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- 400 participants attend the online conference
- 180 paper presentations during the three-day conference
- CERE2021 to introduce the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award for Research Excellence’
- One panel discussion and four workshops held on the first day
IIM Indore Conference on Excellence in Research and Education (CERE) commenced on June 18, 2021 in online mode. The three-day conference’s theme is ‘Management Metamorphosis: Living with the pandemic’. The conference was inaugurated by Prof. Himanshu Rai, Director, IIM Indore. Over 400 participants, guests and delegates attended the conference virtually.
Welcoming the participants to the conference, Prof. Rai noted that CERE 2021 aims to focus on the challenges in management education amid pandemic. He also noted that this time, the conference will also be introducing a ‘Lifetime Achievement Award for Research Excellence’ which would be declared on the last day of the conference, June 20, 2021.
The highlight of the first day of the conference was an amazing panel discussion with the Directors of four IIMs namely, Prof. Bharat Bhasker, Director, IIM Raipur; Prof. Pawan Kumar Singh, Director, IIM Tiruchirappalli; Prof. Rishikesha T. Krishnan, Director, IIM Bangalore and Prof. Shailendra Singh, Director, IIM Ranchi; who shared their thoughts on the topic ‘Management Education: The COVID Challenges’. The session was moderated by Prof. Himanshu Rai. Prof. Rai noted that COVID has created an impact of everyone’s life and every sector, including the education. ‘We had to shift from offline to online mode drastically so that the learning does not suffer. Pandemic taught me to be compassionate—to understand that if the educational institutes have the facilities to adapt to the technology, its not necessary that the students living in the remote areas will also be comfortable with this change. They may not have the facilities and may not have the equipment to continue their learning with the speed we deliver the lectures. We ensured that the lectures were recorded and made available to these students, so that they don’t lag behind’, he said.
Prof. Bharat Bhasker threw light on the fact that all the industries are now moving towards artificial intelligence and machine learning. ‘The challenge is not the enhancement in technology, its about the fact that we are not able to move as fast as the technology. We need to find a way so that the robots, humans and humanoids are able to co-exist’, he said.
Speaking about management education, Prof. Pawan Kumar Singh noted that challenges in education system existed even before the pandemic, hence it is also the time to update the solutions to those challenges. ‘Offline and online education both have challenges. But the educational institutions need to focus on the problems we have been facing since long and develop the students in a way that they are able to face the changing world with strength and skills’, he said.
Prof. Rishikesha T. Krishnan focused on digital transformation and how the increase in data will help us in better research. ‘We now have abundant data and we understand the importance of data analytics. Hence, with the emerge in data technology, the educational institutes now need to focus on providing more specialised and tech-driven programmes’, he noted.
Prof. Shailendra Singh talked about the declining number of students in various exchange programmes amid the pandemic. ‘The educational institutes now need to focus on providing a revised curriculum which enhances the student’s skills. This pandemic has encouraged us to look for opportunities and provided a food for thought about how nature has made us thrive, not just survive’, he said.
The panel discussion brought some interesting insights to the participants from across the globe.
The day also witnessed four workshops which provided a platform to the participants to develop their research and publication skills. A workshop on Paper Development was conducted by Prof. Abrar Ali Saiyed, Ozyegin University. Another workshop on Conducting Case Research on Entrepreneurship was conducted by Prof. Anjan Ghosh, Narxoz Business School, Board of Director-Paul R. Lawrence Fellowships. A workshop conducted by Prof. Abhishek Srivastava, IIM Kashipur focused on Publication Tips, wherein he shared some insightful tips with the participants to enhance their publishing skills. The fourth workshop was conducted on Experimental Research, wherein Prof. Sudipta Mandal, Faculty, IIM Indore equipped the participants about the nuances of Experimental Research.
Day one of the conference concluded with a lot of enthusiasm among the participants, all set for the second day for paper presentations and plenary session.
The second day of the workshop would witness a workshop on Case Teaching by Prof. Srinivas Gunta, IIM Indore. A plenary session on the topic ‘Impact of Covid19 on Research in Management’ will also take place.