The conclave was organized to draw the attention of B-schools and Industry towards the need for transforming management education to foster entrepreneurship development at B-schools.
Mr Sanjeev Bikhchandani, Co-Founder & CEO of Naukri.com delivered the keynote address and Dr Dilip K Bandyopadhyay, Vice Chancellor, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University delivered the inaugural address. Ms Rekha Sethi, Director General, AIMA delivered the welcome address of the Conclave.
MBAUniverse.com, India's leading management portal, was the Official Management Portal of the AIMA Directors' Conclave.
Ms Rekha Sethi talked about the relevance of Entrepreneurship in economic slowdown and said, "In these times of economic slowdown, entrepreneurship should be the focus of B-schools. They should promote entrepreneurship since the job placements are down. B-schools should encourage more students to take up entrepreneurship."
In the Keynote Speech, Mr Bikhchandani took ahead the point of Ms Sethi and said, "Yes, recession is a good time to encourage B-school students to become job creators rather than job seekers. However, B-schools need to reassess their curriculum and reinvent their approach to entrepreneurship education."
Prof MM Pant added, "Industry and academia should collaborate to nurture entrepreneurship in management education."
Prof Bhattacharya remarked, "We need to add more courses where academic inputs to sensitize students about entrepreneurship and think about business building."
Mr Anand Sudershan said, "Entrepreneurs talent can be honed through structured interventions where B-schools can play a big role. B-schools should recognize the traits of entreprenureship amongst its students and then nurture them."
Some of the noted speakers at the Conclave include Mr Anand Sudershan, MD & CEO, Manipal Education Society; Mr. K.R. Arya, ED, National Institute for Entrepreneurship & Small Business Development; Prof C S Venkata Ratnam, Director, International Management Institute; Mr Pravir Kumar, Joint Secretary, Ministry of MSME Govt of India; Mr George Eapen, Academic Programme Director, European Centre for Continuing Education, INSEAD; Prof. Dr. Uday Salunkhe , Director , Welingkar Institute of Mgmt Development & Research, Mumbai; Dr Thomas P John, Chairman, T. John Group of Institutions; Mr Suhas Gopinath, CEO & President, Globals Inc.; Mr Santosh Desai, CEO, Future Brands; Mr Kaushik Chatterjee, Associate Vice President, HCL Infosystems Ltd; Prof M M Pant, Ex Pro Vice Chancellor, IGNOU and Mr P Dwarkanath, Director Group Human Capital, Max India Ltd.
The conclave saw discussion on the sub themes of 'Back to the Drawing Board: Designing an MBA to encourage Entrepreneurship', 'Curriculum Design to promote Entrepreneurship' and 'Industry – B-schools: Bridging the Gap'.
AIMA Directors' Conclave is an important part of the annual management calendar. The 11th Directors' Conclave was themed on the topic of 'Globalization: Issues & Challenges for Indian B Schools' and the 10th Directors' Conclave was focused on 'Emerging Contours of Business: Issues & Challenges for B-Schools'.
