Students often confuse MBA with PGDM and end up making wrong choices. Dr Ramakrishnan Raman tells you ways to differentiate

Pursuing post-graduation in management remains one of the most preferred options for Indian students. Generally graduates from engineering, commerce & arts and economics stream aspire to pursue their post-graduation in the management discipline.

This is evident by the number of applications that the competitive exams like CAT (Common Aptitude Test), SNAP (Symbiosis National Aptitude Test) and XAT (Xavier Aptitude Test) receive year after year. Students often face dilemma to choose amongst the two most popular options, namely MBA (Master in Business Administration) and PGDM (Post Graduate Diploma in Management). Some aspirants are not sure about the difference between these programmes. In order to make the right decision, it is important to know how MBA and PGDM are different.  According to the present Indian legal framework and rules, only a University can offer an MBA degree. Also, educational institutions which is affiliated to a university can also offer an MBA programme of the university. The legal framework allows a Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM), which is a diploma course to be offered by the institutes that are recognised by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). These autonomous institutions are not affiliated to any university. However, accreditation by the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) makes an institute’s PGDM course equivalent to an MBA.

This is the reason for institutions like SIBM Pune, FMS Delhi and NMIMS Mumbai to offer an MBA degree whereas institutes like XLRI, NITIE and MDI among many others offer the PGDM program. In 2017, Lok Sabha approved the IIM Bill 2017 that promises to grant autonomy to the elite B-schools and allow them to award full-fledged degrees to their graduates instead of post-graduate diplomas in management. IIMs will be able to grant MBA and doctoral degrees once the law is enacted. As on date, even the IIMs (Indian Institutes of Management) offer only PGDM and not an MBA program.

While both MBA and PGDM programmes essentially train you for managerial and leadership positions, the corporates largely give importance to the institution from which you graduate.

Autonomous institutes which offer PGDM programme and private and deemed universities which offer MBA programme design the curriculum by taking the requirements from the corporate. The curriculum is also revamped very frequently. Hence from a corporate perspective and from the perspective of starting package that is offered to students, the institution’s brand is what that matters .

The writer is Director, Symbiosis Institute of Business Management (SIBM), Pune