The theme of the evening was "Innovate or Die – Strategies in a rapidly changing environment."
Addressing an audience, Mr Reddy started off by underlining the emergence of India as a world economic power and its approach towards innovation. Influence of technology, rapidly changing market environment, competition and pricing pressures have put tremendous importance on innovation for companies to survive. He mapped MNCs such as UPS, Genentech, Satyam and Motorola on a strategic grid signifying the changes made by the company to combat the globally changing industry. These companies revolutionized the way they do business by implementing innovative solutions. The process of innovation might be long-drawn and cumbersome but the returns can be earth shattering, added Mr. Reddy. One of the most apt examples was of Microsoft which has consistently outperformed others through its innovative strategies. He ended his talk by quoting Jack Welch - "If the outside environment is changing faster than the inside environment, the company is doomed"
After the talk, Mr Reddy participated in an informal session answering questions put forth by the students. He shared his corporate and academic experiences and tried to establish credibility to the fact that innovation is the path to be followed for achieving success.
Mr Reddy is a Ph.D in marketing from Columbia University, New York. An academician par excellence, Mr Reddy has taught management students in Stanford Business School, New York University, UCLA and Columbia University. He has consulted for various fortune 100 companies including Coca Cola, IBM, Miller Brewing, United Parcel Service and Ford Foundation. An author of three books on corporate strategy, Mr Reddy has been awarded MBA Teacher of the year in 1999, 2000, 2002 and 2005.
Says IIM-K, "The "Leadership Series", an Industry Interaction Cell (IIC) initiative launched in 2004 involves year round talks by senior people from the industry and other walks of life on topics ranging from established business practices to emerging trends, their implication on the economy and value-addition to the society."
