Day 1 Leadership Conclave

November 28, 2015

Indian Institute of Management started the two day conference by launching its flagship event-“Leadership Conclave 2015”. The event is sponsored by ICICI Bank and partnered by Reliance Industries Limited. It has caught the imagination of the corporate world as top leaders from companies like IBM, Reliance Industries Limited, ICICI Prudential, ABP News, Aramex International, JK Tyre & Industries Limited, Eveready Industries Limited and Wockhardt  Limited, to name a few, made their presence felt.

Director Prof Gautam Sinha along with the esteemed guests for the day inaugurated the conclave by the lighting of the lamp. In his welcome speech, Prof Gautam Sinha emphasised on the need to bridge the gap between academia and industry in today’s competitive world. This was followed by student’s presentation highlighting the achievements of IIM Kashipur and video showcasing “Journey at IIM Kashipur” was played. Mr. T. K Srirang, Head-HR, ICICI Bank sent an inspiring video message for the students, highlighting the exemplary  work being performed by the students of IIM Kashipur in their esteemed bank.

The event was divided in to three different panel discussions. The first discussion was on the theme, “From Agenda to Action-Meeting New Expectations”. Mr. Satyakki Bhatacharjee, Head HR, ABP News, presented the key note speech. He emphasised that action should not be limited to management; it should be extended to the individuals. He asked the students to develop risk appetite and set a career for themselves instead of becoming job seekers. The keynote speech was followed by panel discussion which was moderated by Prof Kampan Mukherjee, and it comprised of Mr. Rajiv Pal, AVP Marketing, Reliance Industries Limited, Mr. Anurag Goel ,Retired IAS Officer, Mr. Vijay Deshpande, VP & Head Human Resource , JK Tyre & Industries Limited.

The second discussion was held on the topic “Role of Technology in Today’s Corporate World” began with a key note speech by Mr. Srijnan Sanyal, Head Strategy & Delivery, Asia Pacific, IBM. This followed by the panel discussion. The panel comprised of  Mr Manoj Gupta, Mr Utpal Isser, Mr. Sanjay Dave,VP- HR Industrial Relations , Reliance Industries Limited,Ms. Dipti Das, Regional Manager HR – South Asia , Aramex International and was moderated by Prof Probir Bannerjee. The panellists discussed how technology has forced industry to rethink the way they have been traditionally doing business. Simultaneously, it is also forcing leaders to one-tune the way they manage and lead, and thereby, adapting to the new realities.

The third panel discussion was held on the topic “Boundary Spanning- How B-Schools Should Look Beyond Functional Leaders” began with a key note speech by Prof Abinash Panda, IIM Kashipur.  The panel comprised of Mr. Gitan Shah,Banking and Capital Markets, Mphasis, Mr. Santanu Ghoshal, Vice President – HR , Schaeffler India, Mr. Vishal Dewan, VP North Zone, ABB India Ltd. and was moderated by Prof Abinash Panda. The discussion was focussed on the key challenge for a leader in India is to manage multi-cultural workforce. They also discussed about the challenge of managing the conøict arising out of cultural schism.  The panellists concluded that the challenge for any leader is to close this schism and bridge the boundaries across cultural groups. The need for such leadership is no longer a choice.

The first day of the conclave culminated with the felicitation ceremony for partners in progress and a mesmerising bharatnatyam performance by Ragini Chandrashekhar organised by SPIC Macay.