Participation in International Caucuses Brings Global Focus to IU Kokomo
March 7, 2008
Kokomo, Indiana—“To be the school of choice for global and entrepreneurial leaders in Asia”, this is the proposed vision that came out of The ASIA Graduate School of Business Founding Conference held in Hyderabad, India. Niranjan Pati, Ph.D., dean of the School of Business and professor of operations management at Indiana University Kokomo participated and led the group that was charged to develop the vision for this new business school. At this January 2008 conference, esteemed business educators from around the world were in deliberations concerning changes in business education to prepare future Indian leaders and managers to keep pace with the future of India’s economy that has seen rapid global expansion of Indian owned companies into other countries.
Much was proposed regarding cross-cultural collaboration and the need for greater understanding of the business practices of India’s Asian neighbors, such as China, rather than concentrating, as has been the practice, on the western economic model of Canada, Japan, Europe, and the US, where ownership and asset valuation is different. It is this information about business concerns in other areas of the world, which enables Pati to speak experientially to business students, encouraging them to view the courses he teaches at IU Kokomo from a global perspective.
As Indian companies expand globally, it is through the implementation of cultural exchange that great strides can be taken to improve customer service. According to the February 20, 2008 issue of The Economic Times Mumbai, Pati asserts that managers need to think out of the box and Business schools need to help them become innovative, “Our (Indian) students have good analytical skills, and (Indian) Business Schools need to hone these skills. Indian managers need to improve their customer service skills.”
Annabel Beerel, distinguished professor, Southern New Hampshire University, states, “In this age, we cannot find technical solutions to all our problems. Globalization is asking of us to have a new type of leadership and insight… Western hegemony is certainly getting diluted, if not cropped away. We need capitalism with a human face.”
Alain Ouvrieu, director, International Development, ESSCA Graduate School of Management favors lowering language and cultural barriers. He states, “Now Asian countries, such as Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, among others, are collaborating with each other to narrow this gap.”
Pati avers, “We can use commerce to build harmonious relationships between countries....” Pati’s participation in international caucuses is invaluable to the enrichment of the campus learning environment and the promotion of diversity by widening the sphere of student education to encompass global perspectives.
Coverage of this event was provided by various channels such as Times Now, Eenadu, NDTV, and CNN Indian Business Network (IBN) who recorded the panel deliberations. Participating in the panel discussion were Dr. Madhu Kalimpilli – University of Waterloo, Canada; Dr. Niranjan Pati – Indiana University, Kokomo IN, USA; Prof. Alain Ouvrieu – Essca Foundation, Angers France and Budapest Hungary; Dr. Nitin Pangarkar – Director MBA Program, NUS, Singapore; Dr. Eric Braude – Boston University, USA; Dr. Liyan Zhang – Tianjin University of Finance and Economics; Dr. Annabel Beerel – Professor of Leadership studies, SNHU, USA; Brig. P. Rajkumar – Director , ASIA GSB, Hyderabad; and Prof. P.V.Ramana – Chairman ITM Group, and Founder ASIA GSB – Moderator.
