The 5th Biennial Indian Academy of Management Conference 2017 concluded at IIM Indore on December 20, 2017. The conference witnessed more than 180 paper presentations, various workshops and round table discussions.
The last day of the conference began with a workshop on Common Shortcomings in Manuscript Submitted to Management Journals. The workshop was conducted by Professor Naresh Khatri Khatri (ex-Vice President and incoming President, INDAM) from University of Missouri, USA and Professor Arup Varma (Former President and co-Founder of INDAM from Loyola University, Chicago USA. Professor Varma discussed about the common problems associated with manuscripts from India and how to overcome them. Professor Khatri gave numerous tips to the participants on improving the academic writing skills.
This was followed by a round table discussion on the theme Leadership, Values and Ethics: Indian Insights. The panelists for the discussion included Professor B. Mahadevan, Vice Chancellor, Chinmaya Vishwavidyapeeth; Swami Samarpananda, Ramkrishna Mission, Vivekananda University; Professor Dharm P.S. Bhawuk, Shidler College of Business, USA and Professor E.S. Srinivas, XLRI Jamshedpur. Professor Srinivas moderated the session. He requested the speakers to bring in our ancient wisdom to overcome contemporary challenges in leadership. Swami Samarpananda linked the Indian way of management with Indian way of life to explain the concept of inclusiveness. Professor Mahadevan spoke on failed leadership by integrating learnings from Bhagwad Gita. Professor Bhawuk shared his views on Indian construct of leadership.
The second half of the last day began with a professional development workshop on Panchatantra was conducted by Professor N. Ravichandran. His talk revolved around what Panchatantra can offer to the administrators. ‘Learning takes place when you can touch the heart and kind of he learner. Storytelling is one of the best ways of teaching and communicating ideas’, he said. Sharing various Panchatantra stories, Professor Ravichandran said that we should decide our strength and power by our own thoughts and not rely on what others think of us. ‘You don’t need external endorsement to move ahead in life’, he suggested. He concluded his talk mentioning that these stories may not be much relevant in today’s scenario, however with a bit articulation, their learnings can be used to make better individuals, administrators and leaders.
Another workshop on Indian Soft Power: Learning Through Yoga, Poetry and Music was conducted by Professor Jyoti Bachani, Professor Ashish Pandey and Professor Vasanthi Srinivasan. The workshop focused on Indian soft-power being spread through poetry, music, culinary, yoga, etc. and how it has become progressively well known in the world. The experts discussed how poems can help in contributing to build more humane side of management; and how music can help in connecting people and establishing better inter-personalized relationships.
The conference concluded with an award ceremony wherein the winners of the best papers were felicitated. Details are as follows:
- Joint Winners
Submission 74, (Organizational Innovation: An Analytical Study of Transformational Leadership, Creative Self-Efficacy and Physical Work Environment in Indian Automobile Industry) – Authors: Akriti Chaubey and Chandan Kumar Sahoo
Submission 14 – (Socio-structural Embeddedness in Board Interlocks: Examining Firm Performance of Ordinary and Indian Business-Group firms) – Authors: Jaideep Ghosh and Amitava Dutta
- Joint Runners
Submission 300 (Linking Interactional Injustice to EVLN Outcomes: Effects of Psychological Contract Violation and Conscientiousness (A moderated mediation model) – Authors: Arpana Rai & Upasana A Agarwal
Submission 96 (The Impact of Trust on Online Shopping Attitude Among Women Shoppers in India)—Authors: Nupur Arora & Aanchal Aggarwal
Each of the two winners would get a prize of Rs. 30,000/- and the two highly recommended awards would receive a prize of Rs. 20,000/-.
During the valedictory function, Professor Rishikesha T. Krishnan, Director, IIM Indore; commended the conference team for their continuous efforts and thanked the delegates and INDAM committee in the joint efforts in successfully organizing INDAM 2017. ‘Our aim at this Institution is to hold at-least one important conference every year. Our objective is to encourage management research and enhance the quality of management education in India. Through these conferences we try to big together the best minds in India and across the world to discuss their ideas and best practices’, he said.
Professor Naresh Khatri (ex-Vice President and incoming President, INDAM) also congratulated IIM Indore for wonderful hospitality. ‘This is the beginning of a golden era for management research and education in India. Indians have so much intellectual power and I believe we have the potential to become the best’, he noted.
Professor Sushanta K. Mishra (co-Chair INDAM 2017 and Faculty, IIM Indore) said that the conference sessions and workshops were organized in such a way that learning was given the most importance. He thanked the foreign and national delegates, participants, INDAM and the coordinating team in making the conference a success.
The conference provided immense opportunities to identify new opportunities in bringing Indian knowledge and insights to the management research.