Radix 2017 - Connect, Enthuse, Foster

A vision born in 2015, RADIX was the brainchild of the students of IIM Ranchi. The institute’s annual business conclave provides a base for the students to complement the learning imbibed in a B-school with the hands-on experience from the industry which they aspire to be a part of.

This year, IIM Ranchi hosted the 3^rd edition of the Business Conclave on the 28^th-29^th of January with the theme ‘Turning the ocean blue’.

"Redefining a market altogether by challenging the dogmas of competition strategy and pursuing differentiation & low cost simultaneously; creating a multi-horizon portfolio for growth."

Professor Amarendu Nandy of IIM Ranchi welcomed the guests and reiterated the core values of the Institute - honesty, humility and hard work.  It is this set of values that constantly guides the students to stand out in the world. The first speaker - Mr Rajib Basu, Partner, Risk Advisory, KPMG, started his talk by re-emphasising the difference between Red and Blue Ocean Strategy.

Mr Amit Pandey, the Chief operating officer of Exicom Tele Systems Ltd, inspired the students through his energy and experience. He talked about how a positive mindset is essential to create innovation.

Ms Sangeeta Sumesh, CFO and Executive Director, Dun and Bradstreet, gave real life examples of how companies in various industries are taking to create the niche market by reaching into the untapped potential. She encouraged pursuing differentiation and adopting ‘innovative thinking’.

A panel discussion followed, with the theme ‘Building Systems or Culture?’. Prof. Rohit Kumar of IIM Ranchi and the speakers elucidated their opinions on the topic. Each member of the panel took turns in answering broad questions on which holds more strategic importance and value, which is easier to imitate and what the nexus between the two is.

The last speaker for the day, Mr Pankaj Chadha, Partner, S. R. Batlinoi – Ernst & Young, said- “The speed is changing, innovation has become imperative and there is no pre-set design for innovation”.  He ended by emphasising that responding to change is important as it affects everybody.

After some great insights from speakers on day 1 of Radix – the second day commenced with a welcoming speech by Pratik Kanthe, President of the Student Council, IIM Ranchi.

The first speaker of the day, Ms Ishita Aggarwal, Financial Head, Asia-Pacific, Bombardier, shared various examples of innovation in the transportation sector across the globe. “Most times just an idea isn’t enough, you need a lot more”, she said. Talking about the theme she said, “A blue ocean is not permanent; it becomes bloody very quickly.” She also shared her insights on edge strategy, making profits out of under-utilized resources.

Ms Ishita Aggarwal, Bombardier

“When following a blue ocean strategy, it is important to protect that which is valuable to you and build a guard around your market share. Instead of venturing into a blue ocean bring a large fish in the red ocean”, said Mr Sriram Gopalaswamy, Head of commercial marketing, Lenovo.

Taking the topic forward, Mr Sanjay Kulkarni, Vice President (Business Head), Ester Industries, encouraged students to create opportunities by failing quickly. He referred to the Samudra Manthan story from Indian Mythology as an analogy to churn knowledge, plant experience and foster capabilities in order to come up with new products and services.

Mr Subhankar Ghose, Chief People Officer, Zoom Insurance Brokers Pvt. Ltd. talked about blue ocean strategy from the perspective of HR. A good culture, space, bosses and peers are the driving forces for promoting innovation and this is the huge challenge in today’s world, he said.

 Mr Jaideep Mallick, Associate VP, Godrej, stressed on the sustainability of a product for a longer duration as most organisations are risk-averse and lack the initiative to dream big and be different.

Mr Jaideep Mallick, Godrej

Mr Sandeep Tyagi, Director HR, Samsung Electronics, the last speaker for the day, talked about navigating across the ocean with a complex organisational structure using the right strategy for driving innovation and leadership.

The event ended with a vote of thanks and heartfelt expression of gratitude, delivered by Saad Hashmi, Secretary of the Student Council of IIM Ranchi, to the ten speakers, members of the faculty and participants, for being an essential part of the third edition of Radix and keeping up the vision of the conclave – To Connect, Enthuse and Foster.

For more about Radix 2017, visit https://www.facebook.com/Radix.Conclave.IIMR/