BUSINESS
ACUMEN
Data driven decision making is revolutionizing the
functioning of every organization and society, by pushing
the frontiers of efficiency and timeliness of decision making.
With the deluge of digital data, Data driven decision making
has now been an integral part of the efficient functioning of
every organization, and more generally of society at large.
The PGP-ABA is a 16 months diploma programme to be
offered by IIMA. It is designed to help working professionals
to acquire essential skills and knowledge for asking the
right questions, addressing it with analysis of the right kind
of data, and finally drive the decisions with the insights
gained from the analysis to drive decisions. The programme
thus provides a framework for transforming data into
insights that are coupled into an effective business decision
making process. In a nutshell, the programme will focus
on building a blended expertise in data “literacy”, data
processing and business acumen. We strongly believe that
this unique blended competency is the requirement in the
Analytics profession today.
DATA
DATA
PROCESSING
“LITERACY”
CAPABILITY
The programme offers a carefully thought out mix of
courses on tools and techniques for data visualization,
modelling and analysis of varieties of data of different
sizes; machine learning algorithms, cloud computing, and
finally, the domain specific applications of data analytics in
marketing, HR, Finance, Operations and Public Policy and,
skills required to package analysis output into business
implications that can support decision making. No formal
college level technical or statistical expertise is required
except a strong desire to learn how to use data for making
an impact on your organization. The programme is targeted
towards the working professional with at least two years
of experience preferably in the domain of analytics. The
COMPETENCY
REQUIREMENT OF
THE ANALYTICS
PROFESSIONAL
objective is to up skill and prepare them for future in taking up
leadership positions and shouldering bigger responsibilities
in the organization. The programme delivery is through a
thoughtful mix of online, and on-campus sessions.
There is no better place to learn state-of-the-art
applications of analytics in all functional domains of
business and public policy than IIMA. The unique strength
of the institute lies in its having an excellent resource of
outstanding faculty members who are heavily engaged
in cutting edge research and consulting in the domain of
analytics. The programme also draws upon the strengths of
industry experts and the extensive alumni network.

Prof. Tathagata Bandyopadhyay
(Chairperson, PGP-ABA)
PROGRAMME
CHAIR MESSAGE
Business analytics has been turning out to be one of the
core competencies for the organizations to compete in the
21st century. The deluge of data that we see today can be
used as powerful drivers for effective decision making.
However, most organizations are still struggling to leverage
it as there is a serious shortage of skilled personnel in the
domain of data analytics.
IIMA has decided to launch a 16 months post graduate
diploma programme in advanced business analytics (PGP-
ABA) starting from March 2020. It is a blended learning
programme having both online and on-campus sessions.
The objective of the programme is to up skill, and enhance
the knowledge of the professionals preferably working in
the domain of analytics, and to prepare them for taking up
complex data driven decision making tasks in future.
IIMA believes in delivering high quality programmes, with
emphasis on experiential learning and this programme is no
exception. Besides explaining the theoretical underpinnings
of the tools and techniques, emphasis will be given on the
hands on learning using a variety of data sets from various
domains of applications. Finally, you will be exposed to
domain specific application of analytics in two chosen
domains from different business vertical and public Policy.
Welcome to a life-changing and transformative experiential
learning at IIMA.
CURRICULUM
The PGP-ABA curriculum is designed to give the participants
an in-depth exposure to the analytics tools and techniques,
and prepare them to solve business problems across industry
verticals and functional domains using data. The course is
geared towards enhancing the analytical problem solving
ability of the students through a structured coursework.
The students will be exposed to state-of-the-art data
handling tools and techniques, followed by a rigorous and
comprehensive coverage of analytical methods and model
development techniques, which are immediately applicable
to cutting-edge business problems.
The pedagogical component ends with a focus on effective
communication of insights and recommendations, and
well-rounded discussions on the ethical considerations.
The course culminates with an industry-driven capstone
project along with mentorship from in-house faculty.
The curriculum is broadly categorized
into six modules:
1
Pre-term
� Introduction to R & Python
� Basic Statistics and Probability
� Basic Linear Algebra
These modules will be delivered using online as well as
Data: Management, Exploration,
2 and Analysis
on-campus sessions.
� Business Analytics in the Real World
� Problems and Data
� Probability and Statistics using R and Python
� Data Visualization using Tableau
� Big Data Management
3 Data Analysis: Methods and Models
� Regression Analysis
� Time Series Analysis and Forecasting
� Econometric Modeling for Panel Data
� Categorical Data Analysis
� Bayesian Analysis
� Network Analysis
� Machine Learning with Big Data
� Textual Data Analytics
� Experiments and Causal Inference
� Optimization Problems in Business
� Business Simulation
� Model Thinking
Analytics: Communication, Ethics, and
4 Organizational Value
� Ethics, Privacy, and Data Security
� Analytics Communication
� Driving Organizational Value with Analytics
5
Analytics in Business and Management
(Electives to be opted)
� Marketing Analytics
� People Analytics PROGRAMME
� Finance Analytics
� Operations Analytics
DELIVERY & THE IIMA
� Strategy Analytics PEDAGOGY
� Public Policy Analytics
The PGP-ABA is a hybrid programme, which will be
delivered using a mix of on-campus class-room sessions,
6 Capstone Project
online sessions, and project work. There will be three in-
campus modules, each running for one-week duration. The
online remote sessions will be delivered through study
centers located in multiple cities. For the project work, the
participants will visit the IIMA campus for two days.
