A new leaf: Online MBA spins a web Online programmes are increasingly being preferred, as there is flexibility in timings and people from diverse backgrounds can join M Saraswathy & Kalpana Pathak / Mumbai Jun 21, 2012, 00:02 IST

Online management programmes have gained momentum among companies. While more and more companies want their executives to take up an online MBA because of the time factor, many institutes such as Glion Institute of Higher Education, Switzerland; Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta (IIM-C); UNC Kenan Flagler Business School and U21 Global, have found this market attractive.

Take the Taj Hotels for example. A few months ago, they joined hands with Swiss hospitality institute Glion Institute of Higher Education for online education of their managerial employees. Twenty-five middle and senior level managers were part of the online MBA programme in hospitality management. The cost of $34,000 (Rs 19 lakh approximately) per student for the course was fully sponsored by Taj.

Anouk Tenten, Glion Online partnership manager, explained that companies prefer online courses to traditional classroom-based courses because the institutes 100 per cent online programme combines core management theory with applied industry knowledge, to deliver everything one would expect from a challenging on-campus programme in a flexible, yet interactive, online format.

The diverse student body enrolled in Glion online programmes boasts of representatives from over 60 countries. This provides students a fantastic opportunity to develop a global perspective in an interactive learning environment, which allows peer-to-peer, as well as instructor-led education, she said.

There are also several individuals from Indian service sector firms pursuing the online MBA programme with Glion. However, this was Glions first corporate partnership with an Indian firm.

IIM-C offers satellite-based, long duration certificate programmes through the Hughes and NIIT Imperia platforms. Ashok Banerjee, dean of new initiatives and external relations at IIM-C, said, This mode of executive education has attracted a large number of participants, mainly due to the flexibility that it offers. Over the years, there has been a steady increase in the number of these programmes and in the number of participants. Our revenue from these long duration programmes has been to the tune of 20 per cent of the total revenue.

Most of these long-duration satellite-based programmes at IIM-C are open programmes where participants from various companies can join. Organisations either nominate participants for the open programmes or request IIM-C for customised programmes specific to the needs of their organisations. The programme duration ranges from six months to one year. Participants login for the classes from various locations (Hughes and NIIT Imperia centers) across the country. Hughes has some international centres, too.

Tenten informs that online education has increased within the last couple of years, and one can see many campus-based institutions providing online programmes at an accredited level. Most important is that these online courses are now at the same standards of a campus-based programme, and, therefore, have become increasingly popular with individuals who are unable to study full time on a campus, she added. She said their most popular online programme was the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, Inc (NEASC) accredited MBA in international hospitality and services industries Management. Glion in the last year has expanded the online portfolio to not only include the MBA qualification but also provide certificate and diploma programmes.

Glion grew from a student body of 178 to 300 on a year-on-year basis. As we are also currently developing programmes to meet the needs of the market, we do expect growth in our business-to-business efforts, said Tenten.

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A new leaf: Online MBA spins a web