MICA’s Post-graduate Programme Diploma in Management (Communications) has set a remarkable pace for itself since its inception in 1994, The active PGDM (Communications) has evolved into one of the premier programmes in the country, endorsed by 100 per cent campus placements with the best corporate houses in India and in recent times, abroad. MICA’s stringent selection norms coupled with the rigour of the curriculum ensure a highly committed, creatively and innovatively anchored, professionally oriented communications manager skilled in the practice, development and management of communications for industry and society.
The realization that communications management is a crucial component of industry leadership, launched MICA over a decade ago. Communications management, across the industry spectrum, is our core competency. The PGDM (Communications) teaches lateral thinking and consumer insight. A MICAn redefines the traditional role of a manager to steer brands and organizations through the power of sharper consumer insight expressed through effective communication. The MICAn's expertise lies in understanding the relevance of the emerging avenues of communications to the industry and society today and in being equipped to deal with their myriad complexities.
Communication has been at the heart of MICA’s academic programmes since its inception. Since then, much has changed. The millennium heralded forces of change at work in the market. The accelerated diffusion of information technology, the frenetic proliferation of media and new options, the heightened and global competition, the established reality of fragmented markets and the indispensability of technology redefined the rules. Spurred by these developments, MICA made the transition from communications to communications management and is now the premier institution in this field in India and perhaps, in the Asia Pacific region.
Many ambitious young men and women have taken MICA’s PGDM (Communications) to enviable positions in the business of communications management at destinations like L’Oreal, Leo Burnnet, Procter & Gamble, Ogilvy & Mather, CitiFinancial, Mindshare, NDTV, The Times of India, HLL, AC Nielsen ORG Marg, IBM, Star TV, CavinKare, Hutch and many more.
MICA offers students concentrations in Brand Management, Account Planning and Management, Marketing Research, Media Management and the emerging disciplines of Public Relations, and Broadcasting, Design and Retail Communications.
MICA has always been in the vanguard of management education trends in India. By being attuned to the country’s business context, MICA has provided industry with informed and efficient professionals with the ability and the desire to be innovative leaders. The PGDM (Communications) embeds in them a sense of values that encompass not only work ethics, but also a commitment to and a passion for marketing and communications as a discipline, especially in commercial organizations. The programme also helps them develop the mental discipline to blend concepts and ideas with strategic planning and action creatively and innovatively.
International collaborations and exchange programmes with Institutes in countries like the UK, USA, France, Singapore, Philippines and Vietnam present opportunities for international marketing.
It is MICA’s vision ‘to be the pre-eminent communications management school.’ At MICA, we nurture tomorrow’s leaders.
CURRICULUM DESIGN
The strength of this programme lies in the strong and contemporary curriculum, the knowledge and experience of the core and visiting faculty, the exposure to industry and the diverse profiles of students. The curriculum is flexible and is updated annually in consultation with practicing managers to ensure inclusion of current practices and cases. The students are, thus, exposed to the latest domain knowledge in the management and communication areas.
MICA also maintains industry interaction across various activities like training, consultancy and joint research through student bodies such as MICAMINDS, MICANVAS and the MICA Lecture Series. The individual research and consultancy that faculty undertake contribute to the depth of learning in the post-graduate programme. The intellectual capital available at MICA provides a challenging environment for the students in terms of rigour and conceptualization required successfully complete the programme.
The students are equipped to manage the entire integrated marketing process of a business, including:
- commissioning research, - seeking consumer insights,
- formulating brand and marketing strategies,
- evaluating media options,
- analyzing sales and distribution channels
- advertising
- Data and information analytics
DURATION
The PGPCM is a two-year residential programme. Each academic year begins in July and ends in March of the following year. An academic year is divided into three terms of 12 weeks each. The summer vacation at the end of the first year is usually devoted to industry internship. Placement activities commence towards the end of the second academic year.
ORIENTATION PROGRAMME
From 2006, MICA introduced a three-week pre-course orientation programme. The objectives were:
• To bring all students to a common minimum level of understanding and appreciation of the basics of social sciences, since they come from diverse academic backgrounds.
• To reduce the load of basic management education in the two-year programme allowing greater concentration on communications managementStudents were advised to attend certain course modules of the orientation programme based on their performance in a diagnostic test.
CORE AND FOUNDATION COURSES
These are compulsory courses offered in the first year and are largely based on foundation and perspective building approaches. The Foundation courses are intended to provide a broadbased perspective in general management. Core courses help students develop an integrated view of managerial problems and perspectives. They are designed to help them comprehend and apply various concepts and techniques. See detailed list (link to courses list)
CONCENTRATION COURSES
The concentration courses are based on a career building approach, keeping in mind industry’s need for professionals with clear career interests. These intend to enable students to develop specific skills and perspectives in their chosen career paths in the field of communications management i.e. account planning and management, brand management, marketing research, media management or the emerging areas of public relations, retail management, broadcasting and design communications management.
ELECTIVE COURSES
The elective courses are extensions of Foundation Courses and are intended to provide advanced learning opportunities to the students to sharpen their general management perspective and skills. These electives broaden the student’s horizon and help in the development of a well-rounded character. Students are required to study a minimum of five electives in each academic year
SUMMER INTERNSHIP
The internship provides students with an opportunity to gain work experience in an area of concentration or interest while receiving credit towards their diploma. The summer internship is organised for 8-10 weeks in various advertising agencies, media and marketing organizations during the summer break at the end of the first year of the programme. No student is admitted to the second year without completing the summer internship.
RURAL RESEARCH PROJECT
Rural markets are already ahead of urban markets in terms of volumes and growth rate in a host of mass¬based goods. This can largely be attributed to marketing efforts targeted at rural India. A rural marketing orientation requires a holistic understanding of the rural contexts and customers. The rural research project is designed to provide students with an appreciation of the challenges in communicating with rural customers. Students are required to live in villages for 15 days and study the structure and dynamics of communication.
CUSTOMER WATCH
This is intended as a learning opportunity with all its immediacy and unpredictability. The student will spend 5-7 days at a retail site as an observer. During this period, the student will keep a diary to make observations on aspects of consumer behaviour as well as details like gender, age and group size of visitors, brands asked for, brands bought and so on. Notes will have to be kept on complaint handling procedures, bargaining and other aspects.
In addition, workshops are organized in different areas, and students can attend these based on their interests. These are non-credit components of the course. Remedial classes and tutorials can also be fixed with the faculty members responsible for the course in question.
COMMUNICATION IN URBAN SITUATIONS AND CONTEXTS
This module has been introduced after the experience gained from MICA's rural project. It is envisaged to enable the student to also gain a deeper perspective of the urban segment. Therefore, this activity focuses on the study of select urban situations and contexts, apart from the projects done during the regular course and internship. The methodology is a combination of different data collection instruments including observation, live-in ethnography, focus group discussions and surveys. The duration will be spread over the second and third terms and the summer break. The urban locations would be in Ahmedabad, places of internship and hometowns in urban India.
SEMINARS AND WORKSHOPS
Numerous workshops and seminars are organized in different course areas. Students can attend these based on their interests. These form the non-credit components of the course.
