Upon completion of this HBS alumni-status-granting program, participants bring back to their companies—ones they founded or are family owned, Indian corporations, and Indian divisions of international corporations—new insights and strategies that help them take advantage of the opportunities and overcome the challenges they might encounter as leaders.

“In designing the program, we were motivated by a deep understanding of the unmet needs of senior executives from fast-growing companies operating in India and other emerging markets,” explains Krishna Palepu, faculty chair of SELPI and the Ross Graham Walker Professor of Business Administration. “The program's modularity enables executives to fit classes and assignments into their schedules while managing rapid growth; the cutting-edge, research-based content we offer addresses participants’ developmental aspirations; and the dual location of the program between the United States and India makes attending the program convenient. These design features complement the School’s current portfolio of comprehensive general management programs, and attract a new segment of business leaders from exciting companies operating in India.” SELPI’s success, Palepu notes, prompted the School to extend the SELP platform to China and the Middle East.

Palepu leads a teaching team of 14 faculty members, whose expertise spans the breadth of the School’s research units. SELPI features global cases as well as those focused specifically on India and South Asia written with the assistance of HBS’s India Research Center. They are used to spark discussions during the four modules focusing on key topics relevant for today’s leaders:

• Strategic thinking in a global context
• Creating and delivering customer value
• Performance excellence and shareholder value
• Leading and negotiating
• Leveraging innovation and digital technologies
• Entrepreneurial thinking and disruptive change
• Becoming an authentic and accountable leader

SELPI features four modules that incorporate peer-to-peer collaboration through case discussions, guest speakers, and skill-building exercises that help participants with their individual strategy projects. The modules usually extend over the course of a year—the first is one week and takes place on the HBS campus; the second and third are each two-week modules and are taught in the classroom at the Taj Lands End in Mumbai; and the last module, also two weeks, concludes on campus.

In 2020, however, the program’s current cohort of 74 senior executives from South Asia and the Middle East faced an unexpected interruption because of the pandemic, forcing the postponement of the fourth module until this September. Nevertheless, cohort members kept in touch to support one another and share insights during the global crisis.

“Learning from SELPI helped me prepare for challenges that our organization faced during the pandemic,” says Rochak Langer, chief operating officer of Indian Super League. “Strategic innovation and driving digital growth were the needs of the hour and enabled us to disrupt and redefine our long-term business objectives. Regular knowledge sharing between the cohort members aided the thought process on innovation. Through SELPI, I gained a better understanding of leadership during emergencies, conflicts, and while facing other challenges, which I was able to put into practice in these testing times.”