JAGSoM Specialized PGDM in Marketing: Why this maybe the right MBA for grooming students for new age marketing roles

AACSB Accredited and globally ranked Jagdish Sheth School of Management (JAGSoM) closed admissions for PGDM at its Bangalore campus April 30. To groom professionals in Marketing, Finance and Business Analytics domains, JAGSoM also offers three Specialized PGDM programs. Admissions for PGDM Marketing, Finance and Business Analytics are currently open. In this article, we review JAGSoM PGDM Marketing program – its faculty, curriculum, placements, fee, admission process and a lot more.

JAGSoM’s Journey – Key milestones
Before we progress to JAGSoM Bangalore PGDM Marketing Admission 2021, here is a quick recap of key events at JAGSoM (formerly IFIM Business School):

• In 2018, JAGSoM (formerly IFIM Business School) became the sixth B-school in India after ISB, TAPMI, IIM Calcutta, IMT Ghaziabad and XLRI to be AACSB Accredited.
• In 2020, QS Masters in Marketing Ranking 2021 ranked JAGSoM amongst the Top 100 such programs in 51-100 band (51+ Band) in the world for its PGDM Marketing program. It has also been ranked in the 101-150 (101+ Band) Band Globally in the QS Masters in Finance Rankings for its PGDM Finance Program.
• On October 21, 2020, IFIM Business School Bangalore was rechristened as JAGSoM after globally respected management guru Padma Bhushan Dr Jagadish Sheth. 
• On December 23, 2020, JAGSoM announced 100% completion of Placements 2021 with Average Salary of Rs 10.21 Lakhs Per Annum. This is remarkable as most of the top 25 B-schools could announce full placements by March only.

JAGSoM USPs
So what are the USPs and highlights of JAGSoM today? After looking at course curriculum and speaking to leadership at JAGSoM, here are the key USPs.

1. AACSB Accredited & Globally Ranked: As said earlier, JAGSoM was the 6th Business School in India to receive the prestigious AACSB International accreditation. It was Globally Ranked in QS Masters Global Ranking 2021 in 51+ Band for PGDM Marketing and 101+ Band for PGDM Finance. This puts JAGSoM in the league of 8-10 top B-schools in India who have an international profile.
2. Fastest 100% Placement in 2021: JAGSoM has concluded 100% placements for the batch 2019-21 by end of December 2020, which is many months before other Top 25 B-schools. Average Salary in Placement 2021 has gone up at Rs.10.21 LPA from last year’s Rs. 9.15 LPA. Read more about IFIM Placements 2021.
3. International Alliances & Partnership with Top B-schools: JAGSOM has an elite set of international academic partners including leading institutes such as ESCP-London, Darden School of Business (University of Virginia) and McCombs Business School (University of Texas at Austin). This ensures that JAGSoM students have access to best global resources that add value to their CV. 
4. ‘Domain Specialist’ Faculty: After looking at rich faculty profiles, it will be fair to say that JAGSoM’s intellectual capital is at par with Top B-schools in India. JAGSOM’s faculty are ‘Domain Specialists.’ Within each functional area - Marketing, Finance, HR and Analytics & Digital Business- JAGSoM faculty specializes in specific subjects and domains. This helps students acquire in-depth knowledge and skills.

Specialized PGDM in Marketing, Finance, Analytics
Apart from general PGDM, JAGSoM Bangalore offers two year full time residential Specialized Masters - PGDM in Marketing, Finance, Business Analytics which are targeted to groom professionals in these specific specialized areas. Branded as ‘PGDM SpecX’, the programs are taught by India’s top faculty and are designed by drawing inputs from industry experts across domains in India & Abroad. JAGSoM Admission process 2021 for these PGDM programmes is currently open till July 02.

Program	Duration & Approval	Ranking	Fees &Admission Status
PGDM Marketing	2 Year, AICTE Approved	QS Masters Global Ranking 2021 in 51+ Band	Rs 12.0 Lakhs Open | Apply Now
PGDM Finance	2 Year, AICTE Approved	QS Masters Global Ranking 2021 in 101+ Band	Rs.12.0 Lakhs Open | Apply Now
PGDM Business Analytics	2 Year, AICTE Approved		Rs 12.0 Lakhs Open | Apply Now

Check compete details of JAGSoM PGDM Marketing Admissions 2021 below.

Why Specialized PGDM are relevant?
So what is the role of specialized programs? How are they different from general MBA/PGDM programs and who should consider them?

Responding to this query, Dr Atish Chattopadhyay, Director, JAGSoM said, “For the first job after MBA or PGDM, specialised knowledge and technical skills are very important. Technical skills play a significant role in the initial years of one’s career. Most of the initial employment is based on specialised skills as recruiters look for domain specialists.” He added, “In this context, a Specialised Masters (or specialised masters in management) is probably more suited for a fresher. The areas in which a Specialised Masters can be of value are Marketing, Analytics, Finance and Banking, Supply Chain Management etc. Going forward, I see more and more fresh graduates opting for a specialised management qualification (internationally known as the Specialised Masters).”

