New Delhi, Dec 16: They left no stone unturned -- and finally, on December 20, 1999, the Governor of Andhra Pradesh, Dr.C Rangarajan, will lay the foundation stone for the Indian School of Business (ISB) at Hyderabad.The $130 million project which is finally taking concrete form on a 250-acre campus, is the brainchild of a group of leaders of global as well as Indian corporations. The ISB will be established in partnership with the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and the Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University. The two renowned institutions will collaborate with ISB in recruiting faculty, defining the admissions criteria, designing a curriculum and the course material. The ISB graduation certificates will be co-signed by the Deans of the two American schools.
The first academic session, with 120 students, is expected to start on June 1, 2001. Says Rajat Gupta, chairman ISB and managing director (World-wide) McKinsey & Co. Inc: ``It will be a premium management institute which will create the leaders of the future.''
Prominent captains of Indian industry on the 50-plus ISB governing board are: Anil Ambani, Rahul Bajaj, Kumar Mangalam Birla, Keki Dadiseth, Yogesh Deveshwar, Adi Godrej, K V Kamath, Anand Mahindra, NR Naryana Murthy, Deepak Parekh. While some of the global chieftains on the board are: John Bryan, Sara Lee Corp; Kenneth L Lay, Enron Corp; Minoru Makihara, Matsubishi; Lakshmi Mittal, Ispat International; Martin Sorrel, WPP Group; Rana Talwar, Standard Chartered; and Daniel Vasella, Novartis International.
The ISB will offer three programmes: a one-year post-graduate degree in management, which the ISB claims is equivalent to an MBA; a short executive education programme; and a doctoral programme. There will be eight terms of five weeks each -- with visiting faculty from abroad conducting some of the terms. The tuition cost for the one-year post graduate degree in management will range between Rs 6-8 lakh per student. The prestigious education project envisages an initial tranche of $50 million, for the infrastructure primarily. Of this, the first phase -- in which facilities and accommodation for 120 students will be provided -- has a minimum corpus of $30 million. The project cost will ramp up as the ISB expands capacity in phase two (240 students) and phase three (480 students) by 2007.
``We have already raised about $20 million, which is why the ground-breaking ceremony is now taking place,'' says Pramath Sinha, chief executive officer, ISB. With contributions ranging between $1 and 2 million, the main donor-segments are the international board members, NRIs, international foundations, MNCs operating in India, and individuals and family-based trusts.
Two fundraisers have already been held in Silicon Valley, where the interest in the project is so high that a support group called `Friends of ISB' has already been formed in California. Adds Sinha: ``Surprisingly, there is a lot of interest from the shiekhs of the Middle-East too, who want to encourage the development of quality education in the region.''
While the responsibility for executing the project rests with WS Atkins, the lead design consultant is John Portman & Associates -- in association with Hafeez Contractor, the well-known architect.
In terms of courseware, the faculty and curriculum will particularly focus on leadership -- with a special emphasis on emerging markets and coping with transition. Other specialisations will be entrepreneurship and e-commerce.
Care to be dean?
So what if they didn't invite you to join the governing board? You can always sneak your name into the annals of the Indian School of Business by:
Suiting the Dean: The first job of course, which went up for grabs three months ago, is that of the Dean's. The specs? He or she must have global experience, stature and exposure. While academic credentials are not essential -- they are preferable as a key requirement is to be able to wield clout and credibility in the education and research community. Here's a tip on the current favourite of the bookies: Pat Harker, who is currently, acting Dean at Wharton and is also part of the executive in the Office of the Dean, ISB.Immersing in sponsorships: In a novel experiment, the ISB has kicked off an ``immersion programme'' for students who are still studying. Since a key preferred condition for admission for students to the ISB is two-three years of work experience, the ISB team toured the IITs of the country recently, making a unique offer: ISB offered pre-admission to deserving students. The idea: the students can finish their stint at IIT, work for a couple of years, and still be assured of a seat at the ISB come June 2001.ISB has also got in touch with corporates. The deal: while making a pitch at campuses, corporates also offer the ISB package, wherein a student completes his/her current course, joins the corporate for two years, and then is sponsored to the ISB. After the completion of the one year MBA equivalent, the student can either go back to the sponsor, or not, depending on the corporate. Companies such as HLL, ICICI, Bajaj, Mahindra & Mahindra, Godrej and ITC are believed to be considering the immersion programme.
Climbing the gift tree: It's a tree that sprouts greenbacks and goodwill -- and of course, adds cache to your business family tree. While the final structure is still to be decided, consider what you can contribute to leave a lasting impression on the ISB. In terms of getting a facility named after you, the tab is: naming of school ($75 million); library ($25 million); eight academic buildings ($10 million each); 12 housing complexes ($5 million each); the auditorium ($1.5 million); IT infrastructure ($ 2.5 million); sports facilities ($2.5 million); gardens and landscapes ($1 million); cafeteria ($1 million); six big classrooms ($500,000 each); 15 small classrooms ($250,000 each); 15 study rooms ($100,000 each). In addition to these one-time gifts are the endowments of the school chair ($2 million); term chair ($1 million); and research chair ($250,000). Corporate affiliations -- which are rewarded with a plaque -- start from $10,000. Any takers?Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.