Why Cranfield...

Cranfield….. whats that?

This question, accompanied with a lot of confused faces, is very common for me now. Whenever I tell anyone regarding my admission to the Cranfield School of Management (2nd best in UK and 37th ranked in World) I have to confront such questions. People have heard of Oxford, Cambridge, LBS, LSE but not Cranfield; despite the fact that Cranfield University and its ‘School of Management’ are one of the prestigious and highly respected institutes of the world especially UK.

This illustrates another problem among the Indian students. We don’t know many good universities and their worldwide-acknowledged courses. So where can one find information about various universities of the world. Talking particularly about MBA, one should register with World MBA Tour and do visit the exhibitions and fairs organized by them. You will come across many new institutes (the institutes are usually very old and well established but are totally new to an average Indian student), many such courses which are typically new for you.

Coming back to Cranfield, I chose this institute over 2 other options that were available with me. One offer I had was from one of the best institutes of France and other was from the best MBA institute of the Asia pacific region in Singapore. I dropped the Singapore option cos it was not as highly ranked as the 2 other options I had with me.

I also dropped the France option cos French economy is not doing well these days. Though this French Institute ranks way higher than Cranfield still I opted for Cranfield, considering the ease of adjusting to language and culture of UK and the growing UK economy. I came to know that French economy is in such a bad shape that the MBA graduates from French Institutes are going to UK or US for jobs. They hardly find any job in France. Moreover you need to be very fluent with French if you wanna take up a job in France.

The particular reasons for selecting Cranfield, apart from its rankings and location advantages, are:

1. Focus of the course on personal and professional development- infact this is the backbone of the Cranfield MBA. The institute takes pride in the fact that they help develop personality of the individuals while helping them attain their career goals.
2. IBE Tour- Its something which might not interest is as such. Every other institute has such world tours packed in their course. What is different in the Cranfield’s IBE? Well the difference that I found is in their planning and organizing that goes into their tours. Though I have not taken this journey till now, I am sure it will be a great experience as I have discovered from the posts and diaries of the current students.
3. New and exciting modules like Demand Chain Management, Entrepreneurship etc. The course modules are designed to meet the incumbent industry demands and are different from the conventional courses.

As I am from SCM (Supply Chain Management) background, Cranfield was the ideal choice for me. Cranfield University is well known for its Post Graduation course in SCM and the module of Demand Chain Management couples Marketing and SCM.

There are a large number of other good reasons why Cranfield should be the first choice for every person looking for an MBA. Well you have to do a bit of homework yourself and check their website http://www.som.cranfield.ac.uk/som/mba

After having obtained scholarship, there was no reason why I would have denied the Cranfield offer. Looking ahead to Cranfield, I am very excited. This will be a big step in my career and a great venture of my life.

Selection of the B-School

When I started thinking of MBA in 2006, I wondered which school should I select. Is there really a big difference among the various top B-Schools of India? Are the Global B-schools really a class apart from the Indian schools, as is claimed by a section of the MBA fraternity?

I started searching for B-Schools through the trusted ‘google’ and found a number of rankings of the top B-schools of the world. It was really very difficult to narrow down the choices. Still I carried on, with perseverance, and found that its not that difficult as it appeared in the beginning. For making a choice regarding the school, remember that every B-school has its own particular character and you have to identify that characteristic on your own. Search the MBA sites, visit the websites of B-Schools, devote good enough time on their pages, make notes about various schools and consult the alumni from various schools.

Other important task is to list your priorities, your objectives and what you want from an MBA. Once you know your objectives and the various characteristics of the different schools, matching them should not be a big issue. Infact, the major issue usually is: what are our objectives. What we want to achieve in life. I myself was not clear about it; but this is very important as it will not only help you in selecting the right B- school but shall also help shaping your career. It will also help while writing admission essays and applications for the B – schools. I suggest one should read the book: ‘What color is your parachute’ by Richard N. Bolles and then decide on the priorities.

Other than your objectives, here are some important aspects which one may consider while choosing the school and the course:

Duration of the course: How much time are you ready to take a break from your professional career- 12 months, 16, 24? That’s for you to decide.
Which sector are you focusing on: Finance, Marketing, Supply Chain Management- there are different B-schools having different focus areas?
What are you targeting to achieve from MBA- wanna develop personal skills, or professional traits or simply you want to grow your network?

These are just examples to help you know on what lines you need to think while selecting a B-school.

Regarding the differences between Indian B-Schools and the global B-schools- the major difference (infact it’s the worst drawback of studying at Indian B-school) is that the students and the faculty are not diverse. Almost 99% of the students and the faculty in Indian B-schools is from India and that leaves almost no room for learning from diverse peers n teachers.

Global B-schools have faculty and students from a variety of backgrounds and from all over the world and you learn as much from your peers as from the MBA course.

There are many other theories available on internet that will guide you in your endeavor. For any help, one is most welcome to contact me at vkhanna10@gmail.com