Thursday, November 17, 2005

How useful is the PGSEM

I have been meaning to reply to Yaniv's post (see http://iimbpgsem.blogspot.com/2005/11/how-useful-is-pgsem.html), but work's been devouring all my time and then some.
But here's a start - a small post admittedly, and I shall add more in the coming weeks. Another thing that I am going to do is to start posting to this blog photos that I have taken at IIMB during my more than two years in the program.

I think the PGSEM is a fantastic program for working professionals in Bangalore, and now Chennai also. I say Bangalore because this is a part-time program with campus requirements two days a week. The program is near-identical to IIMB's full time MBA program (PGP), the name and misconceptions notwithstanding. The faculty that teaches us is the same, which by and large is exceptional.

The program offers ample scope for someone to specialize in an area of their choice. Admittedly the depth of specialization is not as much as one would prefer, but hopefully this is something the current and future batches will work on (more about this in a future post). Consider this, if you wanted to focus on Finance, your choices would have been:
Core courses:
- Management Accounting (Financial and cost accounting)
- Corporate Finance
Electives (starting with the Jun academic quarter 2004-05):
- Banking, Financial Markets, and Systems
- Risk Management for Insurance Professionals
- Computational Finance
- Investments
- International Banking
- Corporate Valuation
- Global Financial Markets
- New Enteprise Financing
- Coporate Tax Management
- Mergers & Acquisitions
- Financial Risk Management
- Financial Statement Analysis
- Fixed Income Securities and Derivatives

I can think of a dozen courses that could have been offered in addition to the ones listed above, like Financial Derivatives, International Finance, Introduction to Capital Market Theory, Fixed Income Securities, Advance Corporate Finance, Indirect Taxation, General Insurance, Insurance and Pension Funds, etc... But one would accept that the above courses offered themselves would allow a student to get a good grasp of the basics (and more) of finance.

Similarly, if you wanted to focus on Marketing and related areas, the PGSEM has a lot to offer:
Core
- Principles of Marketing
- Marketing Research
Electives
- Business Marketing Strategy
- Business Data Mining and Decision Models
- Product Management
- Advertising Management
- Sales Force Management
- eBusiness Models and Strategies
- Management of Alliances
- Services Marketing Management
I think that PGSEM is weak when it comes to the breadth and depth in marketing courses. Courses that could have been offered but were not (will discuss this in a later post) include brand management, Consumer Behaviour, Retailing Management, Competitive Marketing Strategy, Sales and Distribution Management, International Business Negotiation Skills.

In my opinion, the value of the PGSEM starts to become apparent in the second year when I (and others) started to see the integrative nature of an MBA. No course really exists in a vacuum: you cannot design a sales force without knowing the kind of market you are working in, or the kind of organizational structure you have or want to put in place, not to mention how you are going to market and advertise your products...

More in the coming weeks...

6 comments:

Srini said...

I think this is being worked on by the 2004 batch. We are trying to get many more electives to be offered by the Profs and have made student committees to do the same.

This is something which will continue with future batches and things can only get better from here on.

Mahasweta Das said...

Hi,
I am interested to do MBA from IIMB along with my job,means while working I want to do the MBA.Would you please suggest me something?
I have a question will this program have value in market,when you come to consider about the value addition in the job market,will they give weightage to this certificate?
Can we get the certificate directly from IIMB?
Would you please let me know the procedure for enrolment?

Thank you for being kind,
Mahasweta Das,
Bangalore

Bharath said...

Please join PGSEMInfo yahoogroup and browse user history to understand more.

Vijay said...

Hi Mahasweta,

PGSEM is an executive pgm equivalent to MBA. If you are looking to do an MBA from IIM while in job, PGSEM is right for you.
PGSEM is NOT a certificate program and is a PG Diploma like other full time programs of IIMs
Yes. Diploma is awarded by IIMB.
You have to go through all the rounds like a normal MBA like:
CAT/GMAT/PGSEM Test
GD/Essays
SOPs
Interviews

For more info see http://www.iimb.ernet.in/pgsem or join Y! group Bharath mentioned above.

Regards,
Vijay

Mahasweta Das said...

Dear Bijay,
Thanks a ton for your kind reply.
Okay so I can do this MBA during my work.So is this week end classes,or what? And Is the classes will be conducted in IIMB classroom ?
How many years or experience they need?
Which test is necessary among CAT/GMAT/PGSEM Test?
What is the minimumm score needed to apply for the same?
Would you please help me by saying what is PGSEM test.what kind of test is this ,and the patern ,is it similar to CAT?
Thank you so much,
Mahasweta

Vijay said...

Please join the Y! group. PGSEM FAQs in this blog should answer all your questions.

- Yes you can do this while you are working. Classes are conducted in IIMB campus, Friday & Saturday (8AM-1:15PM)
- Minimum 2 years of experience
- Any one of the three exams
- PGSEM Test is similar to CAT

Regards,
Vijay

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