The timing of the online sessions will provide flexibility to
the working professional schedules. The course delivery
pedagogy include: 1) lectures, 2) cases, and 3) hands-
on exercises. The concepts and state-of-the-art analytics
practices will be introduced using lectures. Business
cases will be also introduced at appropriate modules to
discuss the complexity of business problems and how to
make data-driven decisions using rigorous analysis. Many
sessions will provide hands-on data handling, data-driven
simulation, and model development experience, which
will prepare the participants to solve business problems in
multiple domains and prepare participants to execute the
capstone project with rigor. Equal emphasis will be laid on
communicating the data insights with the organization.
ADMISSIONS
The Post Graduate Programme in Advanced Business
Analytics (PGP-ABA) aims to attract outstanding executives
having a minimum of 2 years’ relevant work experience
(preferably in the domain of business analytics) in a
wide array of industries to become a part of this exciting
15-month programme.
ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
1. Minimum of 2 years’ work experience (preferably in � GATE: 90th percentile and above
the domain of business analytics); the experience to the list of long-duration management education
criterion may be waived for candidates with exceptional
academic qualifications.
2. An undergraduate degree; and
3. A valid test score (GMAT/GRE/CAT/GATE or the
PGP-ABA qualifying-cum-aptitude test).
ADMISSION PROCESS
1. Programme Website:
Visit the programme website
(www.iima.ac.in/web/pgp-aba/) to know more about Bangalore and Delhi. On request, the interviews may be
the programme and its contents.
2. Application:
Submit your application online at:
www.iima.ac.in/web/pgp-aba/apply/
You need to submit the following along with your programmes. In addition, it has been ranked 19th in the
application:
� Two recommendation letters (a minimum of one and 31st in the FT (Financial Times) Global MBA Ranking
should be from a practitioner who can comment on 2018. Over the years, the Post Graduate Programme in Food
the nature of your work)
� Latest CV stating briefly the projects you worked on
and are working on currently in your company
� Self-attested copies of degree and academic
transcripts
� Latest photograph.
Deadline for submitting online application form is
November 30, 2019.
3. Admission Test and waiver:
If you have a valid GMAT/GRE/CAT/GATE score, you do not
need to take a qualifying-cum-aptitude test. The expected
cut-offs for the tests are as follows:
� GMAT: Verbal (70th percentile and above),
Quantitative (85th percentile and above)
� GRE: Verbal (70th percentile and above),
Quantitative (85th percentile and above)
� CAT: Verbal (70th percentile and above),
DILR (85th percentile and above),
QA (85th percentile and above)
PGP-ABA Qualifying-cum-aptitude test:
In case you do not have a valid GMAT/GRE/CAT/GATE test
score, you can take the PGP-ABA qualifying-cum-aptitude
test. The test will be conducted in the last week of
December 2019 in multiple cities, and the date will be
shortly announced.
The test is expected to be of 1 hour 30 minutes duration and
will comprise of three sections: (i) English comprehension,
(ii) Logical reasoning and data interpretation, and (iii)
Quantitative aptitude.
4. Personal Interview
Shortlisted candidates will be called for a personal
interview. The interviews will be held in the months of
January and February at Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Mumbai,
conducted over video-conference.
5. Selection
Successful candidates will be intimated through email as
well as by surface mail by first week of March, 2020.
PROGRAMME FEE
Programme Fee: INR 10,00,000/-
(Including all applicable taxes)
PROGRAMME CALENDAR
Term Duration Mode
Pre-term March 2020 Online
Exploratory April-June Classroom/
Data Analysis 2020 Online
Data Analysis July-September Online
Methods 2020 (ePGP), the Doctoral Programme in Management (Ph.D.),
Model October-December Classroom/
Development 2020 Online
Model January 2020- Online
Communication March 2021
Domain-specific April - 2021 Classroom
Analytics business school in India to receive EQUIS (European Quality
Capstone May-July Classroom/
Project 2021 Online
ABOUT IIMA
The Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA)
was set up as an autonomous institution in 1961 by the
Government of India in collaboration with the Government
of Gujarat and the Indian industry. The Institute provides
education, training, consulting, and conducts research in
management.
The Post Graduate Diploma Programme in Advanced
Business Analytics (PGP-ABA) is the newest addition
programmes offered by IIMA. Other programmes include
the Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP),
the Post Graduate Programme in Food and Agri-Business
Management (PGP-FABM), the Post Graduate Programme
for Executives (PGPX), the ePost Graduate Programme
Programme for Faculty members of Business schools
and Armed Forces and a number of Executive Education
Programmes (EEP).
IIMA is the first management school in India to receive
international accreditation for five years. It was the first
Improvement System) accreditation, by the European
Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) in June
2008 and has maintained EQUIS accreditation since then.
In 2018, IIMA made it to the number 4 position in the Financial
Times (FT) Asia Pacific Top 25 Business School Rank, ahead
of all Indian B-School. FT conducted the ranking after
considering the quality and breath of all the B-schools
Financial Times (FT) Masters in Management Rankings 2018
and Agri-business Management (PGP-FABM) of IIMA has
been ranked number one globally in its category in the
Eduniversal Best Masters’ Ranking in Agri-business/Food
Industry Management.
IIMA features at the top position in the India Ranking 2018
(National Institutional Ranking Framework) released by
the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD),
Government of India.
 PGP Advanced Business Analytics
Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad
Vastrapur, Ahmedabad 380 015, Gujarat, India
Telephone: +91-79-6632 4513 | Fax: +91-79-2630 6896
Email: pgpaba@iima.ac.in
website: www.iima.ac.in/web/pgp-aba