Bradford extends links with Delhi's Indian Institute of Foreign Trade

Dr Surajit Mitra, who is Director and VC of the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) in Delhi, was given a guided tour of the picturesque Faculty of Management and Law campus on Emm Lane before meeting with a number of senior staff members.

Dr Mitra then met with the University of Bradford Vice Chancellor, Brian Cantor, at City Campus and signed a Memorandum of Understanding; a formal agreement that there will be a student exchange programme between the two institutions.

An exchange agreement is being developed which will involve Bradford hosting IIFT Master�s students for taught modules and IIFT hosting Bradford PhD and Master�s students as part of their dissertation work.

Dr Mitra met with Prof Nancy Harding, who is Professor of Organisation Theory at the School of Management, as well as Director of the University�s Centre of Research in Organisations and Work (CROW).

Prof Harding and Dr Mitra explored the possibility of joint research projects between the two schools.

�Dr Mitra is particularly keen on developing insights about leadership in Indian companies,� said Prof Harding.

�The School of Management's Critical Leadership Centre, under the guidance of Prof Jackie Ford, resists the one-size-fits-all school of leadership studies, which presumes that models originating in the US will fit every country and culture.�

She added: �We look forward to working with Dr Mitra and his colleagues to develop understanding of what sort of leadership works best in Indian corporations, and what our two countries can learn from each other.�

Director of the University of Bradford�s International Office, Dr William Mitchell added: �Collaboration with IIFT will enable Bradford researchers access to data and examples leading to joint publications and publications and projects.