NMIMS Hyderabad - Best kept secrets

Aha. After some intruding research through contacts for some time i found some detail about the NMIMS at Hyderabad which started on mid-July 2011. This is what i got and so I am passing on. Veracity of this information may look different in the absence of pointers which are fact-based so caution yourself with some verification on these - But it seemed logical to me. Here are the details.....

I recently learned some things about the NMIMS in Hyderabad. So I thought of sharing this with you. They have a plan to setup "huge" campus in the outskirts of Hyderabad - near Jadcherla (60 KMS from city). Although the management courses would still be with in city- Tarnaka which is accessible. This size of institute and recognition would directly increase market value of professionals within the hyderabad region besides providing opportunities for industry interactions.

There have some good industry contacts and they are still building it. With the sad demise of the iconic ICFAI in hyderabad (owing to some supreme court decisions of late), NMIMS looked like a good option for those profs. It is believed that a sizable number of good professors(none less than a PHD) are teaching in NMIMS now. This means better quality of education from profs with experience and good pedagogy skills. I also learnt that there are good selection criteria for profs is insisted.

Added to this the erstwhile industry contacts of ICFAI are being re-routed to NMIMS hyderabad through these profs and the director(IIT , IIM, PHD) seems to be playing cautious moves in this direction. The chain of contacts is good enough to pull good profs on one hand and industry contacts on the other. Added to this the alumnus of NMIMS is also leveraged. Alumni around hyderabad who are in good positions are also kept in good touch with the institute.

Although there may not be a promise of campus selections(as everyone is employed), there might be a campus placement cell to help students on this end. It is learnt that the first batch of PGDBM students at NMIMS hyderabad is still not out in the market yet. So an eagle eye to tap the information would help us determine the credibility of the institute.

Executive part-times of non-IIM's mirrored the IIM's

Ever since the IIM's started the executive courses, there was good response from the industry and among students. Inline with this many non-IIM's also started enrolling for executive courses. SPJain, NMIMS to name a few(that i know of... :) ).  In doing so they have taken some shortcuts here.

The structural import
First they took the IIM syllabus as is. Then they modified as per their the needs of the people who could be bought in to this syllabus. Then they tried to amalgamate the IIM way of teaching with case study methodology. They backed up this course with some good faculty (Preferably phd's in their field). Then they started to rolling out as course that is as competent as the IIM's. the rest of the infrastructure is already avaliable - library, selection process, location, recognition etc. This is done well so far. So they started to honor part-time executives. This was a good boost to their courses as many started to accept this course. But the fact is that even if you sell sprite in a whisky bottle it will still be sprite - That's the outlook of the recruiters.

The key is that you get an MBA (more or less) which is part time from a renowned Institute that mirrors the IIM's in the methodology. As the economy bought in(and still bringing-in) cycles of recession many  found this a safe haven for continuing studies on part-time basis.

This is the way NMIMS ,SP Jain and other institutes are working. They are finding it interesting and students must have found the benefits of it assuming they gave what it takes.

To my understanding this is a good bargain and best value for money.

SPJain and NMIMS Executive part time programs

Narsee Monjee institute of Management studies(NMIMS) and SP Jain Center of management are famous bschools in india. They are particularly well  known in Mumbai. Recently they started flogging to other areas in India and abroad. NMIMS started new centres in Bangalore and Hyderabad. Contrary to S.P.Jain is running a campus in Dubai (for a full time global MBA). This is a big leap. Unless they have the confidence they may not go that far. Although both the bschool are excellent and competitive they differ in the way they try to estrange themselves from the rest.

Both NMIMS and SPJain started their respective executive part-time programs which is considered little rigorous. There seem to be some industry acceptance in their courses with corporate sponsorships , exclusive batches for some companies , Corporate interactions, etc. 

SP Jain seems to go a overboard in being a little strict and uncompromising in terms of attendance and prefer locals more than outsiders they can be right but i bet they can be wrong. While NMIMS is a little flexible.

Options for Part-time MBA

Not everyone grants MBA degree. Some offer as MBA and some others as PG Diploma in Management. More than the degrees what you learn and how companies perceive the value of the course and the university seems important.

IIM's part-time seem to the best in India but are there any? There should some rationale for choosing others.  NMIMS, SPJain and FMS seem to offer some very good executive programs. They are looking promising right now for me. I'll understand a bit more and let you know. It looks like they offer a good value  for money. But there hasn't been much of a debate on them either positive or negative which is both interesting and sad.

