STUDENT EXCHANGE PROGRAMME AT IIM RAIPUR

With the objective to bring a global perspective to all its programmes and activities in a fast changing global economic environment, IIM Raipur signed 6 MoUs in December 2012 for semester exchange programs with some of the finest MBA colleges in the world. This not only has come as an opportunity for the students to obtain global exposure but has also helped the institute to mark its presence on a global scenario. 

Apart from being the top rankers in FT regional and global rankings, the partner colleges are situated in some of the best education hubs around the world. The colleges include IESEG School of Management Paris, IPADE Business School Mexico, Asian Institute of Technology Thailand, Grenoble Ecole De Management Grenoble, HHL Graduate School of Management Leipzig and ALBA Graduate Business School Athens.

Four students from the Batch 2011-13 were selected for the semester exchange program. Three of them had the opportunity to study at IESEG France and one of them made it to HHL Leipzig, Germany. Their experiences are shared at http://iimraipur.blogspot.in/2013/05/semester-exchange-ieseg-france.html and http://iimraipur.blogspot.in/2013/04/semester-exchange-at-hhl-leipzig.html

IESEG School of Management Paris is one of the top 10 ranked business school in France and ranked 6^th in academic excellence. It also has the highest accreditation from the French Ministry of Education.

IPADE Business School Mexico stands 2^nd in Global MBA rankings and has a strong presence in different national and international rankings. Monterrey. IPADE has been accredited by AASCB. It also holds 95^th rank as per the Financial Times rankings in 2012 in the world.

Asian Institute of Technology Thailand is the Asian pioneer in international management education. Established in 1968, the institute designs its masters and executive programs to develop practicing managers in Asia’s emerging markets.

HHL Graduate School of Management Leipzig is one of the best business schools in Europe and the best in Germany. HHL is internationally recognized by Financial Times, Princeton Review, America Economia, QS, DAAD and more.

ALBA Graduate Business School Athens, one of the premiere management institutes in Greece, possesses considerable experience in European Projects management and implementation, active in the field of innovation with regards to enterprises.

Grenoble Ecole De Management holds the triple crown of business accreditations that distinguish the world's leading business schools. On average, GGSB is ranked 50th best executive education provider in the world by the Financial Times.

With a partner network of some of the best institutes of the world, IIM Raipur provides opportunities galore to its students so that they understand the importance of cross-cultural issues in managing the business and have that extra edge through world class education.

For more details about the partner institutes, please visit:

http://iimraipur.ac.in/ie_partner.htm

Semester Exchange @ IESEG France

In today’s world, the impact of globalization is such that it is thrusting the skill levels necessary for doing business. One needs to vision business with a global perspective in order to excel. The International Student Exchange Program at IIM Raipur provides you with the ideal opportunity to fulfill that requirement and that too in one of the best B-Schools in the world. IESEG, currently one of the best B-Schools in France, constitutes students from over 30 countries around the globe. With interaction that aids in understanding various cultures, this opportunity also boosts your skill level further up the scale.

I personally admire the academic flexibility at IESEG School of Management which allows you to choose the format (intensive or extensive) of your course and the way you want to learn it. Extensive courses extend up to four months with three to four classes weekly and the intensive courses are from Monday to Friday, morning 08:30 AM to 01:00 PM, which provides you ample time for extra-curricular activities in the afterhours. It gives you complete freedom to schedule your studies and leisure perfectly.  The infrastructure at IESEG School of Management is designed to meet the everyday requirements of students. It is equipped with a world class library and a sports complex to keep you both mentally and physically fit. The to-do assignments given by the professors are precisely designed to help develop the decision making ability in students. Working with a culturally diverse team helps you to learn conflict management better. You also learn to sell your ideas to your team. It is one of the most important ingredients in the recipe of ‘SUCCESS’ in your career. You will love to learn language courses especially French, which is taught in a unique way of making you interact with the local people. It is a fun activity and the assignments would require you to collect information from the public - which definitely will enhance your communication skills. International conferences and seminars will help you to interact with few of the most influencing personalities across the globe. The corporate collaborations will help you gain much needed industrial experience. They will give you the perfect platform to build on the experience gained by learning through world class teaching methodologies. These methodologies attribute to the students being motivated and innovative in finding solutions to various business issues.  

The students are considered as clients by the professor who tries to convince them with his teaching. Several trips and games are organized by the college to help the students develop their persona along with regular teaching. Parties are organized every weekend to refresh the young business minds. BYOB (Bring Your Own Beer) parties are very common and full of entertainment. You can host as many parties as you want, they won`t be heavy on your pocket. The college also plays host to many competitions, functions and special dinners to make you comfortable with the French culture and cuisines. All the details will be provided during the orientation week by the International Relation Club. They help the exchange students at every stage be it for the social security, bank account, OFII stamp (required if you stay more than three months) or for the CAF (financial aid provided by the France government) to make your stay pleasant. People are really very polite and helpful. 

The history associated with the land, its culture and the architecture will simply amaze you. You will fall in 'love' with every place you visit. Despite this cold weather, your excitement and the warmth received by the people around you will keep you going good.

This experience at IESEG concluded my PGDM at IIM Raipur perfectly.

Contributed by: Anshu Katiyar, PGP 2011-13. He can be reached at pgp11008.anshu@iimraipur.ac.in

Semester exchange at HHL Leipzig

"It is in fact a part of the function of education to help us escape, not from our own time — for we are bound by that — but from the intellectual and emotional limitations of our time." - T.S. Eliot

A highlight of the MBA program at IIM Raipur is the opportunity to meet and interact with students from premier B Schools across the globe. In my case I was selected for a winter exchange term at HHL graduate school of Management, Leipzig, Germany whose flagship course was ranked 21 by FT.com recently. 

The 3 month long exchange program was rich in academic experience along with interaction with students across the globe. It is a particularly good feeling when people in a class are from over 15 countries around the world. The institute had diverse courses to offer for students from all backgrounds and as a marketing major I was fortunate to work with the best professors in Marketing in Europe who provided an international perspective into my MBA. The high degree of interaction with the professors, pedagogy that is different from India is certainly something one can look forward too. 

Leipzig as a city also as a quite to offer. Being a university town one is always surrounded with students. With a vibrant ERASMUS culture (which is the European exchange programme) there are new people to meet every day in mess, markets, campus and of course parties and pubs. The city also has a rich past and was the starting point of the Protestant movement and was the city of famous classical composer Richard Wagner. A visit to the Gwendhaus which houses the famous Leipzig Orchestra is always a treat. 

What I loved about the exchange was the fact that there were new people with whom I interacted, understood their culture, shared their experiences with mine over the famous German beer (it is kind off difficult to avoid when it is cheaper than water). I saw Europe when it was covered in snow (words are grossly insufficient to what my eyes saw but maybe a NRI flick by a bollywood producer would help complete the picture). There are always those moments when Germany can show why it is worth visiting like the rush of driving on an Authobahn at 180 km/hr. Europe is incomplete without a trip to Amsterdam. 

As IIM Raipur spreads its wings across the globe with partners now across Mexico, France, Germany, Greece, Thailand already, it is an opportunity that offers exciting avenues to PGP participants and with more students going for this, it just made PGDM at IIM Raipur the best time I ever had. 

The pictures are the proverbial tip of the iceberg; you may visit my facebook profile for more.

Contributed by: Tarang Singhal, PGP 2011-13. He can be reached at pgp11040.tarang@iimraipur.ac.in