You have a regular MBA programme. Why did you decide to start a BBA programme?
We are launching the BBA programme because the time is right. The corporates that we have entered into a relationship with have been asking us — “ SP Jain, when would you start an undergraduate programme? We have many positions at entry level for the said programme that provides its students a global mindset. We would like to employ them.” The second thing is that the world has changed. It has become global and education has to keep pace with it. And waiting for an MBA programme to craft a global mindset is waiting for too long. You need to do it at the undergraduate level. For these two reasons we decided to do the BBA.
What would be the factors that would differentiate this BBA programme from other such courses offered by institutions in India and abroad? Will the quality of the course be at par with other global courses?
There are highly rated programmes in business studies in India but those are mainly for Indian students based in India, so that they can work in India. What we are looking to do is not to compete in that space; we are looking to craft a global mindset, with a global business perspective. Many of the Indian companies like Tata, Reliance, Infosys do have a global footprint and they want to hire people who can think globally; they want to hire graduates who can do that. They have a gap when they hire students from just Indian schools because those students do not have that global experience. Moreover, there are very few global BBA courses right now; so we consider us as a path breaker.
Who would be giving the BBA degree?
S P Jain, Australia, is a fully accredited institute in Australia, who are credited by the Department of Education and Training, New South Wales. SP Jain, Australia, will confer the degree, which is at par with any degree given by a university in New South Wales. And the degree will be acceptable to all recruiters worldwide. And therein lies the advantage. As I have said there are many good programmes in India but once the student wants to work in a different country, at a foreign company, questions are sometimes raised as to the accreditation of the course or the origin of the institute. The process gets cumbersome. But with Australia, because of her rich history of education, and the fact that Australian degree is recognized all over the world, by companies operating out of the six continents, students would have easy acceptability.
Who would be giving the BBA degree?
S P Jain, Australia, is a fully accredited institute in Australia, who are credited by the Department of Education and Training, New South Wales. SP Jain, Australia, will confer the degree, which is at par with any degree given by a university in New South Wales. And the degree will be acceptable to all recruiters worldwide. And therein lies the advantage. As I have said there are many good programmes in India but once the student wants to work in a different country, at a foreign company, questions are sometimes raised as to the accreditation of the course or the origin of the institute. The process gets cumbersome. But with Australia, because of her rich history of education, and the fact that Australian degree is recognized all over the world, by companies operating out of the six continents, students would have easy acceptability.
Would the students get jobs on the basis of the BBA programme alone or do they need to do an MBA as well?
Students would get a job on the basis of the BBA and they may not need to do an MBA, as there are many positions for the BBA pass outs at the entry level and they are expected to work up the corporate ladder.
Going by a recent article in the New York Times, there is a growing trend where students with undergraduate degree work their way up. After spending sometime in the job when they ask their bosses, “ Do I need to do an MBA?”, more often than not, their bosses say, “No need. We are training you on the job. Keep going.”
Do you have tie-ups with other institutes/ industry? Where would you place your students?
We have key partners. One is in Canada - York University’s Schulich School of Business, Toronto. It’s Canada’s number one MBA programme. We have an MOU with them, whereby our students can go there and study with them for 10 weeks; similarly their students can join us. The second one is in Australia itself — University of New South Wales’ Australian School of Business, Australia’s number one MBA programme. We have an MOU with them as well. And our students can study with them for 10 weeks and vice versa. These are for the MBA students. For the BBA students the Canadian institute is there. We are currently talking to the University of New South Wales and couple of American universities. Those are in the pipeline.
As for industry tie-ups, for our MBA programme we have collaboration with several corporate houses where our students intern or do specific projects. The same corporates are ready to welcome our BBA students.