EPM: To be or not to be1

It was sometime in the last week of September 2019, as the clouds thundered and monsoon
withdrawal started in Mumbai, Prof Vashisht, sitting in his cabin called his colleague Anand to
discuss the future course of action for the launch of next batch of EPM, which was slated to start
in July 2020. He was wondering, given the level of enrolment till date, should he close the
program or change program structure or invest more in promotion or change the promotion mix?
His wish was to attract decent group size of at least 60 per annum. But is this going to be his
wishful thinking.
Prof Vashisht was a senior Professor in a top 10 B School in India. With his enormous experience,
he had put together a 32 days, 200 hour MDP program, taught by 9‐10 facilities from his institute
as well as from industry. The program grew slowly and gained popularity over the years. Apart
from graduates with years of experience, every batch saw admission of MBAs (either done from
a smaller b schools and wanted to refresh their knowledge). The program provided the certificate
of proficiency earlier, but due to some internal objections, it was changed to the certificate of
participation. Also the marketing expenditure was sole discretion of the coordinator prof
Vashisht. Overall, institutional support was lacking for this program and apart from support
from couple of colleague, faculty members, not many were supportive of such programs in the
institute. This was evident of the fact that the participants of this program did not get recognition
as alumni. While this was the practice in many top B schools. There was no placement support
for this program. This was however, in line with all the top B‐schools in the country, who don’t
promise placement support for its MDP participants.
Few years back, many pass out students of the program formed an independent alumni
association on their own and registered as independent not for profit organization. This
association, without the involvement of Prof Vashisht, independently, got together regularly and
used to organize lectures of prominent industry speakers and also organize informal get‐
togethers. But over the years, their get‐togethers declined sharply.
Prof Vashisht was solely managing the marketing of this program. Since there was no institute
support for promoting this MDP, he used to spend on advertisements from his personal savings
emanating from the program. Initially all expenses were on print advertisements but shifted to
digital/social media advertisement over the years. A new website was also created for the
program separately. On which testimonials of few past participants were uploaded (both in print
and video formats). The details are given in exhibit 5.
The number of enquiries form a typical print advertisement in Mumbai (60 sft ad space in TOI
page 3 and ET last page) could range from 100‐150. How‐ever recently the focus haven shifting

1
This case has been written by Prof Dinesh Sharma and Prof S. Bhargava of SJMSOM, IIT Bombay and is their sole
copyright. This case has been developed for discussion and not to criticize the efficient or inefficient decision
making. For any proposed use please contact dineshsharma@iitb.ac.in . Any use without the consent of authors is
illegal.

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to digital advertisement. Social media promotion was mainly done on One such report is given in
Exhibit 3. While there were good eyeballs and also clicks to the advertisements, but actual
conversions were low.
EPM was in its 16th year and one of the most successful management development program in
India. The program had running in Pune and Delhi for about years 5 years but later it was decided
to close due to logistics issues. The uniqueness of the program was that the classes were
conducted on alternative Saturdays and Sundays. Timing was also suitable to industry executives.
The fee was competitive too. Annexure 2 gives the details of participants details Annexure 3 gives
the details of participant profile.
What was troubling the Prof Vashist that what steps should be taken by him to revive the
program to its old glory. Mumbai is big market for any type of management training programs.
Recently, there was increase in the competition from various Indian and foreign B Schools apart
from MOOC platforms, conducting MDPs in Mumbai

Case Questions
You are required to do a secondary research of MDPs top 10‐15 B schools in India and also talk
to working executives and based on your findings suggest :
What should Prof Vashisht do, regarding EPM Program offering, structure, pricing, promotion
for next batch. Your suggestions should be based on research and be nuanced rather than
global suggestions.)