Dr Chattopadhyay was the Director of IMT Ghaziabad and part of the leadership team at SPJIMR and MICA before joining JAGSoM as its Director in May 2018.

JAGSoM PGDM Marketing USPs
Coming to PGDM Program, what are the USPs of this specific program? What makes it stand out in the clutter of so many programs? After review of the curriculum and speaking to JAGSom Director, here are 5 key program highlights. 

1. Global Ranking & Accreditation
2. Industry-linked Curriculum and Pedagogy
3. India’s top Faculty and CXOs to teach at this program
4. Bright Careers & Placements Opportunities
5. Super-specializations with certification from Darden, Parasuraman Centre

Let us now look at each of these USPs in detail. Also check compete details of JAGSoM PGDM Marketing Admissions 2021 below.

Global Ranking & Accreditation
The PGDM (Marketing) program of JAGSoM is a unique program which has both global accreditation from AACSB Accredited and global ranking by QS World University Rankings.

JAGSoM is the only B-School from India, ranked by QS Masters in Marketing Ranking 2021 amongst the Top 100 such programs (in 51-100 band) in the world for its PGDM Marketing program. QS Masters Rankings 2021 include the MIM programmes offered at top B-schools across the world across countries like France, USA, UK, Spain, while some of the institutes have multi campuses in different countries. This clearly establishes JAGSoM’s leadership position in grooming specialist-marketing professionals, who are relevant to the needs of the industry and are of global standards.

Bright Career & Placement Opportunities:
JAGSoM PGDM Marketing Program offers good career opportunities in both traditional marketing domains like Sales & Service and emerging areas of Digital Marketing and MarTech.

The graduating class of 2020 were recruited across varied roles like Sales, Marketing, Business Development, Key Account Management, Enterprise Solutions, Category Management, E-Commerce Operations, Deep Tech Marketing, Marketing Analytics, Online Customer Experience Management etc.

JAGSoM PGDM Marketing program achieved 100% placements. The highest annual package for the graduating class was INR 16.0 Lakhs and the average annual package was INR. 10.67 Lakhs. New age companies like Numly, Ather, Homelane.com, Byjus, Hungerbox, Qwikcilver, PhonePe were some of the key recruiters.

When asked what job roles students can expect after finishing this program, Dr Chattopadhyay shared following job profiles where PGDM Marketing students will fit in:

• Digital Experience Manager
• Customer Experience Manager
• Customer Insights Manager
• Market Planner
• Growth Hacker
• Brand Manager
• Logistics and Distribution Specialist
• Market S&D Planner
• Social Media Manager
• Technology Marketing Officer
• Marketing Automation Specialist
• E-Commerce Category Manager
• Marketing Analyst

Industry-integrated Curriculum and Pedagogy
A key strength of JAGSoM is its industry integrated curriculum, pedagogy and faculty resources. Here are a few examples:

1. Updated Curriculum: The curriculum is carefully reviewed and updated by faculty members in consultation with leading industry professionals. This ensures that students are learning both theory and its real world applications.
2. Unique pedagogy: ‘Learning by Solving’ where participants solve industry problems, aligned to their interests in collaboration with Industry Partners. Pedagogy of “Learning by Solving” as participants seek (Request for Problems – RFPs) and solve them as part of the super-specializations in MarTech and Sales & Service
3. Faculty: Courses are delivered by domain specialist faculty with CXO level experience in the industry.
4. Industry Internship: Long duration ‘Industry Internship Program’ facilitating an engagement driven approach to career advancement and placements. Long duration Industry Internship Program provides great opportunity for final placements with more than 60 percent conversions.
5. Course Embedded Certifications: HubSpot, Hootsuite, Facebook Blueprint, Google Analytics, Python, Knime, R, Orange and Tableau
6. Super-specializations with certifications:

• MarTech in association with Darden School of Business, University of Virginia )
• Sales & Service in association with AIM Parasuraman Centre for Service Excellence

India’s top Faculty and CXOs to teach
JAGSoM is led by renowned scholar, thought leader and CXOs who have a passion for teaching. Prof Jagdish Sheth is the Chairman of the Board of JAGSoM. Prof Sheth is the Charles H. Kellstadt Professor of Marketing at the Goizueta Business School of Emory University and is a Padma Bhushan awardee.

Many of the faculty members at JAGSOM have played CXO roles in industry, which includes 9 graduates from IIMs, of which 3 are IIM fellows, 11 graduates from IIT and BITS, of which 3 are Ph.Ds. The group also includes 5 faculty each with degrees from Central and Foreign Universities, and 14 faculty with CXO level experience.

JAGSoM Faculty members who will be teaching at the PGDM Marketing Program include:

1. Prof. A. Parasuraman: Prof. A. Parasuraman (“Parsu”) is Emeritus Professor and the James W. McLamore Chair in Marketing at the University of Miami. He is considered one of the most influential figures in the field of services marketing and service quality, and is widely known for his work on SERVQUAL, E-SERVQUAL, and the Technology Readiness Index (TRI). He is currently the Pro-Chancellor (Academics) at Vijaybhoomi University and Mentor, AIM Parasuraman Center for Service Excellence at JAGSoM.

