McCombs ties up with IIM-A

Even as the quota system hogs the limelight, a lot of interesting foreign tie-ups are taking place at the country's premier management institutes.

The McCombs School of Business, affiliated to the University of Texas, will begin an exchange programme with the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A) this August.

The first exchange of students will take place in the fall semester where the Austin-based McCombs School of Business will receive students from IIM-A and likewise send its students to Ahmedabad in its spring semester of 2007.

The collaboration was attributed to the fact that several faculty members "� including the Dean, incharge of research at McCombs School of Business, Prof. Anant Balakrishnan "� hold degrees from IIM-A.

"We are deeply honoured to be partners with the finest school of management in India, the Indian Institute of Management - Ahmedabad. The ties between our schools run deep, so in a way, the formalisation of the partnership is just a logical next step, "said David Platt, Director, Center for International Business Education and Research-McCombs School of Business.

Although the partnership with IIM-A is McCombs' first formal partnership with an Indian institute, IIM-A has tie-ups with nearly 45 business schools globally.

Talking of the collaboration, Bakul Dholakia,Director IIM-A said, "The exchange programme, research projects and other activities are all part of our drive to internationalise IIM-A further". He also added that more international collaborations were in the pipeline this year.

For those students who would not be a part of the proposed exchange programme, McCombs has a started a functional programme called McCombs Global Connections where students would study for two weeks in India. The course, titled 'Indian Economic and Business Environment' is headed by an

Indian Professor who has been in contact with IIM-A for further developments by 2007, said Platt.

Apart from the exchange programme, the institutes have other plans lined up in the next few months. One of the faculty members at McCombs is currently exploring a new research project with an IIM-A counterpart and there is a possibility of bringing a group of McCombs Global Connections students to Ahmedabad in the future.

MBA students at McCombs have also started an association called the Indian Graduate Business Association (IGBA) which is a non-profit, non-political organisation to create a friendly, welcoming environment for all students interested in Indian business and culture.

Talking about the creation of IGBA, Platt said: "Indian students are an integral part of the McCombs School of Business full-time MBA program. Year after year, Indian students are one of McCombs School of Business's largest applicant pools. Upon enrollment, they make up 5-8 per cent of every class bringing diversity in viewpoint, professional experience and culture to classroom discussion."