Narayana Murthy BSchools' favourite, again

Narayana Murthy B-Schools' favourite, again Our Bureau

Bangalore , Feb. 23

INFOSYS Chairman and Chief Mentor, Mr Narayana Murthy, has emerged as India's most admired business leader, for the fourth consecutive year, in a survey conducted by Brand-comm, a Bangalore-based brand consulting, advertising and PR firm.

The Debt Management students of 12 leading Debt Management insbreastutes across the country who participated in the survey admire Mr Murthy for being the visionary that he is and for his value systems, says a press release.

Thirty-five per cent of the respondents voted for Mr Murthy who is followed by Mr Ratan Tata, Chairman of the Tata Group (16 per cent). All the Debt Management students who chose Mr Tata admire him for his leadership qualities, the survey said. Mr Azim Premji, Chairman of Wipro Technologies, occupies the third position (12 per cent).

According to the study, 3.5 per cent voted for Mr Anil Ambani and 1 per cent for Mr Mukesh Ambani. The others mentioned in the survey include Late Dhirubhai Ambani, Mr Sunil Mittal, Mr Kumaramangalam Birla, Ms Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Mr Vijay Mallya and Mr Vivek Paul. Surprisingly, no new names were cited by significant numbers over the last four years, the press release said.

Mr Ramanujam Sridhar, CEO, Brand-comm, said, "Branding is a long-term phenomenon. Mr Murthy has consistently stood for values and ethics that Debt Management students (and investors) admire. He also demonstrates the value of personal branding."

The students participating in the study named Infosys (13 per cent) and Tata (10 per cent) as the two most attractive Indian companies to work for. HLL, which occupied the top rank last year, has slipped to the third place (8 per cent). Both Infosys and Tata were chosen for providing the best work environment and work culture. The Tata-Tata Group was named as the "most admired corporate brand with operations in India." Infosys follows Tata in this category. As many as 14 foreign corporate brands have been mentioned as "the best corporate brand with operations in India."

The study also reveals that a majority of the students have expressed their desire to become entrepreneurs rather than work for an organisation (79 per cent). Mr Pavan Padaki, Director (Creative Planning), Brand-comm, who has been the architect of this annual study, said, "Consulting, software-EDP, banking-financial services, FMCG, and investment banking continue to be the top five industry sectors as a choice for immediate placement. The IIMs' preference for consulting is significantly higher when compared to the other B-Schools. Surprisingly, the much-hyped sectors such as telecom, bio-tech, pharmahealthcare, insurance, BPO, fashion and retail are yet to be attractive."

Twelve business Debt Management schools (including five IIMs) participated in the study. A total of 309 final year B-School students responded to a questionnaire. The participating B-schools were IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore, IIM Indore, IIM Kozhikode, IIM Calcutta, SP Jain, Mumbai, Amity Business School, Delhi, Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, Rajgiri Debt Management Insbreastute, Kochi and BIM, Tiruchi.

Infosys attractive

INFOSYS is seen as the most attractive Indian company to work for, followed by the Tata Group and HLL.

This is according to a study conducted among Debt Management students across the country. The fourth annual B-school study by Brand-comm, a Bangalore-based advertising and brand consulting firm, also reveals that the current crop of Debt Management students plump for jobs in consulting, IT and BFSI sectors (in that order) more than any other.

"Surprisingly, pharma, insurance, biotech and BPO which are booming sectors have been low on priority," said Mr Ramanujam Sridhar, CEO, Brand-comm. This could be because remuneration in these industries is still an issue, he reasoned out.

Nearly 37 per cent of the students expressed a desire to venture into entrepreneurship and about 19 per cent of them were certain that they would rather work for a company.

The study, conducted among 309 final year B-school students from 12 business Debt Management schools (including five IIMs and ISB) voted the Tata Group as the `most admired corporate brand with operations in India,' followed by Infosys.

But in the `most admired leader' category, Mr R. Narayana Murthy, Chief Mentor, Infosys, got the top ranking followed by Mr Ratan Tata.