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

Believe in your product and build the right teams,” said Nikhil Sen, Managing Director, UNIBIC India, to the new batch of the One Year Full-time MBA (Executive Post Graduate Programme – EPGP) at IIM Bangalore.

In his inaugural address, he exhorted the students to chase service and sustainability. “When I recruit young managers, I look for the three ‘I’s: Introspection – the ability of the individual to look inwards and reinvent; Intuition – the ability to anticipate needs and challenges; and Inspiration – the ability to lead people to work beyond the ordinary.  Don’t be a boss, be a leader. Don’t be a missionary, be a visionary. As long as you have clarity of mind, purity of heart and sincerity of action, you will succeed,” he said.

Welcoming the batch of 71 students to the EPGP programme, he declared that as managers they had to learn to be available and accessible. “You must lead from the front. As you go up the ladder, you have to mentor teams, build and nurture relationships. What matters is how much knowledge you have shared with your teams. Wealth should be a consequence of pursuing a passion,” he explained.

On lessons learnt in the course of his own professional journey, the top executive of UNIBIC, who began his career in consumer research, said: “Go beyond the ordinary, know your organization’s needs, be humble and build relationships based on trust.”

One data point that stands out from past years is the lowest individual work experience in the class which stands at 4.5 years this year. As per IIM B’s admission criteria till last year, candidates were expected to have 5 years minimum work ex. This was revised downwards from a minimum 7 years of work ex. which was stipulated in the early years of the course. The B-School’s website shows that the minimum work ex. requirement has been further reduced to 4 years.  

Commending the 71 professionals for moving out of their comfort zone and signing up for a programme as challenging as the EPGP at IIM Bangalore, he said:  “Some of you will take the ‘Make in India’ path and provide employment instead of looking for jobs. Entrepreneurship is not easy – there will be crises. So learn to survive. If you do your basics right, success is sure to follow. When you are in an intensely competitive market with a limited budget, think out-of-the-box to get in there and make a difference.”

Nikhil Sen’s address was followed by an interactive session with the students.

EPGP Chairperson U Dinesh Kumar welcomed the new batch and shared the class profile. The average age of the 8th batch of EPGP students is 29 years, their average work experience is seven years and almost half the batch has international experience. “The EPGP programme is challenging and fulfilling and your peers will contribute to your learning in a big way because of the richness of diversity in the batch,” said Professor Dinesh Kumar.

One data point that stands out from past years is the lowest individual work experience in the class which stands at 4.5 years this year. As per IIM B’s admission criteria till last year, candidates were expected to have 5 years minimum work ex. This was revised downwards from a minimum 7 years of work ex. which was stipulated in the early years of the course. The B-School’s website shows that the minimum work ex. requirement has been further reduced to 4 years.  

Dean of Academic Programmes Sourav Mukherji offered the students a brief overview of life at IIMB. “The one-year EPGP is an intense programme, which will lead to a journey of self-discovery,” he said, assuring them that they would learn to be not only business leaders but also leaders in all spheres of life.

EPGP 2016-17: Batch Profile

Total Students: 71

Average Age: 29 years

Minimum Age: 26 years

Average Work Experience: 7 years

Minimum Work Experience: 4.5 years

Average GMAT Score: 710

Minimum GMAT score: 680

Maximum GMAT Score: 790

Engineering Background: 90%; Non-Engineering: 10%, 5 students have Degrees from IITs; 20 from NITs, 46 from Others

International Experience: 31 students have international work experience 

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” says Juliet to Romeo in William Shakespeare’s famous play, “Romeo & Juliet”. That may be the case in fiction, but when it comes to branding a product, the name plays a very significant role.  

One year MBA courses in India, that go under various names such as Post Graduate Programme for Executives (PGPX) and Executive Post Graduate Programme in Management (EPGP), have led to even well-known University ranking agencies such as Eduniversal mixing up the one-year MBA courses offered by Indian B-Schools and putting them in the incorrect category.

That the use of the ‘executive’ word in the branding of these One Year MBA courses has led to the mix-up is borne out by the fact that ISB’s One Year MBA, which is called Post-Graduate Programme and does not carry the ‘executive’ moniker, has been ranked correctly in the ranking of ‘Full-time MBA’ courses.

In Eduniversal’s recent ranking – all Indian One Year Full Time MBA programmes except Indian School of Business’ One Year MBA have been ranked in the wrong category of Executive MBA courses – which are part-time courses pursued by working professionals. One year MBA programmes are not for working professionals – these are fully residential courses. (See the ranking in question here: Executive MBA Ranking)

That the use of the ‘executive’ word in the branding of these One Year MBA courses has led to the mix-up is borne out by the fact that ISB’s One Year MBA, which is called Post-Graduate Programme and does not carry the ‘executive’ moniker, has been ranked correctly in the ranking of ‘Full-time MBA’ courses.

