The list of foreign institutions participating in the conference included HELP University Kuala Lumpur, Loyola Marimount University, USA, ESADE Business School, Spain, Yonsei University Korea, Bicocca University, Italy, Euromed- Marseilles, France, Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia, Canada. Indian academics who addressed the conference comprised Director, IIM-L, IIM-C and Vice Chancellor NMIMS. Leading figures from Indian business and industry like Ashok Sinha, Chairman and MD of Bharat Petroleum, Bijou Kurien, President and Chief Executive, Life Style- Reliance Retail and Mr. V.Ramachandran of Murugappa Group were other participants in the sessions of the conference.

The inauguration of the two-day session took place on the 17th morning. Prof .J. Philip, President of XIME welcomed the gathering emphasizing that it was the first conference of its kind in which overseas and Indian academics could share experiences and reflect on constant improvement of management education across the world.
Prof Damodar Acharya, Chairman AICTE, delivered the inaugural address. Prof. Acharya in his address pointed out the rapid growth of the Indian economy and stressed that this called for growth and quality improvement in management education. He stressed on the need for a global focus in management education and a broad based education policy. He reiterated the importance of developing a better understanding of people in management.

Presiding over the session was Dr. Devi Singh, Director IIM-L. He spoke about the need to position b-schools in India and also the need for our b-schools to become more flexible.
Mr.Subir Raha, President AIMA and former chairman of ONGC reflecting on the industry perspective, expressed his concern over India’s economic disparity and the need for management education to cater to both ends of the economic spectrum. Prof. Chaudhuri gave the AIMS perspective of management education. He noted the remarkable difference in the quality of education between the top and the other business schools in the country and the lack of qualified faculty. Mr.Sinha speaking from the IIM-Alumnus perspective spoke about the need for management schools to focus on enhancing and honing leadership skills.

The first session on the second day of the conference began with a presentation by Dr. Peter Wells, Senior Research Fellow, Cardiff Business School, UK. The second presentation was by Dr. Donghoon Kim, Vice Dean Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea. The session was chaired by Bijou Kurien, President and Chief Executive, Life Style- Reliance Retail.

Dr. Peter Wells’ presentation was on ‘Sustainable thinking in management education’. Dr. Wells, known to be an eco warrior in his business school, spoke about global warming, habitat loss, energy supplies, deforestation, limited food supplies, and imbalance in the distribution of wealth being the major threats to the environment in the 21st Century. He felt that sustainability must be integrated as a sub discipline into the already existing management education disciplines. Dr. Kim’s presentation was on ‘The Progress of Korean Management Education System’. His presentation focused on introducing the Korean management education system and the challenges and problems faced by business schools in Korea. Some of the issues Korean management education faces are the slowly changing structure of job market, good candidates preferring universities outside Korea and the need to train faculty in case study skills. Bijou Kurien ended the session by summing up the need for management education was to create leaders who not only focus on business but also factors that contribute to the growth of the country.

The second session of the day was chaired by Prof. Krishna Kumar, Director, IIM-K. The two presentations were made by Prof. Fabio Corno Associate Professor, Biococca University, Milano, Italy and Dr. Lyndal Drennan, MBA Director, Brisbane Graduate School of Business, Australia.
Prof Krishna Kumar began the session by addressing the similarities in the problems faced by management schools globally and the need for business schools to come together and collaborate to solve these problems and issues. Prof Fabio Corno’s presentation was on ‘Italian Management Education’. He began his presentation by introducing Italy and its economic environment. Prof. Corno explained the evolution and current scenario of the management education in Italy and the key issues faced by them, which include the need to focus on management training. Dr. Lyndal Drennan gave a presentation on ‘Another Look at the Australian System’. Dr. Drennan explained the difference between the two business programmes in Australia, MBA and MBus and the competitive nature of the business school market in the country. This competition among business schools proves to be very beneficial for students. The flexibility and the mode of delivery of Australian management education has made it so popular globally.

The third session of the day was chaired by Mr. K. Jairaj, IAS Commisioner, Bangalore Municipal Corporation with presentations by Prof Walter Bates, Euromed- Marseilles, France and Mr. George Bickerstaffe of the Economist Intelligence Unit, London.

The post lunch sessions were chaired by Dr. Uday Salunkhe, Vice President AIMS & Director, Welingkar Institute of Management, Mumbai and Mr. V. Ramachandran, Director- HR, Murugappa Group, Chennai. Presentations were made by Dr. Mahesh Nagarjan, Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia, Canada on ‘Canadian Management Education’, Prof. Tony Koo, Dean & Prof Sikander Khan, Senior Adviser, Global Management Education Institute, Shanghai, China on ‘Management Education in China’, Prof Vijay Sethi, Former Dean, Nanyang Business School and Currently Dean, S.P. Jain Center of Management, Singapore on ‘Management Education in Singapore’, Mr. A. Thothathri Raman, Senior Journalist, Business India on ‘Indian Management Education- A Media Perspective’. The concluding session of the conference was presided by Dr. Anil Khandelwal, CMD, Bank of Baroda and Dr. R. Natrajan, Former Chairman, AICTE & Former Director, IIT-M. Prof. C.P. Ravindranathan, the conference director gave the conference summary and Prof Sampath Pillai, Dean XIME, gave the vote of thanks. The Conference proved to be a huge success as it truly allowed the participants to compare management education in India and abroad. The speakers, delegates and students who participated in the conference took home a broader perspective of management education.