IIMA’s international management summit Confluence got off to a rollicking start that has set the pace for the entire event. Conceptualized with the tagline “Where ideas converge” this mega-event is truly living up to its ideals with over 600 Indian and international participants descending on campus for the 4 day event. This number represents largely those teams that have reached the final rounds of various events and hence the total participation is many times that number.

Shri Subir Raha, Chairman & MD, ONGC was the Chief Guest at the inauguration ceremony. The inaugural address also included speeches by Shri Suresh Prabhu (hon. MP) and Dr. J. J. Irani (Director, TATA Sons). None of them requires introduction. While two are doyens of the industry, already living legends, the third is one of the country’s most promising young politicians and his work as Ex-Power minister has made people refer to him as the country’s best ever power minister. The students attending in the auditorium and outside (the interest among students was so great that the hall capacity was overshot very quickly!) could not have asked for a more inspirational panel of speakers.

Starting things off, the Confluence Secretary Pradyumna Agrawal put things in perspective by outlining the driving motives for holding this mega-event. They are:
# to facilitate genuine networking among students
# to sensitize young Indian management students towards global leadership by exposing them to students and leaders from overseas in a competitive as well as non-competitive environment.
# to provide a direct linkage between competitive events and speaker sessions for maximum impact.

It is these objectives which have inspired the Confluence team at IIMA to deliver, since Confluence is not simply a business festival or competition, but an international management summit attempting to throw up real solutions not only for India, but for the world stage.
Dr. Bakul Dholakia, Director IIMA pointed out the importance of industry support to events of this nature. In addition to the monetary support he was especially enthused about the generous support in terms of quality time and expertise that the Indian industry has lent by way of the Advisory Cell and large number of distinguished speakers attending the summit.

Elaborating on Corporate Governance Mr. Raha spoke very candidly on a subject obviously close to his heart. Unlike professionals in medicine, law or defence services management professionals don’t have to undertake an oath before being inducted into the profession, but it is of paramount importance that managers observe high standards of morality in business. He stressed that as the CEO of your company the buck stops with you and your stakeholders expect ethical behaviour in all aspects of company dealings. And only some of them are shareowners.
Mismanagement and corporate fraud have been making news in the US. In India too it is rampant but does not come to light as much. Mr. Raha pointed out that in the last 15 years about $20 Bn worth of private investment has simply disappeared. Investors have been left in the lurch as listed companies have suddenly folded up and vanished into thin air. There are immense losses in the Public Sector due to mismanagement. But he exhorted not to blame it on the system, since managers make up the system and hence can change it.
According to him ownership is not the issue, exercising your judgment at the right time even with incomplete information is critical for a manager as he or she must be prepared to take risks. Eventually, even if things turn out to be unpleasant you must be satisfied with your actions and the belief that it was the right thing to do at the time. To that extent of course one must be prepared to lose out on the next promotion, or increment or even one’s job to do the right thing! If only more CEOs followed his advice, the world would be a much better place!

Next, Dr. J.J. Irani (Director, Tata Sons) shared his views on the importance of corporate governance and how it is increasingly being demanded from various quarters. He stressed on the necessity for a triple bottom line instead of merely profit being the sole goal of an organization. Triple bottom line includes not just financial but social and environmental factors which are of prime importance in today’s world. Success achieved by unethical means is increasingly being frowned upon in corporate circles .This are areas where Business schools have an important role to play. He felt that presently Management Education in India is not doing enough to inculcate values, ethics and corporate governance as an integral part of its course curriculum. He also praised the efforts by students of IIM-Ahmedabad for taking a step in the right direction by organizing such enriching talks on such a pertinent topic. He was next open to a question answer session where he laid emphasis on how mindset needs to be changed among students about corporate governance and ethical values so that they can contribute better to not just management world but society as a whole.

Next Mr. Suresh Prabhu, Member of Parliament ,who was earlier referred to by Mr. Subir Raha as the best power minister India has ever had, addressed the gathered audience on how the word governance itself connotes efficient administration and not just being in power and forming a government. Giving the example of increasing electoral fainess in Bihar, he made a point about how one man alone is sufficient to bring about a huge difference to governance. He gave an interesting Insight into how administration and management are intertwined by stressing on the importance of organizational practice of accountability. Indian bureaucracy is crippled by lack of punishment for those who do not deliver. Rewarding those who are successful alone is not sufficient but needs to be matched with a check on those who are not delivering in the government. He key to holding people accountable to tasks assigned is by fixing exact deliverables which facilitate monitoring and help in weeding out inefficiencies within the government. He felt that good public governance would automatically lead to good corporate governance. The session ended by a discussion between Mr. Jayant Verma, Dean IIM Ahmedabad wherein a growing need for a change of mindset amongst people not just towards corporate governance but governance as a whole was reinforced.

The students found the interactive lectures highly enlightening as it brought forth ideas and perspectives are currently of great relevance to society.