Accelerating India's Growth Through Management Education

Conclusion by Dipak C. Jain, Dean of INSEAD

"India is a big country, and the challenge is to be inclusionary," said INSEAD Dean Dipak C. Jain, concluding the India Business Dialogue session on Saturday, 25 February, in Mumbai. He further stressed the need to  manage the country's wide diversity of thoughts, to be humble, and to "be yourself," recalling the homily "when your shadow becomes longer than your height, remember the sun is about to set."

Dean Jain also questioned how business schools can best adapt themselves to be relevant to the transformation of global business. He referred to his experience when, as a Board member of United Airlines, he was asked his opinions regarding how to gain a competitive edge over American Airlines. His reply: "the biggest competition is video conferencing not another airline."

Referring to the evolution of management education, he referred to the Ford Commission's 1959 watershed investigation into the future of management education for and the ensuing shift from the Harvard-based tried-and-true case study method to a more analytical approach. "This was a shift from 'relevance' to 'rigor'," he said. "Today, we need more 'experiential global learning' which also incorporates ethics and values - a combination of rigor and relevance. Students need to understand not only WHAT happened, but also HOW and the need to understand under what conditions things could have gone another way."  He also stressed the importance of a company's delivering on the promise inherent in its branding.

Dean Jain said a school's "reputational currency" is important in building a successful future, but so is hard currency - the sort many US schools have in the way of endowments. "This is like a shock absorber for schools when economic times are tough," he added. "European schools do not have this tradition of philanthropy, and we will have to build one."

On the educational front Dean Jain said it was important to include emerging markets in the global business school curriculum, and hopes to create a study center on this theme at INSEAD's Singapore campus. He reminded the audience of the high regard in which Indian parents hold education for their children and added, "There is so much talent in this country...we just have to be sure it goes down the right avenue. We have all the ingredients here, but if we want to take India to the next level, we have to bring it all together."

Entrepreneurial Leadership

Corporate life is a long-haul game.  Raj Jain, CEO of Walmart India, and Rajiv Verma, CEO of Hindustan Times Media Group, share their leadership experiences and lessons learned.  

In conversation with INSEAD professor of entrepreneurship Balagopal Vissa. 

What makes a good leader? 

It’s all about an idea and a passion to succeed.  Great leaders, whether from entrepreneurs or professionals, are also great communicators. It's about connecting with people – great leaders have an enormous capacity to connect.  It’s best practice to always hire teams that are good at your weaknesses.  Leadership is about accepting your weaknesses and it’s important to be humble.  The great Indian middleclass culture gives values that are timeless.  It is important to engage with the team in the early period as it goes a long way in getting alignment.  Jain
 

Sometimes you build teams and sometimes you inherit the team. How do you deal with that challenge?

You create a framework of shared values, especially for those who are working at a distance, away from headquarters.  Also, getting the right people on the bus and wrong people off the bus is very critical when faced with an inherited team.  Verma 

How do you manage change in the company?

Bringing in young talent is important for change to percolate. Verma

The Walmart philosophy is that ordinary people can do extra ordinary things if given opportunity. 75% of Walmart sales persons are those who started at the bottom. Jain 

What are some success factors?

There are no short cuts to the top.  You need to prove yourself all the time. An eye for detail is also important for success and to have an understanding of both depth and width across functions. Verma

Take the opportunity to work in geographies and different industries.  Jain

Keep an eye on the long term, but make short steps. While trying to reach the top, try to think what legacy you are going to leave behind.  Verma

"I am extremely bullish about India" - Adi Godrej

Established in 1897, the Godrej Group is a family-controlled conglomerate in Mumbai, with a broad range of business interests.  In the morning’s keynote dialogue, the company’s chairman Adi Godrej spoke with INSEAD Dipak Jain.  Below is a summary of his remarks. 

During the second half of 2011, India was hit by a serious of setbacks that included high-profile political corruption scandals, soaring inflation and a depreciating rupee.  Beginning in 2012, the situation has improved with some visible government action.  The upcoming state elections will be critical to seeing much-needed political reforms go through.  But India’s fundamentals are in place. The biggest growth driver for India is its demography.  In order to leverage the demographic dividend, India has to pay a lot of attention on education and on training and skills development.   This is critical.

