Unique Aspects of Few MBA Colleges in India (Part 3)

Q - Can you briefly tell me about some of the unique aspects of few MBA colleges in India which you didn’t knew earlier?

A- I will give you a small summary of some of the unique colleges I know:

• SP Jain Institute of Management: This college is one of my favorites because of the unique type of curriculum it provides which is unlike any MBA college in India (including IIIM’s). In any MBA college the first year is the “common year” where you have a common set of subjects to be taught to all the students irrespective of their majors. So, it doesn’t matter what my major is, I must learn 3-4 finance subjects, 3-4 Marketing subjects, 3-4 Operations subjects, 3-4 HR subjects, 3-4 Economics subjects, Business Law, Communications so by the end of 1^st year , I am jack of all trades master of none. Similarly, in my second year 4^th semester is the only time where I can learn my core subjects followed by 5^th semester which is placement season and final semester which is just a filler. All in all, I have basic knowledge of all the 4-5 business fields plus some extra knowledge of my core domain. Now compare this to SP Jain, they have a unique hiring process where you must have some background of the domain in which you want to major, even an engineering fresher who qualifies for a finance major role is asked accounting ratios during interviews, similarly a candidate who has IT experience cannot do major in supply chain. Similarly Post hiring, the 1^st year curriculum is pretty domain heavy and an average finance guy who has completed 3^rd semester in SP Jain has the same knowledge as a student who has completed 4^th semester in other reputed college (obviously take this statement with a pinch of salt but you get the point) since  A) You already have a background in Finance B) You have subjects in your curriculum in first year which I will be study in second year obviously your depth of knowledge will be far more than me.Now if you ask me which is better breadth or depth of knowledge? I will mostly choose depth! I would any time choose to be SME of a domain who can crack any interview in any company rather than someone having half baked knowledge about all the things. Hence, career goals wise SP Jain is the institute which takes you where you wanted to be before doing MBA to the greatest extent possible. What happens in other college is one plans to do finance major before starting MBA,  changes to supply chain majors during first year , gets placed in marketing role and when he starts working its a nothing but a project management IT role disguised as a “marketing strategy” role .  

• IIM Indore: What makes IIM Indore unique and different from other IIMs? Well it’s the only IIM (which I know of) that offers 5 years Integrated Program in Management where you can get both undergraduate and postgraduate degrees from IIM Indore with the opportunity of sitting in the placement process with the same PGDM (MBA) students who cleared CAT. So, in a way you have the option of getting the same degree, same learning experience and same placement process as a two -year PGDM student without sitting in CAT. Now I know this is a touchy topic and a lot of people will say that companies will differentiate, or you will not be polished like your peer PGDM students but let me tell you it’s not true at all. Companies don’t differentiate like that; take the case of XIMB they have 50% reservations for domicile quota with CAT percentile cutoff going around 80% whereas for general candidates for the same seat the cutoff remains around 90% , I have never heard of any company there differentiating between a candidate based on his/her domicile status and why should they? Getting good marks in a competitive exam is not correlated in any way with having good managerial skills. Also, the students in the first 3 years of their graduation are taught all the foundational aspects of mathematics, statistics and economics which make them top performing students in their post graduate programs outperforming even the regular PGDM students.           

• MICA (Mudra Institute of Communications): MICA is a very good college if you are aiming for MBA in marketing. Their interview process is unlike any other where you are being tested on your creativity skills like essay writing about say a wall in front of you , fun group exercises , personal interview process which isn’t about grilling you on aptitude skills but more on the lines of understanding your passion , hobbies. So, if you like doing creative work & are looking for a career in advertising or similar marketing role this is one of best colleges in India where you can apply to.

• XLRI: What makes XLRI so unique? Well for starters it’s 2-year course is considered one of the best HRM course in Asia (that’s right!) great achievement especially if you are not a government institution. Also, it’s the oldest MBA college in India established way back in 1949. At that time mostly catering to Tata Steel which had unmet requirements of management trainees in Jamshedpur. Things have changed a lot in these 70 years, but the XL brand is still rock solid maintaining its top 5 ranking among management institute in India year after year. Now while choosing an MBA college, its location is generally considered an important factor which one must take into consideration. Let’s say if I have to choose between NMIMS Mumbai and XIMB Bhubaneswar; I will give more points to NMIMS (for a finance major role) since a lot of finance companies have headquarters in Mumbai and its less expansive for them to hire from Mumbai than Bhubaneswar. But this location factor vanishes for XL even though there is no direct flight connectivity and recruiters have to reach Jamshedpur through Ranchi which takes extra 3 hours by Road. Why do you think recruiters take so much pain? Well, most of the placements in any management Institution works through its Alum contacts, there is a mutual understanding among companies, run by alums at top positions as well people in talent acquisition department with the institution to hire a good chunk of students from their preferred institute every year. Now imagine the networking of an MBA institute in existence for 70 years having alums running top MNC companies of the world and many mid management level HR corporates who are in talent acquisition teams, its huge! in fact, placements are least of its concerns.    

This is just a short list which I remember, there are many more unique colleges which you can look for by going through social platforms like Pagalguy,Totalgadha . All the best!