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 Exhibit1: About EPM

Executive Program in Management with specialization in Marketing and HRM (EPM MHRM) is
conducted during July (current year) to ‐April of next year. Since last 15 years, this programme
has attracted executives, managers and entrepreneurs engaged in different domains viz.
government, private and family managed businesses. This programme has been designed to
meet their emerging needs, bridge the existing skills gap and facilitate easy transition to the
required platform for success. EPM‐MHRM is an endeavor to provide an opportunity to get an
in‐depth orientation and exposure to the foundations of Management and addressing specialized
aspects of Marketing and HRM. This programme seeks to address the following:

• Address the emerging paradigms in the field of Management

• An emphasis on current concepts and applications.
• Emphasizing on skills such as analytical reasoning, communication and teamwork.
• Contemporary & Conventional marketing and people Management with focus on
entrepreneurship.
Programme Duration:
Executive Program in Management with specialization in Marketing & HRM is proposed to be
held during July 2019 – March 2020. Classes are proposed to be held on alternate weekend
Saturdays (2 pm ‐ 8.00 pm) and Sundays (9.30 am to 2 pm).
Programme Fee:
Total fee for the programme is INR198240 (One Lakh Ninety‐eight Thousand Two Hundred and
Forty) only. This includes Program fee of INR 168000 (One Lakh Sixty‐eight thousands) and Service
tax @18% i.e. INR30240 (Thirty Thousand Two Hundred and Forty).
The fee is payable in two installments. First installment of INR 99240 (Ninety‐nine Thousand Two
Hundred and Forty) is to be paid along‐with the application form for registering in the
programme. Second installment of INR 99000 (Ninety‐nine Thousand) is to be paid on or before
August 31, 2019. One can however pay full fee at the time of application. Fee can be paid ONLINE
or paid by a crossed Demand Draft.
Pedagogy and Programme Faculty:
The programme pedagogy will involve use of case studies, lecture‐cum‐discussions, video / film
discussions, seminars, role plays, projects etc. The programme will include leading experts from
industry and academia.
Who Will Benefit:
Programme has been useful to the entrepreneurs, executives and managers working in private,
public, government and non‐government organizations. This programme, emphasizes on high
quality education to the professionals, who are interested in enhancing (building/developing)
their career and business competencies for their professional growth.

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Current Curriculum: Programme Structure

A Foundation of Management
• Principles of Management
• Introducing Finance & Accounting
• Orientation of Manufacturing / Operations Management
• Organizational Behavior & Human Resource Management
• Fundamentals of Marketing
• Business/Market Research
B Strategy & General Management
• Strategic Management
• Economic Environment Analysis
• Effective Business Communication
• Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management
C Marketing Management
• Consumer and Industrial Buyer Behavior
• Product, Services and Brand Management
• Sales and Distribution Management
• Pricing Strategies
• E‐Business, Social Media and Online Marketing
D Human Resource Management (Managing People)
• Talent and Performance Management (HR Analytics)
• Training and Development
• Developing Leadership and Creating Professional Culture
• LIVE PROJECT in form of Experiential Learning (Book Review/Project) for Developing Self
(Depending upon the requirements, above topics will be introduced to cover under the slot of
2/4/6/8/10 hours).

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 Exhibit 2: Batch profile

BATCH YEAR Program Mum Delhi Pune PRINT Publicati SOCIAL

Fee (Rs) bai PARTICI PARTICI ADVT on MEDIA
PARTI PANTS PANTS AMOUNT (Google,
CIPA facebook)
NTS ADVT
AMOUNT

4 2006 85000 15 12 188485 TOI + ET 0

5 2007 91000 13 13 216775 TOI + ET 0

6 2008 96000 22 12 2 688693 TOI + ET 0

7 2009 96900 47 28 9 751204 TOI + ET 0

8 2010 99100 101 45 27 1032148 TOI + ET 0

9 2011 118000 120 38 32 1383846 TOI + ET 0

for
Mumbai,
127000
for Pune
and
136000
for Delhi
10 2012 142697 103 1313152 TOI + ET 0

