PGDM, PGDBM, MBA, and MIM – What’s the difference?

By Nidhi Juneja

Management aspirants often get confused by the varying nomenclature of management degrees and diplomas on offer. Here is a list that outlines the features of the most popular management courses like PGDM/PGDBM, MBA and MIM. Read on to know more:

Postgraduate diploma in management (PGDM)/ Post graduate diploma in business management (PGDBM)

PGDM/PGDBM is awarded by autonomous institutes offering management programmes. Autonomous institutes cannot offer MBA so they provide two-year full time PGDM programme equivalent to MBA.

Curriculum of PGDM is flexible since an autonomous institute does not have to follow university standards, it is free to change its curriculum according to industry standards and changes in business environment.

PGDM gives you industry exposure along with building up your overall personality and soft skills by focussing on preparing you for presentations, debates, seminars, conferences, personality development programmes. Thus, it provides you value-added features.

PGDM will prepare graduates for senior level positions in industry and paves the way for a strong corporate career. Hence, if you’re looking for a career in the challenging area of management, you should go for PGDM.

The PGDM programmes are offered by autonomous institutions which are student centric. The Institutions are responsive to industry needs and they continuously change their curricula and syllabi to address the concerns of the corporate world and to incorporate new developments in the discipline.  More importantly, they offer high value added courses and workshop to enhance the employability of the students and to brush up their life skills. Hence they not only focus on academics but also on personal and professional dimensions of a student.  Therefore, students generally prefer PGDM programmes over MBA.

PGDM should be done from an institute which is AICTE, UGC and ministry of HRD approved. PGDM will definitely cost you more than a university degree.

Master in Business Administration (MBA)

MBA is a two year full time programme is provided by the institutes recognised by central and state universities after completing graduation in any discipline.

MBA is awarded by Indian Universities recognised by UGC & who are members of Association of Indian Universities. Recognised MBA or PGDM (two year course), both qualifies you for pursuing PhD from any Indian University.

Often considered as a traditional course, MBA is more of an academic approach towards management. But those who cannot afford to do PGDM can go for MBA as both are equal in terms of job opportunities.

Masters in Management (MIM)

Some of the foreign universities offer one year MIM programme, focussing on an area of specialisation from day one. Career opportunities are almost the same as compared to MBA or PGDM.

Now some of the Indian institutes have also started providing two year full-time MIM programme.

The author is a faculty member at a B-school and an expert on Shiksha Cafe