Dr CS Shylajan, Dean, ICFAI Business School Hyderabad

ICFAI Business School (IBS) Hyderabad is one of the largest business schools in Asia. It has been consistently ranked among the leading business schools in India. It has earned international accreditation from the prestigious AACSB international in February 2020 for three of its programs –BBA, MBA and PhD. Only 5% of the world’s business schools have received this accreditation. In 2006, it got the SAQS accreditation from AMDISA (Association of Management Development Institutions of South Asia), thereby becoming one of the first three from South Asia to do so. It was re-accredited in 2013 and re-re-accredited in 2020, with the accreditation valid for another five years from then.

Our Faculty Resources: IBS has highly qualified, knowledgeable, and committed faculty members with the necessary teaching, research, and industry experience. They are also highly committed to teaching, research and institution building.  Faculty members publish research papers in indexed journals in collaboration with faculty from universities in India and abroad. Faculty members have also edited books and case studies in collaboration with authors from overseas universities. They also attend international conferences and seminars. They have been invited as speakers/members in international conferences and Associations and have conducted international workshops/webinars at various prestigious organizations.

The Curriculum: IBS has a dynamic curriculum that is revised and upgraded regularly also taking into account the requirement of NEP 2020.  The general emphasis is on skill-based courses that can lead to better career prospects for the students and also establish start-ups. Analytics form a significant portion of most programs. Keeping the industry requirement, it has introduced Analytics subjects such as Financial Analytics, Banking and Services Analytics, Marketing Analytics, Supply Chain Analytics, HR Analytics, Healthcare Analytics and courses such as  AI, Big Data, ML, FinTech, Design Thinking etc.

IBS encourages a student-centric education process. Experiential learning, participative learning, and problem-solving are integral parts of the learning process. We encourage our students to participate in various competitions, skilled-based workshops, conferences and study tours held overseas.

Skill development: Academic programs with skills development are in progress. B-School hones skills by implementing pedagogies such as case discussions, simulations for solving business problems, project based-learning for addressing societal issues, digital transformation tools –Fintech, AI, ML, IOT, etc.

Participative Learning:  Participative learning is encouraged through case discussions, student presentations, and student club activities. Take the example of the case based method of teaching for which the B-School is renowned. The students are expected to come well prepared for the class. Instead of being spoon-fed, the students are encouraged to think, analyze and find answers by themselves. This promotes higher-order thinking skills. The role of the faculty in case discussions is to lead with questions and facilitate learning rather than teach.

Case Pedagogy and Case Research:  IBS Hyderabad is known for its Case pedagogy. The Business School is a pioneer in the use of the case based method of teaching. It has a dedicated Case Research Center (CRC) to produce case studies. CRC develops contemporary and thought-provoking case studies which provide great learning value to the students. More than 900 B-schools from over 80 countries use the CRC cases. Some of the leading Business Schools that use CRC cases include London Business School, London School of Economics, Oxford Said Business School, Cambridge Judge Business School, HEC Paris, HEC Montreal, etc. In India,  schools such as IIMs, ISB, SP Jain, and Symbiosis and others use CRC case studies. In 2021, The Case Centre (UK-based world’s largest repository of case studies) recognized CRC as a Center of Excellence. CRC cases have won multiple awards in some of the most prestigious global case writing competitions (CWCs) such as EFMD CWC, oikos Global CWC, John Molson CWC, and AoM Dark Side CWC. CRC cases have been published in some of the most well-known and well-referenced international and Indian textbooks.

CRC has won many prestigious case writing competitions in 2021/2022, including, ‘Best Case Award’ in the 2021 Global Contest for the Best China-focused Cases, co-organized by CEIBS; The Financial Times Responsible Business Education Awards 2022; and the 2nd AIMA-ICRC Case Writing Competition & Conference, 2022. For the fifth consecutive year, in 2022, the faculty members won the prestigious Annual E-PARCC Teaching Case and Simulation Competition, organized by Maxwell School’s “Collaborative Governance Initiative”, Syracuse University, New York. The Business School was also a winner in the 32nd Case Centre awards announced in 2022. CRC bagged second, third and fourth positions in The Case for Women 2022 case writing competition organized by Emerald Publishing.  CRC has seven of its authors featuring in The Case Centre’s Top 50 Bestselling Case Authors’ List for 2021-22. This is next only to Harvard Business School with nine authors. 

Centers of Excellence: IBS Hyderabad  has set up various Centers of Excellence to create and disseminate knowledge in emerging areas. One among them is  the Centre of Excellence for Digital transformation which undertakes consultancy and research work in the use of digital technologies to empower the underprivileged. It regularly explores opportunities for collaboration with institutions/universities of repute across the world to promote joint research, faculty and student exchange, joint sponsorship of conferences, conducting of webinars, sharing of expertise, etc. IBS Hyderabad regularly invites academicians, researchers, and leaders from various foreign universities and organizations to conduct workshops or be speakers in conferences hosted by the IBS.

Mentorship, Student Clubs, and Summer Internship: The student clubs related to Innovation and & Entrepreneurship annually conduct innovation fests like E-Week which attract participation from not only IBS but also students across various institutions in India. These fests see leading industrialists and entrepreneurs interact with the students and lend their guidance and share their experience with the young budding enthusiasts. Student clubs promote co-curricular and extracurricular activities and create opportunities for the all-around development of students. We also have a strong student mentoring program where we have dedicated faculty mentors who spend time with the students and counsel them on various important issues relating to academics and their personal life. IBS Hyderabad has a unique Internship Program where students are continuously guided by faculty  and company mentors.

Also read: ICFAI Business School Bangalore: Preparing Students for Emerging Careers