11 2013 44 210634 TOI + ET 0

149439
12 2014 165169 81 808900 TOI + ET 330000

13 2015 186300 64 719841 TOI + ET 324438

14 2016 186300 47 235175 Mumbai 133278

Mirror
15 2017 197800 21 235175 Mumbai 131271
Mirror
16 2018 198830 13 0 308003

17 2019 198240 11 0 223162

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Exhibit 3: sample report of digital media advertisement during May 1, 2019 ‐ June 25, 2019 for
17th Batch

Google Campaign report

May 1, 2019 ‐ June 25, 2019
Campaign Clicks Impr. CTR
EPM BMM 17th Batch 2019 1,060 27,637 3.84%
Remarketing‐23rdMay 1,074 2,83,610 0.38%
Total: Account 2,134 3,11,247 0.69%

LinkedIn Campaign Report

Campaign Type Total Budget Total Spent Impressions
Sponsored Update 35,000.00 33,275.11 23562
Summary
Leads Spend CPL
Google 139 47,913 344.70
LinkedIn Campaign Report 50 33,275 665.50
Total 189 81,188 429.57

Exhibit 4: Participant profile

Average years of experience 10 years; Minimum: 2 years; Maximum: 30 years

B.Com., MFM Man United Finance & Operations

B.E. L&T Technologies Project Manager
B.Tech. Accenture SSE
B.Pharm. Carbon Brand Solutions Co‐Founder and Managing Partner
B.E., M.Tech. Kellogg india Pvt. Ltd. Manager
B.Sc., MBA Cipla HR Manager
B.Com. D S Entreprises Manager
B.Com. Citibank Executive
BA True Realty Properior
B.Sc., PGDM Jobination Founder
BMM Saints and warriors Client Servicing
B.Com. Gogroz Head, Operations and Sales
BMS The Walt Disney India Associate ‐ Markerting
M.Sc. IITB Project Manager
BMS, M.Com. BOSCH Ltd. Territory Manager
B.Sc. Wipro GE Product Manager

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Exhibit 5: Sample Testimonials from Participants who passed out from the program
S Bhattacharya, IT Project Delivery Manager, Accenture
EPM has significantly added a lot of values in my career. It has got an excellent world class
curriculum and gives an opportunity to get specialization in two vital streams: HR & Marketing.
It has given me an utmost inner satisfaction and certainly has built high end leadership and
entrepreneurial capabilities. The institute has got a wonderful corporate connect which helps
individual to get an opportunity to meet high profile people from top corporates and thus
enhances your career growth. I feel proud to be a part of the institute. Professors are really
awesome and have always been supportive.

Vikram, Synergetics IT Services India Pvt.

“Even after having 20+ years of experience as a Techno Marketing professional in IT industry;
the EPM Program that I attended –the 10th Batch‐ proved to be a Game Changer and Eye Opener
for me as a Professional. Based on my work experience as a marketer and extensive reading; I
had developed a sense that I knew enough in marketing. I must admit in the first few sessions I
realized how much I Don’t Know. Therefore I strongly recommend it to all my fellow software
professionals; aspiring to be managers and even senior managers to attend this program .Get
your marketing and HR Skills sharpened for the modern age challenges. The Sincerity and passion
with which the Program is conducted makes it impactful and different from other institution.
Case Study approach, Book Review and Project based Research work sharpens your workplace
skills beyond the conceptual understanding you gain during the classroom session conducted by
seasoned professionals and experts on Subject matter – most were PhDs. Experienced co‐
participants made the program even more absorbing. Real life experience sharing and discussions
on how to manage various consequences at work place drove up the level of the program.

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Case Questions

You are required to do a secondary research of MDPs top 10‐15 B schools in India and also talk
to working executives and based on your findings suggest :
What should Prof Vashisht do, regarding EPM Program offering, structure, pricing, promotion
for next batch. Your suggestions should be based on research and be nuanced rather than
global suggestions.)