Many Indonesian companies prefer to hire students who have studied overseas based on the poor reputation of the local education institutions. Multi-national companies consider students who have studied overseas to have received a superior quality of education. These students also gain exposure to different viewpoints due to the multi-cultural environment at foreign universities, which makes them more qualified candidates for the workplace.

On top of that, for middle to high management levels, most companies in Indonesia would rather pay top dollars to hire expatriates who have proven track records in their own fields, rather than spending less by recruiting local people with a local education.

This made the Foundation realize that Indonesia was in desperate need of an educational facility which could compete with the best in neighboring countries and establish a set of best practices for Indonesian universities to emulate. Unfortunately, most universities in Indonesia are quite run down: they are not equipped with the latest technology and they struggle to compete with foreign institutions. Their case-studies are out-dated and replete with outmoded theories that can not address the needs of Indonesia’s corporate world.  

Sampoerna Foundation has acknowledged these issues, and has vowed to make a difference. SF determined that a bridge must be built to close the gap that exists in quality between internationally educated students, and locally educated students. The foundation proposes to transform a chosen Indonesian state university, which it will groom to become one of the best business schools in Asia, capable of providing a multi-cultural education experience which rivals that of the region’s leaders. This program has been named the Institutional Development Program (IDP).