India needs more women and people to be part of growth story: Sunil K Munjal

The Indian School of Business (ISB) with campuses at Hyderabad and Mohali is hosting some of the biggest names in global academia and Indian industry in the area of Corporate Strategy for the Strategic Management Society (SMS) Special Conference being held from December 17-19, 2013 at the School’s Mohali campus.  ISB is hosting this conference in association with the Strategic Management Society, after a gap of five years. The previous SMS India conference was hosted by the ISB at its Hyderabad campus, in 2008, when late Professor C K Prahlad was the conference Chair.

The Day 1 of this conference started on a high note with Sunil Kant Munjal of the Hero Group delivering the keynote address along with a host of other panelists from India and abroad including J Rajagopal, TCS; Rajesh Sud, Max Life Insurance; Freeman Shen, Geely Holding Group; Professor S Ramakrishna Velamuri, CEIBS; and several other business leaders and academic experts both from India and abroad.

Delivering the keynote, Sunil Kant Munjal, Chairman, Hero Corporate Services Ltd and Member, ISB Executive Board said, “India has been one of the most globalised nations in the world, contrary to popular perception. The idea of India holds us together. When you look at India, you have to look at it as a continent in proportion.  Everything about this country is true and so is the converse.  Therefore, this should make for a very interesting research question for scholars.” He shared the growth story of the Hero Group starting with the humble origins in the early 1950s, the initial period of growth during the licence raj, the alliance with Honda, subsequent separation and the family business transition.  Munjal also invited scholars from around the world who were at the conference to participate in the India growth story by providing their critical inputs. 

Ending on a positive note, Munjal said “India must not be a nation, only of scientists and technocrats. We need more women and people from diverse backgrounds to be part of this growth story. Institutions like the ISB will facilitate the growth of emerging India.”

Ajit Rangnekar, Dean, ISB said, “ISB is proud to host an international conference like the Strategic Management Society Conference at our campus in Mohali. Amidst the rapidly changing business landscape and our mission to increase interest in management best practices of the emerging markets, including India, we believe the conference will elicit meaningful discussion, strengthen dialogue between academic scholars and industry experts thereby giving impetus to management research in corporate strategy.”

Today, emerging economies are the world’s growth engines, with countries like India offering vast opportunities for quantitative and empirical innovation within the field of strategy research. Against this background, this year’s conference will focus on the premise of emerging economies analyzing corporate strategy of India vis-à-vis other emerging markets, rising opportunities and challenges, social impact of businesses and much more. The conference aims to build on the premise that emerging economies, like India, offer rich opportunities for innovative theoretical and empirical innovations to strategy research.

The conference has attracted 200 participants from 19 countries present over 100 papers through traditional paper presentation sessions, interactive sessions, panels and plenaries encompassing following themes -

• Doing Business in China vs. India: Prospects and Challenges
• Models of Management: What is Unique and What is truly Global about Strategy in India?
• Doing Well by Doing Good: Examining the New Social Compact of Business
• The Role of Business Groups in Emerging Economies like India: Opportunities and Challenges 
• R&D in Emerging Economies