-Dr. Mohit Anand, Director of Operations - India & Associate Professor- International Business and Strategy, emlyon business school
Self and Company Introduction
Dr. Anand has over 18 years of experience in industry and academia. Within the fields of International Business and Strategy, his research interests include Emerging Markets, Innovation and BOP studies. While his focus area of study is inclined towards Microinsurance, Frugal and Reverse Innovation. While more recent areas of interest include Geopolitics in Asia, Regional Trade Blocs and Public Policy Innovations. He has been a visiting faculty at Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) and FMS at University of Delhi, ESCE (Paris), IIM Trichy. Several of his papers have been published and presented in leading international journals and conferences. In 2018, he received Milliman Fellow in Microinsurance at ILO-ITC Impact Insurance Academy, Turin, Italy.
Company: About emlyon business school, France
Founded in 1872 emlyon business school is one of the leading and oldest business schools in France with an enrollment of 9,050 students of 125 nationalities. The school offers undergraduate, post-graduate as well as executive education. The rankings stand testimony to our academic excellence, knowledge, hybridization, and internationalization. Our programs have excelled in the recent QS Business Master’s 2024 rankings with our MSc in Supply Chain and Marketing program enjoying the #1 spot in France and 5th in the world. As per 2023 FT Master’s in Management ranking, emlyon business school has steadily maintained its rank at #4 in France while climbing up the ladder globally and securing a position at #7. The school is #2 among business schools in France for student employability, as per 2023 Global Employability University Ranking and ranks #41 worldwide.
What are the business and investment opportunities you see between India and France?
emlyon activities in India are aligned with its vision and true to its embodiment of values of ‘early makers’. We have been very pro-active with wider engagement in the Indian education ecosystem over the past 5 years. As a leading business school in France and Europe, we would like to promote emlyon as a preferable destination for Indian students pursuing higher education abroad to get quality education and international experience that we are known for. The objective is to enhance the capabilities and competencies of Indian students to be future ready for India and for the world.
We are also actively exploring the possibility of opening India campus under the recently announced FHEI (Foreign Higher Education Institutions) regulations by the UGC. We are engaged with stakeholders to take this discussion further.
What are some of the key challenges faced by your industry in the Indian market as well as by your company specifically? Can you describe some of the strategies you’ve implemented to overcome these challenges?
In recent times, France has become one of the favourite destinations for Indian students wanting to pursue their higher studies in Europe. With France announcing its plans to welcome 30,000 Indian students by 2030 last year, there couldn’t have been a better time to strengthen ties between both countries on the education front. Some of the challenges are the differences in the approach to education in both countries. France encourages independent study and research and focuses on employability whereas India still has a spoon-feeding system in the education space with placements as the primary focus of all institutions. The other big challenge is the language barrier.
At emlyon, we are trying to sensitise our international students on both the aspects besides offering free French classes as part of all our programs. In India, we organise special webinars for our students before their departure to help them get accustomed with a new life in France.
What have been the biggest accomplishments of your company in the last few years?
We have forged some good partnerships with academic institutions of repute across India such as several leading IIMs, as well as with MDI Gurgaon, XLRI and Jindal University for various academic initiatives together. We have recently signed MoUs with IIM, Mumbai; ISB, Hyderabad, and Manipal University, Jaipur. India is one of the important focus areas for emlyon business school and we want to bring in more value to the Indo-French ecosystem. We are also planning to bring in more and more of our students from France for different immersion programs in India.
How has IFCCI added value to your organization in India?
IFFCI has been a useful support system to emlyon business school in India so far, particularly helping us with the industry-academia connect. We are hoping we can further capitalise more on that in the days to come, given the school’s future plans for India. We want to explore as to how IFCCI can support this objective. Some of these areas could be:
1/ Recruitment and admissions of Indian students to our campuses (Lyon and Paris) by conducting events or seminars on higher education, skill development etc. for Indian and French companies here. => IFCCI can assist in facilitating these events (offline or online).
2/ Develop Corporate/Executive education program: Working with IFCCI to identify and conduct certain corporate programs or study trips for French and Indian audience/market.