SIBM Bangalore organised ‘Colloquium-09’, a symposium on “The changed world and risk implications” for organisations on 10th September 2009. The event was saw speakers such as Dr. Jyoti Navare, Head of Department (Marketing and Enterprise), Middlesex University Business School, Sambasivan, COO, Deutsche Bank, Kalpana Balasubramanian, Director, KPMG and Dr. Harkant Mankad, Former Dean Emeritus, Russell Square International College, Mumbai. Prof. Pankaj Gupta, the Director of SIBM, welcomed the guests.
Dignitaries at the Colloquium held at SIBM Bangalore.
Prof. Gupta shared an anecdote about animals sensing tsunami earlier than their human counterparts by keeping their feet on the ground. The simple fact that a majority of human beings did not have their feet on the ground has led us all to the current recessionary times, he said. Dr. Jyoti Navare addressed the students, first by giving her academic insights about change and risks in the world today. She posed a simple question – Is this a changing world or a changed world? The globalised world has led to a lot of de-traditionalising of values and off late a de-professionalising of people in her view.
She also mentioned that the middle class of the future will be the drivers of global economy. The business strategies are re-orienting to fit themselves to this fact by decreasing premium and increasing volumes. She explained how the Indian culture is being embraced by the British in several aspects leading to a ‘re-colonization’. All these cultural fusions are leading to huge changes in men and methods and generating lots of fresh risks. She summed up by saying that, “The world now is not more risky than it was in the past; only the balance and positions of risk has changed in this changed world now”.
Sambasivan provided a banker’s view on the risks in the business environment today. He stated how the unchecked greed of a few in the banking industry has placed the economy in perils now.
Kalpana, in her speech, gave an optimistic vision of the future. She talked about globalisation in family and career. Simply put, globalisation, she said, is the cause of her young son being aware of pizzas, idlies, Google and the like. The major enablers of globalisation are i) Technology, ii) Transport iii) International Capital Flows, iv) Change in economic, cultural and political systems and v) Education. Kalpana summed up with a report by Goldman Sachs that predicts that India would outdo China by 2025 in GDP growth.
Dr. Mankad said the speed of change is the driving force of all risk that makes the world such an unpredictable place now. What was latest two years ago is obsolete now. The change that comes will be global and exponential. The risks that it brings along are negativism, over reaction, atrophy, misjudgement, communication lapses, dwelling on the past, irrelevance, meaninglessness and absence of trust. To mitigate these, one should understand the magnitude and direction of change, anticipate and be pro-active, prioritize and act.
The event concluded with a brief question answer session where the dignitaries answered questions from the students. The Colloquium gave a rich insight on change and risk and provided suitable and relevant guidelines to tackle it in the future. ⊕