Mobile usage most preferred among students for accessing internet, reveals MDI survey

Management schools give significant emphasis to programmes and events that connect their students to industry professionals. It is important from their point of view to ensure that their management graduates are in tune to industry requirements and expectations, so that they can seamlessly become part of their respective organisations. Keeping this is mind, the Management Development Institute (MDI), Gurgaon, organised ‘Delphique’, a three-day management convention recently.  

The business convention kicked off with a team of 15 students from MDI presenting a project on ‘Research on the usage of internet and other resources by students in schools in India’. As part of this project which was conducted in collaboration with Britannica Encyclopedia, the students collected responses from more than 11000 students from class 6-10 across the country, about their internet access and usage patterns. “When given a choice of different subjects, most students choose Science and General Knowledge. The results also showed that while a majority of students in North India accessed the internet through desktops, mobile usage was most preferred among students of South India,” said Mrigank Gandhi, a student from the panel. 

An analysis of the survey results also revealed that while students were exposed to a large amount of information online, they were often unsure of its veracity. Wikipedia, which is not always an impeccable source, was one of the topmost choices of most students. “Parents and teachers must play a collaborative role to ensure a judicious and correct use of the internet,” said Kirti Sharma, faculty member, MDI. From an industry perspective, the findings were an eye opener. “The data showed that internet access is not as much of a problem as it is made out to be. Even students in tier two cities have access to the internet,” said Sarveshwar Srivastava, managing director, Britannica Encyclopedia. 

In addition to the panel discussions, ‘Vincenza’, a business plan competition was also conducted at Delphique wherein each team was expected to come up with a viable plan to market a new product or service. Out of six finalists, the winning team presented the idea of using aluminium shuttering in the construction sector of the country. “Wooden shattering, which is generally used in India is prone to harsh weather conditions and also affects the environment. Aluminium is much more durable,” said Ankur Sapra, member of the winning team. 

Another competition ‘Cerebrum’ tested the ability of management students to prepare case studies and further improvise on the strategy adopted by established brands. The teams were given two weeks to prepare a case study which focused on Tesco Retail’s entry in the Indian market.  “We had to keep in mind Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) constraints and suggest ways in which Tesco could differentiate itself in the market from other retail companies,” said Snigdha Kishore, a member of the winning team.