1. Is IIFT a centre for foreign trade?

IIFT was established in the year 1963 with the purpose of conducting courses on foreign trade for the civil servants. Also IIFT has always been prided as an excellent centre for research on WTO and other related issues. Over the years IIFT has evolved from being a centre of foreign trade to a complete business school that now rests on a tripod: the MBA (International Business) programme, Research and MDPs.

Gone are the days when a company had to be domestically competitive to survive internationally. Today, a firm has to be internationally competitive to survive domestically. The distinction between the internal and the external sector is fast diminishing. The MBA (IB) programme offered at IIFT is an integrated course which was designed with utmost foresight, keeping in mind the requirements of the constantly evolving global economy.


2. What is the MBA (IB) Programme?

The MBA (IB) is a general management course with special emphasis on International Business. This means, besides doing a general MBA (as is done in other B-Schools), IIFT students are exposed to the international perspectives of various subjects by virtue if their doing courses like international marketing, international finance, international strategy and the like.


3. What are the specialisations offered in the MBA (IB) Programme at IIFT?

The first year, consisting of three trimesters, is a core course which encompasses all the basic functional areas of management. In the third trimester students are taught the nuances of international aspects of these functional areas. The second year is when students get to choose their preferred area of specialisation viz. marketing, finance, trading or systems.


4. What is the Port Visit all about?

All the students of the MBA (IB) programme are compulsorily required to undertake a Port Visit (sea port). The purpose of this visit is to enable students to gain a hands-on experience of the practical aspects of international trade and business. Besides visiting various offices such as the Port office, Customs Offices, EPZs, etc. students also get an opportunity to interact with the people at the front line. Students are free to choose the port of their choice to visit. Port visits are usually undertaken at Mumbai, Chennai, Visakapatnam, Singapore or Dubai.


5. Give us some information on the Student Exchange Programme.

IIFT has affiliations with 4 universities: George Mason, Virginia, USA, Finland, Germany and Tanzania. Every year students are selected to take part in the exchange programs. This offers a very good opportunity to gain trans-cultural exposure and a student spends his fifth trimester in the university abroad. The basis of selection of students for the Exchange Programme varies and is typically specified by the concerned university.


6. What are the co-curricular activities at IIFT?

IIFT comprises of 6 clubs viz. Cashonova (the finance club), Brandwagon (the marketing club), Blash (the trading club), Velocity (the automobile club), Pharmawizards (the pharma club) and Systemix (the IT and telecom club). Besides these, the Corporate Relations Committee functions on bringing in eminent people from the corporate world for interactions with the students on a regular basis. The functioning of all the above clubs are coordinated by the apex student body of IIFT, the International Management Forum, popularly known as the IMF.

Also, true to its tradition of being a quizzing powerhouse, IIFT has, for the intellectually oriented, its own quiz club Quintessential.


7. What is the entrance procedure for admission to the MBA (IB) Programme?

The entrance procedure is a 3-stage process: First is the written test covering areas of Quantitative Ability, Logic and Reasoning, English etc. The short-listed people will then have to appear for the Group Discussions and Interviews.


8. Is the IB course fully residential?

Yes. The institute provides fully furnished accommodation including computers and telephones in the rooms. Needless to say, IIFT boasts of world class infrastructure that any B-School can provide.


9. How are the placements?

Every year the Institute boasts of 100% placements.


10. What is the scope for industry interface?

Industry interface at IIFT, happens through seminars, conferences, corporate interactions and guest lectures. IIFT organises seminars and conferences all through the year, recent events being the CII-IIFT National Conference on “Globalisation Strategies” in August 2003, and IIFT-ASSOCHAM-BCC Conference on “Global Finance and Currency Market Dynamics’ in September 2003 in Mumbai. Besides, IIFT organises, each November, its Annual Management Symposium “Tradewinds”. The Corporate Interactions are held on a regular basis, and have included Ms. Naina Lal Kidwai, HSBC, Mr. Venu Srinivasan ,TVS Motors and Mr. Sanjeev Aggarwal, Daksh, to name a few eminent guests. Guest lectures by eminent corporate personalities are also held for specific courses.

All the above events, besides giving the students a lifetime opportunity of interacting with the leaders of business, also instill in them a great sense of inspiration and motivation.

In addition, IIFT also organises its Annual Management Festival “Quo Vadis” each November, which draws tremendous participation from other Management Schools, both in India and abroad.