With the Indian economy hovering at a growth rate of 8-9%, the demand for management graduates is increasing exponentially. A management graduate from a good institute is open to a wide variety of opportunities across industries. Every industry needs good and skilled managers to run their operations and projects. Also, it needs people to sell its services and products, build brand, increase market share, inculcate healthy working culture and hire the best talent. All these functions are part of an MBA curriculum.
India has witnessed a phenomenal growth in the number of institutions offering MBAs in recent years. By an estimate there are currently 1,300 schools which are accredited by the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE). Out of this, only 70 institutes are rated as top grade. A McKinsey report suggests that only 23% of the management graduates are employable, so there is a huge shortage of good management graduates.
The collective appetite of the Indian economy far exceeds the supply of good management graduates. This results in competitive salaries and better career prospects. The average salaries offered to top 20 business schools excluding IIMs are around INR 7 lac per annum. Despite the hullabaloo about the fudging of salary figures by some of the country’s reputed institutions, it is indisputable that an MBA degree from good college entitles you to a fat pay package and it has become indispensable to move up in the business world.
An MBA degree beckons students from various academic disciplines as diverse from Engineering, Medicine, Science, Arts and Commerce to job seekers who consider an MBA a necessity for the growth of their corporate careers. People in the middle of their careers from many industries who are on the lookout for better pay and better terms of employment and, consultants who wish to add to their credentials also enroll for an MBA Programme.
A degree in MBA gives ones career a push. It opens up new possibilities and puts it on a fast track. It is usually indispensable to reach the top managerial levels within companies. An MBA degree gives the leverage needed to bargain for better terms of employment. It brings with it the possibility of change in your career and opens up avenues for promotion, better pay and a brighter future.
Types of MBA Programmes
Two-Year Full-Time MBA
This is the oldest and most common MBA program. The Postgraduate Programme is of six trimesters with a summer project in between two years. The main features of this programme are:
- Foundation for conceptual and analytical reasoning
- Insight into the dynamics of the business environment
- Development of leadership skills
- Focus on teamwork
- Builds on effective communication and interactive skills
- Training on conflict management, negotiating skills, and team mobilisation
- Live case studies to better anticipate modern day work issues
Project Work - All management institutes lay strong emphasis on project work. While working on projects, students are required to interact with managers from different industries. A number of these projects are sponsored by organisations themselves. On an average, a student graduating from an institute would have carried out at least 15 projects, usually live, involving industry interaction and support.
First Year - For the first year students are exposed to basic concepts in areas of Marketing, Finance, Quantitative methods, Operations and Behavioral Sciences and Personnel and Human Resources Management. These lay the foundation for all the functional areas of management and help develop the problem solving skills.
Second Year - In the second year, students specialise in functional areas of their interest. There is greater emphasis on the application of knowledge gained in the form of projects, group exercises and case discussions. Guest lecturers supplement regular course work while the core business policy and strategy course integrates the learning gained from the first year. Students are encouraged to take up dissertation work and to do a project on 'Contemporary Concerns' under the guidance of a faculty.
One-Year Executive MBA
Executive MBA (EMBA) programs were developed to meet the educational needs of managers, executives and other working professionals. It allows participants to earn an MBA or another business-related graduate degree in less than two years. It is available as both full time and part time module. The EMBA course material is slightly different than the regular MBA as its participants already have full-time work experience prior to joining the programme. The program places emphasis on following:
- Introduction of new, innovative managerial concepts
- Participative learning with group exercises, classroom discussions, student presentation
- Updating knowledge and experience base
Part-Time MBA
Part-time program duration is three years or more. Usually working professionals take a light course load for a longer period of time until the graduation requirements are met. Classes are held during weekday evenings, after normal working hours.
Distance Learning MBA
Distance learning MBA programs generally have off-campus classes. Many management schools offer distance learning programs. However, potential students should check the school's accreditation before undertaking distance learning coursework.
These programs are offered in a number of different formats like:
- Correspondence courses by postal mail or email
- Non-interactive broadcast video
- Pre-recorded video
- Live teleconference or videoconference
- Offline or online computer courses
Online MBA
Online MBA degrees have primarily captured the attention of working professionals who are unable to pursue a regular MBA course due to their official commitments. Although it is possible to pursue online MBA courses from anywhere in the world, the introduction of online courses by some of the premier Management institutes has made the online MBA education very popular in India. Reputed institutes like Indian Institute of Management - Ahmedabad, Indian Institute of Technology and Indian Institute of Foreign Trade are offering online MBA courses in India. The study material is available online and there is a provision of online regular classes too, which students can attend from the comfort of their homes.
