Research, consulting, and executive education for South Asian enterprise.
A dedicated centre for applied management research, consulting, and executive education in the SAARC region.
The Centre sits within the Faculty of Management at South Asian University and serves as the Faculty’s institutional vehicle for engagement with industry, government, and public sector organisations across South Asia.
SAU is a university established by the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), serving Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. SAEIC extends that regional mandate into management scholarship and practice.
Studying the real problems of the region’s enterprises — and helping resolve them.
SAEIC is built on a single operating principle. Research, practice, and teaching are treated as one continuous activity. Engagement with enterprises and institutions raises the questions the Centre takes up. Findings move into teaching cases and executive programmes.
The Centre’s approved objectives are to promote applied research, industry consulting and problem-solving projects, and executive education (MDP and FDP). These strands anchor every engagement, programme, and publication the Centre produces.
Four pillars. One integrated practice.
Applied Research
Faculty and doctoral scholars study questions grounded in the working realities of South Asian organisations. Findings become peer-reviewed papers, teaching cases, and practice notes.
- People systems and organisational behaviour
- Digital work, AI, distributed teams
- Service delivery and operations
- Compliance, governance, ethics
- ESG practice
Industry Consulting
Advisory and consulting for corporates, PSUs, government bodies, and regional initiatives. Faculty-led, backed by SAEIC’s network of subject matter experts.
- Strategy and organisation design
- People, culture, leadership diagnostics
- Programme design for government initiatives
- Digital and AI transformation readiness
- ESG and governance reviews
Problem-Solving Projects
Short-cycle diagnostic and improvement projects with a defined before-and-after result. For specific operational issues where evidence and a measured change are the point.
- Written problem statement
- Baseline record of conditions
- Before-and-after result
- Partner-signed recommendations
Executive Education
Modular MDPs and FDPs built on the Centre’s research and consulting work. Short-format programmes for corporate cohorts and open-enrolment audiences.
- Typically two to five days
- Cases from SAEIC’s own engagements
- At SAU or on the partner’s site
- Open-enrolment and customised
Faculty-led. Expert-backed.
Every SAEIC engagement is led by South Asian University faculty and reinforced by subject matter experts drawn from the Centre’s network — senior industry leaders, former public officials, domain specialists, and PhD scholars with directly relevant sectoral experience.
Partners get the depth of a university faculty and the operating experience of practitioners who have worked in the sector, together, on the same engagement.
Four constituencies.
| Corporates | Consulting mandates, problem-solving projects, corporate MDPs, customised leadership programmes, teaching case development. |
|---|---|
| Public Sector Undertakings | Organisation design, workforce transformation, leadership and management development, programme evaluation. |
| Government bodies and departments | Programme design and evaluation, diagnostic studies, policy-adjacent applied research, capacity-building programmes for officers. |
| Regional and multilateral institutions | SAARC-facing studies, cross-country comparative work, regional convenings, executive programmes for South Asian officials and managers. |
Disciplined, documented, accountable to the partner.
Problem Statement
Every engagement begins with a written problem statement agreed between SAEIC and the partner. Scope, deliverables, and access to data are defined up front.
Baseline
Before intervention, the Centre records the current position in numbers wherever possible — what is happening today, measured against agreed indicators.
Before-and-After
Every project closes with a one-page result setting out the before-and-after position with evidence, signed off by the partner.
Three ways organisations engage SAEIC.
Consulting and Project Partners
Organisations that commission a consulting mandate or a problem-solving project with SAEIC. Engagements are scoped individually and close with a documented result.
Training Partners
Organisations that nominate managers and officers for MDP and FDP programmes — open-enrolment or customised. Programmes draw on SAEIC’s live engagements and faculty research.
Institutional Partners (MoU)
Organisations that enter a longer-term agreement covering consulting, training, student internships, and academic collaboration. MoUs may include pathways for sponsored employees to join the MBA-Executive programme and the Executive Ph.D.
Team.
South Asian University