In the times of increasing competition, all the colleges have started to look for building a strong competitive sustainable advantage for themselves. IIM Kashipur, keeping up with the changing times, started expanding its reach into international markets by starting a student exchange programme with a couple of French Universities. First time, 6 students were sent to complete a term (out of the 6 they were supposed to complete according to their academic curriculum) in France.
These students, namely, Anurag Jhambulkar, Amit Kumar Singh, Neha Reddy, Harish Wadhwa, Jatin Sharma and Tanmay Sharma, went on to complete their 5 trimester in colleges like E M Normandie, Caen and ESDES, Lyon. There, they learnt about how cross cultural issues are dealt with in marketing perspectives and how business issues differ in a multicultural environment.
The learnings from such an exchange programme were far more than just academic. “I developed myself into aspects which I never erstwhile imagined I would. I broadened my horizon of thinking, bringing in cultural tolerance into the way of tackling daily life situation. These are quintessential features for any upcoming manager to deal with his subordinates as well as colleagues as the work conditions everywhere are dynamic,” said Tanmay. Another student Anurag added, “Working in groups which contained French, German, Czech and various other nations added a new layer to thought giving process. Apart from that, I made great friends which I will never forget in a lifetime.”
IIM Kashipur strongly believes no relationship can be a one way process. To build upon this, two exchange students were invited for the first time to IIM Kashipur to get a taste of what management means in Indian context. Edouard L’ecu and Joanny Jouan joined the PGP2014-2016 batch for the 3rd semester. They will be undergoing courses in Marketing, Supply chaim management and Finance in the semester. Upon asking how they were finding the life in India, Edouard replied “The food is really really spicy. But on the contrast people are very sweet.” With 8 students already on board the International Exchange programme for IIM Kashipur, we can certainly see a truly international student community of upcoming managers in building which will bring drastic changes in the country’s way of doing business.