Leadership Seminar
January 4, 2008

The second in the series of the Annual Leadership Seminars was held on the day at the SPJIMR auditorium amidst a packed audience. The guests were eminent people from both the corporate and the social sector. Each one brought a fresh perspective to the discussion on the topic 'Business Leadership in the changing Socio-economic context'.

The event opened with the introductory speech by the Director, Dr. Sesha Iyer, who set the tone for the event to follow through his insightful comments on the topic. This was followed by an address by Prof. Lata Dhir, the convenor of the event. She gave a brief overview of the various initiatives being undertaken at SPJIMR in the field of Leadership through exploratory and research done by students. This led to individual discourses by the panellists which included Mr. Lalit Kumar, President and CEO, Reliance Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Mr. Sanjay Sachdeva, Country Head, Shensai Bank, Mr. Viren Popli, Senior VP, Star India and an alumnus of SPJIMR and Mr. Ujjwal Banerjee, 'Lead India' finalist and Manager, Akanksha Foundation.

Mr. Kumar discussed the history of Indian economy starting from the liberalization of the Indian economy to the globalization wave driving the country today. Mr. Sachdeva pointed out the huge infrastructural gap existing in the country and the role the corporate sector is playing in reducing it. Mr. Popli threw light on the internal structuring of organisations and how they needed to evolve with the dynamic environment. Finally, Mr. Banerjee voiced the favorite mass opinion by rejecting the Government's ability to implement their brilliant plans. He called upon the industrial sector to pour in their reach and resources for this cause.

These monologues led to an exciting panel discussion moderated by Prof. Jiban Mukhopadhayay, ex-economic advisor of TATA group and currently a senior faculty member at SPJIMR. The final summing up was done by Dr. Keith D'souza, co-convenor of the seminar.