The sub-par branding of the course as ‘Executive Post Graduate Programme’ which suggests that the course is an Executive MBA (a part-time course) has created huge problems for graduates of the course who have had to clarify time and again that they have in fact graduated from a full-time MBA course – hardly the best conversation opener with recruiters. 

AMBA has also clarified that IIMI’s two-year PGP course is not an MBA as per global standards – this course has been accredited as a Masters in Business Management – a foundation course in management concepts for freshers with 0 to 3 years work experience.

All this while, IIMI has accorded the same ‘MBA equivalent’ status to the pre-experience PGP and post experience EPGP courses.

The separation between the two courses is important as recruiters and MBA aspirants in India alike are confused why the eligibility norms and output from two ‘MBA equivalent’ programmes is vastly different – PGP recruits freshers and creates entry level talent that joins companies as management trainees while EPGP recruits aspirants with substantial work experience (5 years+) and graduates of the course join the work force in middle and senior management roles – as graduates of any Full Time MBA, outside of India would.

AMBA accreditation is the gold standard and the only accreditation service for courses (others like EQUIS accredit the institute as a whole) and all credit to IIMI’s management to have pursued this accreditation – a long standing demand of graduates of the EPGP course who wanted this accreditation to bring legitimacy to the MBA programme they had pursued.

Imagine the alumni’s surprise then when we saw the announcement of AMBA accreditation on the institute’s website – IIMI skipped mentioning anything about the Full Time MBA accreditation awarded to EPGP and MBM accreditation awarded to the two-year PGP course.

IIMI’s announcement of the AMBA accreditation on its website skips key facts

The announcement simply said IIM I had received AMBA Accreditation “for four of its full-time programmes – Two Year Post Graduate Programme in Management (both at Indore and Mumbai), One Year Full Time Executive Post Graduate Programme in Management (EPGP) and Five Year Integrated Programme in Management (IPM, 4^th and 5^th Year).

Reading this, most people would assume the PGP had been accredited as an MBA and EPGP as an Executive MBA because that is how IIMI positions the courses.

EPGP had been denied its hard won victory with some savvy editing of facts.

Can you imagine a scenario where the Rank 1 holder and the Rank 2 holder at IIMI are both awarded a gold medal? This is exactly what has happened here.

IIMI’s claim of building a meritocracy doesn’t stand after this – this is a blatant attempt to protect and prop up what is sub-par, and play down what is brilliant.

IIMI, like most other IIMs, has a long running but factually incorrect narrative of the toughest admission process in the world and the PGP being the most selective MBA course etc – this narrative, call it tradition, prejudice or mindset, seems to be the ‘unquestionable truth’ which no evidence – global rankings, news stories or accreditation seems to be able to change.

AMBA says EPGP is a full-time MBA. IIMI says its an executive course!

This is not the first time, we the alumni, have witnessed this mindset to deny EPGP its place in the sun.

At an IIMI alumni function in Mumbai last year, the institute announced with pride that the PGP placements went well this year. The fact that in the same year, a One Year MBA graduate from IIMI had bagged the highest ever domestic salary for any course at IIMI was suppressed.

In fact, there was no mention of even the average salary awarded to graduates of the EPGP course, which is significantly higher than the average salary received by PGP graduates. Visit the institute’s website and you will find the ‘placements section’ devoted purely to PGP’s placement statistics. Worst yet, you will find EPGP listed in the ‘executive education’ section.

EPGP is missing from the 2016 placement report despite bagging higher placements than all other courses over the years

In private conversations, officials cite lower interest in the course vis.a.vis PGP, perceptions among recruiters of a tougher entrance process for PGP etc. as the reasons why they are not able to make the EPGP programme a flagship offering or highlight it in their communication.

They fail to acknowledge the real reason – their own prejudice and inability to take a principled stand on this issue. This, and nothing else affects the proper positioning and marketing of the EPGP course. The One Year Full Time MBA category is well established globally (the world’s No.1 MBA is a One Year MBA) and in India. ISB in India, for instance, does a good job of positioning its one year MBA course which has been excellently received by recruiters who understand the proposition of the course because it is being explained clearly. 

If it was an issue about perceptions holding IIMI back, AMBA, UK’s accreditation of the course as a Full Time MBA would have been a godsend and a license to change things. Instead of using it to position EPGP and re-position PGP, IIMI has simply slipped it under the carpet.

Since IIMI has saught the endorsement of AMBA, which takes time, effort and taxpayer’s money, it should now respect the accreditation awarded, communicate about it clearly and adopt the accreditation standards by awarding MBA degrees to EPGP graduates and MBM degrees to PGP graduates.

Start by changing the EPGP nomenclature – there is no ‘executive’ in MBA.

– An MBA graduate from IIM Indore

I am a Manufacturing professional with 7 years of experience in strategy and product realization in the automotive (Toyota) and aerospace sectors (Cyient).

