Training And Workshop

Shastri Indo-Canadian Guest Lecture Series: Report

Symbiosis Centre for Management Studies (SCMS), Pune was awarded the prestigious Shastri Conference and Lecture Series Grant (SCLSG) for organizing a lecture series on ‘Sustainability strategies - dealing with uncertainty. The lecture series went on for two days – 10th and 11th March 2022. The Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute is a binational organization that promotes understanding between India and Canada through academic activities and exchanges. The lecture series addressed several key challenges and innovations in different business domains pre and post- pandemic. The event was inaugurated by Dr. Prachi Kaul, Director of Shastri Indo- Canadian Institute who reflected on the core vision of Shastri institute and conveying her best wishes to SCMS for the lecture series. Dr. Adya Sharma, Director of SCMS, Pune also addressed the gathering and emphasized on the importance of sustainable strategies in today’s business environment.

The Day 1 of the series started with a lecture by Mr. Ashok Namboodiri on the topic ‘Strategic shift of Marketing to Digital paradigm’. Mr. Ashok is the CBO at ZEE Entertainment Enterprises Private Limited. In his lecture, he discussed how the role of Chief marketing offer has changed over the period of time. Big giant companies like Uber, Coco- Cola, Johnson and Johnson have removed the position of Chief Marketing Officer as there is a paradigm change in the marketing requirements. Career choices earlier were like Tunnel which have now turned into maize where you keep trying try new things and new roles and challenges. With regards to technology adoption, It took 467 years for Print to reach 1 billion people and just 4 years for Web 2.0 technology. The key implications of this dramatic digital shift are mainly led by consumer insights and behavior, partnerships, perpetual beta, Data and adopting a consistent and integrated approach. The future of Digital marketing is moving towards voice-powered technology like Alexa, Artificial Intelligence powered marketing, rise of micro-influence marketing and augmented reality. Mr. Ashok inspired students to leverage the knowledge and the things happening around them and experience what makes them feel good.

The session was followed by Dr. Boria Majumdar, who spoke on the topic ‘Management Lessons from world of Sports’. Mr. Majumdar is an academician, a researcher and a sports journalist. He talked about well-known Indian sports players who have represented India at the Olympics and their inspiring stories. The management lessons learnt from the stories of Indian cricket team, Badminton coach Gopichand, Deepa Malik, Abhinav Bindra, Neeraj Chopra and Sachin Tendulkar were really exciting and heart touching. He talked about some important management lessons learnt from the stories of Indian players. He discussed how Indian sports players represent the nation and perform for the country leaving behind their personal achievements, glory and ego. In sports, failure for a player is a public failure but sports also give an opportunity to redeem the failure in public and win hearts of public. Sports allows us to break down the barriers and to enjoy the challenges and always move forward in life without taking the pressure.

Day 1 came to a successful end with an insightful lecture by Mr. Saurabh Tripathi, Director, Risk Consulting at KPMG. He delivered a talk on the topic ‘Fintech is new normal’. Fintech refers to Computer programs and modern technologies used by business that provide automated and improved financial services. Fintech sector is growing day by day since 2008. It has grown at the rate of 2000% in last 10 years. It is the future if Financial Institutions. Fintech is adopted not only to outreach more customers but also to increase customer experience. Fintech covers a wide range of services like Personal Finance, Lending, Money transfer & remittances, Capital markets, Mortgage & Real Estate, Payments & Billing, Insurance Technology, Blockchain, Wealth Management and Regulatory Technology. On a global level 200 Bn $ worth investments have been made in Fintech in 2021. India’s FinTech landscape includes Payments, Lending Tech, Investment Tech, Insurance Tech and Net banking. Fintech is playing a great role in bringing up well-being of people in India. Government is promoting digital payment to enhance the base of taxpayers. Some Financial Institutions have turned the threat of FinTech into an opportunity. Country’s FinTech market is estimated to grow at a GAGR of 31% during 2021-25. So, FinTech is not a Buzz word, it is a Biz world.

Day 2 of the virtual lecture series started with a session by our guest of honour, Dr Bruce Kidd on ‘Sports Leadership after Covid-19’. Dr. Bruce Kidd, University Ombudsperson, Professor Emeritus, University of Toronto delivered a session on “Sports Leadership in COVID-19.” The session addresses a very important subject of sports and its importance at the micro and macro levels. The session highlighted why we should invest in sports and what a youth sport may be like. The sports participants should feel in sync with the sports program and should have access to equipment and necessary facilities. Also, sports programs should be sustained to have a lasting impact. The new challenges for students in sports management were also highlighted and discussed in the session. The session also provided food for thought to emerging sports leaders regarding the activities they should engage in.

The lecture was followed by Mr. Saurabh Nigam, Vice President- Human Capital at Omidyar Network India on the topic ‘People first in New Normal’. He emphasized on 3 points in HR management during and after pandemic. There is point of departure, point of arrival and preparing for new normal. In the last 2 years, working from remote location has increased. Employees are struggling to adjust to remote locations. 65% of the employees are struggling to maintain employee morale. More than one-third of the employers are facing difficulties with employee culture and employee productivity. In such a scenario there is a need to increase remote working culture. There is a requirement to expand contingent workforce. Organisations should be more resilient and focus on well-being of employees. New ways of working, policies, and processes need to be figured out. In the process of recruitment, skills required are to be redefined. It has become vital to learn new skills from various domains. Approach of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is to be adopted. He advised that old methods of rigid policies, processes, standardized hiring, and fixed skills are required to be relooked and reformed.

The lecture series concluded on a positive note with a discerning take on ‘Changing landscape of Education Sector’ by Dr Adya Sharma, Director, Symbiosis Centre for Management Studies, Pune.

The session provided a detailed insight into the drastic changes witnessed by the education sector in the last few years. The session highlighted the role of digitalization in education as well as the digital responsibility which comes attached with it. Dr. Adya also emphasized the key points of the National Education Policy which are in line with the changing landscape of education. The changing role of teachers and the importance of innovative pedagogy were discussed in detail. The session highlighted that educational institutions all over the world should address this change and make necessary amendments in their policies and procedures.

The lecture series received an overwhelming response. More than 800 attendees, including students, academicians, and industry professionals, were present at the two-day lecture series. It was a culmination of diverse ideas and opinions from across the globe, on the survival and sustainability of contemporary businesses in uncertain times, keeping with the spirit of Vaudhaiva Kutumbakam, The World is One Family. The lecture series was featured on more than 160 national and international platforms.

Link of one such media coverage:
https://www.business-standard.com/content/press-releases-ani/scms-pune-conferred-with- shastri-conference-and-lecture-series-grant-sclsg-122032100720_1.html