March 08, 2009: Continuing with its tradition of corporate interaction and in an attempt to increase awareness among budding managers, IIM Indore played host to a series of guest talks on Corporate Governance and its relevance in these troubled times. Corporate governance in simple terms is the rules, policies and methodologies a corporate follows to run an organization. To ensure harmony between all the stakeholders of the organization, to safeguard their interests and to drive the organization ahead, effective corporate governance becomes imperative. |
The session on Corporate Governance was opened by Mr. S Sandilya, Non executive Chairman, Eicher Motors India. He started the seminar by giving the term Corporate Governance a simple yet a compelling meaning. According to Mr. Sandilya, corporate governance is all about creating value for all stakeholders of the organization in a sustaining manner by following all legal and ethical means. Mr. Sandilya explained to an eager audience the reasons why Corporate Governance is necessary. Improving the image of the organization and plans of globalization were some of the major reasons. As he rightly put – Good governance leads to good processes and good processes to good name. Mr. Sandilya also explained how Corporate Governance could be implemented in an organization. He laid emphasis on having a robust system where effectiveness is monitored. The companies should be fair, open to communication, transparent, trustworthy and most importantly the leaders of the organization must lead by example. Mr. Sandilya also spoke about his numerous experiences at Eicher motors and their corporate governance methods. He concluded the session by talking about Self Governance and how a team of self governed individuals leads to a self governed corporation which in turn leads to a great organization.
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The 2nd talk was on “IT Industry Overview – Significance to Corporate Governance‿ by Mr. Ashank Desai – Founder of “Mastek‿ and Founder member of NASSCOM. Mr. Desai spoke about the changing IT conditions, which led to changes in the way corporate governance is exercised. IT industry has evolved from a business-to-business model to a person-to-business model. And the only way to ensure growth in such a fiercely competitive industry is to have strong corporate governance in place. IT becomes an enabler for open communication in turn aiding efficient corporate governance. He concluded his talk by emphasizing the fact that India being the leading country in the emerging markets for IT, this sector must practice high levels of corporate governance. Mr. Kamlesh Vikramsey, a partner in Khimji Kunverji & Co. Mumbai started off the post-lunch session. He spoke about financial reporting intricacies, the players involved in corporate governance and the frauds that have occurred throughout history.
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Having defined clearly what corporate governance actually is and its gamut of implications, Mr. Kamlesh went on to list out the stakeholders of Corporate Governance. In the aftermath of the Satyam debacle, he spoke about the responsibilities of the CEO, CFO, COO and the executive and non-executive directors towards Corporate Governance. He also addressed the role of the Board of Directors and their accountability to shareholders and spoke about the “conflict of interest" issues that need to be handled by the board. Mr. Kamlesh highlighted various internal committees and their roles with respect to corporate governance. He specially mentioned the role of the Audit committee in avoiding accounting frauds. He pointed out the role of internal and external auditors, the independence they need to preserve and how they must not undertake any activity that compromises that aspect. Next, he spoke about the aspect of the “voice of shareholders" and how shareholder activism is in the nascent stage in India vis-à-vis that in the west. In conclusion, Mr. Kamlesh gave examples of accounting frauds across the world. Some of the most notorious frauds, which include Worldcom, Enron, Madoff and Satyam, were highlighted. He spoke about the speech of the US president Barack Obama on the lack of regulations even in the U.S market. From corporate governance, the conference shifted to corporate spirituality, with an esteemed guest on campus, Swami Shri Bodhamayananda Ji. Swami Ji has been with the Ramakrishna mission since 1984 and has to his credit around 430 workshops on personality development, management, etc., covering 52,000 students, faculty and others. With quotes of the great Swami Vivekananda, Swami Bodhamayananda Ji spoke about the evolution of humankind, and how nature has been explored as well as exploited. According to him, it is at this crossroad that spirituality comes into play. By means of the story of Lord Neelkantha, Swami Ji explained how the same philosophy of battling pollution (in the form of various vices) could be applied in modern times. He mentioned the fact that many corporate today look out to visionaries like them, to spread spirituality and help them achieve happiness. Swami Ji spoke of the need for a guiding light within the untrained mind. Explaining the difference between religion and spirituality, Swami Ji said, “A religious man looks for a list of Dos and Donts from God, but a spiritual man doesn’t rest until he has god himself." According to him, every individual is potentially divine and the goal of life is to manifest this divinity. His stories of Swami Vivekananda explained how the great saint tried to teach human beings self-actualization and realization. His mesmerizing speech and stories touched the hearts of every individual among the crowd. |
