An academic delegation of 36 students from Harvard Business School visited IIM Udaipur campus accompanied by Prof. Shawn Coleon the 8
th of January 2016. Prof. Cole is the John G. McLean Professor of Business Administration
in the Finance Unit at Harvard Business School. He teaches and conducts research on financial services and social enterprise.
IIM Udaipur is the only Indian B-school that the contingent visited as part of its Global Immersion Program(GIP) – a course that requires them to visit emerging economies such as India, South Africa, China etc.
The itinerary of the group includes visits to Delhi, Udaipur and Mumbai. The group visited startups in Delhi such as OYO Rooms etc. and provided consultation on various problems and projects.
The group’s visit in Udaipur started with a visit to an NGO, SevaMandir where they discussed and advised on various areas such as policy implementation, waste management and effective regulatory approvals.The group also visited a couple of hospitals in Udaipur for a brief observation of the health facilities and medical infrastructure in this part of the world and to compare health services of private and government establishments. It was followed by a joint case study discussion with students of IIM Udaipur at the IIMU campus.
The session was conducted by IIM Udaipur’s director Prof. Janat Shah and Prof. Cole on a case study discussing the low-cost health care model implemented in India by a leading private hospital and the possibilities of replicating the model in emerging economies of South America.
Post the session the students of HBS expressed their satisfaction regarding the fruitful discussion with the students here and also with the teaching methodology at the institute. They highlighted the fact that the pedagogy and the structure of curriculum at IIM Udaipur were similar to the ones at HBS. This exemplifies the standards set by the institute due to its focus on entrepreneurship, research and contribution to society. The visiting members were extremely impressed by the numerous initiatives of the institute such as Rural Immersion, International Business Practices (IBP) and various community development initiatives.
This was indeed a proud moment for IIM Udaipur as a delegation from the most prestigious university in the world visited the institute. IIMU has been amongst the select few B-schools in India which promote such programs and the experience of interacting with the HBS students is a great learning experience for the students.