The Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) are seeking clearance from the Union Government to allow them to award degree certificates instead of diplomas for their one-year full-time management programs that admit only professionals with work experience.

The one-year programs at the IIMs are considered equivalent to the MBA, figuring in several international rankings.

However, since the students are awarded only a diploma and not the degree on completion of the program, they face difficulties in pursuing further studies or jobs abroad in the absence of the MBA degree certificate.

• The IIMs offer one-year full-time programs under various names. The Post Graduate Program in Management for Executives (PGPX) at IIM Ahmedabad, the Executive Post Graduate Program in Management (EPGP) at IIM Bangalore and IIM Indore, Post Graduate Programme for Executives (PGPEX) at IIM Calcutta and the International Programme in Management for Executives (IPMX) at IIM Lucknow.
• The one-year programs have, for long, been waging a perception battle, more often than not, being mistaken for part-time executive MBA programs, mainly on account of the “executive” tag put by the IIMs to differentiate them from the 2-year full-time programs.
• Even the Indian government, under the mistaken impression, had clubbed these programs with the other part-time programs, refusing to grant them exemption from taxes unlike the 2-year programs aimed at fresh graduates.

The IIM Act 2017 that came into force on January 31, 2018, granted a huge amount of autonomy to the IIMs, including the freedom to grant MBA degrees. At least three of the 20 IIMs, namely, IIM Bangalore, IIM Calcutta and IIM Ahmedabad have changed over to giving degree certificates to graduates of the 2-year Post-Graduate Program (PGP) from the diplomas they were earlier awarded.

While 14 members of IIM Bangalore’s Board of Directors have approved the proposal, IIM Ahmedabad was to present it at the Board meeting on April 16.

However, in the case of one-year programs, the criteria specified under the University Grants Commission (UGC) Act stood in the way. Under UGC rules that a Master’s degree in management has to be of a minimum two years duration.

The Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry had issued an order on March 8, 2018, that the IIMs will have to seek the government’s permission for awarding a degree that is “not in accordance with the UGC notification”.

This was the explanation the IIM Directors received from Union Human Resources Development (HRD) Minister Prakash Javadekar in December 2018. The Ministry is understood to have softened its stand since then leaving the door open for further discussions, according to a report in the Economic Times.

ALSO READ: How Would Diversity In Class Room Help MBA Students?

The newspaper said while 14 members of IIM Bangalore’s Board of Directors have approved the proposal, IIM Ahmedabad was to present it at the Board meeting on April 16. IIM Calcutta was already in touch with the Ministry. The talks were stated to be in an advanced stage.

At the IIMB director board meeting, the HRD ministry representative is understood to have pointed out that the UGC rules did not allow awarding degrees for one-year programs. There was no official word from the IIM about the meeting or the proposal.  Director G Raghuram did not respond to ET queries on the issue.

Meanwhile, IIMA director Errol D’Souza told the newspaper that the matter will be taken up at the Board meeting. He expected a favourable response from the Ministry. The IIM has been pursuing the issue with the government since last year.

IIMC acting director and dean (New Initiatives & External Relations) Prashant Mishra said the Board has approved degree status for the two-year and the doctoral programs. The issue of one year program has been taken up with the HRD ministry and a decision will be taken after the necessary clearance.(Image Source:wikipedia.org)

The One Year MBA at IIM Shillong is unique in the way that it has a focus on China and other emerging economies and it aims to prepare leaders who are comfortable conducting business in these economies. 

IIM Shillong has announced the completion of the final placement process of the 2nd batch of Post-Graduate Program for Executives (PGPEx) : Managing Business in Indian and China (2013- 2014).

The 2nd batch of PGPEx participants had on an average 5.7 years of experience in diverse industries and business functions.

Owing to the quality and diversity of work experience, several companies from different industry like IT, Consultancy, BFSI, and Energy made offers across functions. The positions offered ranged from middle to senior-middle management level.

NPCI emerged as the largest recruiter as it made 5 offers. Other leading companies like United Spirits, Technova, Dun & Bradstreet, Icreon, Capco, IL&FS and NIIT have also extended offers for various positions of responsibility.

As per the institute, out of the batch of 31 participants (including the 6 who were on sabbatical), 16 participants received offers. Further 2 participants found jobs through their own efforts.

Overall, 24 companies participated in the placement process this year.

Recruiters

The companies that participated in the placement process include ABC Consultants, Yodlee Infotech, Aviva India, Mu Sigma, Capco, NPCI, CLP India, Intertek, Dun & Bradstreet Jindal Steel and Power, Egon Zehnder, HCL, Groupon, Zomato, Hewlett Packard, Misys Software Solutions, Icreon Tech, IL&FS, Shapoorji Pallonji, NIIT, Spaciate Consulting, United Spirits, Tecnova and McKinsey Solutions.

Key Sectors

Most of the placed candidates joined the sunshine industries while some entered the established ones. A largest percentage of candidates entered the technology domain followed by the BFSI sector. Consultancy was third in this list along with Food & Beverages which together hired 7% of the placed candidates. This was followed by renewable energy sector which got 3% of the placed candidates.

