FAQ, School of Business Bengaluru

1. What is a Collaborative Programme?

The Collaborative program can easily be explained as follows. Suppose you join a MS degree program, say "Management Information Systems". In order to earn this degree, assume you need to complete 10 courses in MIS. Now, suppose that you wish to earn another MS in a closely related field, say Computer Science. In order to earn this degree, say you will need to complete 10 courses in CS. However, because of the closeness of the two fields, some of the courses could be jointly applicable to both the degrees. As a result, you will not need 10 courses for the MS in CS since some of the MIS courses you have already taken can be used for the CS degree. Assume that 4 MIS courses are applicable for the CS degree. Therefore, you will need to take only 10+10-4 = 16 courses in total to earn two degrees: MS in MIS and MS in CS. When the two degree programs are integrated and offered as a single stream of 16 courses, we have a dual-degree program.

2. What are the degrees being offered?

The Collaborative program consists of Two Masters Degrees: (i) Executive MBA (ii) MS in Management (Business Analytic) and Systems. The MS is a specialized degree that is uniquely designed to provide aspiring professionals with focused knowledge and skills so that they can grow into executive positions and become effective leaders. This degree is offered by SUNY at Buffalo. The Executive MBA is a Management degree in Business that is designed for professionals to grow into Management positions in any industry and is offered by Amrita University.

3. Are there other examples of such Collaborative programs?

Yes. MIT has similar alliances with the National University of Singapore (NUS) and the Nanyang Technical University (NTU). For example, in the MIT-NUS alliance, students take a single stream of courses, some offered by MIT faculty and others by NUS faculty. After completing the stream, the students earn two MS degrees in Computer Science – one from MIT and the other from NUS. The MIT-NTU alliance also works similarly.

4. How long is the Collaborative program and how is it offered?

The degrees have been jointly designed by Amrita University and SUNY at Buffalo and will be offered as a single stream of courses over a period of 24 months. The two degrees have overlapping course requirements that have been effectively used to extract the synergies between their respective requirements and leverage the competencies of the faculty from the two universities. As a result, this innovative design of the program would enable the students to complete both the degree requirements in 24 months in a significantly cost-effective and time-effective manner.

5. What are the course requirements for the Programme?

The collaborative masters program consists of 18 courses and a seminar on work-life balance. The courses are organized into four modules: Business Foundations, MS Core, EMBA Core and Capstone.

6. What skills will I acquire from this program?

The courses are specially designed to focus on the following fundamental skills required of working professionals: Functional, Technical and Process skills for effective management of organizations and Soft skills. The Functional, Technical and Process skills are focused on the following:

1. Develop a strategic perspective on high tech industry
2. Acquire leadership skills
3. Learn to deal with business partners
4. Learn to manage projects and teams
5. Acquire the foundational skills needed in the functional areas
6. Learn how high tech enabled services are designed and implemented
7. Acquire the necessary technical skills needed in high tech industry
8. Learn to leverage technologies, business processes and organizations

The focus on soft skills is as follows:

1. Learn the art of communication
2. Develop a sensitivity to cross-cultural issues
3. Learn to work in teams
4. Cross psychological barriers
5. Develop a balance between Work and Life

We believe that the proposed post-graduate dual-degree executive management program with the above clear focus would build outstanding professionals who would contribute enormously to the productivity of their firms. Further, the emphasis on the above set of skills would also develop executives into entrepreneurs in their own areas, besides giving them a significant career advantage through the two advanced degrees.

7. What is the course schedule?

Each course will be held on weekends over two months. Each of these days will comprise a full-day instructions.

8. Who will teach these courses?

Half the courses will be taught by Professors from SUNY at Buffalo and the other half by Professors from Amrita University. Besides this, each course will include guest lectures by several industry experts.

9. Where will the classes be held?

The classes will be held at the Amrita College of Engineering Campus at Bangalore. Amrita has constructed a state-of-the-art CORPORATE TRAINING facility for this program. The faculty from SUNY Buffalo and Amrita University and the industry experts will come to Bangalore to conduct the classes.

10. What does each course involve?

Each course would consist of appropriate combinations of: Lectures by Instructors, Guest-lectures by field experts, Case studies, Student group presentations, Tutorials wherever appropriate, Soft skills training, Audio-visual presentations, Projects and Exams.

11. What additional educational support services will be provided to the students?

Several. The courses will be supported by the following technologies: Web-based asynchronous e-learning support, Instructor - student, student - student, group communications emails and chat rooms, Web hosting of study material, online exams wherever possible, Online program administrative support and Media-equipped classrooms. The students will be provided with the books and study material required for each course. The program administration is housed at the Amrita campus in Bangalore. The administrative office will assist students with all programmatic matters such as course registration, scheduling, study material distribution, exam administration, collection of projects and assignments, all program announcements, etc.

12. Suppose that I will have to miss a course for some valid reasons. How will this affect my degree program?

Not much. Each course will be fully videotaped and made available to the students. Should you miss a course due some valid reason, then you can work with the individual instructor on completing the course. In addition you could do self-study with the videotapes. However, you will be fully responsible for all projects, assignments and exams, coordinating with the instructor of the course. Our administrative staff will assist you with these activities.

13. Give me some examples of valid reasons.

Unavoidable work-related travel, health reasons, justifiable family/personal concerns.

14. What is the unique value proposition of the programme to the students?

Several. Here they are:

• Unique Value: The EMBA is a Management degree. This is uniquely designed with a focused coverage of all necessary knowledge areas and skills so the aspiring professionals can grow into executive positions and become effective leaders.
• Universal Value: The EMBA is a general Management Degree . This is designed for professionals to grow into executive leadership positions.
• Career Value: Consequently, the dual-degree would advance the careers of students across several vertical industry. This is a significant expansion of their career options with enhanced flexibility for career migrations.
• Distinctive Value: While there are several universities in India including the IIMs, ISB, XLRI etc. that offer management degrees, there is no degree program that is specially focused on the management of Hightech firms. In Bangalore, IIM-B offers the PGSEM program that is intended for software engineering professionals in general with no special focus on Hightech. In this respect, the MS in MITS is a distinctive degree in India, especially in Bangalore.
• Market Value: SUNY at Buffalo is a top-tier and well-recognized research university in the US. Amrita University is a first-rate academic institution in India. The US degree and the Indian degree have tremendous market value for working professionals both in India and abroad.
• Innovative Value: The two degree programs are innovatively designed with overlapping course requirements. The synergies between the two degree requirements have been fully exploited. With the overlap accounting for 25 course credits, the students will have to take only 50 credits while earning 87credits in total.
• Time and Cost Efficiencies: Consequently, the two degrees can be earned in 24 months. Furthermore, students can obtain an US degree while continuing to work in their jobs.
• Convenience: The classes are held over weekends over two months to suit the needs of the busy professionals attending the program.
• Contemporary Curriculum: The curriculum is developed from contemporary practices and issues in the IT and ITES industry and is modeled along the lines of business school courses taught in the US.
• Distinguished Faculty: Several distinguished Professors from the US will be traveling to Bangalore to teach in this program. The program also includes several highly regarded industry experts who will deliver lectures during the courses.
• Cost Advantage: Earn US degree in India at a fraction of the total cost of going to US and earning it.