Corporate Honchos to attend Conference at XLRI

JAMSHEDPUR (The Times of India, Dec 27): Perhaps for the first time, the XLRI, a premier business school of the country, has got the opportunity to host the conference of the

Indian Academy of Management (IAoM), the apex body of the management institutes pursuing the agenda of narrowing the gap between academia and practitioners in India, in the Steel city from Monday.

The three-day conference will witness the congregation of big and famous corporate honchos with several alumni of the IIMs, ISB, MDI and host XLRI chairing the boards of different divisions.

The IAoM is committed to promoting India-centric collaborative research efforts among scholars across the globe, and to try and bridge the gap between the academia and practitioners in India.

"This conference will bring together academics and practitioners from around the globe. We are happy to announce that Professor Angelo DeNisi (Immediate past president, Academy of Management, USA) and Professor Pradip Khandwalla (former director and professor, IIM Ahmedabad) have agreed to be the main speakers at the inaugural conference," informed Prof. Madhukar Shukla, a member of the organizing committee.

O P Bhatt, chairman, SBI, Venugopal Dhoot, chairman, Videocon and B Muthuraman, vice-chairman, Tata Steel, are among others who have confirmed their participation in the inaugural conference the theme of which is "Indian Management: Past, Present and Future". "Mr Bhatt, Mr Dhoot and Mr Muthuraman will be on the CEO panel that will deliberate on wide-ranging issues fundamentally related to the theme Wisdom perspectives, principles and practices in Indian businesses," informed Prof. Shukla.

The session will be moderated by Dr Prasad Kaipa, executive director, Center for Leadership, Innovation and Change (CLIC), Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad.

Dr Pradip Khandwalla, former director and professor, IIMA, and Dr S Ramnarayan, former professor IIMA and currently professor at ISB Hyderabad, are making presentations on December 29. And, on the same day, Dr Angelo DeNisi, the immediate past president of AoM and dean, School of Business, Tulane University, will deliver the keynote address "Management of Corporate Greatness".

"India is now again emerging as an economic power, and business schools are focusing on the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) nations instead of the Triadian market of the US, Europe, and Japan. Thus, it is important to further focus our research energy on Indian management and reveal about what is unique about Indian management good or bad, effective or inefficient, beautiful or ugly. This conference will be useful for researchers and practitioners who are interested in India in general and management practices related to India in particular," Prof. Shukla said.

In the light of the overwhelming response to the Academy of Management meeting held in Chicago in August last, it is expected that delegates (faculty, doctoral students and practitioners) representing several institutes from India and abroad are expected to participate in good numbers in the proposed conference.