The story behind the inception of the institute is one widely spoken about in management circles. Two powerful impulses lay behind the unheralded birth of XIME in May 1991. One was intensely personal and stemmed from what were both a dream and a promise. The other was entrepreneurial, the force that makes heroes of humble men and creates great institutions out of small beginnings.

The personal impulse was fulfillment of a promise that a loving father had made to his daughter who for her part had dared to dream of a model management school for India’s youth arising from their joint effort, but did not live to see it happen. The daughter was Maria Philip, a young university student of exceptional talent and profound idealism and the father was Prof. J. Philip who had made his mark in the field of management education as Director of the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore from 1985 to 1991. Five years after Maria died in a tragic accident, he led a group of kindred spirits in founding a school such as envisioned by his late daughter.

It was that band of experienced professionals who embodied the entrepreneurial spirit – unpretentious but robust – behind the founding of XIME. They included academics, professionals and high minded servants of the Catholic Church.
XIME, its staff and the students salute their vision and commitment in bringing up the institution from its modest origins, to what is a today a model school for India's rising youth and a force to reckon with on the B school map of India.