Class profile of the Class of 2014

Many B-schools in India offering a One year MBA have tweaked the ‘student exchange’ offered in a two year PGDM/PGP to a international immersion. For instance, instead of a student exchange for a few candidates, the entire batch of the one-year full-time MBA at the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) spends a substantial period at an international B-school, to gain a global perspective of business. Students get immersed in a class consisting of candidates from around the world. In an era of globalization and inter-cultural working, this experience is highly valued by the students.

At IIM Indore, for instance, those pursuing the one-year full-time MBA (EPGP) spend an entire term (eight weeks) at the University of Pittsburgh, US. The term includes a mix of classroom lectures and visits to prominent businesses.

The classroom component opens subjects such as global macroeconomics and cross-cultural dimensions of business for debate in an environment which is  intensely multi-cultural. MBA students at the University of Pittsburgh come from various countries.

The discussions that ensue gain considerably from the vast international work experience of students of IIM Indore’s one-year batch. The students of the batch of 2013, on an average, have close to two years of international experience, spanning 29 countries across four continents.

IIM Indore’s One year MBA batch (EPGP) at the University of Pittsburgh where they attend classes with the MBA batch at U.Pitt

Debating, discussing and finally coming up with solutions to business cases in such a multi-cultural environment prepare IIM students for international business assignments after graduation. Upon completion of the international immersion, they tend to become more empathetic to different communication and managerial styles and possible conflict points in an international workplace.

A big part of the learning is gained through visits to premier companies such as Bombardier and PPG, as well as studying management techniques in non-corporate environments such as the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, one of the largest hospital chains in the US.

Students tour factories and labs to understand international manufacturing techniques and interact first-hand with a foreign workforce. Most tours end with invigorating discussions on business strategy with the management at these companies.

As part of the term, beyond classroom work, learning is also encouraged through observing local culture through guided tours of culture repositories such as the Carnegie Mellon Museum. Understanding the culture that makes a nation is often the first step to understanding the people that make the nation. Local art and theatre is, hence, seen as a window to the minds of men and women that students at IIM Indore might soon engage with in a business environment.

On completion of the term, students are awarded an Executive Leadership Programme Certificate from the University of Pittsburgh, an additional qualification on the CV.

Similar tie-ups exist at XLRI, SP Jain, IIM A, B, C and L, IMI, IMT etc and this is a unique feature of the one-year full-time MBA.

Click Here to read the original article in business standard

The one-year full time MBA at IIM A, the one-year courses at ISB, Hyderabad and SP Jain School of Global Management, Dubai are the only MBAs from India to have been ranked in the global ranking of MBAs by Financial Times, London – widely regarded as the foremost ranking in the world.

In 2011, IIM A’s one-year full time MBA (PGPX) debuted on the MBA rankings at No.11 in the world. It maintained its ranking in 2012 at No.11 – ahead of the flagship two-year MBA of Kellogg, NYU Stern, Yale, Tuck, Cornell and the flagship one-year MBA of Oxford, Cambridge, and ISB.

The same ranking establishes IIM A’s one-year full time MBA (PGPX) as the No.1 MBA in India and the No.2 MBA in Asia. (http://bit.ly/iimacommunique)

In 2012, ISB’s one-year MBA (PGP) was ranked at No. 20 and SP Jain Dubai’s one-year MBA (GMBA) at No. 91 in the world rankings.

While SP Jain School of Global Management, Dubai is listed as a Dubai based school in the rankings, I mention it in the article as its parent organization SP Jain Institute of Management & Research is of Indian origin.

One Year MBA (Global MBA) students at SP Jain Dubai (all copyrights belong to respective owners)

Importantly the PGPX at IIM A has been ranked No.1 in the world in ‘career progression’ by Financial Times – ahead of Stanford, Harvard & Wharton. The most recent rankings released by Financial Times in 2013 had IIM A’s PGPX and ISB’s one-year PGP lose some ground and SP Jain, Dubai’s Global MBA exit the rankings – the PGPX has however maintained its No.1 rank for career progression. Additionally, IIM A retains its ranks as India’s No.1 MBA.

Financial Times requires a course to have been running for a minimum of four years  and the alumni of the one-year course expect the one-year full time MBA at IIM I, IIM B, IIM C and IIM L to join the rankings once it passes this mark.

As shared earlier in the series, the two-year PGP at IIM A is ranked in a separate list by Financial Times – the Ranking of Masters in Business Management (MIM or MBM). IIM A’s two-year PGP is the only two-year programme from India to have made the MIM ranking.

The MIM is a course in management theory for candidates without work experience and is ranked separately by Financial Times because it considers only post-experience programmes as MBAs. This is in line with the definition of the MBA by global MBA accreditation body Association of MBAs (AMBA).

The strict stipulation mandating substantial work-experience of participating students for a course to be considered an MBA reflects in the list of accredited MBA programmes from India. As links to the accreditation page on Association of MBA’s website show, the one-year full-time MBA at IIM Lucknow (IPMX), the same course at SP Jain, Mumbai, called PGPM, and the same course at MDI, Gurgaon, called NMP, are accredited as MBAs and the two-year PGP at these places as Masters in Business and Management. The links are (http://bit.ly/iimlaccreditation), (http://bit.ly/spjainaccreditation) & (http://bit.ly/mdiaccreditation)

These one-year full time MBA and two-year programme at these institutes are currently among the select few courses from India to have received an Accreditation by AMBA in their respective MBA and MIM categories.

Click here to read the original article in Business Standard