Having worked as a relationship manager in business banking at SBI for six years, I wanted to quit my job to pursue my higher education. for a chance to switch professional lines from traditional banking to management consulting. I underwent a two-year full-time PGDM programme at Loyola Institute of Business Administration (LIBA), specialising in finance and marketing. I was selected for a student exchange programme, where I took up two courses at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (UCSC), Milan, Italy.
There were many similarities between both institutions, since LIBA’s faculty have a wide international exposure which they incorporate in their teaching styles. There were, however, a few remarkable differences.
What’s different?
At UCSC, every session had some activity or presentation involving students followed by lengthy debates. Strict adherence to class schedules published months ahead of the course commencement is followed, with no last-minute changes — a typical monochronic culture.
Lecture sessions were long and students had to do a lot of reading before every classroom session. Professors ensured participation from every student in a random order. Besides native Italian students, the course featured a mix of students from various nationalities across continents. These groups were assigned tasks from time to time, which they performed as a unit.
There were multiple paper presentations, case studiesand discussions, which were judged at the groupand individual level for assessment.
Industry experts visited the campus from time to time, and students could make arrangements to attend speeches.
I had the opportunity of visiting a few tourist destinations during my stay there. There were many Sri Lankan, Bangladeshi and Pakistani traders apart from Indians. There everyone is a bhai or behen . You get North Indian food in most tourist hubs such as Rome and Pisa, and you will hardly feel like you are outside India.
Today’s corporates are looking for talent who have to deal with expats inside the office and foreign clients, outside. This programme has given me exposure to what this world is like. This will give me a headstart to my attempts to progress in my career.
Thanks to this programme, a few inhibitions were shattered, a few beliefs rewritten. You are not the same person anymore after such a programme. Your horizon is broader, and your thought process, inclusive.
The writer is a student of Loyola Institute of Business Administration (2016 - 2018).
