Master of Business Administration students from The University of Queensland Business School have been helping to build links with one of the world’s fastest-growing markets on a pioneering trip to India.
UQ MBA program Director Dr Sarah Kelly said students on the School’s first Indian Immersion trip met business leaders and diplomats at the Australian High Commission in Delhi, worked with a microfinance charity in the slums and were featured in the Indian media.
Twenty students took part in the week-long trip, designed to give them detailed insight into the fast-growing Indian market and the business, political, economic and cultural factors which help to shape it.
They were accompanied by Dr Kelly, International Management Lecturer Professor Peter Liesch and former Australian test cricketer and UQ Business School MBA student Michael Kasprowicz, who is the School’s goodwill ambassador to India.
Dr Kelly said the Business School planned to make International Immersion tours an annual event.
“Students met companies from a range of sectors, including IT and technology, pharmaceutical, marketing, resources, retail and banking, and attended lectures at the Indian School of Business in Hyderabad on subjects including IT and outsourcing, innovation and entrepreneurship,” she said.
“In Delhi they attended an industry panel at the High Commission alongside some globally successful business figures.
“They were also able to see the non-profit sector in action in the city by working with Opportunity International Australia and its local affiliate, the global microfinance charity for which they had helped to raise funds prior to the trip.
Dr Kelly said immersion allowed students to develop a global perspective.
“First-hand experience is more engaging and memorable and provides a depth of insight that cannot be matched in class.
“Many students have told us that their perspective on the country has altered and that they could better distil some of the theory they studied in the applied context.
“It has helped to strengthen UQ Business School’s international connections and has been beneficial for students to develop their own networks and identify study and career opportunities there.
The UQ Business School business immersion experience seeks to broaden the students’ outlook and perspectives on business, political, economic and cultural factors in emerging markets.
For more information on the UQ Business School MBA program, visit www.business.uq.edu.au/mba
About UQ Business School
The University of Queensland Business School is independently ranked as one of the top business schools in Australia and amongst the leading institutions worldwide. Based in Brisbane, it brings together over 130 subject experts with over 7,500 students and offers undergraduate and postgraduate degree programs and executive education across the range of business disciplines.
UQ Business School is renowned internationally for the quality of its research and also provides contract research and consultancy services to organisations throughout the world. The teaching – research – consultancy loop is central to its success, ensuring that the School maintains its position at the forefront of academic knowledge while staying closely attuned to modern business requirements. For further information see www.business.uq.edu.au
Fast facts
* UQ Business School was the first in Australia to meet the standards of the world’s two most influential accrediting bodies - the US-based AACSB International and Europe’s EQUIS.
* Its MBA program has been ranked number 1 in Australia and Asia Pacific by The Economist, identifying it as the leading MBA outside of Europe and North America. The MBA program has also been ranked number 1 in Australia by the Financial Review BOSS MBA survey.
* Has been ranked in the world’s top 50 universities for executive education by the Financial Times.
* The MBA course has been awarded the highest possible rating of five stars for nine years running by Australia’s most influential rating body, the GMAA.
* The School was classed as above world standard in its ix major fields of business research in the Australian government’s ERA assessment.
Media enquiries to:
Tanya Hagedorn, Marketing and Communications Coordinator, UQ Business School
DL: +61 (0) 7 3346 3052 | E: t.hagedorn@business.uq.edu.au
