"There are people who make things happen, there are people who watch things happen, and there are people who wonder what happened. To be successful, you need to be a person who makes things happen." - Jim Lovell (NASA Astronaut)
Talking about people who make things happen, you need to look no further than the 17th Batch of
IIM Calcutta MBAEx (1-year full-time MBA for Executives). The peer-to-peer learnings of 77 experienced professionals from all corners of India and abroad can lend an ear to your wildest innovations, develop solutions for your tenser business problems and drive home your integrated strategies.
IIM Calcutta as an institute needs no introduction. A pioneer in management education, IIMC was one of the early birds to establish 1-year full-time MBA for experienced skilled managers. With world-class faculty and unique pedagogy, MBAEx (earlier called PGPEX) has distinguished itself in the management world as a crucible of skill, knowledge, success, and future leaders.
MBAEx Class of 2024 is unique in many ways. After the COVID aftermath, this is the first cohort to run completely offline. Apart from inhabiting classrooms, the cohort has a wide demographic: aged between 25 years to 41 years, hailing from 18 different states of India, and covering the spectrum from Himachal Pradesh to Tamil Nadu and from Gujarat to West Bengal. If that does not pique your interest, take a look at the years of work experience – from 5 years to 18 years, averaging 8.6 years. Thus, the cohort maximizes horizontal peer-to-peer learning and enjoys vertical experience-sharing from seniors to juniors, juniors to seniors, and laterally.
MBAEx Class of 2024 – Demographics
The diversity is not just restricted to work experience and geographies, it extends to leadership capabilities and thereby domain expertise. Coming from 13 different sectors, the cohort comprises professionals from reputed companies like Amazon, Bank of America, Dr. Reddy, IOCL, L&T, ISRO, and PwC, among others. From Assistant Director of Finance to Chief Manager of Punjab National Bank to Partner of a Private Equity firm, this cohort can acknowledge a holistic view of scaled management insights. The enviable mix of experience allows them to better visualize strategies, better manage operations and inclusively apply the learnings of IIMC professors.
MBAEx Class of 2024 – Pre-MBA Industries
MBAEx Class of 2024 - Pre-MBA Work Experience
So how does IIMC MBAEx transform such experienced professionals from such reputed companies? What does it provide academically that allows a seamless transition from one industry sector to another or advances mid-level managers into leadership roles?
The answer lies in the holistic course structure and curriculum. The unique pedagogy of IIMC MBAEx, which is a blend of theoretical knowledge and case studies, allows the cohort to develop a deep understanding of all functional areas of businesses through their core subjects and desired niche or targeted expertise through electives. The first three terms focus on building a foundational knowledge of management across the knowledge spectrum: Finance, Information Technology, Operations, Organizational Behaviour, Human Resources, Strategy, Communications, and Economics. Moreover, core subjects like Business Ethics and Corporate Governance blend with the ESG megatrends. Intro-Case Study, Management Games, Being-a-CEO, Live Projects, and International Immersion are some foretastes of industry-academic collaborations exclusive to IIMC. The last three terms include electives that concentrate on relevant skills for contemporary industry practices, as well as analytical grasps of esoteric subject matters.
Just IMAGINE the inclusivity in the MBAEx Spectrum:
- IMAGINE revisiting history and philosophy, for Outliers, who free-think;
- IMAGINE contemporizing innovations and disruptions, for Futurists, who drive agility;
- IMAGINE reconsidering foundations and traditions, for Strivers, who polish domain expertise
We are not just about domain expertise, but also about Equity Leadership. MBAEx student-driven activities have a dual purpose –
- Real-Time Decision-Making Skills – strategy, governance, operational, implementation
- Real-Time Human Behaviour at Work - interpersonal, teamwork, consensus-building aptitude
Here is our Equity Leadership portfolio at a glance: we have dedicated Class Representatives; Student Council (engagers with pan-IIMC programs); Social Networking (digital engagers); Content Wizards (in-house content marketers); Lattice Management Committee (Only Annual Business conclave of IIMC), LP team (engagers with industry for Live Projects); IT Representative, IIP team (Immersion); Magazine team (MBAEx Business Review); Sports Council; Prep-Team (in-house student placement preparation), and Placement Committee (in-house engagers with industry), among others.
The list is not exhaustive. New additions with newer cohorts indicate the relatability of the system with industry dynamicity. Batch 17 has stellar additions like Finance Engagers, Strategy & Consult Engagers, Digital & E-Commerce Engagers, Prod-Man Engagers, Operations & HR Engagers, and even Economics-Game Theory Engagers. These academic groups act as the bridge between industry and academics, akin to home remedies and DIY methods of self-help groups. The recent introduction of
SheAscends, a Women-in-Leadership team, takes after the Fem-Tech and diversity initiatives at large. After all, the cohort itself comprises a diverse portfolio – experience, industry, gender, geography, and capability. The cohort also has important membership positions in pan-IIMC clubs, thus providing occasions for MBAEx to interact with various other IIMC programs, effectively advancing the cohort’s engagement capital.
In short, this cohort is the incremental link in a long tradition of excellence and capability. This is merely a glimpse of the depth of agility that the Class of 2024 is processing from the day of their orientation on April 25, 2023. However, just like a sapling has to break tough soil to breathe in the fresh air, within the limits of this time-bound high-intensive program, this cohort will realize its limitless possibilities of being leaders, thinkers, and achievers; as the saying goes, ‘there is light at the end of the tunnel’ and MBAEx-17 adds ‘and even beyond’.
After all, Robert Frost has been more prophetic as now, as he relives in the echoes from MBAEx Batch 17:
The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep
IIMC MBAEx Class of 2024 with Chairperson Prof. Pragyan Rath