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FACING A CROSS ROAD ON WHAT TO CHOOSE: MBA or MiM? We have got you covered. While constantly pondering if management degree is the “bull’s eye” for you, you might have stumbled upon MBA being the mainstream resort for many candidates but a new world wide trend has emerged in the form of MiM: Masters in Management. Initiated in European business schools and universities, MiM has instigated all together a new gateway in management. But can MiM usurp MBA? In this article we’ll list the prospects in which MBA and MiM stand in different spotlights.

Key Differences Between MBA & MiM:

• Age: MiM programs are open to young professionals who have been working for about an year or less. The MiM students being younger have an average age of 23 years(ranging from 20 to 27 years) and for MBA students is from 27 to 32 years.
• Academic Fee Structure: Another major difference in the MBA and Masters in Management comparison is the amount of tuition fees charged by the two courses. The most expensive MiM program costs half as much as the most expensive MBA program. This targets different groups: young impressionable individuals with little savings go for MiM, as MiM being financially adequate but BA is sure to burn a huge hole into your pocket.
• Professional Experience: MiM doesn’t require any specific professional experience as they are designed to master management skills right after undergraduate degree or after about one year in job whereas MBA requires a minimum of 2-3 years of professional experience.
• Curriculum Emphasis : MiM and MBA overlap almost 40%-60% of their subjective content. Both use case studies to implement real world scenarios to provide an overview of management topics and foster team spirit.

MiM Programs: It focuses more on theoretical aspect of management with subjects requiring strong mathematical skills. It is research-oriented. Accordingly, the MIM also provides theoretical fundamentals of management research and may even qualify for a PhD program. The course duration varies from 10 months to 1.5year-2 years (owing to more comprehensive curriculum).

MBA programs: By contrast, MBA programs primarily emphasize the practical implementation. Core subjects on managerial functions such as finance or accounting lead to more integrative courses analyzing business cases from the practical position of managers. This kind of experiential learning gives students a chance to use their years of work experience and logically analyze & investigate business scenarios. MBAs as a rule of thumb have a 1-2 year course structure.

Criteria Employed For Admissions:

Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT): The most necessary requirement for pursuing MBA from renowned educational settings is one must clear GMAT even though recently every university/college has now come up with their own devised test for admission of candidates. “ 40% of MiM candidates require to clear GMAT too but the grades in previous degree are given utmost importance”, states the facts of the Global MiM survey of 2012.

Professional Experience: Previous professional experience is requisite for all potential MBA candidates whereas an MiM aspirant doesn’t require any specific professional background.

Academic Background: MBA programs are essentially for graduates, along with professional experience, from any academic background. But MiM programs are highly specific: one-third preferentially take graduates with an academic background in business or economics. The other two third split into 3 groups:

• Preference to academic background in business or economics
• Preference to practical backgrounds in psychology, physics, sociology etc.
• Preference to graduates from all academic areas

Reception By Companies: MBA is a long-established degree in management but until recently MiM is now emerging as relatively young business program. The growing supply and demand of MIM programs worldwide is sure to make companies more aware of the capabilities and skill sets of future graduates.

Future Career Prospects: MBA is a chance at career development i.e.; whether they need to qualify for a leadership position or they need to acquire entrepreneurial knowledge for their own personal business.

Master in Management graduates start their first job after the MIM and, by this, apply for entry positions. Although, MIM graduates should not expect to land in a managerial position immediately after completing their studies.

Conclusion: MBA OR MiM?

There’s no clear demarcation on what to choose: MBA or MiM as the choice is entirely binding to the interests of the graduate and what they aim at achieving. Both the courses target different groups with different needs. MiM is highly suggested for a budding managerial mindset that deems their bachelor’s degree as insufficient for their career plans. MBA students, however, already have the necessary head start and professional experience but aspire to gain advanced knowledge, tools and opportunities. Thus, it can safely be concluded that when a necessary boost is needed, one should opt for MiM.