Why should one choose PGDM over an MBA?

It is a common scenario where the students interested in pursuing a management degree after the completion of their undergraduate course, will always land in a state of confusion to choose between PGDM or MBA for their management studies. They experience a dilemma to choose between MBA or PGDM because of the overload of information from the various sources. This confusion gets further enhanced due to the ambiguous offerings by some B-Schools and sometimes from colleges. It is essential to every management aspirant to understand about both the courses in detail, so that he/she can decide to choose his next path in management either by MBA or by PGDM.

The present article tries to give you a detailed understanding of these two courses, so that the students can have a better understanding of both the courses. This article may help them to choose the better one between PGDM or MBA.

Before understanding the difference between the courses, it is required to understand what exactly these two courses mean and how they are different from each other. Although both of them are management related, there are some major differences.

What is a Master of Business Administration (MBA)?

MBA or Master of Business Administration is a UGC approved post-graduation degree course that can be offered only by universities. The course duration is for 2-years and all the universities affiliated to UGC can offer MBA programmes and it is a postgraduate programme. After the completion of the course the student is awarded an MBA degree.

In general, the course curriculum for MBA is revised once in 5 to 10 years, this makes this course outdated, irrelevant and redundant when compared to the faster changes in the business environments. Today, the challenges in the management industry change very frequently such that a management skill which may be a most preferred skill today may become outdated tomorrow. So, adaptation to the changing business environment may not be possible in an MBA course.

So, an MBA degree is not that much preferred by many of the organisations in recent years. The placements are getting affected due to this and MBA students are not getting good jobs according to their qualification.

What is Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM)?

PGDM or Post Graduate Diploma in Management is a 2-years programme that is equivalent to MBA but offered by various autonomous institutes and B-Schools that are recognised by All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE). The PGDM course is almost equivalent to MBA, but is a post graduate diploma course.  Another important aspect of PGDM is its fee structure; the fee structure is higher in PGDM when compared to MBA course. The main advantage of PGDM course is that the colleges and B-Schools are free to decide their course curriculum and offer them to the students. 

The main advantage of PGDM is that the course curriculum gets changed frequently according to the industry requirements. This frequent changes in the syllabus helps the students to get better skilled and enable them to opt for better positions in careers. The PGDM course is basically skill oriented and the main focus is towards development of managerial skills among the students instead of mere theoretical skills. 

The PGDM students are largely preferred by today’s organisations when compared to MBA students. The organisations basically look for practical skills rather than mere theoretical skills. The PGDM course is basically skill oriented and the placement opportunities are comparatively more for PGDM students when compared to MBA students.

Difference between MBA and PGDM

There are a good number of differences between these two courses. Let’s try to understand the difference between PGDM and MBA in detail

PGDM course is run by Institutions:

The PGDM course is basically run by institutions that are recognised by AICTE.  They have the total responsibility of selecting students, designing course modules, training them, evaluation and finally placing them in reputed companies for best pay scales. While the MBA course is designed by universities and taught by its affiliated colleges to UGC. 

There is a huge gap between AICTE and UGC. In UGC affiliated colleges syllabus is very rigid and will not see frequent changes according to the industry. But PGDM colleges can instantly change their syllabus according to industry requirements and standards. The students end up studying MBA courses like any other rudimentary course with only focus on passing rather than placements and skilled approach. The main problem with MBA courses is that the syllabus will not get changed as frequently as PGDM does. This increases the skill gap between industry and education.

The students of MBA find it difficult to face job interviews as they may be good in theoretical knowledge but they lack practical knowledge. On the other hand, the PGDM is a single window programme that makes the student strong in both theoretical and practical aspects when it comes to management skills.

PGDM has flexible and industry centric syllabus

The PGDM course basically is in sync with the industry standards and requirements. The syllabus is formulated according to the needs of the industry and PGDM students will get training on industry specific skills and theories during the course duration. This helps them to perform better in their job interviews and become successful in management careers. 

Technology is changing at a very fast pace in today’s era and the same thing applies for the management field also. The syllabus has to be tweaked according to the latest requirements. This option of frequent syllabus changes is only possible in PGDM courses but not in MBA. So PGDM curriculum is more flexible when compared to MBA syllabus.

