Many youngsters come to me asking where they can pursue their MBA because they believe that an MBA would advance their career growth.
Ten years after I finished my undergraduation, I decided to pursue an MBA. Having decided to do an MBA, I was puzzled if I had to do a two year or one year MBA, classroom or distance, if I should leave my job or not and so many other questions.
But today, there are many more dimensions and paradigms added to this dilemma that always existed, with the wide array of options such as online mode, V SAT, classroom, Executive, PGDM and so on.
MBA syllabus
Let me attempt to draw some clarity for all you MBA aspirants. First and foremost, close to 80 per cent of the syllabus covered in management are the same whether it is done at a B school in Texas or T Nagar. Having said that, what makes your learning experience unique depends on who teaches, how they teach and how relevant they make the concepts to daily business problems. Those institutions that are able to address the above in a ‘learner centric’ manner are the ones branded as a top notch B school across the world.
If this concept is well understood by the aspirant, the next step of choosing the course, institute or mode of study becomes an easier task.
A young student once asked me, “Sir, can the virtual classroom replace brick and motor?” My answer to him was simple and which I assume is universally applicable to each and every one of you. If you have the ability to crack the CAT or GMAT, doubled with the time and money required to spend in a full-time programme, there is no substitute for full-time learning. But however, if you are doubtful of any one of the above prerequisites, then an off campus programme could be an alternative worth exploring.
Various options
What do I mean when I say off campus? For many years, Universities that were committed to spreading knowledge beyond their Geography of Operations did so by leveraging the ‘correspondence’ methodology of learning. Students were sent “Study Materials” by post and were invited to attend contact classes.
Those who had the time and the convenience to travel did so and benefitted from these contact classes.
Now it is the era of the Internet and the all pervasive web has the potential to transform higher education in India. The Harvards and MITs of the world are now exploring the need to offer their courses online. Some companies in India have been partnering with the top notch B schools in the country to take their courses online, thereby ensuring that the academic rigour of a top notch B school is maintained with the flexibility of a self-study programme, given the inherent nature of the Internet.
Faculty from top notch B schools deliver these lectures through short videos and are also available for interaction on the online platform.
So no matter which city you’re from or which B school you study at, technology breaks the barriers of when, where and who. So it’s not an I, me and myself that knows it all, but I, you and them that learn the same thing, thanks to technology.
The writer is founder – CEO, >myBskool.com
