One year MBA in Mumbai: My Executive to Entrepreneurship journey at SPJIMR PGPM

Most of the good one year MBA programs for executives in India (offered by ISB and the IIMs) are based outside Mumbai, Interestingly, apart from the traditional 2-year MBA programs like Jamnalal Bajaj (JBMIS), Narsee Monjee (NMIMS) there’s not much for executives with experience to choose from in the commercial capital.

Here’s one –> Executive MBA in Mumbai offered by a top-ranking international business school.

SP Jain Institute of Management & Research (SPJIMR) is trying to make a mark in this growing niche. And you’ve got to give it credit for being innovative. It is among the few Indian Business schools that has not only the 2-year MBA format, but also 2 flavors of the 1-year MBA abroad and in India. We published an article earlier on 1-year Global MBA (GMBA). This time we focus on PGPM – its one-year MBA in Mumbai.

What is it like to study in the shorter duration MBA in Mumbai for executives who not only have pre-MBA experience but are also looking for a career change? SPJIMR PGPM alumna and visiting faculty member, Rimjhim Ray, takes us on a guided tour into the only 1 year full time MBA program that offers 4 specializations.
 

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SPJIMR PGPM – One Year MBA in Mumbai for Executives

How it helped me become an Entrepreneur

by Rimjhim Ray

I opted for my one year MBA at SPJIMR PGPM for a number of reasons. With a GMAT score of 740 and leadership experience across major markets I did have a strong MBA application.

SPJIMR’s strong academia, industry liaison and its location in the commercial capital of India influenced my decision. It did turn out to be a good decision.
 

Academics at SPJIMR PGPM 1-Year MBA

PGPM’s core strength is its strong academia. The professors here are distinguished not only by their academic records but very strong experience across key industrial positions. As a result you get the best blended teaching – strong fundamentals backed by relevant examples.

We had professors who had worked on pioneering the IPL auction model and who had played key role in transforming the Tata group. It is indeed a great experience to interact with them.

One of the best things about the faculty at SPJIMR is how they always push you for the little extra. The international faculty would push you to work on challenging global projects.

Our marketing department worked with leading Indian brands in crafting their marketing strategy and students were often co-opted to collaborate on these projects.

Therefore we had the opportunity to dissect how Reliance Telecom could turn around its ARPU or how Tata Motors could reposition Indica in the passenger vehicle segment to compete with Swift.

Cross departmental integration also helped. So we worked closely with students of the Family Managed Business unit and were discussing live business problems with the next generation business owners. These interactions also gave many of us the much needed boost for a career in entrepreneurship.
 

Industry Integration

SPJIMR PGPM plays a very strong emphasis on industry liaison. Through the grand scale industry-academics conclaves, the regular guest sessions emphasis on industry internship, the motivation to learn from the best minds is very strong.

The Mumbai factor helps with you being in close proximity of India’s leading business minds.

The internship opportunities also helped. We had a cross-section of very interesting companies offering us internship – start-ups, firms specialising in agriculture, PE and consulting firms among others.

The fact that we invited the non-conventional sectors to the intern recruitment and later the placement programme showed that the MBA students here were betting on more than just traditional careers; we were open to experimenting.
 

Life at SPJIMR Campus

The campus life at PGPM is pretty awesome with things happening all the year round.

Love acting? The school has a brilliant legacy of theatre.

Interested in yoga? PGPM has yoga as an ancillary subject. You would love the yoga ashram surrounded by thick foliage.

Want more rigorous exercises? Enroll at the sporting club.

Yes there are a few hiccups as there are strict hostel timings – things you do not expect when you come to a bschool with few years of experience. However you learn to work around those and enjoy the campus life.

We for our part had discovered a secret route that let us break the curfew hours. On my part I also learnt Marathi to reason with the guard why I had been out of campus after 12 and managed to not get fined.

It is another thing that I still had the record for paying the highest fine for late entry into the campus. In a city known for night life you have to party as hard as you study to get the real kick out of your MBA term.
 

SPJIMR PGPM Mumbai Placements

The one year MBA in Mumbai at SPJIMR enjoys one of the best line-ups for placements. With Amazon and Flipkart lining up, PGPM indeed offers a strong career progression.

Be it in terms of salary or role progression, SPJIMR’s placement record is pretty enviable

I had an offer from Prime Focus Media a major media house with operations in US, UK and India. I also had the offer to join as the head of social media marketing at TCS.

I chose the latter since I had been eyeing a career shift to social media and PR. I left within a year to join Leo Burnett as a business head.

My career shift has been quite dramatic as I moved into advertising and PR while I had been in tech leadership before my MBA.

I have subsequently launched my own creative agency – unmarketeer.

When I had started my MBA, I had already been experimenting with entrepreneurship. I launched Snooty Owl, a nightlife discovery portal while on campus.

I enlisted 5 of my MBA classmates on my venture and very soon we had built up quite a following. I also worked with the entrepreneurship cell at the bschool to raise angel funding.

My first venture failed but incubating it on campus gave me the wherewithal to becoming more focused on my entrepreneurial journey.

The difference between the one year MBA program at SPJIMR in Mumbai and other B schools is it prepares you for more than a career, it gives you the courage and foundation to pursue your dream.

I continue being associated with SPJIMR as a visiting faculty. I will recommend SPJIMR’s full-time residential program PGPM to anyone looking for a transformational 1 year MBA.

Also read:
– Executive MBA in Mumbai from SDA Bocconi Asia Center.