Is it MBA or PGDM? X institute or Y college? where's the placement hundred percent?

"MBA or PGDM?what should I take?", " I want to go for MBA only", my choice is a "PGDM from a reputed institute".

The above statements are commonly heard. Most of the time students have no idea as to what is the option they should take and they just go by the flow. Here, I just want to pinpoint the basic difference between the two options, will discuss the entire concept of 'degree' and 'diploma' in the later blogs.

PGDM is 'Post graduate diploma in management', it is basically a diploma programme which is provided by an autonomous institute i.e. the one which is not affiliated to any university. Now not being affiliated with a university does not mean there's something wrong with the quality of education, it can be better than the one provided by the university curriculum. The concept of providing diploma is very old and has its roots with education system abroad. PGDM has been popularised by the IIMs and of course the standards that they set are unbeatable. Now the question arises as to what makes a PGDM special? Its nothing but the curriculum that is 'what is taught'and most importantly 'how it is taught'. There is more flexibility in terms of contents of the course structure, if you are following the course structure of a university you are limited to the extent of the curriculum designed by the university for a particular programme, this is where the basic definition of a 'degree' lies. MBA is a degree which you get from a university, the institute might be of your choice but the curriculum is the same which is designed by the university. I hope you get the basic idea of what a degree is and what is a diploma?

Now why PGDM is considered to be a better choice? the answer is the content that is taught. The normal procedure of a university to add or remove something form the existing curriculum is very lengthy and tedious as it has its own legal requirements and you cannot expect the universities to change their curriculum quite often. But, if the curriculum is not in tune with the changing trends and the market analysis it is not worth, it does not make you industry ready which leads to a skill gap.

Management per say is entirely a pragmatic approach, practical knowledge and implementation is of utmost importance, there are a bundle of strategies which are not written but hold true and a lot of written ones which you never come across.Therefore, the method of teaching plays a key role, industry oriented approach with the live examples of practical world are taught in the best B-schools. So the curriculum has to be updated, the pedagogy has to be redesigned time  and again and the faculty has to be the upgraded and updated one. Now, all this become possible with an applied system and this is the reason why PGDM is the prime choice.

If you talk about your career growth, there is no single answer to the question. Is it PGDM or MBA? it entirely depends on where you wish to take your career to i.e. what is the industry you aspire to go? For example, if you wish enter into the corporate world, Sales, Marketing, Branding are the things you love to do, you should be looking for a PGDM, the reasons are discussed above, the curriculum is designed as per the changing trends. On the other hand if you are inclined toward teaching, research and development, MBA will be a better option for you. It's not that you don't need an upgraded programme for teaching or research, the only thing is higher studies becomes easy as the basic requirement for taking up a Ph.d programme or a fellowship programme is a degree which is required to get yourself enrolled into these programmes. The curriculum for MBA is sufficient to give you an insight into the subject and you can move ahead for further research.
But again, let me tell you one thing it is not the PGDM or MBA that is going to decide your career, its how you make best use of it that decides your career.This artificial gap of money is created by the institutes, they charge premium in the name of PGDM, the instiutes which are committed to quality education will give you the best even if you do an MBA form there, some of the renowned institutes provide the same opportunities, placement et al for all the students irrespective of MBA or PGDM, they add value added certificates and courses to enhance and upgrade the university curriculum, PUMBA is one of them. If the institute is not delivering quality education, it will do so in its PGDM course as well.

One more point I would like to mention here is the students judge a B-school with its placement record, don't go for those records, I am not saying they don't matter but they are not the true indicators of quality as well. You must know the truth behind these statistics. There are many things that go into the selection of a candidate for a top notch company for a top package. Three things which a quality institute should give to every student is:

1. Quality education-what is taught? how it is taught?

2. Value addition-how much value that a particular institute add to your life when you take education from that particular institute. Value addition in terms of shaping up your personality, transfer of knowledge, help you take the best out of you, how you are transformed into an individual of calibre.

3. Providing a platform for your career: this refers to the placement. Having done the above mentioned things, to facilitate your first step of your career that is bringing in the companies to the campus which can absorb you. Quite obvious the employer will like to have the best of the best talent in their organization, therefore the better the institute, the better the companies. The best institutes are able to fetch the best companies and so the package. If the institute fails to do the above three, then only it could be rated low, else I don't think there's any criteria which can categorize the institute as good or bad.

Remember your campus placement is not the destiny, it is just the beginning, the first step to move into the path of your career, there are miles to go. If you understand this fact you will have no difficulty in making a choice whether it is the choice of a programme or of an institute. Most students waste their time without a logical reasoning, during my counselling sessions I come across innumerable students preparing for n number of entrance examinations simultaneously without even giving it a thought as to what the entrance is meant for. " I want to join that institute , 'have you appeared for its entrance?' 'I am preparing for CAT' the ultimate answer to all the questions, without even knowing that the particular institute conducts its own entrance examination.

Dear students plz come out of this herd mentality and be analytical in approach and you will realize that there's absolutely nothing that is not achievable.


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