Panels

Retail Panel - India's attractiveness - Underlying forces, Sustainability and Future Trends
Is retail going to replace IT as the next growth engine for India? Will organised retail drive the ‘Kirana’ stores, a key feature of the Indian neighbourhood, out of business? Should FDI be allowed in the retail sector? Is the ever escalating real estate going to stunt the growth of organised retail? …. New found growth in the retail sector has created a buzz in the industry. Retail, a sunrise sector in India, is undergoing a revolution. Its phenomenal growth stems from the growing purchase power of the people, which has led to a significant growth in the demand for a variety of goods, both consumables and durables. Many players have entered the arena albeit with different perspectives. New chains be it speciality, discount, apparel or grocery have sprung up over the last few years. It has been prophesied that retail is all set to be the next growth engine for India.

Although full of promise the sector faces many challenges in the form of expensive real estate, limiting government policies, underdeveloped supply chain, inadequate human resources and negative sentiments of thousands of traders, hawkers and farmers. Will the retail industry be able to overcome these challenges or will its success be unravelled by one of the challenges - only time holds the answer to such questions.

Entrepreneurship Panel - Business Opportunities in Emerging Markets
These days, opportunities abound across the globe, no more so than in emerging markets, such as South America, Eastern Europe, Russia, and parts of Asia and Africa. Entrepreneurs are taking advantage of the same. Entrepreneurs investing in emerging markets buy inputs in the product, labour, and capital markets and sell their outputs in the products (raw materials and finished goods) or services market. When choosing strategies, therefore, the entrepreneurs try to figure out how the product, labour, and capital markets work—and don't work—in their target countries. This helps them understand the differences between home markets and those in developing countries. In addition, each country's social and political milieu—as well as the manner in which it has opened up to the outside world—shapes those markets, and entrepreneurs consider those factors as well while taking a decision.

Real Estate and Infrastructure Panel - Urbanisation in India – Changing Equations
With increasing urbanisation and high growth; liquidity, land availability and infrastructure issues dominate the industry today. India’s urban areas still hold less than 30 per cent of the total population. This is expected to rise to 40.7 per cent by 2030, as urbanites are expected to number some 590 million in 2030. Is India prepared for the challenge of urbanisation that stands at its doorstep? Addressing housing, industrial and infrastructural demands will be imperative in a future driven by urban living

General Management Panel - India Inc.: Changing the managerial mindset
Indian conglomerates and industrial houses are on an acquisition binge seamlessly running and operating businesses across different countries. The day of the Indian Multinational has dawned. But does India Inc possess the managerial mindset to fuel this growth, given that Indian industry has been traditional in its approach and had shades of socialism, especially in the public sector? How willing are the managers of India Inc to take on the world and announce their arrival on the world stage?

Business Technology Panel - Think Small: Technology for Emerging Markets
Emerging markets like India, China and Brazil are now the new economic powerhouses and with their large populations joining the development race, the economic and technological action has shifted to these countries. Ever wondered how the Indian cellular operators are maintaining exponential growth employing one of the cheapest tariff structures in the world? How the Indian IT industry is slowly transforming and focussing on the internal market to boost growth? How does Tata manage to come up with a $2500 priced cheapest car in the world? However we also have seen the inefficiencies that exist in the government sector. Can technology help cut down corruption by introducing transparency and creating a successful e-Governance platform for these markets? Can mobile technology utilise its penetration to establish itself as the most important channel for dissemination of education to rural areas?

Is the model reversible? Can some of these best practices and learning of operating in an emerging market be taken up by companies and applied globally as they expand? Through this theme “Think Small: Technology for emerging markets” we want to understand how the business leaders of these emerging economies are using the power of technology to not only establish a viable and profitable business model but in the process also reduce the social and economic inequality. We also seek to understand the vision of the government as to how technology can be leveraged for the betterment of masses and yet prove to be a sustainable business model to attract private partnerships.

Energy, Manufacturing and Operations Panel - Made In India- The Manufacturing Revolution
Until recently, Indian companies were eager to play host to multinationals setting up their base in India. The trend has now shifted with Indian corporations flaunting the multinational tag. Among emerging economies, India has the world’s fourth largest manufacturing base and investments as a proportion of GDP are on the rise. At the same time, the number of companies planning to make India a global hub for their operations is also on the rise. This can be attributed simultaneously to many factors, for instance the availability of skilled as well as unskilled labor force and a huge untapped market potential existing in India. Manufacturing contributes about two-thirds of the total exports of the country. It is estimated that manufacturing exports could increase from US$ 40 billion in 2002 to US$ 300 billion in 2015. Some of the Indian companies are also becoming a vital link in the global supply chain. In fact to quote a McKinsey report 'Made in India could become the next big manufacturing exports story'.

Media Panel: From Media to Multi-media - How Democratisation of Content is Changing the Industry"
Technology innovations in production, distribution and exhibition have bought with it a changing social order as well. The producers and the audiences are converging and the ‘mass’ medium is becoming more and more personal. However is India leading this change or following the trend?

Are media companies truly ready to innovate? What role should regulation play in creating new rules for the game? How can we create cult followings in the dynamic world of cross media consumption? And perhaps most crucially, what do we keep and what do we abandon as we transition?

We aim to bring together a panel of thought leaders and innovators from across the Industry and ask them where they see Indian media heading. From traditional media players to new media mavericks, the media track at the ISB Leadership Summits hopes to find some answers and insights on how technology, content and innovation can come together to write the next innings for a booming industry.