On 10th Feb 2015, Vinod Gupta School of management (VGSoM) hosted Prof. Pankaj Chandra , ex-director IIM Bangalore, for a guest lecture. The lecture was a part of the weekly guest lecture series Vaarta’15. Prof. Chandra is an alumnus of IT BHU. He received his PhD from Wharton Business School. After completing his PhD he joined IIM Ahmedabad as a professor. Later he became a part of IIM Bangalore where eventually he rose to the position of director.
Prof. Chandra started the session by quoting Dr. Raghuram Rajan's statement given as the chief economic adviser of Indian government, "Central question facing India". He reiterated the concerns puts up by Rajan and asked the students that is there a different way of thinking about growth. Prof. Chandra took the session forward by sharing the inspirational stories of path breaking firms like Amul, PBW, Akshay Patra and Aespironics.
Using these firms as an example Prof. Chandra urged the students to think in terms of short cycle growth rather than large scale growth. He explained how PBW managed to overcome odds against their growth and established a long lasting relationship with their customers. He pointed out the common characteristics that these firms had, which was scientifically driven and home-grown.
After a healthy discussion with the students on the need and requirements to start up small scale firms like these, Prof. Chandra concluded the lecture with the thought that why does a firm need to grow big in size. Can't it stay medium and still achieve its goal?
