ISB to scale up ties with foreign varsities

Indian School of Business (ISB) is scaling up its partnerships with universities overseas. A slew of tie-ups are on the anvil — one with premier institutions in Brazil, Russia and China, another with Cornell University and a third with Columbia University. The proposed tie-up with institutions in Brazil, Russia and China is expected to generate new courses that will help executives tap business opportunities in these countries. The partnership with Cornell University is for joint research and curriculum development, while that with Columbia University is to develop a rating system for transnational corporates. “The goal of our tie-up with institutes in Brazil, Russia and China is to develop a programme for those who are entering BRIC (Brazil, Russia, China and India) countries to start their operations. It will also help train executives in an existing organization and generate more business opportunities,” ISB dean M Rammohan Rao told ET. According to him, the new programme will help executives understand the factors that triggered growth in the BRIC economies. ISB’s Wadhwani Centre of Entrepreneurial Development (WECD) and Cornell Centre (Cornell University) have agreed to work on a joint initiative, Sustainable Global Enterprise Initiative-India (SEGI). “It is aimed at developing a unique Indian model of corporate sustainability. The initiative will include establishing a Base of the Pyramid (BOP) Learning Laboratory-India. The initiative will also seek to build an executive council of serious and informed business leaders who can help to drive the agenda,” said Rao. Besides an executive council, faculty network and curriculum development, the programme will also involve applied research. It will offer a post PGP immersion programme for ISB graduates, develop an executive education programme and foster faculty and student exchanges across the two institutions. The B-school already has formed academic alliances with the Kellogg School of Mnagement at Northwestern University, the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and the London Business School (LBS). Kellogg, Wharton and ISB signed a memorandum of understanding in November 1997 to share expertise and academic resources.

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