Mega success of conference converts it to annual affair; next one to be hosted by IIM Ahmedabad in December 2024
17 December, 2023, Bengaluru: The highlight of the final day of the India Strategy Conference 2023 (ISC 2023), which was held at IIM Bangalore from 14th December to 17th December 2023, was the ‘Director’s Panel’ comprising Prof. Bharat Bhasker, Director, IIM Ahmedabad, Prof. Madan Pillutla, Dean, Indian School of Business, and Prof. Rishikesha T Krishnan, Director, IIM Bangalore. Dr. Raveendra Chittoor, Dean, Jio Institute, moderated the session. The distinguished panel discussed the challenges likely to be faced by academics in the management area in the coming decade as well as the opportunities, in the Indian context.
IIM Bangalore, jointly with IIM Ahmedabad, ISB Hyderabad and Confederation of Indian Industry Chief Strategy Officers’ Forum (CII CSO Forum), hosted ISC 2023. The Co-chairs of the conference were Prof. Rejie George Pallathitta, IIM Bangalore; Prof. Prateek Raj, IIM Bangalore; Prof. Amit Karna, IIM Ahmedabad, and Prof. Chitra Singla, IIM Ahmedabad, all faculty from the Strategy area.
Director’s Panel
Prof. Bharat Bhasker explained that the major changes happening in management academia today are due to Information Technology gaining prominence. “Companies rely on IT-driven decision making, and new kinds of Strategies and business models are being developed. Academic institutes too need to leverage on these tools, adapt to this change and stay ahead.”
Listing the sectors in which online education has become relevant, he said, “There are students as well as employees unable to dedicate their full time. The focus on enhancing managerial capacities of employees working in remote sites is also another reason.”
He pointed out that there should be more practitioner oriented journals in India. “Industry and academia work in tandem while conducting research. We often theorize concepts from industry. Practitioner articles also inspire us.” In this context he made mention of Vikalpa, the quarterly, peer-reviewed, open-access journal published by IIM Ahmedabad. It showcases developments in the arena of management for academia and practitioners, focussing on academic research across key management disciplines. He also invited top B-schools for collaboration for this journal.
Ruing the fact that Indian research ideas and practices often get documented from West, he recommended that Indian institutes could bring in distinguished faculty from across the globe for joint research and publication, adding: “and then we can own our research.”
Prof. Madan Pillutla was of the opinion that top Indian B-schools can learn from the new age EdTech companies, build on them and customize, thereby crafting newer academic journeys for students. “Institutes like ours have the resources and intellectual capacity to do that.” While stating that now is a “super exciting time” for researchers and B-schools, he added that the era of staid, solid academic careers was over. “We are at a point of massive disruption with a very rapid flow of changes in the last few years.”
Explaining the disconnect between academia and practice, he said that in India, a lot of research institutes have separated from teaching, which has prevented them from studying real problems. “Research papers should be problem driven to remain relevant in business and society.”
Highlighting the current period as a great time for India, Prof. Pillutla said, “There is a lot of interest in India in recent times. Professionals and academics want to come and work here, elite conferences are hosted here, there is comparative advantage in data collection efforts, and new research methods have also been devised. Institutes could help by canvassing and resourcing senior global academics who are gatekeepers of journals to come and guide Indian scholars to achieve high quality research and journal publications.”
Prof. Rishikesha T Krishnan highlighted the growing importance of online education and IIMB’s steps to keep pace with such developments, including the launch of programmes on Hospital Management and AI for Managers. “We have also incorporated online modules in our regular MBA programmes, like the one on Accounting.”
He also pointed out that there is a great need to bridge the gap between research and practice by revisiting research questions, posing those questions appropriately and studying the drivers. “As scholars, we have to be thoughtful of practitioners, get their insights and make research more relevant and comprehensible.”
