Symbiosis Institute of Business Management: A School for Specialists

It is located on a hill, has its own helipad and you might even run into a peacock. The three-year-old campus of Symbiosis Institute of Business Management (SIBM) is one of the best in the country.

Part of the Symbiosis International University, SIBM is one of the five institutes on the verdant 300-acre campus. From a sports centre to hostels overlooking the valley below, the campus is a vibrant mix of students from various backgrounds. And yet, it is not too cut off - Pune is a mere 25-minute bus ride away.

"The best part about the campus is that you have students of other institutes specialising in telecom and mass media. So, you make friends across backgrounds. There is no better management campus in the country," said Shivathilak Tallam, an SIBM student.

The 33-year-old institute breaks the conventional method of a two-year MBA programme where the first year is common and the student chooses his specialisation in the second.

At SIBM, where most students have work experience, they are exposed to all branches of management education within 40 days of joining and they start their specialisations almost immediately.

"One might say it is tunnel vision to start specialisations so early, which is why we give students choices for electives. For example, a student can major in marketing and make HR his elective," said director Vivek Sane, who took over his current responsibilities three months ago but has been with the university for more than 20 years.

Though the institute broke away from the University of Pune only in 2002, it had begun its brand-building exercise long before that. Since the university curriculum was not flexible, the institute introduced a range of voluntary courses for students in the evening and soon these courses became their USP.