Additionally, I hold a Master’s in Manufacturing Engineering (Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor). My One Year MBA journey started last August with the realization that this format of management education would be a good addition to my learning endeavors and do wonders for the resume as well.

Two months and countless GMAT mock tests later, I managed a 710 score. I applied to 4 good schools (IIM-A, B and C and ISB) and got admit cards from three and a reject after interview from ISB.

I chose IIM-A after a visit to the institute early this month for a KT and farewell session with the current batch.

Upon careful consideration of what went right and not all that right in my admissions package, it is my strong belief that my USP lay in the way that I projected my profile. To further validate my belief, the schools in which my applications were successful were exactly the ones in which I was able to “present myself my way”.

Let me elaborate on why I feel the presentation of one’s profile plays a clinching role in MBA applications.

Most B-Schools have an application to interview ratio of 3:1 and a similar interview to admit ratio, which makes me feel that the first process is an elimination round whereas the second process is selection.

Thus, the focus in the first round is whether you are good enough. In the second round, it is whether you are better than another, or many others. Thus, you (and your profile) must stand out from the rest.

However, to be brutally honest, most of us have regular profiles with rare nuggets of extra-ordinariness. If you are in the majority (Indian IT Male), the reckoning gets tougher. Hence, it is important that you project these nuggets as strongly and as visually coherent as is possible.

That too, in a time bound environment where you have to make the best utilization of the interview question “Tell me about yourself”.

Below is my approach to this situation. Those of you who have an operations background may recognize this as being in the ‘A3 format’, made famous by the first organization I worked for, Toyota.

Please Click on Image to Enlarge

I found the art of making A3 reports fascinating, and have been using this in varied situations like preparing for interviews, appraisal discussions and so on. Trust me, this process is yet to fail.

Preparing this sheet for the first time took up a lot of space in the head and a lot of time. However, once a basic format is done and you are comfortable, it is easy to keep updating and using this sheet in different places.

A distinct advantage of preparing a written document is that it helps you to form clear, distilled ideas from the vague thoughts you might have about many aspects of your profile.

In this, I see a parallel with the whole process of business case/plan creation. A clear benefit I had from this approach was that I used close to half an hour to go through this sheet and hence was able to completely control the course of my interviews at the three IIMs! (On a lighter note, my problem with the ISB interview was that they never asked me to “Tell me about yourself” and I did not get a chance to open up this sheet ).

Some guidelines to help you prepare your own profile sheet:

• The best tool to prepare such a sheet would be MS Excel. In my opinion, Excel is one of the most versatile business applications ever!
• Before you write a single word, have all the page, font and structure formatting ready. This will help in allocating space to different sections of your profile based on your priorities. Of course, the sheet best works when using A3, landscape orientation.
• Use pictorial representation as much as possible. Minimize the use of words. Most people have high retention power for pictures and very less for words.
• Highlight special achievements like there is no tomorrow. Your profile should literally stand out!
• Use a structured way of storytelling. It helps in organizing thoughts. One such structure could be 5W and 1H: Why, What, Who, Where, When & How.
• Write your own profile yourself. It will be an amazing learning experience and don’t let go off that chance for yourself!

Aniruddha Srinath, who is in the PGPX (2016-17) batch at IIM Ahmedabad, has more than 7 years experience in Manufacturing Strategy and Operations. He has a Master’s Degree in Manufacturing Engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA.

Being able to truly challenge and discuss opinions openly and a series of industry visits were some of the highlights for students from Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad following their visit to Warwick Business School (WBS).

In total, 17 delegates visited WBS for an intensive 10 days of study over a two-week period. This acts as a fundamental component of the international immersion element of their course, the Postgraduate Programme for Executives, a post experience one-year full-time MBA.

The teaching consisted of eight days of lectures, case studies, group discussion and assessment, where leading WBS academics delivered intensive sessions on a range of subjects, plus two days of company visits. This is now the seventh year IIM-A delegates have visited WBS.

One of the students, Karthik Kannan, felt the teaching, blended with a trip to WBS London at The Shard, really showcased WBS in the best way possible.

Mr Kannan said: “The experience at The Shard made me feel, almost literally, top of the world. I could not ask for a better place to learn luxury branding than inside the most luxurious building of Europe. Awesome.”

Top of the world: IIM-A students pose at The Shard

Students also felt the module helped build a solid understanding of business in Europe and the challenges facing British businesses.

For one of the IIM-A visitors, Harsh Sharma, a British citizen who has returned to India to focus on business in one of the world’s emerging markets, it also acted as a comparison to see how teaching is different in the UK and India.

Mr Sharma said: “I have studied classes here and in India now so it is interesting to compare the two. In India I wanted to understand the Indian market and its contexts, as I have mostly been based in the UK. The courses there are very rigorous; there are a lot of facts to learn, so there is a lot of theories and a lot of models to learn.

“But when I came back to the UK the teaching style and delivery of concepts is very different: examples are discussed first and its more tactically orientated, before then going on to the theory. It’s very much the opposite of what we were used to. It gives you a completely new view of things, a new view of concepts.

