IIM-Shillong will teach about China's growth story

 As Asia's influence in the world economy grows, the youngest Indian Institute of Management - IIM Shillong - plans to teach a lesson or two on how the Chinese, boasting of the biggest economic powerhouses in the region, do business.

The Rajiv Gandhi Indian Institute of Management at Shillong is going to launch a one year executive MBA course from April with special focus on China.

The course - a postgraduate programme (PGP-Ex) in international business with special focus on China - has decided to focus on India's giant neighbour as it has become the largest trading partner for the US and European Union and its trading volume with India has been increasing every year, said Ashoke K. Dutta, director of IIM-Shillong.

Talking to a select group of journalists here last week, he said the IIM has entered into an MoU with Ocean University of China to start the new programme.

Dutta added that they were also looking to see if they could award a dual degree to participants from IIM-Shillong as well as from Ocean University, China.

"We need to look at the Asian giant - as to how it does business and its growth. Our managers must be trained on similar lines so as to catch up with the growth rate and that is why IIM-Shillong has planned to design the course with special focus on China," he said.

"Unless you understand China and doing business with China, your economy will be affected. Using China as a model will be a great education for our management products and they can implement a lot of learning from the Chinese experience and make it applicable in our country," Dutta said and added the course will prove to be a game changer in the near future.

The PGP-Ex curriculum incorporates best business practices and issues affecting each world region with a focus on India and China. The core courses were designed by key faculty members from the Sino-Indian business school.

People enrolled in the PGP-Ex course would have to study the Chinese management system for six months at the Ocean University campus in Qingdao. In the first year, 30 students would be inducted into the programme. The fee structure of the course is likely to be fixed at Rs.12 lakh.

Dutta was optimistic that apart from India, the course would attract foreign students too. During the students' stay at the Chinese university, they would have to take courses like "Chinese businesses and foreign invested business in China", "Chinese culture", "basic Chinese" and a business internship.

The only IIM in the northeastern region, IIM-Shillong has also started an advanced management programme on China for senior management executives and bureaucrats. The Meghalaya government has recently sent 20 of its officers for the advance management course in China.