The central theme for this year's summit is "Wealth: Legacy, Dimensions, Frontiers".
Confluence 2008 will take a closer look at the phenomenon of wealth creation and its various aspects. With the world submerged in a near crisis situation, the conclave will look at the learning from the past and conceptualize how it can be applied in today's scenario.
"For the past three years, we have been discussing the growth of India as an economic superpower. In the backdrop off the current financial crisis, we decided to choose a topic which addresses the question on everyone's mind – "The true definition of wealth". There will be intense panel discussions centered on themes like defining wealth and have we reached the bottom yet?" said Confluence 2008 Secretary, Raman Arora, a second year student of IIMA's flagship post graduate programme.
Confluence 2008 has been guided by an advisory committee which includes leading lights such as Dr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia (Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission); Mr. Muthuraman (MD, Tata Steel); Dr. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw (CMD-Biocon Ltd.); Mr. Sanjay Nayyar (CEO, Citigroup, India); Mr. Pawan Munjal (MD, Hero Honda Motors Limited); Ms. Preetha Reddy (ED, Apollo Hospitals); Dr. Santrupt Mishra (Director-HR Aditya Birla Group); Prof. Pritam Singh (Professor Emeritus, MDI, Gurgaon) and Mr. Ajay Piramal (Chairman, Piramal Enterprises Ltd.).
The List of luminaries who will address this year's summit include Shikha Sharma - MD & CEO, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Co. Ltd; Mr. Sanjay Nayar - CEO, Citigroup, India; Glenn Saldhana - Managing Director & CEO, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Limited; Harsh Mariwala - Chairman and Managing Director, Marico Limited; Ela Bhatt - Social Entrepreneur, Founder & Former General Secretary, SEWA; Dr. Sam Pitroda - Chairman, National Knowledge Commission & Chairman and CEO, World-Tel Limited; Kiran Karnik - Former President, NASSCOM; Prof. Dipak Jain - Dean, Kellogg School of Management; Lord Meghnad Desai - Former Professor, London School of Economics; Mehmood Khan - Global Leader of Innovation Process Development, Unilever; Aluri Rao - MD, Morgan Stanley Private Equity and Dr. Bhushan Punani - Executive director, Blind People's Association (B.P.A.).
Over the years, Confluence has attracted participation from not just the top business schools in the country, but many leading international institutions as well. It has established itself as a forum where students can explore new vistas, share ideas and gain insights into contemporary management issues. Confluence brings together students, academicians, business leaders, policy makers and professionals through a series of sessions and innovative events.
Spread over four days, Confluence 2008 will address its theme "Wealth: Legacy, Frontiers, Dimensions" through three sessions:
1. Wheel of Fortune- The journey of wealth
The first session looks at the concept of wealth and its various features through the experience of people who made a mark in the world by generating wealth for themselves, their organisations and their societies.
2. Crisis to Control- Lessons from the past
This session will analyse the major crises that the world has seen and will seek to draw lessons from these experiences. Amidst the ongoing debate on the downward economic slide, this session shall attempt to demystify the impact of current economic situation on developing nations such as India.
3. Beyond the Frontiers- The new economic mantra
'Beyond the Frontiers' is an attempt to provide a window to the future and to look at radical new ways of creating wealth by outlining the mistakes we should reconcile, drawing the lessons we should learn and illustrating how to move ahead with a fresh outlook.
Apart from theses sessions, there is an entire line-up of competitive events testing business acumen and providing an avenue for knowledge sharing to the participants from across the globe. Some of these events are Masterplan, Mousetrap, LiveStock, Bizquizitive, Globalization challenge, Fourth dimension, Management Simulation Games, Workshop series, Young Managers program and Management Students Program.
Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more highlights from Confluence 2008.
