MBA/MS in Management with University at Buffalo,USA

Curriculum

The MBA course curriculum has been designed and is continuously fine tuned, drawing upon 1. A world class faculty with a fine balance of academic and industry exposure, 2. Robust knowledge and knowledge delivery infrastructure and 3. The rich experience of having delivered MBA program for past 15 years.

ASB is one of the handfuls of business schools in India to offer wide choice of elective courses to final year MBA students to enable them specialize. These electives are offered in all the five areas of specialization, namely, Finance, Human Resource Management, Marketing, Operations and Systems. Businesses today have moved beyond profit to show an appreciation for values and ethics in the workplace. Top CEOs have recognized that success in business without the application of values is not real success. In this regard, a key differentiating aspect of the Amrita MBA program is the focus on values for the work place as well as society.

SAP is a part of the MBA curriculum and the ERP course uses SAP extensively. The pedagogy in many courses includes case discussion, games, role plays and live projects that aid in students conceptual clarity. Students across the world have showed resistance and cynicism when courses on Managerial Values and Business Ethics or courses like the Management of the Self are taught, but the instructor at ASB through his unique teaching methodology has succeeded in breaking this resistance. Several students have reported that these courses changed their lives.

Pedagogy

Amrita School of Business stresses the need for holistic education for those aspiring to pursue MBA program. Keeping in line with the principle that one's education should be for life, as well as for living, the curriculum has been designed and updated to provide for a balance between courses focusing on functional aspects for managing a business and personal aspects for managing oneself.

Teaching Methods

Learning at ASB is a synergy of unique teaching methodologies comprising of lectures, case discussions, seminars, presentations, group activity, business games, role plays, soft skills training, and field projects. A typical student day consists of at least three classroom sessions of seventy five minutes duration, one hour of hands-on experience in the computer centre, and at least two hours of course preparatory work (both individually and in groups) for every one hour of classroom session; requiring on an average, ten to twelve hours of total work each day.

Case Study Method: The case study method, a staple of the top B-Schools in the world finds extensive use in ASB especially in the second year elective courses. ASB is a member of the Harvard Business Publishing (HBP) as well as European Case Clearing House (ECCH) - the premier repository for management cases in the world. In addition to the use of management cases in classes, students have also been encouraged to write live cases in certain courses such as in International Business, where groups of students wrote up on the globalization experiences of companies in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Role Plays: Role plays find extensive use in courses such as Business Communication, Organizational Behavior, Sales and Distribution Management, and Cross Cultural Management.

Business Games: The course Cross Cultural Management - also features a unique, and extremely powerful pedagogical device management games created by student groups to test and teach cross-cultural concepts.

Live Projects: Many ASB courses involve fieldwork where students interact with corporates and other institutions in course related live projects. The courses utilizing field based projects cut across the different academic disciplines. In some courses such as Marketing Research, the ASB alumni mentor and occasionally commission the project work. In general, the group projects have proven to be excellent tools to bring class-room learning to life; to connect the students with their alumni and industry; and to give an experience of the 'real world' dynamics to the students, many of whom have no prior industry experience.

Summer Projects: Every summer, first year MBA students undertake industry projects of 8to 10 week duration on various functional areas of management on company premises. This paves way for a confident landing in corporate assignments after their MBA Program. Students are provided a good exposure to interact with professionals from the industry on different functional areas, which enhances their caliber to face corporate placements. This year each student was assigned an ASB alumnus as a summer project mentor.

Value Education: ASB believes in imparting an education for life along with an education for a living. As a step in this direction, the course Self Awareness and Personal Growth is an integral part of the curriculum for both years. This course provides an opportunity for holistic learning. It also involves the practice of yoga and meditation to help tide over the demands of stress filled corporate life. In addition, a course on "Managerial Values and Business Ethics" is taught as a core course in second year. The emphasis on values of course extends much beyond the formal coursework - it is reflected in almost every choice we have made.

Field Trips and Industrial Visits: Faculty take active interest on scheduling field trips to bring in a real-life experience of concepts being covered in class. These field trips may involve local industries (in Bangalore), and overnight stays (such as in Chennai and Hyderabad).

Policies and Doctrines

Laptop Policy

Based on the earlier experience, the school has decided that laptops will not be provided by the institution and the cost of the laptops are not included in the fees. Students are required to get his/her own laptop at the start of the orientation programme.

Policy on Ragging

Anti Ragging clause under UGC Regulations 2009 - Ragging is totally prohibited in Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, and anyone found guilty of ragging and/or abetting ragging, whether actively or passively, or being a part of a conspiracy to promote ragging, is liable to be punished in accordance with these Regulations as well as under the provisions of any penal law for the time being in force.