ISB: On Turning Ten

As the mellifluous notes from Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia’s flute flowed from the amphitheatre and filled the night air in the campus, there were several in the audience who were reminded of the same concert at a different place and a different time: 10 years ago, at ISB’s inaugural ceremony when the campus was barely ready but the School was raring to go and make a name for itself in the world.

Ten years hence, much of the promise has been realised. Recently, the School received the much-coveted Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) accreditation, making it the first B-school in South Asia to receive such recognition. This achievement has capped a series of accomplishments for the School in the last decade. Since 2008, the School has consistently been ranked among the Top 20 Global MBA programmes by the Financial Times, London. Even the course offerings have been expanded to include programmes targeted at senior executives (PGPMAX), which was launched in 2009. This year, the School also commenced its first Fellow Programme in Management (FPM) that aims to groom high-quality scholars and researchers in the management arena. The ISB Flag flies high through these courses -- the alumni body has grown to over 3,500 for the PGP and around 12,000 for Executive Education. Most of the alumni remain connected to their alma mater and attest to being “transformed” by their ISB experience and many have been influenced by ISB’s culture that encourages “achieving success by contributing to the society.”

Spearheading this transformation is the pool of resident faculty, whose research frequently appears in top-tier journals. It is ISB’s strength in research that has allowed the School to focus on issues pertinent not just to India and Asia, but also those related to developing and emerging markets.

The School will continue to strive towards excellence as it steps into the next decade, and with the launch of the second campus in Mohali, ISB will further extend its vision to groom more young leaders and make impactful changes in society.