CHRIST, Lavasa Hosted An International Conference On Management Research and Studies

CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Lavasa hosted an International Conference on Management Research and Studies (ICMRS) on 18th and 19th January 2020. The theme was ``Evolving Business: Management, Ethics and Law’. ICMRS was organized in collaboration with technology partner - TCSION and business partner - Business Standard.


 Today, we live in a VUCA world and change is a way of life. The breakneck velocity of innovations facilitated by technology is redefining almost every aspect of human society. Technologies are making production processes more efficient. Modern tools of business analytics are automated, refined and precise, thus freeing up time for businesses to focus on core activities. The frontiers of innovation are being extended continuously, often by start-ups with daring business ideas. Business enterprises do not have the luxury of complacency anymore and must move with the times to remain relevant. Many of these developments have ramifications for both ethics and law.

Given this scenario there is a need for academicians, researchers and practitioners to put their heads together to deliberate on these developments and prepare for the same, lest we get caught unawares and get into an unwelcome VUCA scenario. That, in a nutshell, was the purpose of the 2-day cross-disciplinary International conference for Management Research and Studies 2020 (ICMRS2020). Whilst academicians and scholars presented research papers on how society and businesses, would traverse the march of time, the conference also looked at the best practices in different parts of the world that could be sustainable and worthy of emulation.

The Chief Guest on this occasion was the Keynote Speaker, Mr Dilip Sinha; an Indian diplomat and former public administrator. He served in the Indian Foreign Service from 1978 to 2014 and as Chairman of the Manipur Public Service Commission, India, from 2015 to 2016. During his illustrious career Sinha served as India’s Ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations in Geneva from 2012 to 2014 and as India's Ambassador to Greece Ambassador Sinha is a public speaker on international security, Afghanistan-Pakistan-Iran, and environmental diplomacy. He is the author of Legitimacy of Power and The Permanence of Five in the Security Council (2018, Vij Books).


Mr Dilip Sinha was head of India's UN affairs during its membership of the Security Council in the eventful period, 2011-2012. He was ambassador to the UN in Geneva, where he was elected Vice President of the UN Human Rights Council in 2014 and Vice Chairman of the South Centre. Sinha steered India's response to the crises in Libya and Syria in the Security Council and to Sri Lanka in the Human Rights Council.

The program began with national anthem followed by traditional lighting of the lamp by Director & Dean Dr Fr Jossy George, Academic Coordinator, Dr Fr Arun Antony, HOA, Dr Binu Paul, Chief Guest and Keynote Speaker, Mr Dilip Sinha, Sponsoring Speaker, Mr Ashok Mane, CRM, Mr JK Pandey, Chief Organizer, Dr Dilip Nandkeoykar and HOD, Data Science, Dr Samiksha Shukla.

In his inaugural address Dr Fr Arun congratulated everyone to be a part of the first conference after becoming part of CHRIST University. He began his address by stating that knowledge creation and dissemination are the two pillars of a university and research plays a pivotal role in the actualization of this fact.



He congratulated the distinguished research scholars, participants, delegates, organizers and the Management Department for this historic moment in the history of CHRIST, Lavasa. Fr Arun considered that the conference offered a great opportunity for everyone to be a part of knowledge creation which largely focused on management ethics and law. He asserted that the theme was quite relevant in current scenario even though it has been in existence ever since the idea of business was imagined and materialized. He further added that the context of management and business has changed drastically over a period of time.

Dr Fr Arun aptly mentioned that management books focus on key functions but need to be revised considering the significant changes. He also added that management is not solely dependent on managing resources and people but a lot of importance must be given to the data available. He appreciated the evolution of management and a conference of such caliber will redefine the meaning. He gave examples of the latest trends prevailing in the market and their impact on business.



Fr Arun also reiterated that that large businesses are focused on market, corporate values, ethical aberrations as it is the need of the hour and they have the potential to make a big difference in the business world. He concluded by wishing everyone all the best as they engage in brilliant and thought provoking conversations.

