Shyam Arora

Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad

Founded on December 11, 1961, IIMA quickly assumed leadership in management education in India and has maintained it ever since. It has grown into India's favorite management school. The benchmark in management education in the country, it attracts the best of students and faculty. Recruiters ranging from global investment banks to NGOs working with the poor harvest its graduates. Delighted, they keep coming back for more. It is not surprising that one-third of the CEOs in India had their introduction to professional management at IIMA. Ever since ranking of business schools started in India in the 1990s, IIMA has been occupying the top slots year after year irrespective of who does the ranking and what parameters they use. In the Asia-Pacific region, IIMA has been repeatedly ranked among the top five business schools. In global rankings, it has consistently found itself among the top hundred business schools. In 2008, IIMA became the first business school in India to receive the international accreditation, EQUIS (European Quality Improvement System) by European Foundation for Management Development. In 2010, the Financial Times of London ranked IIMA's two-year PGP (Post-Graduate Programme) eighth globally among Masters in Management Programmes that do not insist on work experience for admission. The same agency ranked IIMA's Post-Graduate Programme for Executives (PGPX-for students with work experience) 11th globally among MBA programmes in 2011. IIMA's alumni have created or joined a wide range of organizations in India, transformed them, and given several of them a global presence. Some of the alumni are providing leadership at the global operations of multinationals. Behind their extraordinary achievements is the sense of confidence that they acquire during the rigorous programme at the Institute. "If you can survive the PGP at IIMA, you can take on anything," declare several alumni. They are also helped by a vast network of highly successful entre...