Gurumurthy Kalyanaram on the power of masscommunication through social media -- recent case studies of Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Syria, India and Russia

Gurumurthy Kalyanaram - The recent visible and vibrant, large and peaceful protests in Russia against alleged fraud in the parliamentary elections on December 4th has surprised everyone. The protesters, while peaceful and friendly, were pretty harsh on Vladmir Putin; the Russian Television presented the protests in a neutral fashion including the harsh comments of thr protesters; the protesters and the police were friendly.

There was no hint of these protests. It was somewhat impetuous.  This was possible because social media --facebook, google+ -- were the platform for mass communication. So, the communication was easy, instantaneous and accessible. Gurumurthy Kalyanaram NYIT

The Russian demonstrations are only recent evidence of the power of mass communication of social media.  Such mass communication through social media was the cause of the middle-east political revolution began in Tunisia, then to Egypt, Libya and now to Syria. Gurumurthy Kalyanaram NYIT

Gurumurthy Kalyanaram on Why Indian Business Schools should purse global professional accreditations?

Gurumurthy Kalyanaram - For many reasons, MBA programs in India should consider global professional accreditations.  There are two gold-standards in accreditation of MBA programs. They are AACSB and EFMD. AASCB is The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, and it is located in Tampa, Florida. EFMD is the European Foundation for Management Development, and it is located in Brussels, Europe. The two bodies are dedicated (only) to supporting, improving, and furthering quality business education. They have evolved robust and well-accepted global standards and a peer-review based system to assess the aggregate quality of a business program. When a business program satisfies or exceeds the benchmarked thresholds, EFMD and AACSB accredit the said school with a quality certification.

Both the bodies offer different levels of accreditation, but accreditation reviews essentially involve self-evaluations, peer-reviews, committee-reviews, and the development of in-depth strategic plans. They also include reviews of a school's mission, faculty qualifications, and curricula. There are some distinctions between the two bodies in their emphasis. For example, AACSB places substantial emphasis on Assurance of Student Learning and Faculty Credentials. EFMD places large premium on internationalization of the curriculum and the educational experience. Gurumurthy Kalyanaram Lawsuit