What does a typical MBA program teach?
MBAUniverse.com Bureau

Management program is both academic (learning the theories) and applied (learning by doing). As Dr. Chaturvedi says, "Along with theory it gives you knowledge about application of theory. In education, there are many other courses but most of them are theory-centric. MBA is a mix of theory and application."

A big part of MBA is personal development. In this century, everything is about continually adding value through creativity, knowledge, innovation and learning for the benefit of future leaders. MBA is qualitatively linked to continuous change and growth associated with the management of global models. Today's business techniques will be obsolete in less than a decade, which means you'll have to constantly re-educate yourself.

The most widely accepted course in management is a 2-year MBA program, also called PGDM, PGDBM or PGPM. Most B-school follows a tri-semester examination system. The object of this course is to train graduates to become managers in the corporate sector (in different fields such as Marketing, Human Resources, Finance, Operations and Strategic Management).

In the first year, MBA students learn the core disciplines of the Science of Management. Initially, more emphasis is on fundamental or 'core' subjects in various areas of management such as principles of management, business law, managerial economics, finance and accounting, introduction to marketing and quantitative methods. In the second year, students can opt to specialize in selected functional areas. Programs invariably require students to undertake seven eight weeks of summer internship.
And the second year is for specialization through choices of electives from areas like Finance, Marketing, HR and others.

To better equip you to meet the competencies and to train you, institutes have their own way of teaching. Says Dr Venkata Ratnam, "It is for the teacher to decide the pedagogy. Within the institute too, you cannot force the teachers to use the same methodology. It all depends on the course requirements. As far as case study method is concerned, it is best left to the teachers concerned. Ideally, I think that a mix of methodology should be used rather than a dogmatic fixation about a particular methodology."