MBA vs PGDM

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A very common dilemma that a management aspirant faces is whether to choose a college which offers MBA degree or the one offering PGDM. It becomes very difficult when they find most of the top colleges of the country offering PGDM (Post Graduate Diploma in Management) or PGPM (Post Graduate Program in Management), whereas very few top colleges offering MBA.

So, what is the real difference between MBA and PGDM? Which is better – MBA or PGDM? What is the perception of the industry as far as MBA and PGDM is concerned? Do they really influence someone’s career? Let us look at them one by one.

In India, only universities can offer an MBA degree. If any institute wants to offer an MBA degree, it should be affiliated to a university. That is why most of the autonomous institutes offer either PGDM or PGPM. Even the likes of MDI and XLRI cannot offer an MBA degree and hence offers PGDM. Some of the famous colleges offering MBA degrees are FMS – Delhi, Symbiosis University and NMIMS University.

In this ever-dynamic business world, staying updated with the new business processes and needs is one major challenge. This is where the autonomous institutes score more marks than others. They can easily include or exclude a subject for the benefit of their students whereas in most of the universities in our country, the syllabus gets modified only after a period of 5 to 10 years. For instance, when Business Analytics started gaining importance in the industry, many of the autonomous colleges easily incorporated the same in their curriculum which benefitted the students immensely.

When placement scenario is concerned, there is no real difference between a college offering an MBA or a PGDM. The recruiting companies are more interested in the brand and reputation of the college, the student quality and rigor of the management program offered. Even the salary offered, and the job roles offered depend more on the quality of the college and its reputation.

That is why most of the autonomous colleges have very stringent admission criteria so that they can get the best of the students. Also, they are continuously updating their course offerings. This has in turn helped those colleges to finally give very good placements to their students.

The career growth is independent of whether the degree is MBA or PGDM; ultimately it depends on the potential of the management graduate.

Written by:

Samrat Roy

Team Endeavor

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