Mr Dilip Sinha has an illustrious career and shared well-researched information pertaining to the theme of the conference. He explained in detail how sustainability is not confined to good citizenship but it is relevant for business as well. The chief focus was on its integration in the global economy. He aptly mentioned that sustainability has been the new buzz word in business. He stated that stakeholder’s capitalization is in unison according to the world statistics. He appreciated the selection of theme and found it absolutely topical in nature. He further asserted that there is a rapid decline in globalization in the world even though global trade has expanded over a period of time.

Mr Sinha emphasized that financial order is based on selected principles which includes accelerating growth in business. At this juncture he gave a suitable example of a rise in inequality whether within or among countries. He suggested that one must patronize return of nationalism with emphasis on environment. He gave examples of UN framework convention on climate change on biological diversity and desertification. He further added that globalization is chiefly driven by market fundamentals. He inspired the scholars to venture in unknown waters in a competitive world while upholding ethical values. Mr Sinha’s speech was quite informative and knowledgeable.

Then Mr Ashok Mane from TCSION spoke about industry designed electives aligned with academic curriculum. He emphasized that the effort was to combine industry with academia wherein a new way of learning is introduced ie. Digital learning. Thus industry inputs are transmitted throughout the country simultaneously and the overall assessment is based on outcome.


Christy K Yesudas, an MBA student also presented a paper on 'Lifeguard Drone'. CHRIST Lavasa faculty members also presented their papers namely `Accelerating Growth of E-commerce in India - Evolving Strategies and Affective Factors’ by Dr Fr Jossy P George, Mullapudi Hari Prasad and Assistant Professor Shynu Philip. It was presented by Hari Prasad. The second paper entitled `An Analysis of Strategies Employed for Combating Stress In Insurance Companies’ was prepared by Dr. Guru Basava Aradhya S and Radhika G Jhawar, 2nd Semester BBA- A Section and Radhika G Jhawar presented the paper. Another paper entitled `To Merge Or Not To Merge’, which dealt with the dilemma of an entrepreneur who is planning for the gross strategy of his business was well researched and prepared by Dr Jayant Mahajan, Dr Dilip Nandkeolyar and Assistant Professor Sanjay Sahai. It was jointly presented by Assistant Professor Sanjay Sahai and Dr Jayant Mahajan. A vote of thanks was given by staff facilitator, Hari Prasad after the inauguration on the first day.

An effort was made to look at the past and present practices to envision the future so that one is better prepared and bring the world of academia and industry close. And even if only 15% of that materializes in not too distant future, the world would change beyond recognition. Hence an effort was made to attract the attention of scholars and corporate honchos alike from various corners of the world to come and deliberate on this future. The central aim was to see how management, ethical and legal practices can contribute and leverage the inevitability of the impending and often sweeping change. It was about taking a telescopic view of the future and be prepared for it keeping in mind the implication in the business world. It can be rightly said that the deliberation that took place at the conference were both relevant and friendly.

Regarding Marketing the possible themes were Research Philosophy and Practice Sustainable Marketing & Strategies Marketing Management Research Marketing and Research Marketing Strategy, Strategic Brand Management Advertising, Sales Promotion and Public Relations Marketing Channels & Strategic Sales Force Management, Marketing Perspectives, Branding & Brand Equality, Export Marketing Strategy & Performance, Green Marketing & Advertising, Strategies for Managing Supply, Chains Supply Chain Risk and Adaptation Negotiations, Corporate Finance and Governance, Finance and Investment including Foreign, Direct Investment, Financial Analytics, Strategic Finance, Banking, Green Accounting, Operations Management, Human Resource Management Work, Culture & Organizations, Managing Diversity and in Business Management Skill Processes and many more. Some more topics were Rural Marketing, Industrial Marketing, Direct and Event Marketing, Digital Marketing, Services Marketing, Strategic Business Sustainability Integrated Marketing Communications Consumer Behaviour etc.

