The SPJIMR PGDM Marketing program is similar to top B Schools like IIM ABC. The key highlights of the same program are listed below. Please note these are not generic and are specifically related to the Marketing program.
Curriculum: The curriculum is almost exactly what is taught at elite B Schools. The relevancy of the curriculum is maintained through unique programs like GFT wherein a 3-week immersion at some of the finest universities of the USA takes place. A very interesting program called ‘A day in the life of a Salesman’ is a much talked about program at SPJIMR. In this, you will get to shadow a salesman from a reputed FMCG company so that you understand the techniques of sales and distribution.
Pedagogy: The pedagogy adopted is usually a case-based approach. Mostly Harvard cases are used to strike discussions in the classrooms. Additionally, live projects are conducted by various visiting companies. Such initiatives help formulate an effective pedagogy.
Faculty: The faculty is a great combination of professors with theoretical knowledge and industry experts. All are highly competent in their respective fields.
Batch: The diversity of the batch can be looked up on the official website by checking the profiles of the Marketing batch specifically. Usually, the crowd is diverse and has an overall good profile.
Placements: The placement statistics can be checked on the official website. The figures are inflated but can be used for comparison purposes only. The table below includes the key highlights of SPJIMR placements 2023
Particulars |
Statistics |
Highest salary |
INR 77.8 LPA |
Average salary |
INR 33.02 LPA |
Top Recruiters |
Asian Paints, Hindustan Unilever Limited, ITC, Accenture Strategy |
There are mainly two placements: Internships Placements (called the Autumn placements) and Final Placements.
Internship placements: These placements take place usually in the month of July and August during the second year. Students end their internship by October. The FMCG companies visit for Marketing and Operation placements together. Finance and Information Management internships are more like a rolling process.
Final Placements: The final placements occur usually in the month of December. At this time, all the PPO results from internships are out and almost 50% of the batch has already been placed. SPJIMR does not encourage lateral placements and such cases are dealt with individually. The placement scenario for Information Management is pretty good offering amazing opportunities in both IT consulting as well as corporate IT.
Every college has its own list of features that makes it stand out among others. But what matters is which of those aspects aligns with your interests and conveniences. So to facilitate a better decision, I have listed the pros of both colleges.
SPJIMR Mumbai
Location: Located in the center of Mumbai, it enjoys a location advantage over IIM Lucknow. This makes it easier for students to avail opportunities and recruiters to visit the campus regularly.
Low batch size: It has a lower batch size in comparison to IIM Lucknow which means every student is well attended to and the competition is also not that tough.
Marketing: It’s the marketing capital of India with the most reputed marketing firms visiting the campus.
Exposure: It offers a rural stint and international exposure for every student which exposes them to the diversity of the course.
IIM Lucknow
Weighing the pros of both the colleges make your decision based on which pros you are keen to avail the most.
SPJIMR Information Management PGDM program is suitable for those who want to shift from technical IT to management and business roles. This unique course is updated annually to keep up with the latest developments in the IT field and is on par with the best B-schools around the world.
The faculty at SPJIMR are highly dedicated and valued for their academic excellence and business backgrounds. In addition to classroom courses, IM students learn from industry visits, guest lectures from corporate gurus and CXOs, and live projects designed to facilitate the use of theory in practice.
At SPJIMR, peer learning is highly effective, and there is a collaborative culture in place. Students are selected based on merit, and the competition is stiff due to the high quality of peers. Most IM students come with expertise in various domains, and they work together as a team on activities such as the Cross Course Project, which is a platform to piece together all learnings from the IM coursework and consult on a real IT business challenge.
The placement opportunities available in the IM specialization are regarded as a valuable benefit, and SPJIMR attracts top-tier firms like Microsoft, Amazon, Flipkart, HCL, GE, Make My Trip, Capgemini, Cognizant Business Consulting, Deloitte, and many more. The roles open for the IM area include IT consulting, Business Development, Product Management, and General Management in IT companies and e-Commerce majors, and Corporate IT roles (CIO growth path) in IT user companies. The advantage of the IM specialization is that both you and the firms find yourselves in a win-win situation when it comes to mapping skills versus roles.
Let me make this clear, there is no fixed specialization that will help you make it into counseling.
For working professionals: Companies that visit the campus for placements usually prefer Finance and Operations background. People with a technological background opt for tech consulting while many go for Sales and Operations consulting as well. The companies are not interested in specialization, rather they look for how good your CV is. So, we can say a guy from a pure manufacturing background who is currently studying marketing can also make it into consulting.
For freshers: The best specialization to choose to make it into a big consulting firm for a fresher is Finance. The concepts included in the Finance specialization are more connected with consulting. So if your area of interest covers both, Finance and Consulting, then opt for Finance while the target for consulting. As far as Operations is concerned, it’s not easy to get admission. Even if you do the chances are lower unless you do internships and projects.
Lastly, remember there is no direct relation between the choice of specialization and placements. Even if you fail to get into your desired company, know that it is not the end. You can slowly achieve your goal provided you are certain of it and are working hard towards achieving it.
One of the students interviewed by SPJIMR on 25th February 2021 for the finance stream, shared their experience. During Group Interview 1, two professors and three students were present. You should give well-prepared answers when asked about yourself, why you want to pursue an MBA, your long-term and short-term goals, and your favorite subject. You should also confidently answer questions about financial management, such as what CAPM is and what Beta is in CAPM. If you are unsure of an answer, you should try to explain it as best as you can.
