AN ECONOMIC superpower in the making, India is the world’s second most populous nation, home to 1.1 billion people, as well as emerging multi-national corporations such as Tata, Infosys and Wipro. With India’s star in the ascent it is no surprise that business schools in the US and Europe are forging links with one of Asia’s most promising success stories.

Tarun Ramadorai, lead academic on the India Business Centre initiative at Saïd Business School at Oxford University, says: “India is at a unique moment in its history, it has moved from an annual growth rate of 3 per cent to 9 per cent, and done so with a model led by services rather than manufacturing, using human rather than physical capital.”

Such success merits study, and Saïd recently announced it is establishing an India Business Centre. The intention is to learn from the country’s successes but also to study some of the challenges it faces, with research themes driven by issues relevant to business and management.

In turn the centre’s research will inform the MBA curriculum. Colin Mayer, dean of Saïd, says: “There is a great deal of interest in the Indian economy from our students. We will develop MBA electives based on the work of the India research centre. We also expect components of courses will be delivered in India, in association with institutions there.” Other schools are also focusing attention on India. For example, Judge Business School at Cambridge University is setting up the Cambridge Centre for Indian Business, while London Business School (LBS) has already opened its Aditya V. Birla India Centre.

MBA students wishing to experience the challenges of Indian business life as part of their studies should consider programmes at schools that have developed strategic partnerships with Indian business and management schools.

Essec Business School, near Paris, for example, recently celebrated the 25th year of its relationship with the Indian Institute of Management of Ahmedabad (IIM Ahmedabad).

Pierre Tapie, dean of Essec, says: “We were convinced that Indian students would be interested in gaining exposure to our education system, and our students would gain an advantage from having experience of India.” The school introduced MBA and PhD student exchange programmes, and invited visiting faculty. Tapie adds: “Gradually, we became more involved in Indian affairs, created a permanent office in India, appointed prominent Indian business figures to our advisory board, and created a double degree programme with IIM Ahmedabad.” Historically, many of India’s brightest students have travelled to Europe and North America to take an MBA. But, as India’s economic prowess grows, might this trend reverse, with international students coming to India to study for their MBA?

At present there are few signs of a permanent influx of international students. One of a wave of new business schools setting up in India, the Indian School of Business (ISB) in Hyderbad launched its first post graduate programme in 2001, with close support from three leading business schools – Wharton, Kellogg and LBS.

Rammohan Rao, dean of the Indian School of Business, says: “So far we have not been as successful as we should in attracting foreign students to India although a lot of exchange students come for a six to twelve-week period. But, as more schools set up, and educational quality improves, the number of foreign students wanting to come here may increase.” Nor is the trend for Indian students travelling abroad to take an MBA likely to change in the near future, says Anant Sundaram, faculty director of executive education at Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College in America. He says: “There are only four or five world-class schools in India, but hundreds of thousands of high-quality applicants. As Indians become better off, they are more able to afford an education in top schools in the US and Europe. Also, in terms of the global career opportunities that top US and European schools can offer, Indian schools have a way to go.”

For the time being it seems that despite India’s tremendous economic success, and with business schools in North America and Europe strengthening ties with India, and businesses looking to enter Indian markets, many of the best Indian MBA students and business academics will continue to take a passage from India, heading in the opposite direction.

MORE INDIANS ARE RETURNING AFTER STUDYING ABROAD

ALTHOUGH the lure of business schools in Europe and the US remains strong for Indian students, says Siddharth Nambiar, 24, a full-time MBA student at Saïd Business School at Oxford University, the difference is that many of those students are returning to India after graduation.

With a first degree in business, and still in his early twenties, Nambiar launched what is today one of India’s leading business magazines. So why take an MBA?

He says: “After building an organisation employing about 250 people, I found it difficult to add value, My skill set tapered off. I needed a better understanding of the financial aspects of running a business to take it to the next level of investment.”

Nambiar decided not to apply to an Indian business school, though. “Beyond the top five or six business schools, the quality of education drops off dramatically and more than 100,000 students chase 1,250 places available at the leading Indian business schools.”

Then there is the salary factor. “Average starting salaries for Saïd MBAs are still a multiple of the salaries of MBAs from the top Indian schools, although the gap is reducing,” he says.

But while the trend is still to leave India and study abroad, postgraduates are more willing to return to pursue their careers.

“Getting an MBA overseas was seen as the ticket to getting a job and creating a better life overseas. But the recent growth has made it more possible for people like me to return to India,” says Nambiar.

“I would say 80 per cent of my Indian colleagues at Saïd are looking to go back to India in the next few years, to have their family and to work there. I will definitely return to India.” STEVE COOMBER

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