28, Nov 2011

The economic recession meant that the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) attracted fewer candidates to their one-year management postgraduate programme for executives. With the worst of the economic downturn behind us, the IIMs are getting a larger number of applicants to these programmes, so much so that the batch sizes have gone up by 20 to 40 percent. The IIMs say that the rise is a natural outcome of last year’s successful placements and there is a considerable increase in the number of applications. However, due to infrastructure constraints, IIM-A has not been able to expand its batch size of 50. Plans are afoot to expand the infrastructure, with a special focus on adding more rooms to the hostel.

IIM Lucknow saw around 40 percent increase in its batch size for the same program. IIM Lucknow also saw considerable response for its one-year full-time, International Programme in Management for Executives (IPMX), with the batch size rising from 48 to 67.

Even IIM Ahmedabad (IIM-A), whose PGPX programme was ranked 11th worldwide in the Global MBA Rankings 2011 by the Financial Times, has for the first time seen the batch size of its postgraduate programme in management for executives (PGPX) crossing the 100 mark. The 2011–12 batch this year has seen 102 students, up from 86 last year.

The popularity of the course is clearly linked to the placement services. Recruiters who participated during the 2011 placements at IIM-A included A. T. Kearney, Arthur D. Little, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Corporate Executive Board, Philips, Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, Google, Facebook, Infosys, TCS, Accenture, CapGemini, Mindtree, Amazon, Polaris, HCL, Hero Honda, Reliance Industries Limited, and RPG Group among others.

Working professionals mostly from IT and related sectors formed the vast majority of takers of this program. During the economic slowdown there were fewer applicants from these sectors. However, this year, regular sectors such as IT and telecom have returned to the campuses.

“Moving forward, we are talking to public sector companies and are interested in diversifying batch profile to enhance the programme. With buoyancy returning, next year we may also market this programme in West Asia as well,” said Bhatta.

The IIMs select candidates based on professional experience, academic record, GMAT score, and personal interviews. While IIM-C charges Rs 14 lakh for the one-year management programme, IIM-A charges Rs 21 lakh for the same.