Would you do your MBA at the Chicago School of Business at Singapore or at the FMS, Delhi? (Mark the words Singapore here instead of Chicago). There was a friend of mine who had a problem about choosing the right type of MBA school, from amongst choices that weren’t straightforward. It wasn’t a regular problem yet it was interesting. And the reason why we mention it here is because it is likely to be a common dilemma that Indians are increasingly likely to face as professional education continues to evolve from the traditional paths.
Traditional MBAs have always dominated the sphere of professional further education in India till now. The question that seems to come up increasingly now is what other options must professional institutes provide in India to take on the competition in variety and options in management programs that are offered abroad. Will a professional have the time, energy and space to devote himself to a fulltime MBA if he hasn’t already done one. With many engineers and other professionals choosing to sometimes pursue their MBAs some years into their professions, does that mean there are other important factors that go into choosing an MBA program rather than mere reputation, placements and academics. There are those ‘off-field’ factors that come into play; and these are the ones mentioned before.
A program that takes into account your years of experience before deciding to admit you is perhaps more satisfying. Also, the prospect of being in a class with others of similar and diverse profiles is a prospect that can stimulate better learning at this point in your career. The concept of sharing and learning may take precedence over a sole objective of learning.
There is also the hugely attractive proposition of programs that are based on electronic interactions, limited classroom sessions, part-time attendances etc that facilitate you to stay in the job and learn. To put an oft-used phrase in reverse – it’s learn while you earn.
What Does All This Mean To You
Sample this: Would you not like be in a situation where you can retain your job as well as attend certain designated classes, go for a couple of direct interactive sessions to the place where the institution exists, interact through video images simulating a classroom session and learn the skills (because there is no full time commitment in the MBA program)? Would you still not want to take it up if you end up with an IIM tag at the end of it all? You would, in all probability want to be in IIM Kozhikode and do it full time, but what if you are 30, in a good job, have responsibilities, don’t want to move city right now but still need an MBA… What if you want to add a Chicago Business School tag to your previous MBA, but sadly the time spent at Chicago Business School comes at a price tag that is a tad too expensive and then suddenly, an offshore option comes your way at the Chicago Business School at Singapore. Will you still take the tag even if it’s not the original? Would you rather do that than specialize in a specific management stream in a prestigious institute in India? These are questions that an experienced professional asks these days as options become more diverse and complex.
So What Exactly Are The Options?
You can pursue an e-MBA (which means an electronic MBA with limited classes and also a part-time executive MBA). IIM Kozhikode has a distance MBA program where you can attend classes on limited designated days, interact with your professor online and may have to attend a couple of sessions at the institute. All these work very well for a professional who wishes to continue in his job and acquire an MBA. The downside is that there is no structured placement system unlike the regular MBAs where you have an opportunity to be placed along with your batch.
There is also the one-year program at the ISB or the PGPX at IIM that helps you complete your degree in a shorter time and with an international brand on your epaulette. Many view the rise of PGPX at IIM as a counter to the ISB MBA. However, when you consider that the PGPX has only recently been introduced, the degree of difficulty in the admission entrance and the rise of its popularity only goes to show that the IIM brand will always prevail. It will always be a good competitive counter to the ISB, with its PGPX program and also provide options to the Indian professional today – something that he lacked a few years ago. The IIMs have eked out many variety of programs aimed at different segments of professionals. The IIM-B director has recently told NDTV that Brand India should be globalised. The recent attempt at scuttling the IIM’s attempts to go global may eventually be just a temporary setback. We feel that with IIMs aiming to provide versatility to their profile, it will not be long before the brand physically establishes itself abroad, leading to Indian professionals preferring it to other prestigious schools abroad. Sample this list below for a better window to some of the options available to a professional in IIMs today, besides the 2 yr PGP.
FPM: Fellow Programme in Management.
FDP: Faculty Development Programme.
PGP: Post Graduate Programme in Management.
PGSEM: Post Graduate Programme in Software Enterprise Management.
PGP-ABM: Post Graduate Programme in Agro-Business Management.
Dual degrees are becoming popular in the US and in some top universities in the UK. Dual degrees allow you to complete two professional master’s programs together. A dual degree of an MBA with a subject like international relations helps you to focus better, particularly in industries like oil and petroleum consulting majors, which require knowledge of political risks and regional dynamics too. Also, a dual degree of MBA with International Relations helps you to understand the dynamics of international corporates and markets well. There are dual degrees of MBAs with public policy, with international business, with media and communications and with some other subjects. Many schools offer short certificate programs from their law school, international affairs school – certificate courses that can complement your MBA program. The idea is to look out for the choices and combinations that you can muster. The aim is to strategize your curriculum and program and align them to your future professional choices. In a networked world, a dual degree always gives you broader choices in the long run.
Increasingly, top schools like Insead and Chicago have opened branches in places like Singapore so as to make it more accessible to others in this part of the world, particularly Asia. A program at one of these overseas stations of a top class school saves costs and gets you a reputed international tag. It also accords you international exposure. There is however the question of placements and costs in such programs. Though there is no official record of placements made available, there are general problems of placements there, more than you will ever find in their original / mother schools back in the US/Europe. You can perhaps have a better bet in India at this moment, considering the markedly different courses that economies in Southeast Asia and India have taken in recent times, the former. The costs, though not prohibitive, are steep compared to an Indian MBA. The brand though is an international one, and therefore the choice is a very personal one, and depends on what you want at this stage of your career – weight your preferences on brand, costs and debts, placements, international exposure and future destinations of work.
There is also the alternative of specializing in a management stream, like studying for an MS in Finance as opposed to a full time regular MBA. This is the perennial debate – to choose between an MS and an MBA. I was speaking to a student at one of the US Business schools and he says that an MS in Finance may restrict you if you want to shift a few years down the line, and therefore, it is advisable to do an MS in finance if you already have an MBA under your belt. It makes more market sense as well as career sense (you may please refer to our previous articles, Midnight’s Children – Part I and Midnight’s Children – Part II on this debate for a more detailed analysis). However, you may choose to do an MS in Finance, if you are in the field and wish to add academic muscle to an MBA. For other streams like marketing and HR, different terms may apply in choosing between a traditional MBA and a more focused and specialized program, depending on what you want to do and what kind of an experience you do have. In some areas, the specialization of some of these programs are yet to catch up with the popularity of an MBA.
The landscape of a management degree provides us with so many interesting combinations of choices, which increase by the day. It is not just a traditional MBA that is available today but a host of other choices too. The important thing is to remember whether factors like cost-benefit analysis, career placements, professional advancement, duration of program, utility, reputation of the school and the program and its location-value play a favorable or an unfavorable role in the entire analysis leading up to your decision. It is important to remember that big institutes like the IIM, ISB and top US and British schools with outstation branches are creating opportunities for professionals to thrive in, cutting down durations and promoting flexibility. Our assessment is that such management programs will only increase in future as professionals figure out that alternatives seem to increase at a great rate, leading to a greater demand for programs like the PGPX at IIM. It would result in the development of more number of compressed, definitive and customized management programs to satisfy your professional and personal needs.
So judge before you join a bandwagon.
Sources:
To view the Financial Times ranking of International e-MBA (executive MBA) programs please visit this link
http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=6926
http://www.asia-inc.com/May05/mba2_rightwayforward_may.htm
http://www.princetonreview.com/mba/research/articles/find/alternativeMBAs.asp
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