Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai, has updated its one-year Post Graduate Program in Management (PGPM). The revised PGPM 2.0 now offers new specializations in consulting, data science, product management, and analytics.
Gautam Lakhamraju, Chief Operating Officer at Great Lakes, stated the institution moved management education from "content-heavy to context-driven." This change reflects evolving industry demands and aims to prepare students for the modern business world.
PGPM 2.0 and PGDM Programmes
The one-year PGPM caters to professionals with at least two years of work experience. It offers an accelerated path to re-enter the industry, minimizing career breaks. The PGPM 2.0 curriculum is now integrated and data-driven, reflecting current business decision-making processes. Students can pursue dual majors while building core skills in marketing, finance, or operations.
Conversely, the two-year Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) targets early-stage professionals and recent graduates. This program provides time to build foundational skills and gain real-world experience through internships and projects. It focuses on developing an analytical core, business communication, problem-solving, and collaboration skills. Applications for the two-year PGDM have nearly doubled in the last four years.
Industry Relevance and Educational Approach
Lakhamraju identified staying relevant to industry needs as a major challenge for management education. Businesses require adaptive leaders due to rapid digitalization, data-led decisions, and sustainability goals. Great Lakes addresses this by integrating Impact Skill Labs into PGPM 2.0, focusing on communication, storytelling, and data visualization.
Students also receive one-on-one faculty mentorship and engage with CXOs from companies like McKinsey and PayPal. Experiential projects translate theory into practical results, ensuring participants practice decision-making skills. The institution emphasizes that it blends case-based learning, live projects, and faculty research to make teaching rigorous and future-focused.
Post-COVID Placement Trends
Placement trends have shifted significantly since the COVID-19 pandemic. There is now a wider range of roles and sectors, extending beyond traditional consulting, IT, and BFSI. New areas include product management, digital business, analytics, FinTech, HealthTech, and manufacturing. Recruiters seek candidates who can bridge business and technology.
There is also a strong move towards strategic and tech-led functions. Consulting remains a top domain for the PGPM cohort, but data-driven, cross-functional roles like business analytics and digital strategy are increasing. Employers prioritize problem-solving ability and technology comfort. The rapid adoption of generative AI further drives demand for cross-disciplinary thinking, creativity, and interpersonal skills.
Policy Changes for Global Competitiveness
For Indian B-schools to compete globally, policy changes are necessary. Lakhamraju advocates for greater autonomy for institutions, moving from regulatory control to enablement. Simplifying approvals for new program formats, global collaborations, and joint certifications would allow schools to respond faster to emerging trends.
Policies should also encourage faculty exchange, international research partnerships, and recognition of global accreditations (AACSB, AMBA, EQUIS). He stated regulators should focus on supporting and measuring outcomes rather than controlling inputs. Investment in research from both public and private sectors is also crucial to improve quality and impact.
NIRF Ranking Framework Assessment
The National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) assesses institutions based on teaching, graduation outcomes, and infrastructure. However, Lakhamraju noted it does not fully capture the strengths of standalone B-schools like Great Lakes, which excel in pedagogy, experiential learning, and industry engagement.
Two main challenges exist: research and perception. The research parameter, which accounts for nearly one-third of the score, heavily weights publication volume and citations. This benefits large multidisciplinary universities more than focused B-schools, whose output is often practice-oriented, such as case studies or industry reports.
Perception is another opaque factor that tends to favor historical awareness over current performance. This makes it harder for newer institutions to gain recognition despite strong outcomes.
Recommended NIRF Improvements
- Customized Research Metrics: Evolve the research metric for management education to include practice-based outputs like policy papers and consulting reports, alongside academic publications.
- Transparent Perception: Replace opaque surveys with objective, measurable student and recruiter outcomes. Recruiters’ hiring patterns could serve as a clearer indicator of perception.
- Discipline-Sensitive Weighting: Introduce separate categories or adjust weighting for standalone institutions. Teaching excellence, corporate engagement, and learner outcomes should receive higher proportional weight.