The Institute of Business Administration (IBA)

The Institute of Business Administration (IBA) is an internationally acclamied, highly distinguished business administration university in Karachi, Pakistan. According to the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan, IBA is one of the best business and IT institutes in Pakistan. ] The IBA was set up in 1955 in collaboration with the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and is the first business school in South Asia set up on the U.S. MBA model. The school has alumni who are leaders in industry, government, and academia in Pakistan and abroad. It started as a business school within the University of Karachi. IBA's status was elevated to become an independent, degree-granting institution in Pakistan in 1994 when it received a charter from the Sindh government. In 2011, the Institute of Business Administration joined a group of seven other top business schools in South Asia, six from India and LUMS from Pakistan when it was awarded the coveted certification by the South Asian Quality Assurance System (SAQS). 

History

The IBA was established in 1955 by the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. The United States Aid for International Development (USAID) sponsored the program and approached the Wharton faculty to establish a business school in Karachi, Pakistan in order to meet the demand for business managers in the port city. IBA, Karachi, is the first ever business school sponsored by the Wharton School.

The IBA offered post-graduate programs only for day scholars. In 1957, an evening program in graduate studies was started to cater to the needs of working executives and managers who were interested in furthering their careers through part-time business studies. In 1982, a three-year BBA (Honors) program was introduced; this was upgraded to a four-year program by the Musharraf administration. The institute's graduate program offering includes executive MBA for banking and financial services professionals, corporate managers, and public sector executives. These programs require work experience in the industry, resulting in a high average age of the class – upwards of 30 years. Till 1994, the University of Karachi awarded degrees to the graduates. In that year the Sindh Assembly elevated the institute's status to that of a degree-awarding institution.

The Center for Computer Studies (now referred to as the Faculty of Computer Science) was established in 1983 with the collaboration of IBM, Pakistan. It offered a diploma in systems analysis. It now offers BBA (MIS),BS (Economics and Mathematics), MBA (MIS) and BS (Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Technology), MS (Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Technology), and Ph.D. programs. In addition, a Ph.D. program in MIS/Computer Science and Engineering/ICT was launched in August 2005. The Ph.D. degree has been expanded to include Operations Research, Artificial Intelligence, Cryptography, Numerical Analysis and Numerical Computing. The Center for Computer Studies is ranked number 1, according to the Higher Education Commission rankings. 

When established the university had its only campus, called University campus, at Karachi University. Later another campus, known as City campus, was established for evening studies. City campus now holds morning and evening classes.

In 2006 the Institute of Business Administration was granted 50 acres (200,000 m2) of land by the Sindh Government for the development of an Education City in Karachi. The Tabba foundation in Pakistan donated the institute Rs. 120 million for upgradate of facilities on the IBA campuses. A Masters in Business Administration (MBA) degree is aimed at understanding organisational systems and structures and within those structures an MBA imparts problem-solving and leadership skills. It is therefore a useful degree for a career in technical or general management. The Institute of Business Administration (IBA) was a pioneer in the field of management education when it began its MBA programme in 1955 at Karachi in collaboration with the Wharton School of Business. MBA degrees were highly valued and admission to the IBA, and later also in LUMS, was highly competitive.

The United States government and the IBA are to establish a centre for entrepreneurship at the school to support new businesses, help create Pakistani enterprises and link students with private sector venture capitalists. The centre is being funded with an initial investment of Rs.42.5 million ($500,000,) by USAID. Babson College is assisting with that effort. Babson, which has a strong reputation in the field of entrepreneurship, is helping IBA design an entrepreneurship curriculum, train its faculty and help it institute extracurricular activities such as business plan competitions and student clubs.