When asked about the performance of banks in the country and whether the latest budget provisions will help, you should be well-prepared with your answer. When comparing recent changes to those made in the 90s, you should try to highlight both the positives and negatives. When asked about the challenges you've faced during bank audits, you should answer based on your experience in the sector.
During Group Interview 2, two professors and four students were present. You should confidently answer questions about your experience during Group Interview 1 and explain why you want to pursue an MBA and your long-term and short-term goals. If asked about your hometown, you should try to answer as best as you can. If asked how you would cope in SPJIMR for two years, you should link your answer to your audit experience of going outstation for months and managing to cope well.
The following is what SPJIMR has to offer:
The professors have a wealth of knowledge. And because this program has been running for more than three years, everything that needs to be taught and at what level is in perfect sync. This makes sure that no subject is covered again in the SP Finance Specialization semester.
The subjects covered, such as Financial Statement Analysis, Leveraged Buy-Out, Portfolio Analysis, etc., happen to be the most crucial for placements. These topics will already be covered during the specialization semester, but at Cornell, they will be covered from a different angle that will aid in your understanding of the material.
75 recruiters, 33 of whom were new recruiters, visited the campus, according to the report. Accenture, Aditya Birla Capital, Amazon, American Express, and others were among the top employers. The highest package offered during the placement drive was INR 53.16 LPA, while the average package was INR 32.06 LPA.
You can also choose a minor in information management, operations, marketing, consulting, etc. to broaden your knowledge and help you convince recruiters to hire you for a position in consulting or banking.
By ‘teaches Management like Engineering’ I assume what you mean is Management studies at IIM Lucknow are more strict, mundane, and repetitive. In this regard, I refuse to accept your claim as the reality is far from this.
People graduating from these institutes are youngsters with an age group of 20-25 so there is very little impact of the institutes' pedagogy on the learner’s ability to learn. These candidates are likely to be more serious regarding their growth and even sacrifice the fun of a typical B School life just to reach new heights. Anyone with such a mindset is likely to fare well anywhere irrespective of the choice of Institute.
I am going to specifically pinpoint the scenario at FMS because there is a general conception that FMS has a relatively chilled ambiance. The truth is I have seen many students working tremendously hard in their 2 years. They explore much more than academics and take part in many extracurricular activities because they know it’s their last opportunity before they enter the corporate world. The attendance rules although stricter than that at IIM Lucknow are no direct indication of the general discipline and the rigor of the curriculum. Every institute has its own tailored learning environment and it’s up to the students to make the most out of it.
People just ‘flock’ to a particular B School because of the sheep mentality. Rather their decisions are based on continuous analysis of various factors like tags, peer group, intended specialization, placement opportunities, personal goals.
If you are considering pursuing an MBA in finance at NMIMS, JBIMS, or SPJIMR, the ranking is JBIMS > SPJIMR > NMIMS.
JBIMS has a high-quality education due to the prominent faculty members who come to the campus regularly to teach and give guest lectures. Some of the notable faculty members include Prof. Moradian, Prof. Shivanand & Kedar Mankekar, Prof. Sandeep Gokhale, Prof. Ghadiyar, and Prof. Jagdeep Kapoor.
The institute also has an excellent placement record, with major companies such as Deloitte, EY, PwC, Accenture, Insofys, and KPMG visiting the campus. The average salary during the 2022 placement drive was INR 27.63 LPA, with the median CTC at INR 26.48 LPA and the highest salary at INR 42 LPA. The 2021 summer internship placement drive was also a success, with the highest stipend offered to be INR 5.67 Lakhs per month and the average stipend at INR 2.05 Lakhs per month.
JBIMS also has a strong industrial interface, with many companies providing live industrial projects to students, which is a significant benefit. The institute is located in Mumbai, which is close to many corporate headquarters, such as HDFC, ICICI, BCG, and McKinsey.
The institute has also performed well in national-level competitions, such as HUL LIME, P&G Dream Team, JP Morgan - The Deal, Nomura Investment Banking Case Study Contest, and PepsiCo BIAC. The alumni network of JBIMS is extensive, with notable alumni such as Noshir Kaka, Nitin Paranjpe, Kainaz Gazder, Vinita Bali, Mani Ratnam, Sam Balsara, Chanda Kocchar, Ajay Piramal, Paresh Sukhtankar, Sanjay Lalbhai, Rohit Narang, Shruti Bajpai, Ravi Chaturvedi, Siddharth Roy Kapur, Uday Kotak, Harish Manwani, Parag Gude, and many more. JBIMS is referred to as the "CEO factory," which is a testament to the quality of education and training provided.
Both SP Jain and JBIMS are highly reputable, but objectively speaking, SPJIMR should be the preferred choice between the two. Its selection process is highly unique, based on profile and fit, and extremely thorough. The school thoroughly evaluates if a candidate matches its culture and academic standards. It is recommended to visit the SPJIMR campus for the interviews. The social integration through the DOCC and Project Abhudaya programs helps to produce well-rounded leaders. Placements at SPJIMR are also noteworthy, so be sure to review their placement reports.
In conclusion, if you do not have experience with A, B, C, L, FMS, and XL, then SPJIMR is the ideal campus for pursuing an MBA.