IIM Visakhapatnam becomes second IIM in country to launch hybrid EMBA – Times of India

VISAKHAPATNAM: Ever since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, educational institutions are tweaking their courses to align them with the changed preferences of the students. Indian Institute of Management-Visakhapatnam on Sunday rolled out an ‘executive master of business administration’ (EMBA) programme in hybrid mode. By doing so, IIMV has become the second IIM in the country to launch the EMBA programme in a blended mode after IIM Kozhikode.
Taking advantage of the flexible programme, 148 students from 18 states/Union Territories of the country gained admission. This predominantly two-year virtual programme will be supplemented by two campus immersions of five days each.
Burger King India Chairman and independent director D Shivakumar inaugurated the programme from IIMV’s permanent campus in Gambheeram on Sunday amid the presence of the 148 students, who gathered here in Visakhapatnam for their first campus immersion.
Speaking at the inaugural, Shivakumar explained how any new technology invented in history was challenged and poured cold water on by the incumbents. He gave examples of various innovations and how the incumbents had built stories with their own narratives around them – starting from books, television, and mobile phones to aeroplanes and computers. “Even people in the technological world cannot often predict the extent of impact, outcomes, or future growth potential of any new technology or innovation. When the telephone was invented, the best expected outcome was to have one telephone in each town. Similar was the story of aeroplanes. When the unique identification number (UID), named “Aadhaar”, initiative was rolled out in India, nobody would have imagined the scale and reach of the same. Who would have guessed a decade ago that even matrimonial sites verify their users with Aadhaar numbers?” said the operating partner at Advent International.
Explaining the students the potential takeaways from the two-year course, Shivakumar said that the MBA is a width degree and hones the skills of the candidates in a wide variety of business areas. “The value of the MBA comes from interactions with faculty and engagements with fellow students. Your approach to any project should be digital and sustainable at heart. These two key skills will be crucial,” said Shivakumar, who served on the boards of various business schools, including IIMs.
Quoting former US president John F Kennedy, IIM Vizag director Prof M Chandrasekhar said that leadership and learning are indispensable to each other. “IIMV and its faculty through the programme will help the students better connect with their organisations and help the latter realise the importance of economising the resources – not only by helping them create economic value but also social and environmental value,” said Prof Chandrasekhar. He explained what would be on offer at IIMV for the students during the two-year programme and how they would benefit from the best faculty and the overall ecosystem of the institute.
Program chairperson Prof Happy Paul also spoke on this occasion. Coordinator (academics and research) Prof Shivshanker Patel, executive education programs chairperson Prof. Preeti Virdi, and faculty and staff were present during the inaugural.
Profile of the IIMV EMBA batch 2023-25:
• Total participants of the programme are 148.
• 74% of the total participants belong to the engineering discipline.
• 12% are from the science background.
• The participants belong to 18 states/UTs.
• Average work experience of participants is 9 years.
• 26% of the total participants belong to the IT sector.
• 19% are from a manufacturing background.
• Average age of the cohort is 33 years.