Vital Statistics

• WHAT IS IT? A business school. • WHO’S THE BOSS? Dr Shiva Prakash is the director. • HOW CHEAP IS IT? The tuition fee for the 18-month MBA programme is Rs 5.2 lakh. Hostel fee is Rs 3,000 per month. • HOW ABOUT JOBS? The institute claims to have 100 per cent placement. • WHERE TO STAY? There is a hostel facility for boys and girls. • WHERE IS IT? Ohio-Manipal School of Business, Allalasandra, GKVK Post, Bellary Road, Bangalore - 560 065. Ph: 080-2856 0186 / 2856 3865. Fax: 080-2856 3898. Admissions hotline: 0-98458 87353 E-mail: admissions@ohiomanipal.edu. Website: www.ohiomanipal.edu

Global exposure at local costs is the biggest USP of Ohio-Manipal School of Business (OMSB). The Bangalore-based MBA institute ? a joint venture of Ohio University, USA, and Manipal Education Network ? offers degrees awarded by Ohio University, without the costs of studying in the USA.

Most of the faculty flies in from Ohio University to take classes. Students have the option to study the last semester in Ohio. Also, the business school has entered into agreements for student exchange programmes with several French universities. ?We send two students to France every year as part of the exchange programme,? says Sridhara Murthy, assistant director, marketing, OMSB.

Accreditation

Set up in 1999, OMSB offers an intensive 18-month MBA programme. Says Ranjan S, a final semester student at the institute, ?The fast track programme lets us get into the professional world earlier than our peers.? The Ohio MBA is accredited by the Association of Advance Collegiate Schools of Business ? International (AASCB). ?Only five schools in Asia have this accreditation,? says Murthy.

Constant interaction with the industry is the mainstay of the MBA course, according to Murthy. ?We place enormous emphasis on application of knowledge through internships, applied research projects and course projects,? he says.

In fact, OMSB claims it?s among the few business schools in India that offer Applied Research Projects (ARP) to students. ?In ARP, students act as consultants for companies. They work on real-time projects and devise strategies. They give presentations to the top management of the company,? says Murthy. He claims that OMSB students have done such projects for Coke, Pepsi, Titan, Accenture and Wipro.

Hi-tech campus

OMSB has a wireless networked campus. All students carry laptops and classrooms are air-conditioned. ?Students can interact with the faculty and other students at Ohio through video-conferencing,? Murthy says.

Stress management has become an integral part of the MBA curriculum here. So, students are required to take an Art of Living course. ?It?s important for the students to learn to cope with pressure,? says Murthy.

Extra-curricular activities are a focus area. The institute hosts an annual management fest called ?Corporate Karma?, which attracted participants from 32 MBA institutes last year. Besides, the institute holds regular sports and alumni meets.

Stress on aptitude

The admission procedure includes a written test and interview. ?The interview is the deciding factor. We look for students who have a broad worldview and the ability to cope with the rigours of a high-pressure corporate job,? says Murthy.

Only students who secure above 50 per cent marks in the undergraduate degree are eligible for the written test.

OMSB?s placement cell claims to achieve 100 per cent placement each year. ?IBM, Accenture, Oracle and Citigroup are the biggest recruiters,? says Murthy. Students are usually placed at the mid-management level.

VARUNA VERMA

Old memories

Anurag Sultania, research analyst, HBI Sales, remembers his OMSB days

The best thing about OMSB is the international exposure it provides. The professors from Ohio were very particular about processes, rules and deadline. It jolted us out of our laidback way of working and prepared us for work in global markets.

The last quarter of the MBA programme at Ohio University was a huge learning experience. Education in the US stresses on research, analysis and high productivity, which is very different from the learn-to-earn-degree system followed in India.

We were a batch of 50 students. The compact class size meant lots of student-teacher interaction. Also, the exchange programme with universities in France ensured multi-cultural interaction in the institute.

I did an applied research project for Pepsi as part of my final semester curriculum. This gave me hands-on training in consulting and strategising for a company. I learnt what really happens in an MNC while I was still a student.

As told to Varuna Verma