May 23, 2015: Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) hosted a three day international conference, ‘Transnational Entrepreneurs and International SMEs in Emerging Economies’, the conference was attended by a congregation of eminent scholars, researchers and practitioners from all different parts of the globe, both as participants and as well as speakers.
The inaugural function was held on Wednesday (20th May ). Dr. G.Sabarinathan, Chairperson,NSRCEL, delivered the Welcome Speech while Prof. Mathew J. Manimala of IIMB, delivered the Presidential Address. Prof. Manimala briefly explained the inception and objectives of the conference in his short speech. He said, “No great ideas are born at conferences but many foolish ideas die at them.” The conference was inaugurated by Mr. St. John Gould, Director-UK Trade, Investment and Prosperity – India, British High Commission New Delhi, India.
The distinguished keynote speakers for the conference were: Professor Elizabeth Gatewood, Center for Enterprise Research and Education (CERE), Wake Forest University, North Carolina, USA; Dr. Sarika Pruthi, Lucas College and Graduate School of Business, San Jose State University (SJSU), California, USA; Professor Anuradha Basu, Director, Silicon Valley Center for Entrepreneurship, San Jose State University (SJSU), USA; Professor M.H. Bala Subrahmanya, Professor and Chairman Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, India; and Professor Jay Mitra, School of Business Enterprise and Innovation, and Director, International Centre for Entrepreneurship Research, Essex Business School, University of Essex, UK.
Prof Gatewood discussed the topic, “Human, Social and Physical Capital of Returning Entrepreneurs: Impact on Ventures.” She laid emphasis on the underlying importance of human, social and physical capital for entrepreneurial initiatives, and illustrated them with case studies.
Dr. Pruthi spoke on the topic, ‘Indian Transnational Entrepreneurs (TE) and Returnee Entrepreneurs (RE): Social Ties and Venture Creation’. The differences among TEs, REs and Internationalising entrepreneurs were highlighted. Additionally, she explained the findings of her research on TEs of Indian origin operating in UK.
Prof Basu’s address was on ‘Silicon Valley’s Entrepreneurial Ecosystem: Implications for Transnational Entrepreneurs in Emerging Economies’, in which she traced the evolution of Silicon Valley from its inception to its position in the 21st century. She also highlighted the role of universities in promoting entrepreneurship, the relationship between investors and entrepreneurs, the features of the Silicon Valley ecosystem and other related issues.
In Prof. Bala Subrahmanya’s keynote speech, he spoke on the evolution of India’s SSI (later SME) Policies in three phases, and highlighted the current issues and challenges of micro-enterprise financing, inter-firm linkages (horizontal and vertical), and the role of innovation in internationalization of SMEs.
Prof. Jay Mitra’s keynote address was on the role of diaspora networks in cross-border venture opportunities arising out of their dual habitus status, institutional environment, particularly highlighting the voids and linkages, and illustrated it with two empirical studies on the diaspora.
There was a panel discussion in the afternoon of the first day, which was organised by FICCI on “Facilitation of SME Internationalization: Industry Perception.” The panelists were Mr. T. Sudhakar Pai, Managing Director, Kurlon Ltd.; Mr. Madan Padaki, Co-Founder and Director, Sylvant Advisors; Ms. Uma Reddy, Chief Executive, Hitech Magnetics; and the session was moderated by Mr. Ullas Kamath, Chairman-FICCI Karnataka State Council and Joint Managing Director, Jyothy Laboratories Ltd. This discussion brought out the nuances in launching a start-up and running it successfully, and the possible obstacles one might face along the way. They, much like Mr. Gould, highlighted the importance of encouraging budding entrepreneurs. The major concern of the panel was articulated by Mr. Padaki as follows: “How do you create jobs for a hundred million youth? We need to create job creators; we need to create entrepreneurs.”
The panel discussion on the second day was on “Strategies and Resources for Transnational Entrepreneurship” organised by The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE), Bengaluru Chapter. The session was chaired and moderated by Mr. Naganand Doraswamy, President, TiE Bengaluru Chapter , EVP & Co-Founder, SPAN InfoTech, and the panelists included Ema Trinidad, Co-Founder and Managing Trustee, Expat Entrepreneurs Circle and Founder and Managing Director, EMA Spa; Griffith David, CEO & MD, Habanero Foods International Pvt Ltd; Thomas Hyland, Co-founder and Partner, Aspada Investment Advisors; and Dr. Wolfgang Messner, Professor, MYRA School of Business and Director, GloBus Research. “The difficulties are nothing compared to the opportunities this country has to offer”, said Ms. Trinidad, as the transnational entrepreneurs shared their experience of setting up businesses in India, away from their home countries.
The afternoon session on both the days had presentations of research papers in parallel sessions under the three main themes of the conference, Transnational Entrepreneurship, Internationalization of SMEs and Entrepreneurship and Promotion of SMEs.
The conference was concluded with a valedictory function on the third day. In order to give the participants a broad idea of the research papers presented in the various parallel sessions, the respective session chairs presented a summary of the papers presented in their sessions. The valedictory address was delivered by Professor R.S. Deshpande National Fellow, Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) and former Director, Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC), Bengaluru, India. Prof. Deshpande spoke about the areas of concern for internationalization of SMEs, highlighting the challenges and barriers in the existing policy frameworks. The best paper awards and mementos were presented by the chief guest. The conference was concluded with National Anthem.
