IIM-Ahmedabad to Open First Foreign Campus In Dubai This September

India's best business school, Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A), will open its first foreign campus in Dubai this September.

The grand venture, for which was conceived by IIM-Ahmedabad Director Bharat Bhasker in 2023, would initially start with one-year MBA course and set up two large research centers, one dealing with case study development and another start-up incubation.

"I'm extremely satisfied with the quick pace of implementation of the plan," Bhasker told IIM-A in an interview.

"The Dubai campus was my vision in 2023, and today I'm glad to see that coming true. I'll be going to the campus next week," he said. "We've introduced regional focus to the curriculum, integrating case studies and Middle Eastern and African business practices."

The step follows IIM-A's signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) last April with the United Arab Emirates government.

The signing, held in Mumbai, officially inaugurated the Dubai campus in Dubai International Academic City, and IIM-A was India's first management school to open an international campus.

Bhasker believes this is a strategic achievement not just for the institute but for India as well.

"Despite the fact that the Western nations are closing their doors to foreign students in large numbers, India must cash in on this opportunity. Education is India's greatest soft power, and this campus is a gem of strategy in creating long-term influence," he asserted.

"As China employs its trade and industry to construct global power, India has to employ its education superiority and English-speaking populace. If India is to become the Global South leader, this is the way," he asserted.

Aim Of The New Campus

The new campus will also have a diverse group of students from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), North Africa, and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). It will be about 40 to 50 students in the first batch itself, and the long-term plan is to reach the full capacity of 900 students within ten years.

Dubai came as the obvious choice, asserts Bhasker.

"We've offered executive education in the region for a number of decades. Credibility and trust that we've established over time made it the natural next step," he said.

The expansion comes as foreign applications to MBA programmes are slowing down.

Statistics reveal that there was a 5 per cent decline in applications to graduate business schools across the globe in 2023, the second consecutive year to experience a decline.

Bhasker has a positive vision for India's future, however. "The numbers around the world might be down in America or Europe, but India is unique. We have a young man power force, a growing economy, now the third-largest economy in the world. With opportunities increasing day by day, the need for well-educated managers also increases. That's where institutions like IIMA step in," he continued.

When asked to put into words what makes a good manager in this day and age, Bhaskar responded in short order: "Commitment and vision are their worth, but above all, empathy. Business is systematized to be quantified in terms of profit and loss, but empathy carries you a long way."

In the future, Bhaskar made a thumping move forward for IIM-A's campus: setting up a School of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence.

"The style with which we educated management previously is not going to function anymore. The style with which we are educating management presently is completely different in comparison to the previous time. Nowadays, technology, science, and AI come under leadership and decision-making. The course of management and the method institutes train should shift," he added.

"Being proactive is necessary," he added.

The Dubai campus is more than an international expansion; it is a progressive, strategically driven action on the basis of regional relevance, educational diplomacy, and a shifting vision of what management education in the 21st century can and ought to be.