News Archive

Eight MBA students from The University of Western Australia Business School have returned from a study tour of the country that many say inspires both love and fear.

India has an unmatched GDP, with predictions forecasting that it will average 9 per cent growth each year over the next 20 years. In the next fifteen years, India is expected to climb from being the world's twelfth largest consumer market, to the fifth largest. By 2020, India is expected to have the third largest economy in the world, promising countless business and education opportunities.

Yet to many outsiders familiar with films such as Slumdog Millionaire, it also represents poverty and corruption.

‘India will absolutely delight you and absolutely shock you, often at the same time,' International Study Program lecturer Associate Professor Renu Burr, who led the International Study Program, told the students in a pre-departure seminar.

Those contradictions and the mixed travellers' tales, have caused student Tracy Frink to have a ‘love and fear of India.' The need to reconcile such opposing concepts, she said, is why she decided to see the country for herself.

The 14-day trip introduced the students to the challenges, opportunities, risks and rewards of doing business in and with India. The group visited Bangalore, Mumbai, and Delhi, as well as smaller Indian cities.

The tour included visits to IT and high tech businesses and manufacturing firms, in addition to meetings with business and government leaders. The company visits included the software giant Infosys, prominent biotechnology firm BioCon and the Maruti car factory, which produces over one million cars per year. Associate Professor Burr hoped that the students would gain an insight into the rise of the knowledge and service sectors, market entry strategies into India, and the experiences of multinational corporations and Australian companies who are currently doing business in India.

The Indian hosts shared their personal experiences, perspectives and insights with the group. The eight students who completed the International Study Program had a diverse range of backgrounds, ranging from finance, mining and accountancy through to nursing and property.

With Western Australia's business sector seeking to expand across the world stage, the study tour pre-empts growing business links between the two economies. Postgraduate Glencora Cabras recognised the potential for growth in India. ‘The more I read, the more I realise that across every industry there's so much development there, including in mining,' she said.

The cultural and business links that were established by the group, said Associate Professor Burr, are rewarding on both a personal and professional level, and allowed the students to gain a greater understanding of the impact of culture on business and themselves as leaders.

Also travelling with the group was the Business School's Pru Hodgkinson, Team Manager (Programs). The group completed their study tour in August and September.

Media references

Media Reference
Heather Merritt
Director, External Relations
UWA Business School
T: +618 6488 8171
E: [email protected]

Verity Chia
Communications Officer
UWA Business School
E: [email protected]