The achievement of sustained competitive advantage in any organization largely depends on the effective management of human resources. Technological, financial and operational resources and capabilities provide only short-term competitive advantage. Moreover, faced with the challenges of increasing globalisation and competition, organisations are rapidly expanding. They are facing ever increasing complexities ranging from environmental issues to cross-cultural and geo-political issues. In this context, the conceptualisation and implementation of effective human resource management practices to attract, develop, motivate and retain a highly competent and diverse knowledge workforce is imperative. This also requires highly competent human resource professionals who possess holistic understanding of business, society and government and are well-equipped in all aspects of Human Resource Management.

The MBA-HRM is a two-year full-time residential program with a sharp focus on “People Management” in the emerging knowledge economy. It is designed to develop highly competent human resource professionals by imparting the knowledge, skills and experience essential for managing human resources in an organization.

Curriculum Design: Academic Calendar: The MBA-HRM program is spread over six terms, each of approximately three months duration. An academic year consists of three terms. The first term extends from June to September, the second from September to December and the third from December to March. Students complete a minimum of 105 credits over the six terms, with 73 core course-credits and a minimum of 32 elective course-credits. One credit is equivalent to 10 teaching/ contact (classroom) hours plus another 10 hours of academic work to be utilized outside the classroom in reading, research, assignments and/or activities related to the course, as specifiedby the Faculty. The program involves an average of 16 class sessions a week, each of 90 minutes duration. The students’ workload, including class sessions, required readings, term papers, project work and field visits, is expected to require about 70 hours per week.

Core Courses: The students are exposed to 25 core courses during the first four terms i.e. three terms in the first year and the fourth term in the second year. Each core course is of 2 or 3 coursecredits. The core courses are designed to provide wide exposure to the participants in Organisational Behaviour, Human Resource Management, Employment and Industrial Relations disciplines. The students also go through core courses from other management areas like Accounting, Communication, Decision Sciences, Economics, Finance, General & Strategic Management, Information Systems, Marketing Management, and Operations Management, in order to develop a holistic and complete understanding of the complexities of business environments and business organizations with ethical and social sensitivity.

Electives: Electives for the MBA-HRM program commence from the fourth term in the second year. The students are required to take electives having credits equivalent to not less than 32. Although more number of electives would be offered from OB/HR/IR areas, the students are encouraged to take electives from other Areas as well to gain an all-rounded understanding of business management and acquire cross-functional skills. Every year each Area announces the list of electives to be offered during the second year. In an effort to continually update the syllabus, keeping with faculty interests and industry requirements, elective courses can be added or deleted from the list.

Summer Internship: At the end of the first year, the students are required to undergo a summer internship in an organisation for a period of six to eight weeks. They are to carry out a project on some significant aspect of a human resource management problem. The objective of the summer internship is to provide the students with an opportunity to observe and study an organisation in operation and to relate what they have learnt through concepts, theories and projects to actual practice. This is a compulsory requirement to be eligible for the award of the MBA-HRM degree.

Independent Research Projects (IRP): The program encourages and provides students with an opportunity, to pursue Independent Research Projects (IRP) in their second year. These build on the interest and willingness of students to learn about a specifi topic and develop their research skills. The IRP comprises a research project carried out over a period of one or two terms. It contributes to a deeper understanding of the human resource management discipline. IRPs are customized offerings and are optional in the second year of the program.

Immersion Courses : HR leaders are invited to offer Immersion Courses for the students with an objective of providing insightful discussions on specifi topics, which are normally not covered in the regular course curriculum. The students are provided with an opportunity to take up Immersion Courses, taught by thought leaders and professionals in their areas of interest. The invited faculty provide exposure to and understanding of upcoming areas in the industry and new initiatives in the field of HRM. This unique educational innovation enables the students to broaden their horizons, learn about the cutting-edge developments in their field and explore newer opportunities. Over the years immersion courses have included topics like HR analytics, Appreciative Inquiry, and HR Audit to name a few.

Industry Interface and Exposure: Over and above the regular courses offered in the program, students are exposed to industry practices through talks that are conducted by senior executives and industry leaders. Moreover, project assignments, seminars by eminent scholars and executives, and summer training in industry help the students acquire practical knowledge about human resource problems in today’s organisations. These Immersion Courses, Seminars and Projects aim at generating and evaluating alternative solutions to management issues. The students are thus prepared to face with confidence  the problems they may encounter in their professional career through blended learning.

Student Exchange:Students have the opportunity to spend one term, during the second year, at Universities in Europe through the student exchange program. For the work done in different places, the students get credit transfer. Our students have done their exchange Program courses in EUROMED Marseille Institute of Management, France, IESEG School of Management, Lille Catholic University, Lille, France and REIMS Management School, Reims Cedex-France.

Extra-curricular Activities:As a policy, the Institute encourages students to develop team skills and citizenship qualities in addition to academic accomplishments. Enough scope exists in the campus for extracurricular activities through participation in interest-specific voluntary student associations and other pursuits such as sports, social service, book clubs, music, debates, quizzes, contests, etc.

Degree:The Xavier University awards the MBA-HRM degree to the students who have successfully completed the course work equivalent to 105 credits, fulfilled the prescribed academic standards, and have done the summer internship as per the prescribed requirements. The degree is awarded at the Annual Convocation which is usually held in March/April.