Accenture and Indian School of Business Launch Accenture Management Development Academy in India

Program focused on developing key delivery-management skills of IT professionals

HYDERABAD.— Accenture (NYSE: ACN) and the Indian School of Business (ISB) have launched the Accenture Management Development Academy in India, an online, classroom and on-the-job training program designed to develop and nurture leaders from Accenture’s mid-level management in India.

The Accenture Management Development Academy in India is a unique and innovative career-development opportunity for Accenture employees. It is designed to help distill best practices from academia, industry and also bring additional focus to the critical delivery-management skills of Accenture professionals focused on providing systems integration, technology consulting and outsourcing services.

The Centre for Executive Education and the Centre for IT and Networked Economies (CITNE) at the ISB have partnered with Accenture to develop the curriculum for the Academy, with CITNE bringing its cutting-edge research to enrich the program.

The Academy will offer 18- to 24-month programs for the first three levels of Accenture middle management in India: team lead, associate manager and manager. The curriculum for each program covers strategic and tactical aspects of management and has been designed to enable Accenture employees to develop a strong foundation in key delivery management skills as they work on career advancement. Employees who complete the program will be awarded a certificate for excellence in delivery management.

“Attracting, developing and retaining top talent is a critical component of Accenture’s high-performance strategy and critical to our ability to deliver exceptional client service,” said Karl-Heinz Floether, Accenture’s group chief executive – Systems Integration, Technology and Delivery. “We are excited to have the opportunity to work with the Indian School of Business to provide this innovative program to our people.”

Deepak Chandra, associate dean of Executive Education at ISB, said, “The Centre for Executive Education at the ISB has been conducting customized programs for large companies, developing leaders at every level. We are committed to reaching out to different sections of society to develop leadership talent that will have a positive impact on emerging economies. Our collaboration with Accenture is an important step in this direction, especially in the IT sector.”

Sandeep Arora, managing director of Accenture Delivery Centre for Technology in India, said, “Our collaboration with the Indian School of Business has resulted in a powerful program that will allow us to accelerate the development of delivery management capability of our mid-management workforce through on-the-job work experience, formal classroom-based training and self-initiated study.”

“Our collaboration with Accenture reinforces our commitment to make world-class education easily accessible in emerging economies,” said Ajit Rangnekar, deputy dean of ISB. “ISB faculty from the Centres of Excellence and international faculty from top business schools will participate in this program. We hope that through this program we will be able to promote the development of sustainable solutions for growth economies.”

Accenture invested US$776 million in training during the company’s last fiscal year, ending Aug. 31, 2007, and the Accenture Management Development Academy in India is the latest example of company’s commitment to advancing its employees’ professional and technical skills.