The five-acre picturesque campus of the Symbiosis Institute of International Business (SIIB) at Hinjewadi in Pune is pervaded by a sense of space and tranquillity. A perfect setting for learning, despite its location at the busy InfoTech Park where it rubs shoulders with corporate giants such as Wipro, Infosys, Cognizant and Tata Technologies.

Established in 1992, SIIB — a constituent of Symbiosis International University — was earlier known as the Symbiosis Institute of Foreign Trade (SIFT). It was re-christened in 2002.

“The earlier name gave the impression that we covered only foreign trade, whereas we lay equal emphasis on international finance, international marketing, international commercial law, evaluating export potential of different products to different nations, international business strategy and so on. We, therefore, requested our advisory committee to rename the institute and it agreed,” says Rajani Gupte, director of SIIB.

SIIB offers MBA in international business (MBA-IB) and agri-business (MBA-AB). Both are full-time, two-year residential programmes. The curriculum is designed in such a way that the first year provides a basic understanding of business management concepts and the second year deals with core subjects and projects.

There is also a language component. “Four foreign languages are taught as part of the curriculum — French, Spanish, German and Chinese. Each student has to choose one language,” says Amartya Guha, a first-year student.

The institute offers specialisation in four areas — marketing, finance, supply chain management and human resources. Students can choose according to their area of interest. Renowned companies visit the campus to recruit students for summer internships that are part of the curriculum.

SIIB has many things that make its students proud of their institute. “The location of the campus — amidst IT giants and close to the city’s activity hub — and facilities such as a gymnasium, auditorium, swimming pool, film club and health centre make campus life special. But what enlivens things most is the fact that we have students from across the globe,” says Deepa Biswas, a first-year student of agri-business.

In its effort to groom professionals who will serve as competent managers at the international level, SIIB has forged links with several foreign universities for faculty and student exchange programmes as well as research. “Selected students from the institute are sent to Bremen University of Applied Sciences, Germany, for four weeks where they are exposed to international business practices. They also visit offices of industry giants such as Airbus and Daimler Chrysler as well as the World Trade Centre and study their business processes and practices,” says Asmita Chitnis, associate professor at SIIB. The institute also has a faculty exchange programme.

Apart from academics, students at SIIB have a lot on their plate. They have to take charge of extra-curricular activities such as management of seminars and all other events like weekly guest lectures, workshops and the valediction ceremony. “We have four clubs, namely the finance club, marketing club, supply chain management club and HR club. These are managed entirely by us. The clubs hold weekly meetings on the current market scenario,” says Guha.

SIIB boasts of happy placement figures. “Placement opportunities are growing by leaps and bounds. We have a track record of cent per cent placement,” informs Gupte.

The institute also offers grants to deserving candidates. “Alumni scholarships of Rs 60,000 and Rs 40,000 are given to students who rank first and second for the two academic years. We also have a merit-cum-need scholarship where deserving students get a stipend of Rs 5,000 per month throughout the academic session,” says Gupte.

Interested? Get set to take the Symbiosis National Aptitude test.

Vital Statistics

WHAT IS IT? A school for aspiring management professionals

WHO’S THE BOSS? Rajani Gupte is the director

what is the course fee? Rs 7,75,000 for two years

Where is it? Symbiosis Infotech Campus, Plot No. 15, Rajiv Gandhi InfoTech Park, MIDC, Hinjewadi, Pune-411057. Email: director@siib.ac.in