MIP has increasingly been collaborating with top business schools and universities in the world and the latest addition to our list of partners is SP Jain School of Global Management, Mumbai, which is one of the most reputed business schools of India with a strong international reputation, thanks to its global campuses in Dubai, Singapore and Sydney.

This partnership involves the launch of our brand new master’s program in Global Luxury Goods and Services Management. This unique partnership will allow students to study partly in Mumbai (which is the financial capital of India and, most importantly, the biggest consumer market for luxury products in India) and in Milan (which is the business hub of Italy and the fashion capital of the world – home to more than half of the world’s top luxury brands and designers).

We are glad to have entered in this partnership which will allow candidates to gain first-hand understanding of the luxury industry in Europe and the application of marketing, sales and retail concepts in emerging markets like India.

I am pleased and excited to share the news that MIP will be joining forces with SP Jain School of Global Management to launch a new master’s program in Global Luxury Goods and Services Management. Participants will start with a first term in Mumbai where they will be introduced to the three main themes of the program:

• “Global” - where participants will receive basics of intercultural management, to be prepared to apply the masters' content globally
• “Luxury” - with an introduction to the luxury sector and the meaning of luxury
• “Management” - with an “MBA in a nutshell”, where all major General Management topics (from strategy to marketing, accounting and organisation, supply chain and finance) will be covered

In the second semester, the cohort will move to Milan, where my colleagues and I will reveal the secrets of success of luxury companies. From brand creation to innovation, from luxury supply chain management to retailing, all the contents will be addressed using a triple perspective:

• First, professors will introduce tools and methodologies useful to understand the luxury industry processes
• Managers will discuss the practical implications of the studied theories, sharing their success stories with participants
• Finally, a study tour through half a dozen of the most important luxury districts in Italy and Europe (from German cars to watches in Switzerland, to leather and champagne in France), will allow students an up, close and personal view of the processes behind-the-scene, with factory and showroom tours and meeting with managers and executives.

Selected participants will have the opportunity to conclude the masters with an internship in a partner company.

There is a visible shift towards consumption of luxury products and services in India. The definition of luxury or even attitude towards luxury is very different in India as compared to developed or even other emerging economies.

India is one big country, but it is very important to understand that it cannot be treated as one big luxury market. We could divide the country into East, West, North, South and the Central Zones. The motivating factors to buy luxury is different in each zone and hence, it becomes imperative for all in the luxury space to understand the nuances and the factors affecting the same.

The Master in Global Luxury Goods and Services Management (MGLuxM) program is going to deep dive into the various facets of luxury, both from an Indian as well as an international perspective. The participants of this program will get an opportunity to get an in-depth understanding of the Indian luxury market and similar luxury markets in Europe.

By the end of the program, students will be best equipped to start their careers or set up entrepreneurial ventures in the luxury space. They will be able to correlate the distinctions of the developed European luxury markets and the whimsical nature of the emerging Indian luxury market.

I am very excited about the MGLuxM program as everyone is looking at India as the prime destination and this program will add tremendous value to the participants who enrol for it.