The speakers included Dr J J Irani, Director, Tata Sons, Ms Naina Lal Kidwai, CEO, HSBC India, Mr Manish Tripathi, Honorary Director, Dabbawallahs and Mr Raghunath Dondhiba Medge, President, Dabbawallahs. Speakers shared their thoughts on the topic of 'Leadership and the New World Economy'.
On the occasion, Mr. J.J Irani, Director, Tata Sons talked about "India's journey from the 19th century till today". He stressed on the fact that India's share in the world trade in 19th century was 20% which has been drastically reduced to 1.5-2% in the current scenario. The reasons that he stated for such a situation were high import duties levied on the industries and the rise in corruption. But now situation seems to be improving with India's young generation with their management skills making their presence felt on the world globe.
Ms. Naina Lal Kidwai, CEO, HSBC India talked about "Climate Change" and the problem of water scarcity. She also talked about the different initiatives by HSBC which included specific industry workshops, HSBC climate partnership and the global climate programme launched by them in 2007. Talking about the importance of green buildings she said, "Though fixed cost is higher for such buildings but operational cost is much lower. In the long run green buildings are not only environment friendly but also economical." She concluded her speech by telling the youth that three mantra's of leadership: to learn what we do not know is the path to wisdom, confidence and determination.
Mr. Manish Tripathi, Honorary Director, Dabbawallahs, centred his speech on "Localisation and Entrepreneurship". He talked about the importance of taking local culture and values along for expanding business in a new territory and said, "Globalisation cannot be achieved without localisation". He urged the students to become entrepreneurs. He also stated that Dabbawallahs are Six Sigma because they share the same language, same culture and same values.
The summit was well received by over 100 students and alumni's of various IIMs.
IIM Lucknow's Industry Interaction committee holds such events for the entire IIM community.
