IIM Indore concluded 'Colloquium 2018: the Annual Business Conclave' yesterday. The conclave was organized by the Industry Interaction Cell of IIM Indore and spanned over two days. The theme for this year was "The Elevator Story". The conclave was graced by industry stalwarts like Mr. Gunjan Srivastava, MD and CEO at Bosch and Siemens Home Appliances (BSH), Mr. Amitabha Sinha, Partner, Cornerstone, Mr. Vijay Khandelwal, Head of Customer Service Unit at Amdocs, and Mr Sandeep Chaudhary, the CEO of AON Consulting, India and chair of the Emerging Markets Council.
Day 1 of Colloquium 2018 began with a speech by Professor Siddhartha K. Rastogi, Chair of Placements at IIM Indore who introduced the theme of the conclave this year.
Mr. Gunjan Srivastava, MD and CEO at Bosch and Siemens Home Appliances (BSH) was present for the day 1 of the conclave. Mr. Srivastava shared the story of BSH in India, elaborating on how the company has turned its attention towards emerging markets and attributed BSH's success to the company's focus on product diversification. With a focus on storytelling rooted in consumer insights, the company has reported 19% brand awareness in India making it an incredible success story.
Mr. Srivastava's talk was followed by a panel discussion on the topic: "World Class Business Practices: Difficult to Replicate in the Indian Industry". Mr. Gunjan Srivastava, MD and CEO at Bosch and Siemens Home Appliances, and Mr. Amitabha Sinha, Partner, Cornerstone participated in the discussion.
The discussion was moderated by Professor Srinivas Gunta from IIM Indore and witnessed the exchange of enthralling ideas like the existence of different ways in which the west and the east look at business practices. They put stress on combining people and technology where cost-cutting is a challenge and semi-automation is an advantage to people and the working preferences of Indians. With this, the panel discussion concluded on a note of integration of business practices across the globe.
Mr. Amitabha Sinha, Partner, Cornerstone was the second speaker for the day. Mr. Sinha shared his insights on topics like leadership development through his own experiences and talked about the change that can be witnessed from earlier times to now in terms of options that people have, with a special emphasis on the ease of going abroad for our generation. The talk ended on a high note with Mr. Sinha emphasizing on the importance of "being yourself" to become a successful leader.
Day 2 of Colloquium 2018 started with a talk by Mr. Vijay Khandelwal, Head of Customer Service Unit at Amdocs, on Era of Digitization: Power of Growth. He shared his personal experiences, his work in the IT and Communications sector for over 24 years. He went on to talk about it is imperative to build capabilities and adaptabilities to changing times. Finally, he concluded with a lesson on accountability: "Ownership and accountability are not about 'Why can't I do it?' and more like 'How can I make this happen?'"
Mr Sandeep Chaudhary, the CEO of AON Consulting, India and chair of the Emerging Markets Council, was the second speaker for the day. He led the discussion by stressing on the importance of personal evolution along with building your professional competencies. He also told students that an organisation must establish the "Why" of its mission before anything else. Mr. Chaudhary concluded by expressing that it was always a pleasure to interact with the leaders of India's tomorrow.
