‘India and the international perspective’
Column by Dr Valerie Gauthier, Associate Dean at HEC - France
“Over the past decade India has witnessed a revolution in its economic development which, despite the current global downturn, has placed it at the forefront of the next generation of mercantile powers. And alongside this development we have seen a quantum leap in the provision of business education to managers and professionals across the country. As a result, India is now home to a wide range of excellent business schools and possibly more commerce-based degree and masters students than any other country apart from the United States. So why, with so much on offer on your proverbial doorstep, should you be considering a programme overseas?
In my view the answer to this key question lies in the fact that major business qualifications such as the MBA are increasingly becoming, not just domestic, but truly international in their scope and potential. This means that, to get the best return on investment from them, ambitious prospective students should be setting their sights on a career that is also international rather than bounded by national borders. Take for example the case of Gajender Sharma who won this year’s prestigious MBA Student of the Year award from the international accreditation body, AMBA. Originally educated in Delhi, where he subsequently worked for several years, he then took an MBA at my own school, HEC in France. He has now taken up a post with the global management consultancy, AT Kearney, in Japan but still manages to devote time to setting up a charity called Positive Drive which aims to provide children in developing countries with access to education by helping their parents to find jobs.
I would argue that to take full advantage of such international opportunities that business education can offer, individuals need to immerse themselves in the international experience as soon as possible. The most obvious way of doing this is by moving abroad to study. Although the business school campus is becoming more and more homogenous around the world and English has become the lingua franca of teaching on most international MBA programmes, such a move will still immerse you in a new and challenging cultural environment. This will be particularly true if you pick a country such as my own where, despite the fact that ours is a first language in countries across Europe, North America and Africa, it is most certainly not English! The other, perhaps even more important way to gain international experience and perspective is to immerse yourself in a class that mirrors the diversity of global markets. And, at least for the present, despite their excellence, Indian schools are still lagging behind US and, in particular, European schools in this area. According to the latest ranking of MBA programmes from the Financial Times, the top rated Indian school only has 4% of its students from outside the country. At all but one of the top 20 European schools that percentage is well in excess of 50%, at HEC it rises to 86%. The lesson, as in the classroom itself, is clear.
Educated in France and the United States, Dr. Gauthier has been Associate Dean of the MBA program at the international business school HEC Paris since 2002 and has re-designed the MBA curriculum, with a view toward future societal and educational shifts. Under her mandate the program has undergone a fundamental transformation that has placed the concept of ‘making connections’ at the very core of its participants’ personal and professional development.