Regarding specific areas where young scholars may dig deeper, Prof. RT Krishnan listed digital transformation, digital payments, social innovation and entrepreneurship. “How to frame these phenomena interestingly and carry the same till conclusion, are important skills. In India, there is often a poverty of ideas and execution, while resources are not really a constraint.”
Answering a question from the moderator Dr. Raveendra Chittoor as to the way forward for Indian scholars, Prof. Bharat Bhasker said that the platform of research was in India. “Study methods and frameworks employed by researchers from the West and use these in Indian research and data. This will result in newer insights, practices and businesses.”
Prof. Madan Pillutla urged, “Avoid cynicism, retain your curiosity and aim to be the best.”
Prof. RT Krishnan’s advice was to set the right aspirations and goals. “Aim to be among the best scholars of the world in whatever domain you choose, and then work towards it.”
Keynote address
The morning session of Day Four featured the keynote address by Prof. Gurneeta Singh Vasudeva, University of Minnesota. Naming her talk ‘Unpacking the Publication Process’, she spoke about her paper titled, ‘Public-Private and Private-Private Collaboration as Pathways for Socially Beneficial Innovation: Evidence from Antimicrobial Drug Development Tasks’.
She walked the audience through the process of her motivation to write on the subject, how the paper evolved, the repeated feedback from reviewers and editors, and how that helped sharpen the research argument, after which the paper got accepted.
Explaining the very theme of the research, she said antimicrobial resistance is a state when microbes develop the ability to defeat antibiotics which are designed to kill them. “Global mortality rate due to AMR is very high and is estimated to rise further. New antibiotic approval often meets with failure.” Her research investigates the cooperation and coordination risks faced by public-private collaboration for antimicrobial drug development tasks.
She shared that in the interest of the research, she networked with others in academia who were doing similar kind of research, to put together an interdisciplinary team of experts for understanding context and validating ideas. “Networking is very important. Practitioners were also very forthcoming. It was vital to join a research conversation for problem formulation, to look at literature on the role of public sector and market failure for developing these drugs.”
She said that there was repeated push back form editors and reviewers based on the constructs and methods of the research. “In response, we leaned heavily on experts to confirm our measures and their operationalization. We drew on qualitative data to validate theory and quantitative evidence. We also did qualitative analysis of cooperation-coordination mechanisms in contracts. Thereafter, we made revisions in the paper connecting mechanisms with task outcomes. We also tested the hypothesis. We referred to the Cortellis Life Sciences database and coopted with faculty colleagues and students.”
“Our conclusion was that both public-private and private-private partnership are viable pathways but under different conditions, depending on innovation stage and novelty. There are limits to direct involvement of public sector to address societal grand challenges or correct market failure of socially beneficial innovation. We also translated our findings to be easily understood by practitioners. Actually, the repeated feedback worked to our advantage, due to which the paper became stronger.”
In summation, she quoted Prof. Van de Ven’s model of engaged scholarship listing the elements as problem formulation, theory building, research design and problem solving.
She ended the talk by pointing out that publishing research in top management journals involves a lot of hard work and it takes time too. “So, engage with the topic you choose and get along with your co-authors.”
Paper submission and awards
The last two days of the conference included over 150 academic presentations across tracks including technology, innovation and digital transformation, ESG and non-market strategy, business and corporate strategy, internationalization and global strategy, family business and entrepreneurship, and leadership and human capital.
The evening session on the concluding day of the conference saw the awards being announced by conference Co-chair Prof. Amit Karna. “Altogether there were 305 submissions, out of which 90 were selected and 30 were adjudged to be spotlight papers. Of the 10 best paper nominees, two have been declared runners-up, with Bibek Bhattacharya receiving the best paper award for his paper titled, ‘Network Constraint and Ex-bureaucrat Directors’.” Prof. Amit Karna added that the success of the conference has resulted in it being converted to an annual affair, with the next one scheduled to be hosted by IIM Ahmedabad in December 2024.
Prof. Prateek Raj delivered the vote of thanks.
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