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One Year MBA in India – What is it? Why do it & Who is it for?
What is a One Year MBA in India?
A One Year MBA refers to a One Year Full Time Masters in Business Administration.
It is a full-time residential degree and is equivalent in all respects to a Two Year Full Time MBA degree.
The One Year MBA was offered first in 1959 by INSEAD, Fontainebleau (France) in Europe and in 1963 in the USA by the University of Pittsburgh.
Since then, the One Year MBA has become the standard MBA format in Europe with most top schools offering this MBA format. Most of the business schools in USA offer a Two Year MBA as their standard MBA course.
The degree is not new to India. Xaviers Labour Relations Institute (XLRI), Management Development Institute (MDI), Gurgaon and International Management Institute (IMI), New Delhi were the first to offer a One Year MBA program back in the 1980-1990 period.
IMI, infact was possibly the first B-school to launch the course in India way back in 1984 and it was the flagship program at the institute.
Most institutes in India however ended up adopting USA’s two-year MBA format as their flagship course and slowly and steadily the One Year MBA disappeared to the background.
The course saw a revival when Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad adopted the course as its flagship offering in 2001.
Many of the top schools such as IIMs, SP Jain (SPJIMR), IMT, Ghaziabad followed suit, and over the years they started to offer a one year full time MBA in addition to the two year one they already offered.
Why do a 1 Year MBA in India?
The reasons you might want to consider a One Year MBA are pretty much the same reasons you may be considering an MBA, since a One Year MBA is just a particular format of the MBA degree.
Top reasons to do a One Year MBA in India
- High Salary
- Respect
- You Develop Brilliant Management Skills
- You Be Your Own Boss
- You Move Up In Your Career
- Wider Career Opportunities
- You Can Move into New Functional Areas and Industries
- Can Help You Move to a New Country
- Enables Entry to Blue-Chip Companies
- Removes Growth Barriers
- Perfect for Networking
- Global Credentials
- Enhances Knowledge
- Enhances Communication Skills
- Is a Flexible Program
- Personal Development
Read Why MBA for an in-depth look at each of these aspects.
That said, there are a couple of big differences in the One Year MBA & the Two Year MBA format in India. While in USA & Europe these two courses offer almost the same return on investment and target the same audience, this is not the case in India.
In India the One Year MBA is meant for experienced professionals with 3-5+ work experience while the Two Year MBA format is targeted at freshers.
People in India therefore do a One Year MBA to rise higher in the corporate ladder, change their functional role, company or country of work, while they do a Two Year MBA to gain an entry into the corporate world, typically in a starting role such as Management Trainee.
Read One Year MBA vs Two Year MBA for a complete comparison between the two courses on all the main criteria such as fee, eligibility & placements.
Who is a 1 Year MBA in India meant for?
A One Year MBA is a perfect course for some one who has worked for 3-5 years and understands the basics of his or her profession as a specialist and is now looking to grow into a managerial role.
Here are some of the typical applicant profiles at a One Year MBA in India:
- An IT engineer who has written code for 5 years and wants to grow into a team leader
- A CA who wants to establish his own firm
- A sales manager who wants to jump into a marketing role
- A team leader in IT who wants to shift to IT consulting
- A bank manager who wants to grow his career in finance
- A middle level manager who wants to startup his own company
Have a look at the class profiles at some of the leading colleges offering a One Year MBA to get a feel for the kind of profiles choosing a One Year MBA: