It is People over Technology in Social Media

“It is not about being on social media, it is about being social.” This emphatic assertion by Professor Chris Dellarocas of Boston University formed the crux of his thesis on social media. In a talk that lampooned companies that used social media as just another means to sell traditionally, Professor Dellarocas lamented that even though digital marketing is the future, “50% projects fail to produce tangible results.” He felt that companies that are focussed solely on the technology aspect of social media miss out the essence of social media: People. Businesses in the past were deeply intertwined with the society until their operations became too large to accommodate social behaviour anymore. With the arrival of social media, it removes the separation between society and business. Understanding human behaviour in a society would help in devising successful usage of social media. “Humans need a sense of purpose and have an innate desire to be helpful.” Examples of free services such as Wikipedia, Lynx and Quora demonstrate this tendency. People also value fairness and are willing to spend a lot of effort to punish unfair treatment. “To thrive in social media we must accept that consumers are now empowered to act as social beings.” Professor Dellarocas was the keynote speaker in the Conference on Digital Marketing Strategies that was organised by Srini Raju Centre for IT and Networked Technologies (SRITNE) at the ISB.

For more information on the conference please click here

A Bestseller by ISB Professor Rajesh Chakrabarti

Professor Rajesh Chakrabarti’s book “Grit, Guts and Gumption: Driving Change in a State-Owned Giant” has been featured in the bestsellers list released by Penguin Publishers to mark its 25th anniversary. This is the only management book in this list that spans all genres. The book chronicles the transformation of the State Bank of India (SBI) from a laid-back incumbent under threat from private players to a customer-oriented competitive organisation that has outperformed rivals despite several constraints.

For more information on research and publications by Professor Rajesh Chakrabarti please click here

Propero: Giving Wings to Entrepreneurs

In its third year, this annual two-day event that connects entrepreneurs with venture capitalists and bankers received 350 business proposals, 20 of which were chosen for debt financing and 35 for equity financing. Of the 55 shortlisted ventures, 10 were started by ISB alumni.

This initiative was launched by the Wadhwani Centre for Entrepreneurship Development (WCED) at the ISB. Entrepreneurs across India are given the opportunity to raise equity or debt financing at this event. Bankers who attended the session were optimistic about most of the ventures and felt that 15 of the ventures would eventually get funded.

In the following day dedicated to equity financing, partners from 13 angel investors and venture capitalists held one-on-one discussions with the 35 shortlisted ventures. The investors echoed the optimism felt by the bankers. Details on the progression of the ventures will be made available soon.

The Catalytic Philanthropy Report: What Gives?

As the number of Ultra High-Net Worth Individuals (UHNWI) swell in India, the country has seen a spurt in philanthropic activity in the last two years. Recently a report released by the Centre for Emerging Markets Solutions (CEMS) at the ISB in collaboration with FSG Social Impact Consultants, studied the impact of this largesse, and how to increase it. Specifically, they studied catalytic philanthropy or those innovative practices that have the potential to catalyse social impact at scales that far eclipse the amount of financial resources invested. They found that while there were many exemplary philanthropists that went beyond simply giving back to society, there were fewer takers for building NGO capacity and looking at the larger social impact, i.e. measuring the ultimate social impact beyond evaluating programme performance and near-term outcomes.

To read the report please click here

The Challenge of Making Millions Work

How can we educate and train India’s 500 million youth by 2020 so that we can benefit from the demographic dividend? This workshop on financing skill development initiatives among low-income youth in India highlighted the challenges and opportunities in creating an inclusive workforce. Organised by Dr. Reddy’s Cell for Employability and Skill Development (DRCES) at the ISB, this event was attended by training institute leaders such as Talentsprint, Youth4Jobs, and IL&FS Cluster Development Initiative Ltd. Speakers stressed on the advantage of having trainer training academies under the private-public partnership (PPP) model and a comprehensive skills registry, a sort of online inventory of skilled persons that will serve as virtual employment exchange.

SMEs-SEZs: Partners Working Towards Progress

Can a strong anchor company help in the development of SMEs? This and other related topics surrounding the SME-SEZ linkages were discussed in a seminar that was organised by the Wadhwani Centre for Entrepreneurship Development (WCED) at the ISB in association with Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation Ltd (APIIC). The SME-SEZ Connect symposium attracted some 178 participants from SMEs, industry associations, SEZ developers, academia and the government. The participants deliberated on the key issues surrounding the business linkages for SMEs in SEZs. Several panel discussions held during the two-day event enumerated the problems faced by SMEs and how the link between SMEs and SEZs can be strengthened. Some panellists felt that a systematic cluster development along with value chain mapping was necessary to improve business linkages between SMEs and SEZs.

For more information on the conference please click here

Class of 2012 Floors with their Generosity

In the last few years several alumni have generously donated to the School through endowments, scholarships and the Class Gift, which is a collective gift given to the School by the graduating class. The current PGP students from the Class of 2012 are no different. Breaking all previous records, this class is set to contribute the largest amount toward the Class Gift ever since the tradition began in 2008. So far, this year the class has received a commitment of Rs 44 lakhs from 340 class members with more class members expected to contribute in the last term. The Class of 2012 Class Gift will be utilised towards wooden flooring of the badminton court in our Recreation Centre, a facility that is used extensively by the ISB community. Each year, the current class and the School identify a priority area and collectively raise funds for the same. This has resulted in several new facilities being added to the campus: Class of 2008 contributed towards building a “Co2008 Student Lounge” near Student Village 3 (SV3), Class of 2009 contributed towards building a “Co2009 Amphitheatre” near Student Village1 (SV1), and Classes of 2010 and 2011 have contributed towards the Alumni Endowment Fund that is used toward a “Diversity Scholarship.”