ISB scouts for more intl students

The Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad, rated 20 in the global B schools league this year, is now looking to tap new markets - in terms of both student intake and companies that come for campus recruitment.

Towards this, the B-school is planning to conduct road shows in Moscow, Paris, Madrid, Zurich, and Milan among others in Europe. It is also visiting Australia for the first time this year in July.

Apart from these, it is also focusing on West Asia, particularly Dubai, where there is a high concentration of NRIs and international students.

Speaking to Business Standard, VK Menon, senior director (admissions and financial aid and career advancement services), ISB, said the institute was looking to tap new markets as it would increase the intake from the present 440 to 560 for the class 2010 (the admission will begin in 2009).

The exercise is in line with the efforts to have "a truly international mix of students."

This year, at least a third of the batch comprises NRIs. There are 20 international students.

"We are looking to double the international students strength," he said. The outreach programmes started three years ago but are now being pursued with renewed vigour due to the international ranking, he said.

The number of international offers is expected to increase to 150 for this batch from 110 in the last academic year, which saw as many as 60 companies from 23 countries.

According to Menon, ISB will also explore the Asia Pacific countries. There are students in Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia, who have academic qualifications and are looking for a value-addition to their careers. It will also conduct similar programmes in the neighbouring countries - Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh.

"We will foray into the Chinese market gradually," he said, adding some companies there too had shown interest in the ISB students.

The US, however, will remain a potential market. "The US, which has a large chuck of students is an important market," he said, adding the H-1B visas though are a problem with the US companies.

Nevertheless, a significantly number of US-based companies offer employment to the ISBians. The admission process would be the same for all students except that the international students would be given more time to apply.

"We expect at least 1,500 students to apply for the ISB after we conduct the information sessions," Menon said.

Firms increase role on B - School campus

Companies come up with new ways to increase their involvement in B-schools to make sure they are able to interact first-hand with potential employees.

Gone are the days when corporate involvement in management schools was restricted to providing internships, and sponsoring cultural festivals and research chairs.

The race to hire the best students during final placements is leading more companies to get into major collaborations with educational institutions. Be it setting up news terminals on the campus, opening research wings or developing joint education programmes, companies are more than eager to contribute funds for industry-academia partnerships.

Leading the pack is Citi Group which has decided to commit around Rs 6.3 crore to the Indian School of Business (ISB) Hyderabad to promote financial inclusion for small investors and enterprises.

Citi Foundation will provide the grant to ISB's Centre for Analytical Finance (CAF) over a period of three years. CAF will undertake projects on a range of subjects in the financial domain and formulate recommendations to support regulators, practitioners, academics and other opinion leaders to implement financial development in the country.

"With this research programme, our longstanding relationship with ISB will be further strengthened. CAF is uniquely positioned to undertake this project as it has prior experience of doing quality work in this and other related areas," said Sanjay Nayar, CEO Citi India.

The rationale behind the corporate world's eagerness to partner with management schools is simple. Along with first-hand interaction with students, who could be potential employees, the companies can also access research data compiled by institute faculty members and students.

BS Sahay, director, IMT Ghaziabad, said: "These collaborations are part of research, training and consultancy. IMT has collaborations with companies in the private and public sector including Hankel, Transport Corporation of India, Moser Bear, HPCL and ONGC. Our forte is to create, impart and disseminate knowledge through applied research, which can be directly used by not just the company, but also the particular industry."

JP Morgan, which hires a significant number of students each year from Indian campuses, became the first company to sponsor a news terminal for an educational institute. This was in the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A).

The terminal provides real time and historical data for about five million securities covering equities, bonds, currencies, derivatives and commodities from around the world to help students prepare term papers, assignments and project courses.

Larry O'Donnell, chief, human resources India, JP Morgan, said that this was part of the company's endeavour to create a partnership early and not just during recruitment.

The company has hired students from the IIMs at Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Calcutta as well as other top institutes like XLRI Jamshedpur. The firm is looking at sponsoring lecture series, internship programmes and other activities for institutes in India.

SAP has decided to support IIM Bangalore's Centre for Enterprise Resource Planning, where IIM-B's faculty would collaborate with SAP in the creation, sharing and dissemination of knowledge. SAP and IIM-B's plan includes conducting industry-specific national and international conferences, workshops, and roundtable discussions. Special focus will be given to working with government (Central, State and Local) ministries and departments in the field of e-governance.

Microsoft India has been organising a competition called the ‘Imagine Cup' for students across Indian campuses to come out with innovative technologies. At the end of the event, the company looks at promising students for recruitment and is also open to funding feasible innovations from students. Likewise, Sun Microsystems has collaborated with Gujarat-based Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology (DAIICT) to form a club, which aims at promoting Sun's technologies in the campus.

Companies like Reliance, NIIT and Accenture among others have launched online education programmes with top management schools like Xavier Labour Relations Institute (XLRI) Jamshedpur, IIM-A, IIM-C and ISB.