SPJIMR Hosted A Cohort Of Executive MBA Students From Sheffield University

Even as the fate of globalization seems to be hanging in the balance, education seems to be one field where institutes and institutions seem to be increasingly willing to move across boundaries to strengthen the learning better. S.P. Jain Institute of Management & Research (SPJIMR), a premier Indian management school has been exploring and forging multiple international associations in order to expose participants to multiple cultures, and to facilitate the development of a global mindset. 

As part of such international associations, SPJIMR recently hosted a cohort of Executive MBA students from Sheffield University Management School, Sheffield, UK in Mumbai. Sheffield University Management School is one of the elite business schools of the United Kingdom, with a Triple Crown accreditation - AMBA, AACSB and EQUIS. As part of the program design of the Sheffield Executive MBA program in Advance Manufacturing Management, participants are required to complete their final project in the form of an international consulting assignment, so as to expose these executives to a global perspective. The international consulting assignment was chosen to be executed with manufacturing companies in the small and medium sector in India, preferably family businesses.

Sheffield Management School chose to associate with SPJIMR’s Family Managed Business (FMB) Program for the same. The program, which is India’s pioneering management program for scions of family businesses, was a natural fit because of the requirements of the Sheffield Business program, as also the alignment of values between the two schools.

Working with SP Jain Institute of Management and Research (SPJIMR), Sheffield Management School has brought a group of 10 students to Mumbai to work on live consulting projects within manufacturing companies owned by participants of SPJIMR’s Family Managed Business program. The Sheffield students come from rich and diverse backgrounds in Engineering, and Sales and Operations in manufacturing companies, including Siemens and Tata Steel. The host companies include Kundan Industries- a manufacturer and supplier of fasteners to OEMs as well as having distribution through dealers' network in India and exporting to various countries across the globe; BDI group- a company involved in roto-moulding products and Om B.S.A. enterprises- a precision component manufacturing company.

These projects bring the knowledge and experiences of the executive MBA students to bare on real world problems. This benefits the associate School’s students by exposing them to organisations and business cultures with which they are not familiar and benefits the host organisations by providing an outside perspective on an issue which they are facing.

Professor Andrew Simpson, Associate Dean International, Accreditation and Alumni says “Half way through these projects we can already see the development of a common understanding between the students and their hosts and the creation of ideas which will benefit the hosts in the growth of their business. The students are becoming aware of the potential of Indian business and are developing an understanding of the rich culture of India.”

Speaking of the immersion, Dr. Jayakumar said, “Such Exchange programmes give an opportunity to family run businesses to learn about business from a different perspective, experience another culture, and network with students, faculty, and professionals from around the world. It gives them a chance to broaden their horizon, deepen their global perspective on structured decision making and builds an international experience. At the same time, executive students from the Western world get to experience live problems of concerns in the emerging world.”