A video competition was also conducted for the students.  The employees (in groups of 3 or 4) were expected to make a video on any of the sub-themes of their choice, as mentioned in the Brochure. The assessment centered on their originality and creativity through a story. 

The conference saw enthusiastic participation by learned scholars from various cities and countries who presented their original research papers. The highly intellectually stimulated presentation was quite inspiring. It is expected that these papers might be published in a SCOPUS indexed journal. The exchange of ideas and views were received well by the august gathering.


On the second day, 19th January 2020 the welcome address was given by HOA, Dr Binu Paul and it was followed by the introduction and felicitation of Mr Anurag Srivastava, who spoke about 'Opportunities in Latin America'.

Then a workshop was conducted on 'Branding - Sustainability and Society'. This workshop on marketing was conducted by Mr. Suman Srivastava. Mr Suman Srivastava is the Founder and Innovation Artist at Marketing Unplugged. He is also the author of Marketing Unplugged: Spotting the elephants in the room. Mr Suman Srivastava enjoys doing new things. A graduate of Delhi University, IIM Ahmedabad and IMD Lausanne, he is an advertising man, strategist, author, marathon runner, teacher, social worker, sports fan, creative bartender and an entrepreneur.





Mr Suman has been the CEO of Euro RSCG India for 5 years and also Chief Strategy O­cer for Euro RSCG Asia Pacific. He was the Chairman of Euro RSCG's emerging markets planning council and a member of the global management committee. Lastly, he was Vice Chairman and Chief Strategy O­cer of FCB Ulka Group in India. Marketing Unplugged has also worked with established brands such as Raymond, Johnson & Johnson, Bharat Petroleum, Times of India, Daikin Air conditioners, Samsung, Tata Housing and Navneet.

He has taught at IIM Ahmedabad and Bangalore, ISB Hyderabad, IIT Bombay and Kharagpur, MICA and several other management institutes across the country. Most recently he has taken on the mantle of teaching marketing at the Indian School of Development Management (ISDM). He also run workshops for clients like Microsoft, Intel, Reckitt Benckiser, Max New York Life, Dainik Bhaskar and Bharat Petroleum. And for social sector organizations like UnLtd India, Smile Foundation and Give India.




The workshop was quite path breaking and very useful for faculty and students alike. Mr Suman explored the new paradigms of marketing and shared his findings with the audience. Just before luck break the Conference E-book was released. Post lunch the much awaited award ceremony was held. The overall winner was Dr Naval Lawande from Symbiosis, Dr Jayant Mahajan, Dr Dilip Nandkeolyar and Assistant Professor Sanjay Sahai from CHRIST, LAVASA (Track 1 Winner) and Dr Ruby S Chanda from Symbiosis (Track 2 Winner).

The concluding address was given by Director & Dean Dr Fr Jossy George and he thanked everyone in the jam-packed hall for their active participation. He congratulated the winners and motivated everyone to remember the lessons from the conference of this magnitude. The two-day conference was concluded with a vote of thanks and then everyone stood up for CHRIST Anthem.

 ICMRS 2020 by CHRIST University (Lavasa Campus) provided a platform for showcasing original and unpublished research works and case studies in the domain of business management, ethics and law and the connect these disciplines have with a variety of related fields such as enterprise, human resources, diversity management, sustainability, logistics, marketing, finance, business analytics in management and their applications in the context of machine learning, and artificial intelligence in the working of enterprises. Papers addressed, but were not restricted to, the main theme from any of the following sub-themes Leadership and Socio-Ethical Aspects and Business, for International Business the sub themes were Global Business and Economics Competitive Strategy of Nations in the International Business Context and International Trade and Investment E-Business and E-Commerce. The entire two day conference was meticulously coordinated by Dr Dilip Nandkeolyar.


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