With its presence in Dubai, Singapore and Sydney, the SP Jain School of Global Management gives its BBA students an opportunity to study in all the three campuses while its Master’s programme helps build global leaders
Today, the SP Jain School of Global Management, with its campuses in Dubai, Singapore and Sydney, is best known as an international business school. But what many do not know is that it has roots in India as its history dates back to 1981, when its first campus was established in Mumbai. This was inaugurated by the then Prime Minister of Britain, Margaret Thatcher. While in India, SP Jain has consistently been ranked among the top 10 business schools for its MBA programmes, and now, more than 30 years later, it is equally, if not better, known for its international campuses.
Its first international campus came up in 2004, which was set up with the objective of focussing on global learning. Once this campus had made its mark – it was ranked No. 1 in the UAE in a brand perception audit conducted by Neilsen in 2008 – the focus shifted to Singapore. In 2005, SP Jain was invited by the Singapore government to establish a campus there, which came up in 2006.
The crowning glory came in 2012, when SP Jain launched its third international campus in Sydney, Australia, offering students a global education along with an opportunity to understand and soak in the culture of the city.
Setting international campuses is one thing, but to sustain its vision of being a business school recognised across the world for its innovative, influential and relevant education while putting emphasis on teaching-learning process is not an easy task. For this, SP Jain has appointed several distinguished captains from the industry to serve on its industry advisory board. The board meets regularly and makes suggestions for revamping the curriculum, sharing their knowledge and experience and geting their colleagues to conduct workshops for the students.
Another high point of SP Jain is that it has qualified academicians from top schools across the world as external examiners. These examiners take a fresh look at the curriculum and make suggestions for improving it. They also check the exam papers for the level of toughness, the weightage given to questions and also come up with model papers. The external examiners are from London School of Economics, Oklahoma State University, Kellogg School of Management, etc.
The school also has a multi-national faculty, which comes from a wide range of academic and corporate backgrounds. Rigorous coursework is followed for all the undergraduate and postgraduate courses with the result that the graduates are well prepared with the knowledge and skills that they need to excel as leaders. Among the various methods employed for the teaching process is the interactive style in classrooms equipped with cutting-edge technology. The course material includes textbooks, videos, web resources, international case studies, as well as students’ independent research projects.
The Campuses
The campus is located in central Sydney at the historic Sydney Olympic Park that has exceptional facilities for sports and recreation besides being a newly developing business district. The campus itself is 75,000 sq ft with 12 auditorium style classrooms, breakout rooms, a café with its own kitchen, lounges and other facilities. Housing is available within a 35 minutes’ walk.
Dubai
The high point of this campus is the multinational student community at the Dubai International Academic City (DIAC), a specially-built campus exclusively for colleges and universities. It provides a single location for post secondary education in the Emirate bringing together 30 institutions from 13 different countries, allowing students and faculty coming from different institutions to connect and learn from each other. SP Jain occupies an entire standalone building here covering approximately 60,000 sq ft, spread over three floors. The campus is built in a contemporary fashion with hi-tech learning centres, mock trading rooms, an up-to-date library, video conferencing facility and a Reuters terminal.
Singapore
The sprawling campus is set amidst lush greenery and has a number of renovated heritage buildings. The various buildings on the campus house classrooms, learning centres, library and several other facilities. Classrooms are equipped with state-of- the-art audio and video equipment. There are seven lecture halls and two seminar halls. Extra-curricular facilities include an in-house gym and basketball and table tennis.
Course Details
The four-year BBA programme for undergraduate students is conducted on a tri-city model. Students spend the first year in Singapore, the second year in Dubai and the last two years in Sydney. They choose specialisation in marketing or finance in the third year. The programme also includes several liberal arts. Another unique feature of the programme is the industry interface Action Learning Project. Groups of three to four students engage with local companies and submit consultant level reports and analysis to them. They also do internships in breaks between academic years. Students graduate with a BBA degree awarded by the SP Jain School of Global Management, Australia. As students study in Australia for two years, they are entitled to a two year right to work permit in Australia, which entitles them to take up jobs in Australia.
The Global Master of Business Administration (Global MBA or GMBA) is a year-long residential course, which builds business leaders with in-depth cross-functional knowledge and understanding of the theories and practices related to global business. The course also lays special emphasis on the development of global intelligence, cultural agility and important real world business skills, like effective communication, decision-making, leadership, networking and problem-solving skills.
