International study trips are essentially designed to give students the ground-level global experience that goes beyond what can be learned in a classroom setting. It basically widens their thinking and develops in them the requisite knowledge and skills to manage in a globalized economy. These global study trips provide broad business and cultural exposure of a country to all the participants. So it is that global experience happens to be an integral part of the MBA/PGDM curriculum today.
However, it may be pointed out here that traveling and studying abroad is nothing new in higher education. In previous centuries, young aristocrats from America, England, and elsewhere took the “Grand Tour” of Europe to gain exposure to the arts, culture, and roots of so-called Western civilization. And, top B-schools around the world by the late 1960s, were already sending a large percentage of its undergraduates abroad mostly to their own programs in various countries across the globe.
It has been generally observed that these study trips fulfill the mission of providing experiential learning that enhances classroom instruction. Here, one can discover two clear benefits. Benefit number one may be called the “conceptual” benefit, which basically relates to the broadening of knowledge about global issues, management, and leadership issues, or of a country or industry. Benefit number two may be called the “personal” benefit, which basically relates to learning leadership, getting to know other students better and having a meaningful and fun experience.
As one can deduce, such study trips enable students to see complexities and nuances that are not evident in a class. For sure, students who go on these organized trips get to gain a broader view of how different economic systems of the world function.
Even faculty members say that study trips also provide them the fodder for teaching because the trips “allow them to generalize in a more appropriate way, to generalize what they teach and determine some of the cultural differences.” Indeed, these trips also provide the faculty with a broader set of examples and topics.
If we look at India, we will find that there are several top B-schools in Indiaoffering Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) as its flagship programme that have a well-defined international study trip programme as its core attraction. For instance, Delhi NCR Noida-based Asian Business School(ABS) – which is a part of Asian Education Group(AEG) and is ranked 7th Amongst ‘Top B-Schools of Excellence’ by CSR-GHRDC – offers a unique international edge to its programme by organizing a fully paid international study trip to Oxford, UK for all its students every year. This comes as a part of ABS PGDM core curriculum.
Coinciding with the ABS PGDM course curriculum mandate, ABS PGDM students get to earn an ‘Executive Diploma in International Business’ on the completion of their study trip to Oxford Business College, Oxford, London. This international diploma is offered in combination with the other diplomas. The diploma lays down a comparative analysis, in various business quarters, between India and UK, for which it is imperative that students travel to Oxford for empirical study.
The highly-rated academic tour for the ABS PGDM students also serves the objective of comprehending a foreign curriculum and pedagogy as it accords them a rare opportunity to experience business and culture first-hand through cultural excursions and lectures.
Innovatively designed, the aim of this study tour is to bring international exposure to the students with an academic feel. This kind of international exposure not only expands the vision but also augments the personality of management students. The important gain here is the wide variety of people, wonderful places, different mannerisms and opportunities to broaden one’s horizons.
Thus, for the students of ABS, this study tour is time and again the most unforgettable experience of their lives!
Learn more on ABS Blog page about how exactly this fully paid study trip to Oxford-London (UK) lends a unique international edge to ABS PGDM Programme.
