For India to meet its potential, we need many more leaders, says Arun Maira at MDIs National Management Convention

the National Management Convention of MDI Gurgaon, on August 25 and August 26. The two-day event saw panel discussions in different areas - Consulting, Operations, HR, Marketing, Finance Strategy, and Information Management. The first day will have sessions on Consulting (Challenges faced by foreign companies entering the mining sector in India), Operations (Supply Chain Management in Retail), Human Resource (HR Issues in Mergers and Acquisitions).

Inaugurating the event, Mr. Arun Maira said, Indias under-25 population, considered to form a lions share of the countrys talent pool, is fast losing interest in politics and the administration of the country. They are concentrating only on personal gains. This is a worrying trend.

Mr Maira evaluated three models for engagement of people with their country. While the first model Hamare Neta outlook of having only a few people in power has failed to deliver in terms of the countrys progress, the second model of a free market situation where depending on private initiatives to produce something good for society while producing something good for the self, is not sustainable either. The third model that Mr. Maira advocated the need to have many leaders who take charge of themselves, but in a way that makes their community a vibrant one in which people can live a positive life. He compared this paradigm with a huge swarm of fireflies, each one producing its own little bit of light, but contributing to the overall effect of producing substantial light amidst the darkness.

Laying stress on the relevance of Mahatma Gandhi in todays world he called upon the youth to follow him as role model. He said, Follow the example of the man who barely had any material resources but who had a passion to achieve and persistence in pursuing his goal.

The Consulting seminar, held in association with KPMG, was based on the Challenges faced by foreign companies while entering the mining sector in India. The questions posed during this session by MDI consulting research team were - how can the procedural delays can be controlled, can we learn from best practices followed in other countries, SEZ in Mining sector, public private partnership and NGO role. The panelists for this session included corporate leaders Mr Nabin Ballodia, Senior Manager-Tax and Regulatory, KPMG, Mr Deepak Chitgopekar, Exec. Manager- Corprate affairs, Thiess India Private Ltd and Mr Gaurav Singhal, Assistant Manger- Tax regulatory Services.

The Consulting Panel agreed that an important factor was the lack of a sound corporate social responsibility (CSR) policy. However, the idea of establishing a Special Mining Zone on the lines of SEZs was not considered to be a feasible proposition in India where much land still remains to be explored and will continue to be undiscovered if the focus stays on select zones. The panel came to the though that Indian mining sector need to follow International standard. Said Mr Deepak Chitgopekar, Mining is global commodity market which needs to be protected. Until now it is using very outdated method. I think mining in India has to take off to meet international standards.

The Operations seminar focused on Supply Chain Management in Retail, and was chaired by Mr. Girish V. Aivalli, Head of Operations and Procurement, Cargill India Pvt. Ltd. After the initial presentation given by the MDI students, Mr. Aivalli raised the issue of including farmers in managing the supply chain but acknowledged that it was easier said than done.

Mr. Robert Duane Erickson, COO, WalMart India Technical Consulting and Services, compared the Indian retail scenario with that of the U.S. He espoused the WalMart credo of partnership among the channel members, i.e. Consumers, Associates and Suppliers. Identifying the areas where India needs to work, Mr. Erickson said, Transportation costs, staff and its training as areas where India could improve to catch up with the American retail success.

Mr. Jogarao Bhamidipati, VP - Commercial, ITC and Mr. Rajeev Tandon, GM, SC Johnson, also shared their views on the challenges for Indian retail industry. Talking about supplier side, Mr. Rajeev Tandon said, Indian retail sector is facing huge transition and different selling practices. Therefore there is increasing pressure on retailer and supplier. The challenges for sales person are both from retailers and suppliers side.

The HR seminar where Dr Pallab Bandyopadhyay, Chief People officer, Cambridge Solutions Ltd, Mr Rakesh Sharma, Global Head Human resources, Dabur Pharma Ltd, Mr Pranesh Sarangi, Senior Engagement officer IBM India Ltd discussed the HR Issues in Mergers and Acquisitions. The major issues raised during this session were about the role and importance of HR people during merger and acquisitions. According to Dr Pallab Bandyopadhyay, Roughly 60 to 70 % M&A fails because of value gap. Most of time execution is in very rushed manner and there is poor post integration in M&A. HR person has capability to help in transition where transparency is very important.

Day two of MDIs National Management Convention saw discussions on Finance (Leveraged Buy Outs in India: Prospects and Beyond), Information Management (Business Value Enhancers - Strategic outlook for the Indian IT Firms), Strategy (Competitive Advantages of Nations in a Warming Climate) and Marketing (Sports Marketing: Beyond The Boundary). To discuss these issues MDI have eminent speakers included Mr R Mani, Chief Corporate & International Taxation, Tata Steel; Mr Ashish Gupta, Director, ABN AMRO Asia Corporate Finance; Mr Jayes Doshi, Executive, Ican Investments Advisors private Ltd; Mr Vivek Mathur, Senior Vice President, ICAR Ltd.; Piyush Goenka, Assocaite, Tano India Advisors Pvt Ltd; Mr Atanu Mukherjee, Chief Architect, Cognizant Technology solutions; Mr. Kedar Sant, Chief of Strategy IBM Global Services; Mr Niilaya Varma, Associate Director, PricewaterhouseCoopers; Mr Rahul Mullick, Associate Director, KPMG; Mr Pratyush Kumar, CEO, GE Infrastructure India; Mr Dipankar Ghosh, Associate Director, Ernst & Young; Dr Jyoti Parikh, Executive Director, Integrated Research and Action for Development (IRADe); Mrs Arundhuti Dasgupta, Correspondent Business World; Mr Rajesh Mehrotra, VP- Marketing Nimbus; Ms. Latika Khaneja, Director Collage Sports Management; and Mr. Mansoor Siddiqui, Director Marketing, Coke India and Mr Prashant Singh , Business Head, Ogilivy Sports.