There are a variety of MBA courses available in India and abroad and the students opting for them have a varied background. While some go for normal two-year courses, those who have little time or are engaged with businesses or jobs opt for Executive MBA programs and part-time MBA courses. An MBA education broadens and enhances knowledge and should be viewed in a sense of building up skills. It is utilized to find solutions to business issues.

There are a variety of MBA courses available in India and abroad and the students opting for them have a varied background. While some go for normal two-year courses, those who have little time or are engaged with businesses or jobs opt for Executive MBA programs and part-time MBA courses. An MBA education broadens and enhances knowledge and should be viewed in a sense of building up skills. It is utilized to find solutions to business issues.

MBA courses imbibe in the students the capability and skills to maximise individual and organisational productivity. These MBA courses prepare the students to meet the demands of the marketplace. Dr. P Chandra, Director, IIM Bangalore, says, “Enrolling for different MBA courses is the best way for the candidate to learn how to build and mould innovative organisations. It teaches the learners how to go about analysing management techniques and paves the way for building managerial perspectives. It also elucidates how the economy works within a society.

Also the case methodology that is practiced by almost all MBA institutes is a thing that leaves the students with a great understanding of practical management knowledge and solutions. The Case-Method creates a classroom in which students succeed not by simply absorbing facts and theories, but also by exercising the skills of leadership and teamwork in the face of real problems.

In India, management education is barely 50 years old. It began in the 1950s as a part-time education for practicing executives; only a few universities offered full-time management degrees. In 1961, the Government of India established IIM Calcutta and Ahmadabad in collaboration with the Sloan School of Management, MIT, and the Harvard Business School respectively. A full-time PG degree program of international quality in management was launched at the IIMs in India. By 1990, 82 university-based departments and schools of management were functioning in the country. Post liberalization, MBA education sector saw a massive growth. According to experts, there are close to 1800 MBA institutes operating in all parts of the country at present.

MBA courses equip the candidates with adequate skills to face the challenges of a corporate career. IIM Ahmedabad graduate Santosh Desai, who's now CEO, Future Brands, says, “The wonderful thing about the MBA is that one will not just be the manager, but also a creator. I think the most important future challenge would be how you are going to transcend the act of managers. In management institute, you are given the freedom to think and to face the challenges. It will be new because all the things are in you but nothing compels you to think independently as does the good MBA course."

So, the MBA is not just a degree, much more in fact. It helps you find yourself and the capability within.

Former Director of IIM Indore Dr S P Parashar, says, “MBA education is critical for the development of a country. If you look around at the CEOs across the country they are all the alumni of these great Indian MBA institutes. Many academic leaders in top-tier MBA institutes in India are themselves from IIMs."

But some experts believe that the value addition of these MBA courses largely depends on the candidate himself. Dr Venkat Ratnam, Director, International Management Institute, says, “Many students go through the same education but the outcome is different in each case. You and I may get admission into the same MBA institute for the same course, but the outcome for both of us will not be the same. A candidate's mental makeup makes a lot of difference in what he or she is able to extract.”

To enroll yourself into the MBA courses one first needs to go through entrance tests like Common Admission Test (CAT), Xavier Aptitude Test (XAT), Management Aptitude Test (MAT), GMAT and a dozen more similar exams. MBA is also an expensive affair in terms of time and money investment. MBA institutes in India have their own fees structure and most of them have increased it for this academic year.