A two year
MBA or PGDM programme from a good business school can be set you off by about
Rs.12-15 lakhs if you consider the tuition fee and other living expenses for
two years. In addition, if you are earning an average of Rs.4 lakhs per annum
in your current job, you will forego another Rs.8 lakhs during the two years of
study and sometimes even a promotion to the next level as well. In essence, you
will be paying approximately Rs. 20-25 lakhs for a two year management
programme which is a substantial amount and, therefore, choosing a B-School or
a programme that suits your requirement is essential. Moreover, the current
uncertainty in the job market and the relevance of MBA in boosting students’
career opportunities being questioned, it is all the more important for you to
make the right choice. However, this is easier said than done. With every
B-School claiming that they have world class faculty and infrastructure and
100% placement record, MBA aspirants are getting confused and making wrong
choices.
You need to, therefore, be sure about the
right programme to join which will give your career a boost for which you need
to be clear about why you want to do an MBA and what your expectations from the
programme are. I will be discussing these aspects in the remaining part of this
article which I hope will guide you in your decision process.
1. To earn
more money or get a good profile job: This is certainly good reason to
join a good MBA programme. But you should not be carried away by the talk of
the so-called ‘return on investment’ and ‘payback period’. Business schools
that have long legacy, proven track record of providing quality education
(which includes recognition by UGC or AICTE and accredited by NAAC, NBA and
other national and international reputed accreditation agencies), curriculum
aligned to the contemporary needs of the industry, trusted and respected by
corporate recruiters and located in places which enable a high level of
institute-industry interaction should be your first choice.
2. To prepare
for a career in a particular functional area or sector: You
should not expect that all prestigious and top ranking B-Schools have expertise
in all areas of management. Hence, you should also look for those schools and,
not necessarily top ranking schools, which have expert faculty in the area you
wish to specialize. Proximity to certain types of industries provide
opportunities for faculty members to carry out research, consultancy and
training activities which in turn help them to gain expertise in certain
sectors and areas.
3. To join a
good but affordable programme: Not everyone can afford or
willing to pay high tuition fees even though they may get admission to top
B-Schools. This should not deter you from pursuing a good programme. There are
many good schools in the next tier which provide “value for money” by provide
quality education at affordable cost.
4. To be an
entrepreneur: Most schools prepare students for careers in corporate
sectors. If you wish to be an entrepreneur, then you may need to look for
schools whose curricula have high degree of focus on entrepreneurship, have
very active entrepreneurship cells or incubators and favourable environment
which nurture entrepreneurship.
5. Use MBA to
move into a different profile:
You need to realise that except for some programmes which may help you
switch to a different profile, by and large, an MBA is essentially a career
accelerator which can pitch you to a higher position in your current career in
a relatively shorter time. You need to have more realistic expectations from an
MBA programme and should not hope to leverage it to shift to a different career
or catapult you to senior positions quickly.
6. Other
reasons: Other reasons for choosing a programme include gaining
international experience through internships, foreign immersion programme, dual
degree programmes, etc. Some schools have excellent tie-ups with reputed
foreign universities which provide excellent opportunities for international
exposure. If you plan to join a doctoral
programme to earn a Ph.D or go abroad for work, then you should certainly look
for reputed universities which offer MBA degree or PGDM from a management
institute recognized by AIU.
To
summarize, you should have a clear set of objectives, do your own research and
don’t forget to remember the old adage, “look before you leap”, before you make
the final call.
Authored by Mr. Somayajulu
Garimella, Ph.D. , Director & Dean,
Institute of Management, Nirma University