Click here to view photo gallery of Day 1
Click here to view photo gallery of Day 2
May 23, 2015: Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) hosted a three day international conference, ‘Transnational Entrepreneurs and International SMEs in Emerging Economies’, the conference was attended by a congregation of eminent scholars, researchers and practitioners from all different parts of the globe, both as participants and as well as speakers.
The inaugural function was held on Wednesday (20th May ). Dr. G.Sabarinathan, Chairperson,NSRCEL, delivered the Welcome Speech while Prof. Mathew J. Manimala of IIMB, delivered the Presidential Address. Prof. Manimala briefly explained the inception and objectives of the conference in his short speech. He said, “No great ideas are born at conferences but many foolish ideas die at them.” The conference was inaugurated by Mr. St. John Gould, Director-UK Trade, Investment and Prosperity – India, British High Commission New Delhi, India.
The distinguished keynote speakers for the conference were: Professor Elizabeth Gatewood, Center for Enterprise Research and Education (CERE), Wake Forest University, North Carolina, USA; Dr. Sarika Pruthi, Lucas College and Graduate School of Business, San Jose State University (SJSU), California, USA; Professor Anuradha Basu, Director, Silicon Valley Center for Entrepreneurship, San Jose State University (SJSU), USA; Professor M.H. Bala Subrahmanya, Professor and Chairman Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, India; and Professor Jay Mitra, School of Business Enterprise and Innovation, and Director, International Centre for Entrepreneurship Research, Essex Business School, University of Essex, UK.
Prof Gatewood discussed the topic, “Human, Social and Physical Capital of Returning Entrepreneurs: Impact on Ventures.” She laid emphasis on the underlying importance of human, social and physical capital for entrepreneurial initiatives, and illustrated them with case studies.
Dr. Pruthi spoke on the topic, ‘Indian Transnational Entrepreneurs (TE) and Returnee Entrepreneurs (RE): Social Ties and Venture Creation’. The differences among TEs, REs and Internationalising entrepreneurs were highlighted. Additionally, she explained the findings of her research on TEs of Indian origin operating in UK.
Prof Basu’s address was on ‘Silicon Valley’s Entrepreneurial Ecosystem: Implications for Transnational Entrepreneurs in Emerging Economies’, in which she traced the evolution of Silicon Valley from its inception to its position in the 21st century. She also highlighted the role of universities in promoting entrepreneurship, the relationship between investors and entrepreneurs, the features of the Silicon Valley ecosystem and other related issues.
In Prof. Bala Subrahmanya’s keynote speech, he spoke on the evolution of India’s SSI (later SME) Policies in three phases, and highlighted the current issues and challenges of micro-enterprise financing, inter-firm linkages (horizontal and vertical), and the role of innovation in internationalization of SMEs.
Prof. Jay Mitra’s keynote address was on the role of diaspora networks in cross-border venture opportunities arising out of their dual habitus status, institutional environment, particularly highlighting the voids and linkages, and illustrated it with two empirical studies on the diaspora.
There was a panel discussion in the afternoon of the first day, which was organised by FICCI on “Facilitation of SME Internationalization: Industry Perception.” The panelists were Mr. T. Sudhakar Pai, Managing Director, Kurlon Ltd.; Mr. Madan Padaki, Co-Founder and Director, Sylvant Advisors; Ms. Uma Reddy, Chief Executive, Hitech Magnetics; and the session was moderated by Mr. Ullas Kamath, Chairman-FICCI Karnataka State Council and Joint Managing Director, Jyothy Laboratories Ltd. This discussion brought out the nuances in launching a start-up and running it successfully, and the possible obstacles one might face along the way. They, much like Mr. Gould, highlighted the importance of encouraging budding entrepreneurs. The major concern of the panel was articulated by Mr. Padaki as follows: “How do you create jobs for a hundred million youth? We need to create job creators; we need to create entrepreneurs.”
The panel discussion on the second day was on “Strategies and Resources for Transnational Entrepreneurship” organised by The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE), Bengaluru Chapter. The session was chaired and moderated by Mr. Naganand Doraswamy, President, TiE Bengaluru Chapter , EVP & Co-Founder, SPAN InfoTech, and the panelists included Ema Trinidad, Co-Founder and Managing Trustee, Expat Entrepreneurs Circle and Founder and Managing Director, EMA Spa; Griffith David, CEO & MD, Habanero Foods International Pvt Ltd; Thomas Hyland, Co-founder and Partner, Aspada Investment Advisors; and Dr. Wolfgang Messner, Professor, MYRA School of Business and Director, GloBus Research. “The difficulties are nothing compared to the opportunities this country has to offer”, said Ms. Trinidad, as the transnational entrepreneurs shared their experience of setting up businesses in India, away from their home countries.
The afternoon session on both the days had presentations of research papers in parallel sessions under the three main themes of the conference, Transnational Entrepreneurship, Internationalization of SMEs and Entrepreneurship and Promotion of SMEs.
The conference was concluded with a valedictory function on the third day. In order to give the participants a broad idea of the research papers presented in the various parallel sessions, the respective session chairs presented a summary of the papers presented in their sessions. The valedictory address was delivered by Professor R.S. Deshpande National Fellow, Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) and former Director, Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC), Bengaluru, India. Prof. Deshpande spoke about the areas of concern for internationalization of SMEs, highlighting the challenges and barriers in the existing policy frameworks. The best paper awards and mementos were presented by the chief guest. The conference was concluded with National Anthem.
Click here to view photo gallery of Day 1
Click here to view photo gallery of Day 2