Message from Program Director

MBA was invented at Harvard University in 1908 and introduced in Pakistan by IBA in 1955 with the assistance of Wharton Business School. Since then, IBA is proud to have helped numerous individuals become managers and leaders through its MBA program. However, with the proliferation of MBA programs and emergence of new disciplines since then, many people tend to think that MBA has completed its product lifecycle and its market is reaching saturation.

I think the world will continue to need MBA as long as there exist business enterprises as the engines of value creation. MBA is by design multidisciplinary and flexible enough to embrace and incorporate the knowledge of emerging disciplines and fields. Therefore, MBA is the only degree program that can prepare business managers and leaders for tackling the complexities and uncertainties of the 21st Century.

Being the pioneer of MBA in Pakistan, IBA revisits and revamps the MBA program from time to time. We have recently reviewed, refocused, and redesigned our MBA programs - from their philosophy to their strategy - to help meet the grand challenges facing our country and the world. We have transformed our MBA and Executive MBA program into mission-oriented and purpose-driven training programs aimed at increasing the productivity, competitiveness, and sustainability of the industrial system. Following this mission, our programs are now focused on creating managerial capital and leadership for established enterprises because these enterprises shape and drive the whole industrial system.

The MBA@IBA has been designed to prepare professional managers for the first-line management positions in established enterprises. Accordingly, we admit students who have earned an undergraduate degree in any discipline, have gained a few years of professional experience, and have the passion to adopt management as a profession. We have carefully designed a curriculum and institutional ecosystem that prepares the MBA students for getting on the fast track of a professional management career and also getting a head start as a junior manager.

The Executive MBA@IBA, on the other hand, seeks to attract experienced functional managers and train them for general management positions in the established enterprises. We would like to admit in EMBA those candidates who have accumulated a minimum of 5 years of managerial experience, and more importantly, have the aspiration to secure general management positions and reach the top management teams.

Our MBA is a 2-year full-time study program whereas Executive MBA is a 2-year weekend program. Both MBA and EMBA are 60 Credit Hours programs of level-7 qualification in accordance with the National Qualification Framework of Pakistan that is used as a standard by the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan. Accordingly, both programs can also serve as a base for entering doctoral programs in business administration.

We believe that our new MBA and EMBA programs are unique in their focus, comprehensive in their content, and effective in their design to help students become competent managers and inspiring leaders at respective levels of corporate hierarchy. Our programs are also unique due to our inclusive pedagogical approach. Unlike the conventional focus on knowledge content or fixation on a single pedagogical method, we take a whole-person approach to the management training with a view to shape the attitudes and behaviors of participants, besides imparting the most relevant and state-of-the art theoretical and experiential knowledge.

In short, each program is a unique bundle of knowledge, skills, and attitudes that are necessary to be an effective manager and leader at a given level of corporate hierarchy, including a set of carefully chosen “TIES”, i.e., technical, intellectual, emotional, and social skills.

If you have what we are looking for, we can help you prepare and start a lifelong journey of learning and value-added as a professional manager and business leader. We look forward to welcoming you aboard.

Dr. Muhammad Shafique
Director MBA and EMBA Programs