“Also the overall infrastructure here is great, the grounds and the campus; it’s a very good environment here. What I liked a lot was how the professors encouraged us to challenge them.

“Challenging authority is not always seen as the thing to do in India, so it is sometimes not taken in the right way if you question the teacher. In my personal view being able to do so is better. For many students that was quite a shock, you think more as a result, you can challenge the professor’s view and you can vet your own opinion.

“The professor could even see things from your prospective, of course most times they are right, but being able to challenge them is great!”

Lectures covered a range of topics including Global Business and the Public Realm taught by Michael Synnott, Economics of the Business Environment in Europe by Ben Knight, The Essentials of Branding from David Arnott, Strategic decision-making which David Elmes lectured and Organisational Behaviour taught by Jacky Swan.

The students also participated in a WBS Create workshop hosted by Piers Ibbotson before having to deliver a final 20-minute presentation to pass the module.

Trips were arranged to the likes of Amazon.co.uk, Compton Verney, DCS Group and Jaguar Land Rover and a number of networking events were included in the busy two-week schedule.

For Mr Sharma this element of the bespoke trip was a particular highlight.

“The industry visits were great,” he said. “I bumped into an old colleague at Amazon who was actually our guide and instructor around the Amazon site.

“This allowed me to challenge him on a few things, which gave confidence to the rest of the group to ask questions. I even met an old colleague from AirBus on the Warwick campus so it really was great.

“Overall the IIM-A trip to Warwick was a fantastic visit, I’m sure it will encourage others to look at studying here in the future.”

Rohit Nargunde, another of the student visitors and also part of the IIM-A Placement Committee, added: “I am responsible for building and developing our own version of the excellent CareerPlus department at WBS.

“They’ve provided a lot of help in establishing contacts and relationships. In my role I’m building for students to study or work in the UK or seek employment in UK companies within India, so this trip goes far beyond just the two weeks here.

“It was an exciting and exhilarating experience, alumni from previous trips recommended WBS over going anywhere else and the trips to places like Amazon were fantastic.

“Compton Verney was an interesting trip too as it was something very different: how to define a business strategy for them, really thinking outside the box.

“The Create session was marvelous too, applying the Merchant of Venice to a credit risk situation in Europe was eye-opening.”

Warwick Business School MBA students will be making a return visit to IIM-A in February as part of their module Doing Business in India.

Piers Ibbottson, the Module Leader for this year’s event said: “”It was a great pleasure to work with the delegates from IIM-A.

“The opportunity to meet and talk with people who have a different cultural and personal perspective and yet share the same challenges of doing business in the world today, makes the IIM-A a richly rewarding experience both for faculty and participants.

“I hope we can maintain the dialogue and continue to learn from from one another in the future.”

The summit brought together industry representatives from US, Indian companies and academicians from both the countries. This is the first time an IIM has organised a summit in the US centered around the ‘Make in India‘ campaign started by Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi.

Make in India encourages manufacturing in India and hopes to transition India from an agriculture and services based economy to a manufacturing hub for the world. 

IIM Indore has a partnership with McCombs Business School, University of Texas, Austin, USA, where in the EPGP participants undergo one full term course in contemporary topics at Austin.

The summit was attended by the seventh class of the EPGP (Class of 2015-16) participants who were in USA for a six week international immersion at McCombs Business School.

The Summit was inaugurated by Dean of McCombs School of Business Dr Jay Hartzell and IIM Indore Director, Dr Rishikesha T Krishnan. World leading expert on marketing and emerging economies Prof. Vijay Mahajan, John P Harbin, Chair in Business gave the first lecture on Make in India and talked about innovations taking place in the rural markets in India. Mr. Pravathaneni Harish, Consul General of India delivered his talk on opportunities in India and the policy initiatives beings implemented by Indian Government for business.

American Business person and Founder of Gravitant, Mr. Mohammed Farooq talked about old world vs new world scenarios and Mr. Arun Khurana, Head Digital, Wipro talked about how the Indian company is helping foreign multinationals develop competitive advantage.

Dr Jeffrey Tew, Chief Scientist and Head of TCS Innovation labs-US talked about open innovation and Mr. Rama Mohan Rao, CEO of State Bank of India, Chicago office talked about SBI’s internationalization strategies in US, how SBI is adding value to Indian business in US and helping multinational companies do business in India.

Also Read: IIM I One Year MBA Student Lands Highest Ever Offer At Institute: 48 Lakh Domestic Salary

There was a separate panel of US business men doing business in India. American business heads said that if India has to grow it has to value work and treat all work with respect. Infrastructure growth, innovations in education, skill development are the areas the Indian government and people should work on and improve.

In general the business representatives were positive about India’s growth story and were confident that Make in India will bring a definitive change in India’s manufacturing capabilities. 

Prof. Prashant Salwan, Chair EPGP, Dr. Linda Gerber Chair CIBER and Dr. Raji Shrinivasan, Professor of Marketing gave the wrap up talk .