Indian Institute of Management Kashipur successfully conducted its second flagship Industry-Academia meet- ‘Coalescence’ on 9th of September, 2016. This was the first leg of Coalescence, ‘Samanway-the annual HR Meet’. The event was graced by some of the industry leaders of the likes of Human Resource country heads of companies like Amazon, Deloitte, Tata Steel, Mahindra Automotive, Reliance Jio Infocomm, JSW Cement, Godrej Industries, Thomson Reuters and many more.
The event was started off by the ceremonious lighting of the lamp marking the occasion. Professor Kunal Ganguly gave the invitation speech, inviting the delegates from the various companies and thanking them for their participation. The inaugural speech was delivered by Mr. Deepak Kulkarni, CHRO of Mahindra Automotive Limited. In his speech Mr. Kulkarni discussed about the Changing Business Environment: The Evolving Role of HR and IR Professionals. He stressed on the fact that “People are the only commonality among all industries and such meets help reduce gaps between academics and implementation of academics.”
Mr. Kulkarni elaborated on the various facades of human resource management that are changing with times and how the present scenario of human resource management differs from what used to be in yester years. “Skill shortage, economic flux, competitive pressure, global competition for talent, outsourcing labour, aging population and compliance remain the main challenges for the changing business environment.
His take on the industry and the role of HR intrigued the students. This was followed by an intensive session of question and answer between the students of IIM Kashipur and Mr. Deepak Kulkarni.
As a part of the “Go Green” initiative of IIM Kashipur, a plant sapling was presented to Mr. Kulkarni, which was to be planted at the new state of the art campus of IIM Kashipur.
Prof. K.N. Badhani delivered his speech on ‘Coalescence’ where he discussed how IIM Kashipur aims to bridge the gap between the “Too theoretical” approach of management education and the “Rule of thumb” approach of the industry. “IIM Kashipur strives to narrow down this gap so as to provide academically sound leaders in the industry to be the harbingers of change and progression.”
The first keynote speech was delivered by Mr. Raj Raghvan, Director, HR, Amazon on ‘Accelerating Agility and Leadership in a Rapidly Changing Business Environment. Mr. Raghvan delivered his keynote speech keeping Amazon in the context and relating how he tackled the human resource situations. He said, “The industry is fairly complex and FDI in India is still not open enough.” He stressed that the sole objective of any corporation should be to deliver values. He believes that Amazon’s objective is to “Transform the way India buys and sells.” He provided ample examples highlighting Amazon’s effort in helping build micro-entrepreneurs in India by providing more and more people a platform to sell their products.
“Amazon aspires to be Earth’s most customer-centric company”, he said to conclude his speech. His eloquent speech, supplemented by ample videos and presentations helped engage the students of IIM Kashipur in a drawn interactive session post conclusion.
Mr. Raghvan was also presented with a plant sapling which was to be planted in his name at IIM Kashipur’s new campus.
The second keynote speech was delivered by Mr. Kumar Nachiketa, VP, HR, Deloitte. He took the students of a different route of presentation, in which he directly engaged with the students on a one to one basis conversation. He conveyed his appreciation for ‘Coalescence’ and the speeches of other dignitaries. He stressed that agility and might were the signs of a leader's. He drew the example of banyan trees and bamboo shafts that can endure the knotty winds.
He even appreciated the willingness of IIM Kashipur students to pursue startups of their own and their willingness to contribute to disruptive technology. He said, “If one company does not do it, some other company will.” Hence he cleared the air about the first mover's advantage in the disruptive startup sphere.
He went on to engage the students with digital disruption. He discussed its potential with the students and urged them to tap it to venture forth with new startups.
A panel discussion followed Mr. Nachiketa’s speech. The panel consisted of Mr. Aniruddha Khekale, Group Director Human Resource, Emerson Process Management, Ms. Subhashree Pradeep, Deputy General Manager, Group HR, ATVS Logistics Services Limited, Mr. Sushil Kumar Barkur, Senior General Manager, Alkem Laboratories Limited, Mr. Srinivas KS, Associate Director & Head, Biocon Limited, Mr. Sandeep Joshi, Associate Vice President- HR, JCB India Limited, Ms. Renu Jethani, General Manager and Head-HR, Godrej Industries Limited, Mr. Kripesh P Hariharan, CHRO, Sterling Holiday Resorts Limited, Mr. Chetan Deshpande, Vice President Human resource, JSW Cement Limited, Mr. Vikas Khokha, Director Human Resource, Zimmer Biomet India, Mr. Shyam Sharma, HR Leader, eClerx Services india Limited and Mr. Vernon Fernandes, HR Business Partner, Thomson Reuters India Private Limited.
The topic for the first panel discussion was “Accelerating Agility and Leadership in a Rapidly Changing Business Environment.”
The final keynote speech was delivered by Mr. Partha Sarathi Mishra, CHRM, Tata Steel Limited.
He congratulated IIM Kashipur on the success of organizing of such an event where students of IIM get a chance to see human resource principle in action. He stressed on the importance of fundamental principles, learnt in class. “They form the basic building blocks of implementing management in organizations.” He even stressed on the changing perspective of Human Resource management in modern businesses compared to yester years.
A secondary panel discussion followed the third keynote speech. This discussion was on “Changing Business Environment: The Evolving Role of HR and IR Professionals”
Professor Kunal Ganguly of IIM Kashipur extended his vote of thanks to all the dignitaries thereby officially declaring the conclusion of Coalescence- Samanwaya 2016.