The business challenges faced by the organisations in today’s context is completely different and unique. So, the organisations require skilled professionals to handle the smart competitions faced in the markets. So, the preference is more to PGDM students when compared to MBA students.

PGDM course is skill centric

The PGDM course is formulated according to the latest skills that are essential in today's management industry. The syllabus is prepared according to the needs of the industry, where the syllabus is focused more on development of managerial skills rather than the theoretical knowledge. The PGDM course gives more stress on practical learning experience when compared to theoretical learning experience of MBA.

The industry basically looks for more skilled professionals over the students with mere bookish knowledge. The PGDM course believes that the real-time experience is far better when compared to theoretical experience, but the MBA course stresses more on theoretical aspects. So, PGDM courses always have an upper hand when compared to MBA.

Factors to Consider while choosing PGDM or MBA

There are many factors that one needs to consider when trying to find out the difference between PGDM and MBA. Some of these factors are Cost, time, effort, location, job prospects & placements, etc. Some will feel that MBA is better while many will say that PGDM is better. But it is up to the students who can make a better decision between MBA or PGDM. 

For instance, if the students have financial constraints then it is advisable to join an MBA course.  But placements are generally less when compared to PGDM. But there are many companies who specifically look for MBA students over PGDM so there is no fear of job loss even for MBA students. In the same way there are many organisations which basically give stress to skills instead of the qualifications. In these scenarios PGDM students are largely preferred by many organisations.

Who should choose to join the PGDM Course?

PGDM is a professional course that teaches us the practical aspects of work through indulging in state-of-the-art learning techniques like experiential learning, case studies, vestibule training as compared to MBA course. The course content of both the courses is the same but the purpose is different.

The PGDM curriculum is up to date and in sync with current demands of the industry. The course is a unique blend of theoretical and practical aspects that are necessary to ace in the management field. The students will be experiencing real-time working atmospheres of the industry and also, they will also be exposed to international practices that are followed in business. The students who are interested in polishing managerial skills can join the PGDM course.

Further, the PGDM course is an excellent platform and is best suited for aspiring students who want to become successful entrepreneurs. The PGDM course provides all the required knowledge, expertise and skill that is required for a successful entrepreneur. The students with entrepreneurship in heart can blindly join a PGDM course and can achieve success in lesser time. Since PGDM course trains the students on managerial skills that are required to tackle the challenges faced by many organisations in real-time. This will help the students to understand better about the challenges that are faced by entrepreneurs in highly competitive markets. These real-time skills  help them to become successful entrepreneurs in future.

Although both PGDM and MBA courses are fairly similar, there are certain differences between them. The PGDM course is best suited for the students who are interested in climbing the ladder of success in management profiles by joining top-notch companies of management and making a mark in their career. 

But on the other hand the MBA course is best suited for the students who are interested to make a career in academics by joining the PhD course and to become lecturers or just need a good management job and a decent salary.

Which is better: PGDM or MBA? 

A clear path is one that can define by understanding their own capabilities and professionals’ endeavours. The key takeaway depends on visualisation on career’s path. If the students are sure about being in a particular field or a career, or if they are looking for a change in career then one can go for a PGDM course. 

On the other hand, if the students are interested to learn about how businesses work overall or be in the field of research or academics, an MBA course may be a better choice for them. There is demand for both the courses; but the PGDM students have a slightly upper hand over MBA students.

Ultimately, it is left to students to introspect about why they want to build a career in management, either to have better pay scales and better opportunities in the industry, or to take up a career in academics.

Final Lines

Both PGDM and MBA courses have their own importance in their respective areas. But when it comes to excellence in Management, PGDM course always has an upper hand. As PGDM is a skill oriented course, it focuses more on development of the managerial skills in the students, this helps them to land in good career opportunities and also helps the students to develop entrepreneurial skills. If the students have a goal to become successful entrepreneurs or if  they want to land in good managerial positions like CEOs, CFOs in big MNC companies then PGDM is the ideal choice for the students.

The demand is always better for PGDM students when compared to MBA students. The students have to make decisions on which aspect they want to polish their knowledge either by skilled and practical approach or by a theoretical approach.