The west though experiencing an economic slowdown has increasingly looked at top notch managerial talent to help spot growth opportunities for the future and stem the decline. In an increasingly globalised world, the fight to hire talent is also being witnessed in our country. It is this rising demand for talent that has resulted in the mushrooming of management institutes across the country.

Within a very short period, the number of such institutions has crossed 1200 with scores more being added every year. However, the quality of education offered across these institutions differs vastly. At one end of the spectrum, one can see world-class education being imparted at the Indian Institutes of Management to abysmally low quality at the other (In this article, the terms B-Schools and Management institutes have been used interchangeably).

Of the 1200+ institutes offering management education, only around 90 can boast of imparting education of excellent quality. These 90 institutes are the ones worth joining. The scenario described above has been the reason why the student community at large is confused with regard to the selection of a management institute. The sheer number of institutes and the accompanying claims (genuine and otherwise) make it extremely difficult for a student to take the right decision regarding the selection of an institute. No standard parameters or criteria are available for rating these institutes. Surveys carried out by various publications, including some business magazines, have only added to the confusion as the results of these surveys are dissimilar to each other. The dearth of a reliable source has been acutely felt by the student community.

It is in this context, this article comes into the picture. Here, we have categorised the Top 90 B-Schools and have discussed the criteria that students should use to select a management institute.

T.I.M.E. was established in 1992 by a group of management post-graduates from IIMs and XLRI.T.I.M.E., a pioneer in providing high quality training to prepare students for the CAT and other MBA entrance exams has over the years been counseling students on management institute selection. A large number of these students stay in touch with T.I.M.E. and provide valuable inputs about their institutes. The categorisation of B-Schools in this article is based on such rich first-hand inputs as well as on market information available about the quality of these institutes.

Simply put, this exercise is the refined essence of both first-hand knowledge and market information. It should be noted that no attempt has been made here to rank the institutes numerically. Instead, these B-Schools have been categorised into broad groups. This categorisation has been made with the objective of guiding students in choosing the right institute for admission. 

MANAGEMENT EDUCATION SCENARIO IN INDIA

The management education scene is majorly characterised by a large number of 'freshers' (students with little or no work experience) seeking admission to the top institutes in the country. This is in sharp contrast to the scene abroad where a high percentage of those wishing to pursue management education have at least a few years of work experience. This has resulted in the average age of a management graduate in India being about 24-25 years in India compared to the 28-29 years at most top class institutes abroad. However, it should be noted that about 15-20 institutes in India are able to attract candidates with work experience while the rest attract mostly fresh graduates. So far, it has been observed that about 30-40% of the candidates who get into top management institutes in India have prior work experience of one year or more.

The fee charged by management institutes in India varies a great deal between institutes. It is as little as Rs.20,000 for a two-year post-graduate programme in university departments which are funded by the government, while most premier institutes charge anywhere between Rs.4 lacs and Rs.13 lacs for a similar programme.

In a globalised economy, the allure of an international management programme from good B-schools abroad has led to a large number of Indian graduates seeking admission into the coveted management programmes at institutes in the U.S., Europe (especially Great Britain), and Australia/New Zealand, which are quite popular among Indian students. It was hitherto felt that these international schools charge a very high fee and is not worth joining, but this perception is rapidly changing as the difference between their fee structure and that of Indian institutes keeps diminishing. The "abroad" option appears attractive to those who can afford it. The main attraction of management education abroad seems to be the fact that admission into them is relatively easier than getting into a top Indian management institutes. However, those who are on the lookout for management education abroad should note that work experience is a 'must' for most of these management institutes and that at the end of the course, students 'might' not get the kind of placement that they desire

MANAGEMENT PROGRAMMES OFFERED IN INDIA

Following are the various options available for a management programme in India. However, this article mainly focuses on the two-year full-time PG programme: (a) Two-year full-time programme;
(b) 12 to 15-month full-time programme;
(c) Three-year part-time programme;
(d) Correspondence course – usually lasting about three years, and
(e) Executive Development Programme (EDP) – lasting anywhere between one and 13 weeks.

(a) Two-Year Full-Time Programme

In India, most universities have a separate department for management education. Also, universities like Mumbai University and Osmania University accord affiliation to a number of management colleges. In most cases, it is the university that conducts the examinations and awards the Master's degree on the successful completion of the course. In such cases, the universities or the government of the states where the university and its affiliated colleges are located, conduct a Common Entrance Test (CET) for admission to the management institutes. Maharashtra-CET and AP-ICET are examples of popular state CETs. 

Diploma or Degree

Apart from the above mentioned institutes, there are a number of autonomous institutes offering a two-year PG programme (PGP) in management. These institutes do not award a Master's degree. Instead, they usually award a Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGPM), a Post-Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) or a Post-Graduate Diploma in Business Administration (PGDBA). This is usually so because they are not authorised to award Masters' degrees. The IIMs, which are autonomous bodies and are not affiliated to any university, award a PGDM / PGPM to their students.

However, students are advised to bear in mind that the value of the management course pursued by them does not depend on the fact whether it is a 'degree' or a 'diploma'; rather it depends on the 'reputation and standing' of the institute that is offering the degree or diploma. A 'degree' is not always better than a 'diploma'. The converse can also be true. In fact, the most sought-after IIMs offer only a diploma!

When companies recruit management graduates, they certainly don't worry about the title of the course offered at the particular institute. They look at the intrinsic worth and the reputation of the institute, quality of the course offered, and, of course, the calibre of the students.

Batch Size

Batch size varies across institutes from around 40 to 450.

Specialisation

As per the syllabi, most management institutes offer General Management courses. In this kind of a course, a student learns the basics of all functional areas, viz. Marketing, Finance, Human Resources, Systems, and Operations, during the first year, and during the second year (or, say final year) there is an option of choosing subjects depending on one's interest area. It should be noted that in most cases, the student need not decide on the functional area he/she is interested in at the time of seeking admission. However, there are exceptions to this as few management institutes admit students with the specialisation clearly specified by the candidate before the beginning of the programme like SPJIMR, Mumbai.

Sectoral B-Schools

Also, there are a few management institutes that offer specialised courses in certain functional areas/fields. Here are some of the better-known institutes in this category:

• Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA)


• Mudra Institute of Communication Ahmedabad (MICA)


• Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT), New Delhi


• Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai