in the field and actually talks sense. Hes the only one thats gonna give you a bit of learning.
My batchmates and I still have a lot of nice shiny books that we received from the institute but never opened (although I am an avid reader).
In all, anyone thinking of doing the FMB at SPJIMR should seriously reconsider their decision. If you are doing it to get a stamp, go ahead. But if you are working and want to learn something to help you in business, STAY AWAY.
Yer much better off studying abroad. It'll be more fun, more learning and would cost you about the same. Remember, if you are gonna be managing your own business, the first leasson that you must be aware of is that ''All that glitters is not gold''
Cheers