Top Indian B-Schools are killing their own brand to ISB’s advantage, despite some having a higher ranked One Year MBA course, with better placement numbers and global MBA accreditation from AMBA

Also, to add to the confusion, the 2-year management courses being run by the IIMs and several other management institutes in India cater mainly to fresh graduates with practically no work experience have been ranked in the wrong ranking of Full time MBA courses, since they are positioned as MBAs by Indian B-Schools, despite failing to meet global standards for the course. (See the ranking here: Full Time MBA Ranking)

These pre-experience programmes are accredited by Masters in Business Management (MBM’s) or programmes for freshers, by Association of MBAs, UK (AMBA).

Internationally, MBA programs, one-year or two-year, are for those with substantial work experience ranging between 3-7 years, looking to further their career prospects in higher echelons of management. These are full time courses, requiring presence of students in the campus.

Indian B-Schools have adopted the use of the word ‘Executive’ in the branding of their One Year MBA to differentiate it from the 2-year program. But this is misleading – executives are people who work during the day in full time jobs – not students with work experience who have left their jobs for full time study!

“The MBA is defined as a career development generalist programme for those who have significant post-graduation work experience on which the learning process should explicitly build,” says The Association of MBAs (AMBA) that accredits and governs MBA institutes worldwide.

“Students are expected to have a minimum of three years appropriate and relevant postgraduate work experience upon entry and the student body as a whole should average at least five years of such experience,” it adds.

AMBA also defines the aim of an MBA as to “enhance and develop previous relevant experience in business and management” and “prepare students for leadership and transformational roles in business.”

One Year MBA courses in India, in line with with these standard require 3-5 years of work-experience.

Internationally, B-Schools also have programs for those students who would want to an MBA part time for various reasons. These are titled as Executive MBA programs with far less stringent requirements than the regular courses – these are pursued typically by seasoned professionals with 15-30 years work-experience to gain knowledge, not to switch streams or get placed.

The course duration of such courses is often shorter, may include distance learning, lesser hours of classes, maybe during the weekends and the like. Since the requirements and rigours are far lesser and the participants already in senior management roles, the ‘jump’ in the career of the candidates tends to be lower than those in full time programs.

Most of the IIMs and other institutes have adopted the use of the word ‘Executive’ in the branding of their One Year MBA to differentiate it from the 2-year program. But this is misleading – executives are people who work during the day in full time jobs – not students with work experience who have left their jobs for full time study!

This branding creates confusion and more importantly, erodes the brand value of India’s first globally accredited MBAs. The two-year programs run by these institutes as MBA courses are not recognized at par with full time MBA programs abroad. Even in India, those who complete such courses are absorbed in companies only as management trainees while the One Year MBA programmes at Indian B-Schools are accredited as Full-Time MBAs by Association of MBAs, UK (AMBA).

ALSO READ: IIM A’s One Year MBA Ranked No.1 MBA In World For Career Progression: Financial Times 2016 Ranking

The confusion persists in the media too. Way back in 2013, Business Today took the trouble of separating the ranking of one year MBA courses in India from the two year PGP courses, it erred n bundling executive MBA (part time course for executives working in full time jobs) with one year full time MBA (full time residential course for candidates with work experience mandated internationally as eligibility for an MBA degree). Ref : BT’s MBA ranking mixes up executive MBA and one year MBA: oneyearmba.co.in dtd. October11, 2013.

More recently, The Hindu, on January 8, 2016, fell victim to the same mistake in an article titled ‘What they will teach you at Harvard Mumbai’ comparing IIM Ahmedabad’s PGPX programme and Harvard Business School’s Senior Executives Leadership Program.

The newspaper on January 22, 2016 published a clarification that read:

The IIMA PGPX programme is a decade-old, one-year fully residential programme for students with substantial work experience with approximately 600 contact sessions. In contrast, the yet-to-be launched HBS SELP is an executive education offering that proposes four modules (two off-campus modules of 10 and 11 days and two on-campus modules of 5 and 10 days each) with approximately 140 contact sessions, the institute said.

Further, entry into IIMA’s PGPX programme requires a formal application including submission of GMAT scores, while entry into HBS’s SELP does not have formal educational requirements. IIMA’s PGPX programme belongs to the category of one-year experienced MBA programmes, comparable to one-year MBA programmes offered by European institutions, such as INSEAD and IESE, it said.

