ISB's fast-track courses a big earner


HYDERABAD: ISB hopes to rake in nearly Rs 30 crore through fast-track programmes for senior working executives in 2004-05 against Rs 15 crore earned last year.


In 2002-03, the institute earned Rs 6 crore on executive education. Starting from a small bouquet of 14 programmes in 2002-03, ISB scaled it up to 40 in 2003-04 and hopes to touch nearly 80-100 in 2004-05. ISB associate dean (executive education) Shyam Viswanathan says, "nearly 60% of our revenue is through repeat customers."

The institute has a portfolio of nearly 250 corporate clients who have sent their top honchos to the classroom from time to time.

The key growth driver among executive education programmes is expected to be the tailor-made courses in which ISB develops and designs the content depending on the specific needs of an organisation. ISB offers courses in general management skills like strategy, leadership, and organisational transformation and in functional areas like marketing, finance, and technology.

These programmes are offered both on campus as well as at the client site. Several Indian public sector undertakings have opted for these tailor-made programmes to grow in the evolving marketplace.


ISB has clients like ONGC, GAIL, Corporation Bank and LIC who have sent several batches of senior management for training. Some of the private sector companies that have got tailor-made courses include TAFE, A V Birla Group and Emirates Bank.

Viswanathan said, these programmes are designed after close understanding of management objectives of the client company, its corporate culture and the marketplace. "A lot of effort goes into getting the courses designed, choosing faculty and post-training feedback. For instance, faculty for training senior personnel of ONGC would be someone well-versed with the global energy sector," he added.

The executive education programmes typically range from a few days to a few weeks. The four-day executive programme costs about Rs 1 lakh-1.25 lakh. The two-week programmes, ISB-Kellogg advanced global MBA and general management, cost Rs 7 lakh and Rs 4.25 lakh respectively. In the ISB-Kellogg programme, the student spends one week in ISB campus and the other at Kellogg. In the general management course, students spend one week at ISB and do the second module at INSEAD campus in France.