Wednesday, July 17, 2013

MBA SPECIAL...MBA students get their risk appetite back



MBA students get their risk appetite back 

Survey Finds Up To 20% Are Prepared To Launch Own Business Or Join Startups 

Mumbai: As many as 20% of Indian MBA students want to start their own ventures or work with a startup, signalling the growing risk-taking appetite among Indian youngsters and a maturing entrepreneurial ecosystem in the country. What is even more interesting is that more female students said they wanted to join a startup compared to their male counterparts in a survey conducted by a global employer branding firm among 10,000 Indian undergraduate business students, MBAs and engineering graduates.
    The trend is as widespread among undergraduate business students and IT and engineering students, with 26% and 16% respectively wanting to opt for a startup or start their own ventures, said the Universum study, titled ‘India’s most attractive employer’, which was shared with TOI exclusively.
    Around 13% of female undergraduate business students said they were willing to join a startup compared to 11% male students. Similarly, 11% of female MBA graduates wanted to join startups against 9% of their male counterparts.
    This entrepreneurial spirit among Indian students contrasts the choices being made by their peers in most developed markets who opt for job security and an assured paycheck. In the US, for instance, only 10% business students and 12% IT students chose the entrepreneurial route while among German students 12% in both the categories said they would opt to join a startup or kick-start their own venture.
    There is more than one reason that is pulling India’s youth to startups. Graduating batches, whether engineers or business students, have working parents who continue to support their children, thus allowing them to take risks, said IIM-Trichy’s director Prafulla Agnihotri. “Traditionally, Indian communities like Maharashtrians and Tamilians were categorized as the working classes. Today, even they want to start something of their own. Along with the entrepreneurial spirit — which is on the rise — is the bleak reality that the job market is not as promising as it was a few years ago,” Agnihotri said.
    Propelling the entrepreneurship bug among Indian students is a vibrant angel funding environment, business plan competition on campuses and interactions with mentors. However, there are a few cautions that we must exercise, said Krishna Tanuku, executive director of the entrepreneurship centre at Indian School of Business. “Young people may have the aspiration, but to make things work one requires a lot of tending to and institutions like colleges and the government must play their part,” Tanuku said.
    As far as employers go, Google remained the preferred choice for Indian graduates as the technology giant was ranked the most attractive employer not only for engineering students but also for undergraduate business students and MBAs. Last year, the Reserve Bank of India and State Bank of India emerged as the most preferred employers for undergraduate business students in the country, while engineering and MBA students
chose Google as their ideal employer. The technology giant was followed by Apple and SBI for undergraduate business students, while for the MBAs it was Microsoft followed by Apple.
    In keeping with the growing relevance of having a global experience, almost half of the respondents said they plan to go abroad to continue studying. However, after graduation, most students would prefer to start working in India. As many as 76% undergraduate business students said they wanted to start working in India. For the engineering/IT students, the number was 69% and for the MBAs it stood at 73%.
Samidha Sharma & Hemali Chhapia TOI130705

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