Will keep you posted.

Choosing a part-time Executive MBA

In India, There is a lot of confusion about executive bschool programs offered by many universities each one no less than the other. This esteemed list includes IIM's(B,K,C) , NMIMS , SPJain, IIFT, etc. which are seen as bschool "brands". The list just starts from here. This is compounded by the fact that same university offers more than one program. As though this not enough these universities are institutions offering versatile program modes.

• Full -time - all through the time with university until you complete the degree
  
• Part time mode - either evening weekdays or full day weekend programs.
• Distance learning - Online tutorials, CD's , Books
  
• Third party - Group or Individual with a remote instructor - as in Hughes education
  

There is a problem of plenty here.

Then, How do we go about finding the one we need ?

The answer lies in what you want and how considering barriers such as time, geography, effort and any other personal or non-personal considerations. Once you complete these degrees, You'll get opportunities but you have to get through it.

Let me represent my suggestion based on the value the program tries to impart:
- Full-time
- Part-time
- Distance

Full -time is always the best. But a working individual may not sacrifice his job to get there. As such the market now a days is dull - so essentially it risky to venture out.

A striking optimization for a working individual is the part-time. Its prospective for vertical growth in the field. Presents the ability to switch jobs and in some cases develops enterpreneurs. But constraints apply. If you are exhausted in you considerations for a part-time then only go for Distance. Generally, Geography limitation forces one to pick distance. But otherwise its wise to bet on Part-time for the following reasons.

• This imparts the sense of "student"
• You study with others in a class-room
• Its interactive and can be lively.
• Scheduled study and classroom learning
• Assignments that remind you on weekdays
  
• Peer learning and exchanges
  
• Your friends list grows.
  
• It beats over distance MBA in terms of industry recognition
  
• There is less boredom

Although there are disadvantages, they certainly have a long term benefit and impact. The third party based learning is next to part-time but slightly better than distance learning mode in the fact that you get a schedule to study. But otherwise don't flock for their degrees. An in-campus learning is much better and safer.

The education recession

This is what I believe could come true in the wake of recession cycles. This can be predominant in USA and Europe owing to the higher fees for their courses.

The popular courses in these countries are MBA, MS and Engineering. Lets do some sampling around the courses starting with the high paying MBA. The average cost of MBA in US is around $1,00,000 for 2 years while that in Europe is around $70,00,000 for 1 year. Each university has 300-400 seats on an average. Financial times reports the ranking of the top 100 universities around the world. So roughly, there would be at least 100 * 400 = 40,000 'quality' professionals coming out every year. Since not every one is born rich many take loans so that they can repay later - the margin being 70-80 %. This is compounded annually by banks at a meagre rate. Professionals - 'Lemons' or 'non-lemons' until proven - coming out is the same number each year. They compete with not only their peer group but also with their seniors who are already recruited.

The invention of crisis

It is widely believed that to ward off a loan(for MBA) it takes no less than 5 years in continuous employment. If we do a little economics we understand that 5 continuous high paying jobs are difficult now a days given how quick recessions are showing up and in all parts of the world each impacting one another.

From the macro-economics in a country we can conclude that during the recessions cycles people are unable to get jobs and so are unable to pay up for the company products nor are they getting any credit money from banks. This reduces the profit margin of the companies. In response the companies try to be more competitive - trim their organization to give high quality and low price products. In this process, certain ratio of the employees are squeezed out of their organizations.

This gap in the employment creates the monetary deficit in clearing the bank loans. Soon the student gets bankrupt and the bank's defaulters list keeps growing. This is just a sampling interference of the example MBA group (that too from the top 100 universities only) we are referring to. The actual numbers may indicate that it can potentially lead to a financial crisis.

After-math of the "education recession"

At some point banks may be forced to give out a loan only with sturdy mortgage guarantees. This will squeeze the paying capacities of the talented and eligible students. So the universities will not be able to fill-up their seats and so they may not be able to generate funding necessary for its administrative subsistence. These universities have to either close out or decrease the fee to increase the capacity or take 'mortgaged' bank loans if necessary. The university may find/replace with cheap staff who may be less competent. This puts the education system itself under tremendous pressure and the quality of education might possibly wilt.

Governments may have to intervene and rescue it in some discernible means to counter this.

Although it could be a statistically hypothetical analysis about this type of recession, it is possible some are already facing this undesirable journey and trying to stay competent each morning. The much hyped FOREIGN DEGREE now might not escape itself to face this at some point in time. Its due for a very long time.