KING OF THE WORLD
Should Indian B- schols invest time and money on foreign collaborations?
Employers do value those who have global work experience. They perceive such students as a resource that can be tapped extensively across multiple cultures, countries and spaces.
It is true that foreign collaboration in management courses is the new trend in Indian management education. Earlier business schools used to contend with exchange programmes as the sole method for providing global exposure to Indian students. Now, the trend is to collaborate with foreign business schools and provide equal periods of study for the students at their campuses in India as well as at the business schools’ campus fabroad.
Offering a new management course which has significant international study periods in foreign business schools is a challenging task for an Indian business school. Such programmes require substantial back- end interactions between academic heads of Indian and prospective foreign business school collaborators. The first aspect to be considered is the curriculum. In India we focus more strongly on the theoretical basis as compared to an American or European school. Therefore differences in perception towards curriculum content needs to be resolved in the cross- cultural setting. The thrust is on theory along with practical experience tempered with the cross- cultural linkages and experiences that would make such a programme robust and unique.
It is well worth investing in global programmes. Every country in the world has something positive to offer in the field of management education. Students enrolled in a global MBA benefit academically by being exposed to several foreign cultures possessing unique management practices and case studies on a first hand basis.
Secondly, informal group formations of students from different countries in an international class help Indian students to understand and appreciate cultural dichotomies. They also gain mutual respect for each country’s traditions, cultures, businesses and management styles.
When we began planning the 3 Continent Global Management Program run at XIMB, we worked on incorporating the strengths of each university involved. In Belgium, the focus was to be on multiculturalism and marketing. Our students were to travel to all the nearby countries – France, Netherlands, Germany, Spain, England etc. They would akso have a first- hand experience of European Union institutions in Brussels. In India, the focus was on bottom of the pyramid and social entrepreneurship. Students were to stay at rural villages in order to understand opportunities at the bottom of the pyramid. In New York, the focus was on finance and media. Close proximity to New York Stock exchange and international media houses would facilitate this immersion.
Employers do value global experiences. Global programmes allow student to gain a holistic adaptability of working in different cultures. This in turns instigates employers to perceive such young management talent as a global resource which can be used extensively across multiple cultures, countries and spaces. Global managers are also useful in various troubleshooting scenarios and business conflicts, especially when it comes to dealing with foreign clients.