N S Raghavan Center for Entrepreneurial Learning

at

Indian Institute of Management Bangalore

NSRCEL at IIMB - U21Global launch the second batch of their Management Programme for Entrepreneurs & Family Businesses

An opportunity for entrepreneurs to enhance the quality of their business management skills

Bangalore, October 17, 2007- U21Global, the world's premier online Graduate School and the NSRCEL at Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) today announced the launch of the second batch of the Management Programme for Entrepreneurs & Family Businesses (MPEFB). The announcement was made jointly by Dr. Kalyani Gandhi, Chairperson and Professor of NSRCEL at IIM Bangalore (IIMB); Prof. B Mahadevan, Professor, Operations Management, IIMB; Professor Jeremy B. Williams, Dean, Corporate Programmes & Director of Research, U21Global; and Mr. Girish Rangan, Country Manager - India, U21Global.

Jointly offered by NSRCEL - IIMB and U21Global, this programme seeks to fulfill the requirements of new generation entrepreneurs and those running family businesses in managing their organisations. This course provides a unique methodology to equip them with critical business management inputs. All candidates will be awarded a certificate jointly issued by NSRCEL, IIMB and U21Global.

Speaking at this occasion, Prof. Kalyani Gandhi, Chairperson, NSRCEL-IIM Bangalore quoting Eleanor Roosevelt said, "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams, similarly, the Management Programme for Entrepreneurs and Family Businesses is making these dreams into reality." Prof. B Mahadevan, Professor, Operations Management, IIMB, added, "Thought leads to planning, which leads to action and is the key to accomplishment. These entrepreneurs have a vision and we help them with a roadmap. This is the essence and spirit of this programme."

Says Mr. Girish Rangan, Country Manager - India, U21Global, "We are delighted with the successful response to our joint partnership course with IIMB's NSRCEL. This course is an opportunity for entrepreneurs to contribute to value creation in their businesses. The response from the students has been very encouraging and we would like to thank them for their inputs which have helped us fine tune the course content for the next batch. We look forward to our continued association and success with the forthcoming batches."

Says Prof. Jeremy B. Williams, Dean, Corporate Programmes & Director of Research, U21Global, "The programme is uniquely designed to balance the time constraints that entrepreneurs face with the value that they get by getting educated in the best business school. Hence with this unique combination of classroom teaching and web-based learning, entrepreneurs can avail of a diverse learning experience."

Says student Usha P Raikar, Technical Director, Bangalore Softshell Ltd, "As an entrepreneur, one of my biggest challenges was to find all the needed pieces of information to manage a business - finance, strategy, marketing & so on. The MPEFB course gave me the platform to gain this knowledge, with the rigour, quality and branding that only IIMB and U21Global can offer. Despite the pressures of trying to balance work, family and study, I find this has been the best return on investment I have made in my work life."

About the Programme
This joint postgraduate certificate programme, collaboratively designed by the N S Raghavan Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning (NSRCEL) of Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore and U21Global, will be delivered in a blended format comprising both online sections and face-to-face classes. Conducted through part-time study, the program will result in the award of a joint Postgraduate Certificate in Management Programme for Entrepreneurs and Family Businesses bearing the crests of both NSRCEL-IIM Bangalore and U21Global. The online version will be primarily used to help the participants deepen their understanding, collaborate with other participants, interact with the teaching faculty and reflect on specific concepts and ideas scheduled for each module. The various subjects offered as a part of the curriculum are Managerial Accounting, Entrepreneurship & New Venture Creation, Data Analysis and Decision Making, Marketing Management, Organizational Behaviour & HR Management, Financial Management, Operations Management, Strategic Management and a project course on writing a Business Plan.

About Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore
The Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, established in 1973, is a premier Business School, contributing towards the expansion of knowledge base in the filed of management through research, innovation and practice. Built on the base of its highly accomplished faculty and motivated student body, IIMB today attracts students from all across the country and abroad.

IIMB consistently figures among the top business schools in India in domestic and international surveys and is also known for it world-class infrastructure that facilitate excellence in teaching, research, consulting and other professional activities.

About Nadathur S Raghavan Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning (NSRCEL) at IIMB
Recognizing the growing propensity, particularly among the young and ambitious management and technical graduates, to strike out on their own as entrepreneurs and realizing the crying need of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) for critical management inputs as well as business guidance, IIMB set up the Center for Entrepreneurial studies in 1994 with a grant from Canara Bank. The Center mainly focused on offering some successful programmes to SMEs which helped them to accelerate their growth and move to a higher level of performance. The Center also offered courses on Entrepreneurship to the post graduate students of IIMB and supported research.

A generous endowment from Mr. Nadathur S Raghavan, formerly joint managing Director of Infosys Technologies Ltd, in October 1999 has provided the impetus to give a quantum jump to the activities of the Center. The Center, now known as N S Raghavan Center for Entrepreneurial Learning (NSRCEL), aims to be a world-class Center of Excellence for seeding, nurturing and promoting entrepreneurship. The activities of NSRCEL are varied and encompass such areas as teaching, research, short-term programmes, seminars/ panel discussions, incubation facilities, etc. For further details, please visit www.nsrcel.org.

About U21Global
Established in 2001, U21Global is the world's premier online Graduate School that offers globally recognised graduate programmes. The graduate school is backed by an international network of 20 leading research-intensive universities in 12 countries. U21Global combines the traditional quality of its founders with innovative modes of delivery on the Internet, providing students with substantial learning advantages, while balancing work, travel and family life.

U21Global has successfully enrolled students from 60 countries around the world including those from Asia, Australia, Africa, Europe and the Americas. The graduate programmes draw upon the best practices in online learning and pedagogy and have been approved by U21pedagogica, an independent quality assurance body which ensures that the curriculum meets the rigorous academic standards of all 20 affiliated universities. For more information on U21Global, please visit our campus at www.u21global.edu.sg

U21Global's affiliated universities include: North America: McGill University, Tecnológico de Monterrey, University of British Columbia, University of Virginia; Europe: Lund University; University College Dublin, University of Birmingham, University of Edinburgh, University of Glasgow, University of Nottingham; East Asia: Fudan University, Korea University, National University of Singapore, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, University of Hong Kong, Waseda University; Australia & New Zealand: University of Auckland., University of Melbourne, University of New South Wales, University of Queensland.

For further information contact
Seema Rajarathnam Euro RSCG PR Tel: 080 25354102	Adeline Siaw U21Global Tel: +65-6410 1311