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IIM Indore, in association with GIZ Germany, is organizing a two-day online conference on ‘COVID 19: Learnings & Implications for Management’. This conference offers a diverse forum for academicians, practitioners, industrialists, and students to discuss the issues, challenges, and advancements in managing the global pandemic. The conference was inaugurated online by Prof. Himanshu Rai, Director, IIM Indore, and Mr. Amit Paliwal, Program Director, GIZ India, on April 16, 2022. Prof. Mit Vachhrajani, Conference Convenor and Faculty, IIM Indore and Prof. Pritam Ranjan, Dean – Research, IIM Indore; Prof. Abhishek Mishra, Faculty, IIM Indore; Prof. Subin Sudhir, Chair – Executive Education, IIM Indore; and Prof. Sushant Mishra; Faculty, IIM Bangalore were also present.
In his welcome address, Prof. Himanshu Rai shared his thoughts on how the COVID pandemic has provided us an opportunity to build our vision, introspect, and discover. He noted that similar to every organization with an established vision, we, humans, should also have a vision for ourselves. ‘Having a vision helps us identify our purpose of existence. As teachers and research scholars, we need to find our purpose and then work hard towards achieving it. Thus, while you attend this conference, utilize this opportunity to build your network and decide where you are headed’, he explained. He mentioned that being a teacher makes a person a leader. ‘Whether you like it or not, your students will definitely follow your actions. Set an example for them by choosing the right thing and making the right decisions at the right time. Take a pause in this busy life, introspect, and then choose your action’, he said. He advised the participants not to measure their self-worth based on the designation. ‘Your identity is who you are and what you are passionate about. Do not dwell on your superficial identity of holding a designation or a position – for once you lose it, your identity would be lost’, he concluded.
Mr. Amit Paliwal shared his delight over collaborating with IIM Indore. He noted that the past two years had been the most challenging times for the world, especially in India. Millions of people have lost their lives, and the economic sectors have faced disruptions like never before. The industries that usually were not affected by the environment, like education and healthcare, also saw a massive shift in their working methods. ‘This fruitful association with IIM Indore has provided us with an opportunity to provide a platform for the academicians, industrialists, and researchers to come together and share their ideas to figure out how India can emerge even stronger in the post-pandemic era’, he said.
Industry Guest Speaker, Mr. Madhav Kalyan, MD & CEO, JP Morgan Chase Bank India, threw light upon the impact of COVID on the banking sector. He said that the pandemic has resulted in a disruption in demand, supply, and financial shock, thereby resulting in an economic downturn. ‘The five major long-term implications that we could manifest in the post-pandemic India are low-interest-rate environment, accelerated digitalization of financial services, slowing down of a customer-bank relationship and communication, coupling of digitalization of transactions with the traditional banking system, weakness in banks’ balance sheets and regulation. ‘Inflation has been a persistent problem for the last few decades. However, with the pandemic, we also witnessed problems in the demand-supply chain in the economic sector. The strict social distancing norms have also encouraged the banks to restructure their policies and network while strengthening their customer relationships and retainment. The digital and cashless payment system initially became a threat to the intermediate role banks played; however, with the new policies by the government and the RBI, the banks are once again recovering’, he explained. He noted that the lower economic activity and supply-chain bottleneck are the challenges that need to be resolved. ‘The pandemic has proved that even though the second wave was extreme and the huge impact, our economic system was resilient and strong enough to rebound and is on the way to recovery. It is time that we now take this post-pandemic scenario as an opportunity to strengthen it further, he concluded.
The day concluded with paper presentations on various tracks that would continue tomorrow. A panel discussion on the topic ‘Challenges faced by educators during the pandemic’ will also take place. The three best paper awards will also be announced tomorrow during the valedictory session.