Indian Institute of Technology Madras is all set to offer its unique postgraduate programme for executives, Visionary Leadership in Manufacturing (VLM). The initiative is a unique tripartite national-level leadership-building programme in India involving industry, academia and the Government.
PGPEX-VLM is a one-year Executive MBA programme jointly offered by IIT Madras, IIT Kanpur and IIM Calcutta, and it focuses on developing leaders for global manufacturing operations by training them on the best paradigms of technology and management.
Elaborating on the details of the programme, Dr. Venkatesh Balasubramanian, Associate Professor, Department of Engineering Design, says that the manufacturing sector in India is facing a crisis in terms of the limited supply of manpower at an appropriate skill level. Also the available engineering talent pool is shrinking both in quality and quantity. “The reason for the decline in mid-level leadership in manufacturing is due to manpower migration to Information and Communication Technology jobs that provide higher pay,” says Dr. Balasubramanian.
The VLM programme has been developed by the National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council in collaboration with the Ministry of Human Resource Development represented by the institutes of technology (IITs) and management (IIMs) and Confederation of Indian Industry, as a training programme, under the Indo-Japan Cooperation Agreement 2006.
The course aims at creating visionary leaders at the level of senior and middle-management in manufacturing industries in India. This is an advanced, innovative education and training programme with the assistance of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
Candidates with four to ten years (self-sponsored) and four and a half years (for sponsored candidates) work experience in manufacturing, engineering and related sectors are eligible to participate.