8th National Management Convention Concludes at KIIT

The 8th National Management Convention organized by KIIT School of Management (KSOM) during 30th – 31st January, 2015 concludes on Saturday. The theme of this year’s convention was “The endless pursuit of winning in the Volatility Uncertainty Complexity Ambiguity (VUCA) Environment”. The convention was inaugurated by the Air Marshall (Retd.) R.C. Bajpai, Chief Guest, PVSM, in presence of keynote speakers K.K. Mohanty, MD, Gammon India; Prof. Arbind Mishra, Dean, TERI University; Prof. Anil Bajpai, Director, KSOM and Prof. Ashok K. Sar, Dean, KSOM.

In his address Mr. Bajpai, said, even though VUCA originated from the US military organization, it affects us in the present day context. For the development of a nation it must overcome VUCA both internally and externally. A clarity of objectives and goals is necessary for strategically formulating polices and executing them. He cited examples of hostility and aggression created by the neighbouring countries and how the proxy war is a fit case of VUCA. The adversities can be overcome by strong leadership, professionalism, honesty, integrity and dedication. Prof. Bajpai in his welcome address spoke about the relevance of VUCA in the present scenario. It was followed by the release of book of abstracts by the dignitaries. Prof. Sar introduced the theme of the convention setting the platform for a wholesome discussion. Consistent and continuous learning and its application can help us be competitive in a VUCA world. To be successful Volatility should lead to Vision; Uncertainty to Understanding; Complexity to Clarity and Ambiguity to Agility.

Mr. Mishra stressed primarily on the climate change, risk assessment and mitigating the risk strategically. He also talked about the geopolitical surprise brought by terrorism, Fukushima nuclear disaster and natural calamities like the Jammu & Kashmir floods and Kedarnath tragedy resulted in VUCA. In-fact a concept like VUCA affects every one of us, he added. To successfully address a VUCA situation either in the political, social or business environment a robust leadership has to emerge which takes ownership and is conscientious. Giving example he said, the US Military was successfully able to mitigate a VUCA situation created after the 9/11 terrorist attacks by rapidly adapting their strategies and policies related to internal security. Mr. Mohanty highlighted that even in a volatile scenario Indian managers can produce better results. According to him the acronym VUCA is an abstraction which is our own making. With the new government in existence the corruption has come down. In future our investigating authorities should move from corruption check to performance check. Indian managers today are priceless because they stand out in successfully meeting VUCA challenges and are patient in addressing the dilemmas and eliminating the uncertainties. The convention which was attended by industry practitioners, academicians, faculty members and management students from various B schools, held several technical sessions with research papers presented on the different aspects of management.