Center for Management Studies, JAIN (Deemed-to-be University), Bengaluru, organized the International Conference on "Rediscovering Management of Business Post Covid-19" on August 8 and 9, 2020 via video conferencing facility. Around 42,000 participants from 32 countries across the globe witnessed the conference via Zoom, Facebook Live and YouTube Live. Student's communities, teacher's communities, corporates, and industry experts widely participated in the conference. Papers at the conference were presented in five main domains like HR, Marketing, IT, Finance & Economics, and General Management. Around 100 abstracts were received, out of which 70 were selected for presentation during the academic sessions.
The conference focused on the theme "Rediscovering Management of Business Post Covid-19" keeping in mind the disturbance caused by the global pandemic. The outbreak of COVID-19 is a human tragedy with a growing impact on the global economy. The ripple effects of this tragedy are challenging to model and assess, it is exacting a terrible toll on human lives and intimidating businesses around the world. The conference aimed to provide every participant with an interactive platform for sharing, collaborating, and creating knowledge on various themes and sub-themes under the realm of business. It also provided a forum for highlighting the latest developments in research and practice by promoting dialogue, displaying innovation, and establishing an opportunity to shape the future of business post the crisis. The conference was the biggest event of the year both in terms of the research papers received and presented, and the people who participated and attended.
The conference opened with the welcome address by the Director of Center for Management Studies, Dr. Dinesh Nilkant, followed by the welcome address by Dr. Sandeep Shashtri, Pro-Vice-Chancellor of JAIN (Deemed-to-be University). Dr. Sandeep Shashtri spoke about the political aspect of the pandemic and introduced the first keynote speaker of the conference Padma Shri Rajdeep Sardesai, Consulting Editor, India Today. Mr. Rajdeep Sardesai spoke about the relevance of media and health care during the pandemic and the world after the pandemic. The inaugural was concluded by the Conference Convenor Dr. Anita Walia, who spelled out the objectives of the Conference.
The Conference hosted two-panel discussions on the first day. The first-panel discussion was an academic one that had IIM professors as the panelists. Prof Aditya Christopher Moses from IIM Ahmedabad, Prof Abhishek Goel from IIM Calcutta, and Prof Abhishek Mishra from IIM Indore were the panelists. The topic for the discussion was Challenges of Digitizing Education. Ms. Fatema Lokhandwala, a Professional Host at Walnut, moderated the discussion.
In the evening session, Registrar of JAIN (Deemed-to-be University), Prof N V H Krishnan welcomed the keynote speaker Mr. S D Shibulal, Co-founder, Ex-CEO & MD of Infosys. Mr. Shibulal spoke about the future of the IT industry post the pandemic. The panelists for this session were Prof Lianne Foti from the University of Guelph, Canada, Prof Hans Michael from Stamford International University, Thailand, Prof Jim Phillips from Northeastern State University, USA, and Mr. Nitin Jain, Business Analyst, Northern Trust Bank, UK. Mr. Mahmood Yunis, a Senior Lecturer in New Zealand moderated the discussion. The topic was New Rules of Business in the Post-COVID Age.
The second day of the conference started with the keynote address by Mr. Vineet Mittal, Chairman, AVAADA Energy. He gave an inspirational speech filled with pragmatic philosophies and anecdotes, followed by the corporate panel discussion. The panelists for this session were Mr. Nagarjuna Sadineni, Vice President Global Delivery Enablement at Wipro Technologies, Mr. Arijit Bonnerjee, Executive Director - Financial Services Sector, IBM India/South Asia, Mr. T R Sarathy, Vice President - Corporate Banking at HDFC Bank, and Mr. Vijoy Basu, Senior Director, AI & Analytics, Cognizant. Mr. T R Sarathy moderated the discussion. The topic was Challenges and Opportunities in Business Post Covid-19.
The conference was a remarkable, memorable, and knowledgeable event that attracted the attention of academicians, students, corporates, and industry experts across the globe.