Griffith MBA students will take part in a study tour to India later this year, after government AsiaBound funding was confirmed.

About 20 students will spend a week at the Indian School of Business in Hyderabad from the end of September, attending lectures, visiting local businesses and companies, and building an appreciation of Indian culture.

Griffith MBA Director, Dr Nick Barter, plans to make the study tour an annual fixture, with students visiting a different country in the Asia Pacific region each year.

“A tour like this delivers strongly on our determination to prepare global citizens with an Asia Pacific focus. Global orientation is a core value of the Griffith MBA,” he said.

“Griffith University has had an Asia Pacific focus since its foundation in the 1970s and a trip like this reinforces that tradition.

“It is an indication of the progressive and forward-thinking structure of the MBA program at Griffith, and the grant is a strong endorsement of the Griffith MBA.”

The $37 million AsiaBound program was unveiled by the Federal Government last October, following the release of the Asian Century White Paper. It provides funding for around 3600 Australian students each year to build their understanding of the significance of the Asian Century through a study experience in Asia.

Griffith’s MBA study tour to India has secured $21,500 funding.

“By taking MBA students to India, we will introduce them to a country they may not have considered before,” Dr Barter said.

“China is often the main focus of attention in the Asia Pacific region, but India is the largest democracy in the world and an emerging force on a global scale.

“The tour will expand student horizons. Many of them have not travelled to India or anywhere like India before.”

The student group will stay on the Indian School of Business campus. ISB is recognised as a premier business school in India and is AACSB-accredited (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business).

Professor Chris Auld, Dean (International), Griffith Business School says students gain a global outlook, develop language skills and become more comfortable working in an overseas environment from overseas trips.

“We want them to recognise that business is about more than profits. It is also about people and the planet. As future business leaders with a global outlook, they will see the need to encourage, model and achieve an approach to business that is sustainable and responsible.

“It’s important our students have those values when they graduate.”

Griffith University is launching a suite of initiatives under its three-year ‘New Griffith 2013-2016’ program, signifying an intensive period of change and innovation.