Going the Distance
Prachi Rege | October 9, 2010 | Updated 00:00 IST
The Internet plays a key role in distance learning.Million-dollar salary packages are no longer just for full-time MBA graduates from the top B-schools in the country. For graduates, mid-career professionals and executives who couldn't pursue higher studies due to time or money constraints, a distance learning MBA programme is the answer. The important fact is that the industry is interested in hiring a distance learning MBA graduate. Like in the case of Upasana Mukherjee, a graduate in English, who was working as a technical writer with IBM in Kolkata. Mukherjee wanted to make a career in the instructional designing industry, so she decided to do a postgraduate diploma in instructional design from the Symbiosis Centre for Distance Learning (SCDL). After completing the programme she secured a placement with Wipro Technologies, Pune, as an instructional designer with a 50 per cent salary hike.
Chinmay Kamat, 32, Pune
Institute: Prin. L.N. Welingkar Institute of Management Development and Research
Subject: Postgraduate Diploma in International Business
Reason for doing this course: Wanted to start his own business venture
Previously employed: With KPIT Cummins, Pune, for over three years
What now: While pursing this course, Kamat was working. After earning his diploma, he quit his job in August and has successfully set up his own venture called Finesse Learning-a soft skills and leadership training consultancy.
Distance learning programmes are viewed as not only a career enhancement option for working professionals but are also a retention tool for companies. Some companies sponsor or encourage their employees to pursue such programmes. "A distance learning MBA graduate possesses the ability to multi-task, stay committed, work hard and be patient," explains Arvind Agrawal, president and chief executive-corporate development, HR, RPG Enterprises.
Every year RPG encourages at least five to six employees to join the postgraduate diploma in business administration course offered by Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS), Mumbai. Though this doesn't mean that these employees get promoted immediately; what matters is they earn the required expertise and skills for the job, explains Agrawal. "Pursuing this degree makes an employee's career growth more progressive as they have a more wholesome and holistic picture of the business world," says Vidushi Soneja, HR executive, Ericsson India.
NMIMS offers customised programmes specially designed according to the needs of the company. "We trained 20 employees from Accenture through a postgraduate diploma in finance management," says Dr Vidya Naik, associate dean, School of Distance Learning, NMIMS. Graduates from Prin. L.N. Welingkar Institute of Management Development and Research (LNWIMDR), Mumbai, are given placements by companies like Mahindra & Mahindra, L&T, Reserve Bank of India, IBM India, Raymonds Ltd and HPCL. Graduates from SCDL have been placed with companies like Wipro Learning Centre, Wipro BPO, Rubikube, iThink Solutions, Resource Plus Services, NIIT Ayush Software and Stylus Systems. Students at the Institute of Management Technology (IMT), Ghaziabad, are offered placements by Infosys, Genpact, Royal Bank of Scotland, Aditya Birla Group, Hindalco and ONGC.
Distance learning programmes aren't a new phenomenon but institutes have finally given a shape to the courses. Most institutes have a core team comprising in-house professors. "The faculty for full-time courses trains distance learning students. As learning can happen over the Internet, industry professionals and professors from around the globe can give lectures online," says Arun Mohan Sherry, director, IMT Centre for Distance Learning. While such a programme costs from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 15 lakh for two years, a distance learning course costs between Rs 20,000 and Rs 60,000 for the same. "In this module the expenditure is only on the technology used," says Uday Salunkhe, director, LNWIMDR.
Upasana Mukherjee, 27, Pune
Institute: Symbiosis Centre for Distance Learning
Subject: Postgraduate Diploma in Instructional Design
Reason for doing this course: Wanted to combine her language skills with technical ones and work as an instructional designer
Previously employed: With IBM, Kolkata, for one year
What now: Mukherjee was previously employed as a technical writer at IBM. After completing her course she secured placement with Wipro Technologies, Pune, as an instructional designer with a 50 per cent salary hike.
Study material consists of audio CDs that have PowerPoint presentation on each subjects with a detailed explanation of every chapter. Some institutes also give reference books. These are delivered right to one's doorstep. With case studies to analyse and assignments to submit, these courses are as exhaustive as full-time courses.
"We try to maintain parity with the full-time programme so that those pursuing it are also intensively trained," says Naik. The first-year curriculum covers a mix of subjects like organisational behaviour, marketing management, financial accounting, consumer behaviour and business economics. In the second year, one has to choose a specialisation. Though there are no entrance tests for these courses, mid-term and semester exams are conducted online.
The Internet has become a key space for communication between the professor and students. "Virtual classrooms allow students to see and hear the lecturer, ask questions and even replay a lecture. This creates a sophisticated learning experience similar to a live classroom session," says
Swati Mujumdar, director, SCDL. Students and professors can also chat online to discuss problems. "Our virtual classroom sessions are decided well in advance-twice a week in the evening for two hours. During the time of admission, students are given the schedule for the whole of two years," says Salunkhe. Students based in the same city as the institute have the option of attending personal contact programmes, which take place on weekends.
Some institutes offer admissions twice a year, while others accept students four times a year. There has been a rise in the number of people joining these courses. It's not just the mid-level executives who are pursuing them but also fresh graduates who opt for jobs instead of higher education. "SCDL has seen a rise: 8,000 students in 2001 to about 53,000 in 2009," says Mujumdar. NMIMS has from 2,000 to 5,000 students joining every year.
--Rs 60,000 is what an MBA course by distance learning costs while a full-time MBA diploma at IMT costs about Rs 8 lakh.
--53,000 students joined distance learning courses at SCDL in 2009, up from the 8,000 that were enlisted in 2001.
According to experts, the disadvantage of such a programme is that students can't experience the physical presence of peers and professors which would motivate them. "Distance education requires self-motivation. Opting out of the course, following a bad score in a mid-term test is not the solution. Students need to be focused in order to complete the degree," says Salunkhe. As they say: No pain, no gain; clubbed with determination, is a sure-shot win for the candidate.
Institutes of Note
Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai and Bangalore
Courses: Postgraduate Diploma in Finance, Business Management, HR, International Trade, Supply Chain Management and Banking
Fee: Rs 50,000 for two years
Prin. L.N. Welingkar Institute of Management Development and Research, Mumbai
Courses: Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing Management, Finance, HR, E-Business, Retail Management, International Business and Banking and Investment and Insurance
Fee: Rs 45,000 for two years
Symbiosis Centre for Distance Learning, Pune
Courses: Postgraduate Diploma in Business Administration, Instructional Design, Marketing Management, HR, customer relationship management, Finance and Operations Management
Fee: Rs 25,000 for two years
XLRI School of Business and Human Resources, Jamshedpur
Courses: Business Management, HR, Logistics and Supply Chain Management and Sales and Marketing Management
Fee: Rs 1,75,000 onward for a year
Amity School of Distance Learning, Delhi
Courses: HR, IT, Marketing, International Business, Finance, Operations and Insurance
Fee: With Personal Contact Programme Rs 57,000; otherwise Rs 42,000; for two years for graduates, three for professionals
Amity Center for E-Learning
Courses: Production, HR, IT Marketing, International Business and Finance
Fee: Rs 59,000 for MBA-three years, MBA (EFT)-two years, MBA (CAFT)-1.6 years
