22nd Nirma International Conference on Management (NICOM) – Business, Economy, & Environment: The New Normal
The 22nd Nirma International Conference on Management (NICOM), organized by the Institute of Management, Nirma University (IMNU), commenced at 10 am on 17th January, 2019. NICOM has been an annual event at IMNU providing a platform for an interactive discussion between academicians and industry veterans on a plethora of topics under a common theme. The conference will have academicians and practitioners from India and abroad, presenting their research in as many as 60 sub themes viz, Transforming Business Institution into an Integrated Development Institution, Business: Fostering Stakeholder Value Creation, Economy: Current & Future Challenges, The New Paradigm of the Knowledge Economy, etc., in four track sessions (with 4 sections in each session) spread across the three days Conference. Three plenary sessions are also arranged, during which the prominent personalities from the industry will be addressing the audience on various topics.
The conference commenced with a Pre-Conference Workshop on ‘Competition Law & Business Management’, in collaboration with the Competition Commission of India, New Delhi. It was conducted by Ms. Jyotsna Yadav & Mr. Pranav Satyam of CCI. As the session began, Ms. Yadav set a precedent for the session by quoting Brian Tracy- “The true measure of the value of any business leader & manager is performance.” According to her, compliance management is one of the if not the most important parameter of measuring performance, as compliance with regulations and the law is a prerequisite to a company’s existence in the market. Ms. Yadav discussed the guidelines involved in the Competition Compliance Programme (CCP), like price fixing, proper conduct of the meetings with their competitors and confidentiality of commercial information. In the interactive session, Ms. Yadav, Mr. Satyam & the audience exchanged their interpretations of the laws that come under the purview of The Competition Act, 2002.
The chief guest for the inaugural session was Shri Sunil Parekh, Senior Strategy Advisor, Zydus Cadila Healthcare Group. The president of Nirma University, Dr. Karsanbhai Patel and Vice President of Nirma University, Mr. K.K. Patel were also present for the inaugural session. Dr. Anup Singh, Director General, Nirma University was also a part of the function. The chairpersons for NICOM, 2019 were Prof. Parag Rijwani, Prof. Deepak Danak and Prof. Samik Shome, professors of the Institute of Management, Nirma University (IMNU). Dr. M. Mallikarjun, Director In-charge, IMNU delivered the welcome address.
Mr. Sunil Parekh began the session by explaining how the beginning of Communist theories in ‘The Manifesto’ of Karl Marx consists of theories similar to those of Capitalist theories. According to him, we have gradually learnt that totally Capitalist economies do not result in social development. Mr. Parekh said that it is now important to focus on three things. The first is the Goal- which helps the company in deciding what their final destination is. Then, he moved on to focusing on what is forcing companies to change. He said that it is important for companies to continuously change, upgrade and innovate. The new motto, Mr. Parekh says, is that the market belongs to the ones who create the market. Here, he shifted to major macroeconomic factors like foreign trade wars, tax regimes, and migration, which has resulted in tougher laws for visas for travellers due to fears of foreign workers taking away jobs in the market. To solve all of these problems, companies have to be more agile and learn to deal with ambiguity. Societal pressure is also a major part, with harassment at workplace, LGBT community unacceptance, and social responsibility. The third reason, he said, is the Present Economic Growth Model & Unresolved Issues. With this, he ended the session on the note that we need to change our economic growth incentives if we wish to help business development result in social development.
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