MBA Primer (Part 4): What does a typical MBA program teach?

The most widely accepted course of management education in India is the two-year MBA program. While universities offer MBA degrees, autonomous MBA schools in India, recognized by AICTE, offer Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM). The IIMs offer Post Graduate Program in Management (PGPM) to its students. Most MBA schools in India follow a tri-semester examination system. The objective of these programs is to train graduates to become managers and gradually leaders in the corporate sector in fields such as Marketing, Human Resources, Finance, Operations and Strategic Management.

The First YearIn the first year of an MBA program, the students learn the core disciplines of management education and then go on for specializations. According to Dr. Harivansh Chaturvedi, Professor and Director of Birla Institute of Management Technology (BIMTECH), MBA program is both academic (learning the theories) and applied (learning by doing). Along with theory, it provides knowledge on the application of theory. In management education, there are many other programs but most of them are theory-centric. An MBA program is a mix of both, says Dr. Chaturvedi.

Initially, emphasis is put on the fundamental subjects such as principles of management education, business law, managerial economics, finance and accounting, introduction to marketing and quantitative methods. Dr. Anwar Ali, Director, IMT Ghaziabad, one of the MBA schools in India, says, The first year of an MBA program is all about creating a strong grounding. As the basic concepts are taught in the first year of the MBA program, it develops an all round perspective of the student.

Emphasizing the necessity of the basic management education in the first year at MBA schools in India, Dr. Ali says, In the beginning of an career a candidate focuses more in specialized departments like marketing or sales, but later when they while climb higher and becoming leaders, they require the basic knowledge that is taught in the first year of an MBA program.

However, a few MBA schools also teach specialized subjects in the first year. Speaking to MBAUniverse.com, Director of SIBM Pune Dr. Arun Mudbidri says, This year the SIBM Pune made sure that the selection of specialization and subjects related to the same are introduced and included in the curriculum from day-one of the academic sessions.

The Second Year In the second year of an MBA program, students can opt for specialization in selected areas of management like Finance, Marketing and HR among others. An MBA program invariably requires students to undertake seven to eight weeks of summer internships. The second year of elective papers gives a student a good understanding in one particular area and provides them with good exposure to practical work also. This practical exposure helps students with the second year of their MBA program where they are required to do a lot of project work and case studies, says Dr. Ali.

To equip the students meet the challenges of management, each MBA school in India has their own way of teaching. Dr. CS Venkata Ratnam, Director of IMI says, It is for the teacher to decide the pedagogy. The methodology depends on the requirements of the MBA program. Ideally, I think that a mix of methodology should be used rather than a dogmatic fixation about a particular methodology.

Ethics under focus
In the current scenario of uncertainty followed by the Lehman Brothers, Enron and Satyam fiascos, the academia of the management education sector feels that ethics should be an important part of all MBA programs.

Explaining, Director of MDI Gurgaon, Dr. BS Sahay says, Apart from providing good education, discipline and ethical and moral values, we teach the nuances of corporate social responsibility to the students of MDI Gurgaon. The value system has to be very strong. The MDI Gurgaon, one of the top MBA Schools in India, has therefore introduced courses like Business Ethics, Corporate Governance & Social Concretization, International Behavior of a Firm and Global Supply Chain Management in the current academic year of 2009-11.

Director of XIMB Fr PT Joseph also agrees that management education in India goes through constant changes in keeping with the world order. The XIMB has updated the entire syllabus model. We have introduced about 16 new courses in this years MBA program to help our students face the constant changes happening in the corporate sector. Also, a few 3-credit core courses have been brought down to 1.5-credits or 2-credits. This has been done so that the gist of the subject can be taught to the students in as much little time as possible and to incorporate more emerging aspects of study in the MBA program, Fr Joseph says.
Many more MBA schools in India have introduced new courses on business ethics and other emerging topics this year, and this goes on to prove that management education is a constantly evolving subject. As far as curriculum is concerned, management education has and will always keep evolving.

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MBA Primer is a series of exclusive articles prepared by MBAUniverse.com keeping in mind the needs of the MBA aspirants. Based on comprehensive and updated inputs from experts & credible sources, these articles by MBAUniverse.com cover topics like Basics of MBA, How to crack written tests like CAT and How to select the right MBA School.
Next: Different Options for MBA Programs