On education, India produces far too few PhDs.  There is no dearth of educational institutions in India but the quality of graduates is a concern.  The emphasis should be on skills development coming from both companies (as part of their CSR) and government.

The Godrej group has been on an acquisition spree, making about ten international acquisitions in the last five years.  The most important part when making acquisitions is due diligence in the human resources segment.   The company intends to stick to what it knows best - manufacturing - and building on its established businesses. 

From a management perspective, the critical success factors in India are keeping abreast of how the Indian consumer is evolving.  Indian consumers are changing very rapidly and you need to be able to understand them.  The other area is managing growth as companies are growing rapidly.  There are implications for human capital and talent here. 

PROGRAMME

• 9:30am Registration and Breakfast 
• 10:00am Welcome - Dinesh Dayal, MBA'84J, Chief Operating Officer, L'Oreal, President of the INSEAD Alumni Association, India 
• Opening Remarks Paddy Padmanabhan, The John H. Loudon Chaired Professor of International Management, INSEAD Bala Vissa, Professor of Entrepreneurship, INSEAD 
• 10:10am Keynote Dialogue Adi Godrej shares his thoughts, experiences and insights on what makes a a successful business leader who can effectively capitalize on growth opportunities in emerging India and beyond. Adi Godrej, Chairman, Godrej Group Dipak C. Jain, Dean, INSEAD
• 10:55am CEO panel: Entrepreneurial Leadership What are the challenges and the opportunities for entrepreneurial leadership in emerging India? The panel of seasoned corporate leaders share their insights about building businesses and organisations within India and beyond. Panelists: Raj Jain, President, Walmart India Rajiv Verma, CEO, HT Media Limited Moderator: Bala Vissa, Professor of Entrepreneurship, INSEAD 
• 12:10pm Coffee Break 
• 12:30pm CEO Dialogue: Building Growth Ventures How do you create a winning partnership between entrepreneurs & PE investors? Leading entrepreneurs and PE investors join us in an open dialogue to take a candid look at the successes and pitfalls of such partnerships. Panelists: Dhanpal Jhaveri, Partner and CEO, Everstone Capital VSS Mani, Founder and CEO, Just Dial Limited Moderator: Claudia Zeisberger, Professor of Decision Sciences and Entrepreneurship and Family Enterprise, and Academic Co-Director, Global Private Equity Initiative (GPEI), INSEAD 
• 1:30pm Global Management Education: Driving India’s Growth In recent years, India has emerged as a rising economic superpower, with its rapid growth fuelling exceptional development opportunities. In this session, Dean Dipak C. Jain provides his insights about the leadership qualities required to manage India's future in the context of globalisation. Dean Jain also will share his ideas on how India can harness its leadership potential and entrepreneurial talent through management education. Dipak C. Jain, Dean, INSEAD 
• 2:00pm Buffet Lunch followed by Networking Reception

Registration at the Taj Lands End in Mumbai

Entrepreneurial Leadership: Driving India’s Growth

As the last decade has shown, India’s long term growth prospects remain strong. While this rapid growth is a huge opportunity for Indian firms, it also presents many challenges. One key challenge is the relative dearth of entrepreneurial general managers who can provide the strong business leadership required to successfully capitalize on growth opportunities. What can business leaders do to identify and execute on growth opportunities? How can Indian managers gain world class leadership and entrepreneurial skills?
As the Business School for the World, INSEAD aims to participate in a sustainable way in the India growth story. At the INSEAD India Business Dialogue, we bring together fore-running INSEAD academics and established speakers to lead about 200 senior business and media executives, as well as INSEAD alumni from around India and the globe, for a day of debate and discussion around this topic. The sessions include dialogues with successful business leaders, panel discussions as well as many networking opportunities.
The INSEAD India Business Dialogue is held in conjunction with the INSEAD Leadership Programme for Senior Indian Executives (ILPSIE). For more details on ILPSIE, please visit this website.