IIMA ePGP – India’s most sought-after executive MBA program

Introduction
The ePGP – electronic learning mode Post Graduate Programme run by the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, is a Masters’ degree that runs for a duration of 2 years, with a flexibility option allowing it to be extended by a year. It is aimed at providing entry-, mid-, and top-level management professionals and entrepreneurs with the requisite skills to take their organizations to greater heights. IIMA institute also runs a full time residential executive MBA programs (PGPX).
The programme was ranked 61st in the Financial Times (FT) Global MBA Ranking 2020 in the FT list of top 100 B-schools released in January 2020. Prior to that, it was ranked 47th and 31st in 2019 and 2018 respectively. This year’s ranking indicates that the competition is heating up and IIMA may not living up to the high standards required of schools offering MBA programs. While this should rightly be of concern to students and stakeholders, it doesn’t seem to be an issue to fret over. 

Eligibility
The program is intensive and the number of applicants every year can be overwhelming. As a quality control measure and in an effort to reduce the number of unqualified applications, the school provides a comprehensive list of criteria that have to be met by prospective applicants before their applications are considered. Some of them are discussed below.
•    All applicants must be working professionals/entrepreneurs with a minimum of 3 years’ full-time work experience after graduation as at the time of application.
•    All applicants must be at least 24 years of age as at the time of application.
•    All applicants are required to possess at least a Bachelor’s degree or any equivalent degree in any discipline from any reputable and accredited university or institution with an accumulated aggregate score not less than 50% or an equivalent CGPA at the time of application.
•    All applicants are required to possess a CAT/GMAT/GRE test score card. If none of these are available, they will be required to take the IIMA Admission Test(IAT).

Admission Procedure
The application process is conducted online. The page can be found at the school’s website at https://www.epgp.iima.ac.in. Applicants register with their details, go to the emails they provided on the website and retrieve the ID and password provided by the school and go back to the website to log in and continue the application process.
The application process also requires applicants to upload copies of all their certificates and other professional certifications they may have. To complete the application process, an application fee of Rs 1000 for applicants with GMAT/GRE/CAT score cards and Rs 2000 for those who have to take the IAT has to be paid online using credit/debit cards, e-wallets, and other approved methods.
When the application process is over, candidates are shortlisted using criteria based on their performance during the entrance examinations, relevant work experience, and other factors. Shortlisted candidates then proceed to the final selection round which involves personal interviews that may take place at the IIMA campus or other designated locations.

Course Structure
Each of the program’s two years of study comes with different course sets, depending on the field of specialization of the students. In the first year, a lot of the courses are general and are offered by most students. Some of them are:
•    Introduction to Case Method
•    Understanding of Behavior I
•    Transforming Business through Information Technology
•    Corporate Finance
•    Probability and Statistics I & II
•    Operations Management I & II
•    Marketing Management I & II
•    Human Resource Management I & II
•    Managerial Communication I & II
These executive MBA courses are aimed at equipping students with managerial decision-making skills, improving their leadership capacities, understanding the principles behind and applying various analytical tools and techniques to real life situations. 
In the second year, most of the instruction is focused on the relationships between traditional business methods and practices and emerging technologies that are shaking up various industries and how to harness those technologies to build businesses and boost economic advantages. A list of some of the more popular ones is found below.
•    Tapping into Social Media
•    The Future of Work and Markets
•    Big Data: Possibilities and Concerns
•    Game Theory
•    Entrepreneurship and Creativity
•    Valuation of Forms: Numbers & Narratives
All academic policies, courses and their attending details such as the delivery, assessments, and design are handled by the IIMA. This ensures uniformity in the structure and delivery and ensuring that students’ educational needs are satisfied excellently.
Actual delivery of course lectures, administration of tests and examinations are made possible by the institute’s IT partner, VCNow, who are in charge of the technology platform, infrastructure and programme management support. 
The overall educational experience is quite interesting, as evidenced by the testimonials by alumni, with periodic on-campus learning opportunities and other activities part of the program.

Fees
While the program is priced rather affordably compared to similar programs in other universities and institutes, the fees can be intimidating for students who are not on scholarships or being funded by their employers.  
The fees for the duration of the program is priced at Rs 20,00,000 and can be paid in four instalments of Rs 5,00,000 each. 
Some of the important dates to keep in mind for those looking to apply for the 2020-22 batch are listed below.
Accepted scorecards - CAT / GMAT / GRE / IAT
Application portal open - December 05, 2019
Application closure date - May 31, 2020
IIMA Admission Test (IAT) - June 14, 2020
Interview dates - June 27 & 28 & July 04 & 05, 2020 (Tentative)
First instalment of fees to be paid by August 10, 2020
Campus module start date - September 21, 2020
Studio module start date - October 01, 2020