In a world that is rapidly amalgamating into a single economic entity, the skill to work with people from a multitude of cultures will be a valuable one. As experts have asserted in recent times, activities such as team building and evolving strategy become much easier for managers if they develop a firm understanding and sensitivity to cultural diversity.

Little wonder then that leading business schools such as the Ohio University's College of Business (OUCB) have included cross cultural experience as part of their MBA curriculum. Two years ago, OUCB and Bangalore's Christ College jointly established a Management Academy that has enabled the OUCB to offer their MBA programme in India.

"Nowhere else in the world do we have such an extensive joint initiative," said Prof Hugh Sherman, who visited the joint Management Academy in Bangalore in his new capacity as the dean of Ohio University. "We understand Bangalore's importance in the context of global IT industry and believe our presence here would enable us to provide a learning environment where students can feel for themselves how inter-cultural competency helps them to be effective managers in a globalised business scenario."

Consistent with this idea, the Ohio University-Christ College Academy for Management Education participates in OUCB's Joint Student Consultant Project (JSCP), a learning and consultancy activity which allows groups of students seeking OUCB's MBA degree to work together and understand each other's culture.

This year, around 37 students from the academy visited Hungary's University of PECS - Faculty of Business and Economics, while American students from OUCB visited Bangalore under the same programme. "This is where we feel our MBA course differs from those offered by others," said Prof Sherman.

"Of course, core management concepts are taught, but our focus is also on soft skills such as inter-cultural competency, communication, team building and management etc, which are absolutely necessary for students in the present business situation."

Besides students, OUCB is also keen that their faculty be exposed to the inter cultural experience, a primary reason behind the establishment of external partnerships by the b-school. Prof Sherman insisted that this wouldn't mean institutions such as OUCB would completely do away with qualification procedures students earlier had to undergo to study in the US.

Whilst there isn't a stronger insistence on TOEFL (considering that the test was mainly to make sure students possessed functional understanding of English Language to live in the US), tests such as GMAT, Prof Sherman felt, are still relevant and are considered in admission to the academy. The academy's website similarly mentions other tests like CAT, which, they reason, are also considered in order to provide equal opportunity for all deserving candidates.

Prof Sherman also mentioned that the 13 month MBA, though conducted jointly by Christ College and OUCB, is a fully certified OUCB programme. "Since our programmes are accredited by AACSB, an international accrediting body, we need to comply with their regulation - for eg the faculty who teach the MBA students must meet with the level of qualification prescribed by the accrediting body," he said.

He also felt that the Ohio University-Christ College Academy for Management Education, which has been functional for the past two years, has made satisfactory progress. "We feel excellent working with Christ College and if they feel more economics and finance-related programmes are in demand in India, we are more than happy to introduce them in future," Prof Sherman said.

As for OUCB's relationship with Christ College, he expressed interest in initiating joint research initiatives and workshops with participation from faculties of both the institutions. Going ahead, Prof Sherman envisages a future in which students freely moved about to pick and choose courses of their interest and learnt to work with people from different cultural backgrounds. If this rather fantastic situation does become the norm, he feels OUCB will be relishing all the hard work it has been doing in Bangalore.

For admissions and other details, log on to: www.ohiochrist.edu