By: Karamjit Singh

December 16, 2002, The Edge Malaysia

Asians wanting to pursue top-notch business studies at Master's level won't have to look to the West anymore or fork out around US$100,000, that is, if Professor Vijay Mahajan lives up to his own expectations and makes a vision come true.

He has been given the challenge of his life. To take a start-up business school, benchmark it against the top 50 business schools in the world and be competitive. The fact that the school is located in India and not in countries traditionally associated with top business schools is what makes the challenge even more compelling.

Mahajan is the Dean of the Indian School of Business (ISB) (www.isb.edu) in Hyderabad, which began its pioneer class last June and offers a full-time, one-year post-graduate programme (equivalent to an MBA) besides customised and short-term executive programmes. He has a clear goal: to build a home-grown global brand in the business-school, or MBA-school, niche. The ISB's vision is "to become an internationally top-ranked, research-driven, independent management institution that grooms future leaders for India and the world". Mahajan's impressive resume - he has won awards, written extensively for journals, advised governments and industries the world over and, of course, taught - suggests that he is well qualified to help ISB achieve its vision. That is, if he can meet his own expectations.

"I am my own worst enemy," he says. "I want to create a global brand second to none. I am not here to make money." The ISB is a non-profit organisation, he adds.

He also reveals that the top 20 business schools in the world are actually losing money. Most of the money to run the schools comes from benefactors. For ISB , entrepreneurs from India's Silicon Valley have provided the bulk of the funding needed. Mahajan says they gave freely because they want to see more people start up companies.

Creating a top business school

So, how does one create a business school in Asia that looks and behaves like a top 20 business school? "You start with the students, as they make it global," Mahajan explains. The average work experience of the pioneer batch was 4.7 years and only the best were chosen. Candidates sat for the same tests that those in the top 20 business schools sit for, even personality tests. The latter are important, says Mahajan, as ISB is dead serious about churning out exceptional managers. It conducts personality tests to gauge the leadership skills of potential students.

Mahajan finds it incredible that only 400 of the 7,000 students admitted every year to the top 20 business schools in the US are from Asia. "Especially given the economic growth in the region," he comments. His aim is that between 20 and 30 per cent of students at ISB should be from Asia and the rest of the world. The ISB is on a promotional drive to achieve this for its 2003 batch. The cost for international students for a year is between US$22,000 and US$23,000.

Besides students, another major component to becoming a world-class business school is to excel in research. And here, Mahajan has fully tapped his long and distinguished career as an academic. He is also currently teaching business at the University of Texas and has tapped some of the best names in business academia to teach at ISB and conduct research.

He has formed affiliations with the Kellogg School of Management, the London Business School and The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. This year - ISB's first - sees half its faculty coming from these schools.

"They fly in to teach our students and it is on a voluntary basis," he says. "Believing in and creating a global brand is a fantastic dream, and they all want to help make this happen."

Even Asian faculties are keen to be a part of Mahajan's vision. The highest-paid professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong is going to be teaching a course at ISB next year. Not surprisingly, Mahajan says ISB will churn out the best of the best, who would have been taught by the best.

Such has been his early success at recruiting top faculty that Dipak Jain, Dean of the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, Illinois, is quoted as saying, "Any business school would die for the faculty ISB has under one roof."

Research the key

To Mahajan, having top faculty is the key as they will not only help raise the profile of his fledgling business school but also provide excellent support to the research being carried out. Here, the focus is crystal clear. "We will focus our research on the emerging economies of the world where 80 per cent of the global population lives."

The managers ISB will be creating are for the emerging markets and will receive a heavy dosage of the issues facing this market segment.

Among the stark realities of the world, one is the fact that in many parts of it, electricity is not a given right. So, how does one sell products and services to a market that lacks this utility? "Context is very important and our students will get a close look at the issues," Mahajan promises.

Towards this purpose, six centres of excellence will be set up by next year to carry out research in Leadership and Change Management, Entrepreneurship, Technology, Managing in Emerging Markets, Strategic Marketing and Analytical Finance. Mahajan says the centres will imbue future business leaders with the entrepreneurial spirit and expertise they need to succeed in an ever changing business environment.

Corporate training

Another area targeted is in the lucrative corporate education market. Mahajan wants to see companies from the world over sending their executives to ISB for corporate education. But he will be picky, he says. "We only want the most senior of executives as we are not keen on training per se, but on issues involving business. They will be challenged to think about these issues."

The target is to attract US$10 million worth of executive business in three years, which, according to Mahajan, will make ISB one of the largest schools for corporate training.

"The response to this in India has been fantastic from all the corporations I have visited and I hope to find the same enthusiasm when we market overseas."

And if one is targeting top-level achievers and aiming to mould people into top-level achievers, obviously the environment must be top-class, too.

The designer for the campus had done work for the Hyatt Hotel chain, Mahajan reveals. "Our 100-room campus-living accommodations are akin to five-star hotels but with no room service," he says with a laugh. This being the age of the Internet, there are 3,000 Internet access points all over campus for total connectivity. And, of course, all students are required to have a laptop. Those who don't can lease one from ISB.

Reporting to a board of customers

With the school in its infancy and Mahajan busy putting the pieces in place, he takes great pains to ensure that the students are very involved in what he does. "Without fail, no matter where I am, I report once a week to the vice-president of academic affairs in the students council." The students are vocal in their opinions but he feels this weekly exercise helps keep him honest. He calls this reporting to his board of customers.

It is not too difficult to imagine some Malaysians sitting on this board some time in the not-too-distant future. Indeed, the combination of a world-class faculty, high-achieving fellow students (which also makes for great networking) and extremely competitive pricing, all within an eight-hour flight from home will be hard to resist.