The Yonsei School of Business and Mahindra & Mahindra, a global company in India, have signed an educational cooperation partnership that primarily calls for the school to offer a professional management training program to the Indian company. It is the company’s first such agreement with a South Korean university, although it has had similar arrangements with prestigious schools in the United States.

Under terms of the agreement signed March 23, a professor from Yonsei University School of Business is planning to visit Mahindra to deliver a lecture to its staff on South Korean and Asian business cases of South Korea and Asia. Mahindra is also considering offering internships to Yonsei University School of Business students.

The basis of this cooperation was formed because of Yonsei University School of Business emphasis on global competitiveness throughout its 100 years of history and because of its success in differentiating educational content specifically for executives. Yonsei University School of Business is celebrating its centennial and the fiftieth anniversary of its MBA program. The quality of its program has been recognized by the world’s leading accreditation organizations for business education and by inclusion on Top 100 lists compiled by the Financial Times and by The Economist. In addition, its Sangnam Institute of Management, which was established in 1998, has provided a business management education for companies and executives.

[Photo: From left, Rajeev Dubey, president of Mahindra&Mahindra’s Human Resources Group, and Donghoon Kim, Dean of Yonsei School of Business.]

The Indian company, with headquarters in Mumbai, has sales of 16.5 billion U.S dollars and, operates in about 100 countries and has more than 200,000 employees. In 2013, the Financial Times awarded Mahindra its “Bolderness in Business” award in the field of “Emerging Markets.”

Rajeev Dubey, Mahindra&Mahindra’s group president of the company’s service and aftermarket sector, said, “I know that South Korea’s daily increase in status and its long-lasting success was because of its interest and hard work in education. We are happy and proud to sign a partnership with South Korea’s top prestigious private school institution, Yonsei University School of Business.”

The dean of Yonsei University School of Business, Donghoon Kim said, “India is the spotlighted emerging market in the world, and Mahindra is an excellent Indian company. Through this cooperation we will provide cases and models of Korean business to the global company residing in this emerging market, and this cooperation will be the steppingstones to expand the opportunity of cooperation between company and university.” He also noted that “interest in Korean companies’ business model is increasing. Our university has started researching the Korean companies’ business model to prepare for the next 100 years, and as from now, we will focus on it.”