Short, Flexible and Cost-effective

Short, Flexible and Cost-effective

Short-term online management programs come with three handy advantages by Anagh Pal for OUTLOOK MONEY

You might have given fulltime online MBA courses a miss thinking that they were not worth the time or the money. Short-time Management Development Programmes (MDPs), which some e-learning institutes are offering, might be worth a look.

The online advantage

First of all, these are short-term courses and cost relatively less. Second, these courses are aimed at those who don't want a major degree but just want to brush up their knowledge in an area. If you think you could do with some more education in a particular field, these courses could be the answer. Also, since the courses are being offered in tie-up with reputed management institutes, it won't harm your CV either. Finally, they offer the benefit of online education, that is, flexibility to learn while you are on a full-time job.

Says Shreesh Chandra, general manager eLearning, Macmillan India, a company offering online MDPs: “These courses attempt to give you an insight into a certain area.” Specialised short-term courses have been received with a lot of interest, unlike courses of longer duration. Though online courses are not something new, "the shift is in the kind of courses on offer and the institutes you partner with”, says Chandra.

How they work

Once you register and enter into the student arena with your user name and password from a broadband-enabled PC, you can download all the study material. In-built interactive vehicles like e-queries help you interact with the faculty at a predetermined time. The one drawback for these courses is that out of the several MDPs that management institutes offer, only a few are available online.