He also addressed questions posed by IMI’s student body on topics such as burgeoning US-Indian trade relations, corporate social responsibility, US outsourcing to India, and the explosive potential of the Indian market for both Indian and foreign investment

Mr. Rivera-Dirks joined the US Foreign Service in September 2004 and serves in New Delhi as the Special Assistant to Ambassador H E David C. Mulford. Prior to joining the Foreign Service, Mr. Rivera-Dirks earned his MBA from Columbia Business School in New York, one of America’s top five business programs, and his undergraduate degree in Economics from Williams College in Massachusetts. Before attending Columbia Business School, Mr. Rivera-Dirks worked in the private sector as a marketing manager for Apple computer, where he substantially grew Apple’s market share among college students and teenagers. Mr. Rivera-Dirks speaks Hindi fluently and has traveled extensively through India.

Dr. C. S Venkata Ratnam, Director, IMI said “We are pleased and honored to have Mr. Rivera-Dirks here at IMI. His experience, practical knowledge, and deep understanding of international business practices are all invaluable insights for students of IMI as they enter a highly competitive global marketplace. Our students are amongst the top business talent in India, and we are privileged to be able to present them with such a distinguished guest to answer their questions and queries from a global perspective. We at IMI strongly believe in providing our students with the best possible resources and skills to become tomorrow’s captains of industry.”

Added Mr. Rivera-Dirks that ” MBA is a jack of all trades course and my advise to you all is not to do a second MBA. Instead, you should do some other professional course, which is aligned to their career preferences. As students you should be clear about career objectives and not shift jobs too often. In the US companies have started looking at frequent job hoppers in poor light.”

IMI’s ongoing endeavour is to offer its students interaction with top tier industry leaders. In July 2007 IMI has planned to host a series of talks:-

July 17, 2007: Mr. Stefano Pelle, VP and COO, Business Unit Russia and South Asia, Perfetti Van Melle Group, and Chairman of Perfetti Van Melle, India.

July 28, 2007: Dr. Bimal Jalan, former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (1997-2003) and current Member of Parliament.