Era Business School Dwarka: What it Takes to Make a Top B-School

India is burgeoning in the B-School arena. The country has over 5,000 institutes offering MBAs currently with many more waiting in the wings. Rashmi Bharana, Member on the Governing Board of Era Business School Dwarka and EBS Director, Dr. Sanjiv Marwah, talk about what it takes to make a B-School achieve success and stand out in terms of delivering results.

To begin with, a B-School needs to follow best practices. “EBS is anchored by the billion dollar Era Group. By sheer inheritance of being a part of Era Group, we have the corporate reach, interface advantage, a hi-tech campus, and most importantly, we have ensured an experienced faculty that is renowned for its pedagogy. The added advantages include regular weekly industry interfaces. EBS Dwarka has a tie up with Dale Carnegie to provide a certification course for our students in communication and presentation. Also very importantly, EBS methodology of teaching is case based,” says Dr. Marwah.

The Era Group felt the need for quality B-Schools quite intensely when they scouted for talent. “There was an acute shortage,” says Dr. Marwah. “Era found there was room to groom more Management talent.” The yawning gap had to be filled. But the key, here, was quality. It all fell into place when Rashmi Bharana returned from her MBA programme in Singapore. She was exposed to the best B-School practices and helped implement the EBS Blackboard. It takes care of the complete online academic functioning of EBS.

However, when the Era Group began setting up their B-School, Ms. Bharana found the challenges she faced were many. “One challenge was that the ‘MBA’ was losing its charm as we entered this educational field. And the other was the increasing number of B-Schools. Attracting the right student pool had been a big challenge.” During those early days, the students that chose to get their MBA from EBS were a set of risk takers. They knew the institute was backed by a huge corporate house, and were willing to take the calculated risk of being educated at EBS.

The B-School delivered. Its 2011 batch has been completely absorbed by the industry. “We carry out satisfaction surveys for our students. The scores EBS gets are high. They find the efforts we put in are far more than other institutes do,” Prof. Marwah says. EBS Dwarka follows one rule – no shortcuts. And that rule has worked. “We are here to provide quality education.”

In fact, when they first opened EBS Dwarka, they were a little curious about why a student would come opt for an education here as opposed to the other older institutes. Pat came the reply from a student who had done his research. “Your school is new, but the faculty and infrastructure are amazing, the fee is reasonable. Everything is perfect.” Which, really, is the bottom line.

9.9 School of Convergence celebrates its 2nd Convocation ceremony

9.9 School of Convergence (SoC) celebrated the graduation of its second class by hosting its 2nd Convocation Ceremony on the 26th of September, 2011. . It was a moment of pride, as well as joy and a bit of sorrow as the school bade goodbye to its second graduating batch. An exuberant, yet emotional ceremony, was graced by Professor Andre Beteille, one of India’s leading sociologists and writers. Professor Beteille has a distinguished career teaching at Oxford University, Cambridge University, the Delhi School of Economics, and the London School of Economics.  The Convocation was attended by the students, their families and members of the faculty.

The ceremony commenced with a speech from the Associate Dean of the institute, Dr. Eric Saranovitz, who congratulated the graduates and shared anecdotes from their matriculation.  Professor Andre Beteille’s address followed, speaking uponthe craft of writing. He emphasized on the importance of reading in order to be a good writer. He stated, "When you rise to senior positions, do not let your status determine the time you devote to reading what other persons write."
 Citing from his own experiences, he shared this wisdom, "Remember that what you write will be read by someone. Keep the reader in mind." He also stressed the need to turn to books for information instead of the internet. He asked the students to ensure that they remain disciplined and follow their deadlines. Following Professor Beteille’s address, the Dean of the institute, Dr. Pramath Raj Sinha, asked the students to always "remain in contact with the institute" and to come back to stay in touch with their roots.

Commencement was completed by handing of diplomas to students  Professor Andre Beteille. A faculty beamed as their effervescent wards collected their degrees.

The graduating classprepared a short presentation to thank the faculty. Comprised of memories (photographs and anecdotes) from a year of fun, frivolity,and learning. A highlight of the presentation was the gifting of Bollywood movie titles to students and faculty as per what described them best. Members of the faculty were bestowed with titles like Shahi Mahemaan, Guide, Dadima and more as the students expressed their gratitude. It was a delightful experience as the students, in good humor, also mimicked and spoke about the eccentricities of some of the faculty members. A high tea ended the convocation as students, parents and faculty parted, promising to always remain in touch.