Things which differentiate IIM Udaipur – Global Immersion!

The world is getting smaller and the distances between the nations are reducing. The economies of the world are integrating at a faster pace and there is a critical need for managers in the industry who have an understanding of global business practices, social values, philosophies and cultures. And since the business practices are increasingly becoming “glocal” in their planning, design and implementation, there is an inherent need to increase the skills space of students to fit into the global scenario of the corporate and entrepreneurial world. IIM Udaipur follows the pedagogy of Immersion and Global Immersion is one of the key offerings of IIMU which, with the immense potential of the associated programmes adds advantages in preparing students as better leaders who can imbibe environment and cultural sensitivity and manage businesses and people from diverse cultures. IIMU ensures provision of international exposure to its students in multiple ways with the aim to facilitate greater student and staff mobility across different global dimensions and institutional research partnerships through collaboration with globally reputed business schools of Europe, North America and Asia. The focus is to help the students in developing a specialized set of internationally relevant skills, perspectives and experiences with a thriving zest of peer pressure. This in turn helps in fostering a spirit of global thinking and developing acumen of personal and professional growth. The highlights of the international aspects of IIM Udaipur are:

1. Dual Degree PGP for Executives in Global Supply Chain Management: IIM Udaipur and Purdue University's Krannert School of Management have designed a dual degree programme to cater to the present global industry requirements and to equip the executives with skills to deal with complex supply chains across the world. IIMU’s students brush shoulders with students from Universidad Popular Autónoma del Estado de Puebla (UPAEP), Mexico and Tianjin University, China besides the students from Purdue. At the end of the program, students are offered a PGDM from IIM Udaipur and a MS from Purdue University, USA in Global Supply Chain Management. The nuances of Supply Chain Management theories and international business techniques and practices help the students to assimilate the learning experiences of studying overseas and honing their skills for the working arrangements in India & abroad.

2. Student Exchange Programme (STEP): The student exchange program at IIM Udaipur aims at giving the students a global exposure academically and culturally. The students spend a term of their course in globally acclaimed universities of Germany and France. This leap offers an adaptation to a bouquet of offerings like a broadened outlook, leadership attributes, team working, divergent mind set, keen eye for detail, communication skills, emotional maturity, healthy appetite for risk taking and decision making abilities. The breadth of STEP is one of the greatest opportunities that help the students to soak customs, traditions and pedagogy of other institutes as well as get a taste of different cultures. During this time, their counterparts from those universities come down to the IIM Udaipur campus. The globalization of businesses needs networking with people of different backgrounds. This opportunity helps students to interact with students of different nationalities and eventually build networks with people at a global level.

3. International Business Practices (IBP): IIM Udaipur offers a unique elective in the second year of its PGP Programme – IBP, where the students get a chance to work hands-on on a live project with industry experts in MNCs at their abroad locations like UAE and Bangkok. The sharing of ideas and experiences help the students to understand in depth, new markets and opportunities which can be tapped upon in the future. The holistic perspective and knowledge acquired about the nuances of global working methodologies enhance the scope of the future objectives of students.

4. International Summer Internships: The highlight of IIM Udaipur’s summer internship placements have been the international internships offered by companies located in UAE and Qatar. This is a continuation of the process where in a span of two months, students get to work in a global business environment in an economy different than the Indian environment. The cross-cultural exposure, diverse teams and the industry project covered in the internships complement the learning process. The experience gained during the period is immense and the exchange of ideas and the knowledge of global practices enhance the learning objectives and approach which the students have to follow for the rest of the three trimesters of the PGP Programme.

5. Global Business Project (GBP): GBP is a unique action-based learning course spanning across four months, February to May, wherein, under each project, 5-6 students from across geographies work on general consulting and strategic problems of clients under the faculty guidance applying their functional, cross-cultural, foreign language and virtual teamwork skills towards focused, compelling, measurable and actionable deliverables. Many companies which have provided projects are household names, such as P&G (China and Brazil), GE Health Care (Brazil), Eli Lilly (Brazil), CITIBANK (China), Google, SAP, PepsiCo and others. IIM Udaipur is a member of this prestigious consortium along with 12 global universities namely UNC-Chapel Hill, Columbia, George Washington University, Lingnan College, Miami, Maryland, Purdue, Pittsburgh, San Diego State, University of Connecticut, University of Wisconsin and UNISINOS.

6. Joint Research and Faculty Exchange: Faculty Groups working together on collaborative research projects is another channel for engagement which adds a dash of benefits in increasing the international exposure factor of those associated with the institute. The Center for Development Management (CDM) at IIMU has a MoU with Duke University's Sanford School of Public Policy for joint research and faculty exchange. CDM is a research center that seeks to address development challenges in India by bringing management skills and social science knowledge, together in order to enable qualitative social transformation through the Summer School Programme.

7. International Visiting Faculty: IIMU has faculties visiting from Switzerland and France to teach electives with a global perspective. This in addition to the other programmes ensures that the students and the campus benefit from the international exposure. IIM Udaipur leaves no stone unturned in formulating focused programmes to increase the global exposure of students. The institute within a span of just 3 years of its foundation has established collaborations with prominent international universities and the ties have been increasing in the process. Following are the current partnering universities:          i.            Duke University, USA        ii.            Purdue University, USA       iii.            European Business School, Oestrich-Winkel, Germany      iv.            Fredrich-Alexander University (FAU), Erlangen-Nurenberg, Germany        v.            HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management, Leipzig, Germany      vi.            Ecole de Management deNormandie, France     vii.            WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management, Vallendar, Germany 77% of the students from the First Batch of IIMU had an experience of studying or working in another country in Europe, Middle-East or South-East Asia while studying at IIM Udaipur. Around 60% of the students from the Second and the Third Batch can boast of the same, and this trend is bound to rise and continue for years to come. When 60% of the students get their visas stamped at least once during their stay at IIM Udaipur, it truly reflects IIMU’s commitment to make global managers of tomorrow ready to work in diverse conditions and situations, leading global teams and implementing their learnings in the real business world.