“We believe directly comparing IIMA PGPX with HBS SELP is comparing apples with oranges and is likely to cause confusion,” The Hindu quoted Prof Sunil Sharma, chairperson, PGPX, IIMA as saying.

While Eduniversal did not respond to our query on the confusion over the rankings, IIM B refused to comment.

IIM-B chose to announce it thus: “The Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) has been ranked No 1 in Central Asia for three of its long-duration programmes – the two-year Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP), the one-year Post Graduate Programme in Public Policy & Management (PGPPM) and the one-year fulltime residential Executive Post Graduate Programme (EPGP), in the Eduniversal 2015-’16 Best Masters Ranking.”

Indian B-Schools are killing their own brand to ISB’s advantage, despite having higher ranked One Year MBA courses with better placement numbers and global MBA accreditation from AMBA.

The branding is also affecting the careers of One Year MBA graduates in India who routinely get mistaken for graduates of an Executive MBA by Human Resource executives. Students report having to struggle to explain the difference between their course – an MBA completed in one-year and the pre-experience two-year PGP/ PGDM programmes in India which B-Schools present as MBA programmes despite their status as MBMs.

CNN Money listed him as one of the “top-ten business school professors in the world” in their 2012 ranking. Now you can hear him in person. MYRA School of Business, Mysore in collaboration with Harvard Business Review Press is organizing an Executive Master Class with Prof. Vijay Govindarajan, Coxe Distinguished Professor at Tuck at Dartmouth, USA, & Marvin Bower Fellow at Harvard Business School, USA on January 30th, 2016 at the MYRA campus, exclusively for applicants to MYRA School of Business.

Student’s applying to MYRA School of Business, either for the One Year Full Time PGPX Program or the AICTE Approved 2 year PGDM by January 26, 2016 stand a chance to win a seat and an all paid trip to Mysore for the prestigious lecture.

The Master Class is based on VG’s forthcoming book – Three Box Solution: A Strategy for Leading Innovation, HBR Press, which is set for release in April 2016.

Dr. Vijay Govindarajan, known as VG, is an expert on strategy and innovation and New York Times and Wall Street Journal’s bestselling author.

As the first Professor in Residence and Chief Innovation Consultant at General Electric, he worked with GE’s CEO Jeff Immelt to write “How GE is Disrupting Itself,” the Harvard Business Review (HBR) article that pioneered the concept of reverse innovation.

Prior to joining the faculty at Tuck, VG was on the faculties of Harvard Business School, INSEAD, and the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad.

VG has worked with CEOs and top management teams in more than 25% of the Fortune 500 firms such as Boeing, Coca-Cola, Colgate, Deere, FedEx, GE, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, J.P. Morgan Chase, J&J, New York Times, P&G, Sony, Wal-Mart and others.

VG received his MBA and PhD from the Harvard Business School.

Businessweek rated him as a “Top Ten Professor in Corporate Executive Education” and has included him in their list of “Outstanding Faculty” in their guide to the best business school for six different years. CNN money listed him as one of the “top-ten business school professors in the world” in their 2012 ranking. Dr. Govindarajan has been rated as a top fifty management thinker by the London Times and was rated as the number three management guru in the world by Thinkers50 in 2011.

Dr. Govindarajan will address the audience on ‘Three-Box Solution: Strategy for Leading Innovation”.

The Three-Box Solution describes the framework for managing a business’s responsibility to take action in three time horizons at once: executing the present core business at peak efficiency (Box 1); taking steps to avoid the inhibiting traps of past success (Box 2); and innovating a future built on nonlinear ideas (Box 3).

This Master Class presents the inter-relationship between the three boxes, the skills required to create each box and balancing between the three boxes and answer the critical question: How to successfully create the future even while managing excellence in the present?

Eligibility

All those who apply to MYRA School of Business for either the AICTE Approved 2 year PGDM or one year PGPX Program by January 26, 2016. Click here to apply: http://myra.ac.in/apply 

What students need to do

1. Register for an invite by clicking here.

2. Along with your application to MYRA, submit an essay on ‘How you will benefit from an MBA’ in not more than 500 words.

What students get

Five winners will get a fully paid visit to Mysore, a seat to participate in the Master Class, a Certificate of Participation signed by VG and a selfie with the Management Guru.

Besides a free seat and trip to Mysore, Scholarships for full-time courses are also on offer:

• If your GMAT score is above 700 /CAT is above 95 percentile – 40% tuition fee waiver
• If your GMAT score is 650 – 700 /CAT is between 90 to 95 percentile – upto 30% tuition fee waiver
• If your GMAT score is 600 – 650 /CAT is between 85 to 90 percentile – upto 20% tuition fee waiver

Click here to know more about scholarships.