The Association of Management Development Institutions in South Asia (AMDISA) was established in 1988, with the initiative of leading management development institutions in the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) region. AMDISA is an international not-for-profit association, recognized by SAARC, the inter-governmental agency, as a professional association for consultative purposes. It has 209 members, of which 179 are Institutional Members, 2 Affiliate Members, 14 Corporate Members and 14 Reciprocal Members. Membership is available to management development networks all over the world.

This is the only Association which networks management development institutions across the South Asian Nations, through exchange of information, conducting regional conferences and providing a forum for academics and business leaders. The Association interfaces business schools with leaders interested in management development; promotes professional development of management faculty; provides institution building assistance to business schools and corporate management development centers in the region. AMDISA organizes institution-building workshops for Heads of Institutions, Faculty Workshops on frontier areas of management and inter-institutional cooperative research on contemporary managerial issues in South Asia.

AMDISA launched a global benchmark quality assurance and accreditation system for Business Schools in this part of the world called as South Asian Quality Assurance System with acronym as SAQS. SAQS is the quality assurance scheme run by AMDISA as a service to the management education profession worldwide. SAQS is the South Asian system of quality assessment, improvement, and accreditation of higher education institutions in management and business administration. Its fundamental objective, linked to the mission of the AMDISA, is to raise the quality and standard of management education. AMDISA facilitates standard setting, benchmarking, mutual learning, and the dissemination of good practice across borders. The SAQS Quality Label is intended to provide recognition beyond the domestic environment to institutions that, in addition to satisfying high quality standards in their national market, are also credible in the international arena.

It publishes a Newsletter three times a year and the South Asian Journal of Management, quarterly.

AMDISA is registered under Societies Registration Act, under Indian Law and is funded by membership subscription, corporate contributions and project assistance received from regional as well as global agencies and has received assistance from ILO, INTERMAN, Commonwealth Secretariat, Canadian International Agency, Asia-Pacific Development Centre.

AMDISA’s administrative structure includes the General Assembly of members held every two years, which elects an Executive Board. It has eleven members representing all member nations. The Presidents of National Networks in South Asia, Past Presidents of AMDISA and Vice Chancellor, University of Hyderabad are Invitees to the Executive Board. Its permanent Secretariat located in the University of Hyderabad Campus, Hyderabad, India, and is headed by an Executive Director. While the Secretariat serves the membership and initiates activity plans, its activities are hosted by member institutions in different countries of South Asia. The Secretariat houses a documentation centre and is equipped to organize meetings and seminars.