2. Prof. Vithala Rao: Prof Vithala R. Rao is the Deane Malott Professor of Management and professor of marketing and quantitative methods at the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management. He holds a PhD in applied economics and marketing from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He is the mentor of Centre for Business Analytics at JAGSoM.

3. Prof. Anand Narasimha: Prof. Anand is a corporate turned academician with over 30 years of leadership experience spanning Brand Marketing, Advertising, Consulting and Academics. He is an Alumnus of IIM Calcutta and BITS Pilani and was the Vice President – Strategy at Bates 141.

4. Prof. Kalyan Sankar Sengupta: Prof. Kalyan Sankar Sengupta is an accomplished management teacher, researcher, and consultant. He has been teaching management science for more than 30 years and was affiliated with reputed organizations like IISWBM – Calcutta, IMT Ghaziabad, to name a few. Prior to joining JAGSoM, he was a Professor at IMT Ghaziabad.

5. Prof. Pravin Mishra: Prof. Pravin Mishra is a communication designer, an award-winning filmmaker and an accomplished painter. His numerous accolades include ‘National Critics Award’ at the prestigious Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF’04) by Government of India. He is an Alumnus of National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. Before joining JAGSoM, he was the Head of the Crafting Creative Communication Department at MICA Ahmedabad.

6. Prof. Rakesh Mediratta: Prof. Rakesh Mediratta has worked as a senior business development professional for three decades before joining academia. He is a BITS Pilani graduate and was the Vice President-Retail at Vodafone. He is a subject matter expert in Sales and Distribution, Services Marketing, and Strategic Marketing. Prior to joining J JAGSoM, Prof. Mediratta has worked as an Associate Professor at IMT Ghaziabad.

7. Prof. Raghavan Srinivasan (Rags): Prof. Raghavan Srinivasan, an alumnus IIMA, is a professional with over 40 years of experience. He has held many leadership positions at various companies including Kantar TNS. He has held the positions of CEO and Chairman at Kantar TNS. He is also an Independent Consultant with Consumer Centricity Catalyst.

8. Prof. S K Bal Palekar: The pioneer of the direct selling model of Eureka Forbes, Prof. S K Bal Palekar is a Professor in Marketing. Prior to his current position at JAGSoM, he was a Professor at SPJIMR, Mumbai. He also has 34 years of corporate work experience in MNCs as well as Indian companies in consumer/industrial verticals. He pioneered the direct selling model of Eureka Forbes.

9. Professor Rajkumar Venkatesan: Prof. Raj teaches "Marketing Technology Products," "Marketing Strategy" and Marketing Analytics at Darden School of Business, University of Virginia. Venkatesan's research focuses on analytics as it relates to marketing return on investment, customer lifetime value, mobile marketing and the global political economy. He leads the super-specialization in MarTech.

10. Dr. Suraj Commuri: Dr. Suraj Commuri leads Strategic Initiatives at University at Albany, School of Business, SUNY, USA. Dr. Suraj completed his Ph.D from the University of Nebraska – Lincoln. His areas of interest include Consumer Behaviour & Digital Marketing with specific research focus on Household Decision Behaviour and Consumer Generated Content.

JAGSoM PGDM Marketing Admissions 2021 Highlights
So who is the ideal candidate for JAGSoM PGDM Marketing program? When asked, Dr Chattopadhyay said, “The ideal candidate for this program is a graduate who intends to kick-start his/her career as a domain specialist in new age roles. Someone who is willing to roll up the sleeves for effective execution and NOT an armchair strategist. Someone who can work in a team, can experiment and is willing to acquire new skills.”

JAGSoM follows a rolling admission process for JAGSoM PGDM Marketing Admissions 2021 and offers are made subject to meeting the criteria based on the composite score arrived on following parameters: i) considering the entrance test scores, ii) test of critical thinking, iii) group exercise and personal interview.

JAGSoM PGDM Marketing Admissions 2021 Details

JAGSoM PGDM Marketing Fees	Rs 12.0 Lakhs
Exam Accepted	CAT, XAT, GMAT CMAT, MAT
Who can apply	Graduates without experience, interested in marketing sector  Working Professionals with upto two years’ experience
Admission Status	Open | Apply Now
JAGSoM PGDM Marketing Last Date to Apply	July 02

To conclude, freshers and working executives with upto 2 years of work experience who want to build career in fast changing and ever-growing marketing domain should consider JAGSoM’s PGDM Marketing Program. Says Dr. Atish Chattopadhyay, “The faculty in Marketing Area of JAGSoM today is one of the best, if not the best in India. This is once in a life-time opportunity and a dream come true for anyone aspiring to make a career in Marketing.”

Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more updates on JAGSoM.