Vista, IIM Bangalore's annual business summit, focused on capturing the evolving nature of businesses. The two-day event witnessed a range of competitions, events, workshops, and activities in the domain of business and management under the theme of ‘Portraits of Progress.’
Vista 2020 was inaugurated by Chief Guest Dr Kiran Bedi, Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry. Prof Abhoy K Ojha, Dean-Programmes, IIMB, and Prof Padmini Srinivasan, PGP Chair, IIMB, inaugurated the fest and delivered the keynote address as part of the opening ceremony.
Turning setbacks into comebacks
The day one started with a panel discussion on ‘Covid-19 Reset: Retool and Rebuild’ moderated by Prof Sourav Mukherji, IIMB, featuring Nikhil Prasad Ojha, Partner, Bain & Company; Ronojoy Dutta, CEO and Whole-time Director, Indigo Airlines; and Arun Rajappa, Partner Director for PM Microsoft India Development Centre. The panel discussed the role of government and various industries in resetting the status-quo post-Covid-19.
Shiv Khera, author of You Can Win , educator, and business consultant, delivered a speaker session on ‘Turning Setbacks into Comebacks.’ “There is a connection between learning and earning. People who learn more, earn more,” says Khera, sharing his thoughts on coping with the current crisis, preparing for success, and motivating oneself and others. Vivek Chandra, Director and Head of Business, Middle East and Africa, ITW Consulting, spoke about ‘Career for all in sports industry’ and how a day job in sports is a dream for millions.
In a speaker session by Former Governor of Reserve Bank of India Raghuram Rajan, he talked about fiscal prudence, central bank independence, economic growth trajectory in times of Covid, and how India is soon to become the manufacturing hub of the world in the coming times with the right kind of monetary and fiscal intervention.
He says, “India did not handle the virus well because of the limited fiscal resources. What was needed was short-term supply-side measures to protect the small and medium-size firms and help them stay alive, all beneficial in keeping the inflation down.”
Creating a brand
In a workshop conducted by N Ramamoorthi, President, Ogilvy South, on the art of advertising, he shared his insights on how to create an effective marketing campaign that increases brand memorability and help a product or service succeed even before the launch. Data Analysis using Power BI workshop conducted by Mr. Mohamed Yousuf, Director of Excel Prodigy, taught participants the importance of data analytics and Power BI. Karthikeyan Haldurai, Manager, Google Search Ads 360, conducted a workshop on ‘Digital Marketing in India.’
‘The Art of Growing Business using LinkedIn’ by Sachin Sharma, Director, Marketing Solutions, LinkedIn, highlighted some ideas and methods to grow businesses using LinkedIn. ‘Business Storyboarding’ workshop by Salt & Sambar spoke about effective ways to visualise ideas, map customer journeys, and select the most important elements of an idea.
Perspectives galore
The day two of Vista started with another insightful panel discussion on ‘Bankers Roundtable,’ moderated by Prof Venkatesh Panchapagesan, IIMB, featuring Naina Lal Kidwai, Chairman India Advisory Board, Advent Capital and Former Country Head, HSBC India; Rajnish Kumar, Former Chairman, State Bank of India and Sonjoy Chatterjee, Chairman and CEO, Goldman Sachs, India. The discussion focused on the current investment climate and state of the banking sector in India, the challenges, policy reform needed, as well as the steps that can be taken to make India a preferred destination for foreign capital.
Padma Vibhushan Awardee and five-time world chess champion Vishwanathan Anand also had an interactive session with the audience and motivated today's youth to face any challenge that comes their way. Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, the founder of Art of Living, spoke about how one can navigate through the current millennial madness in a stress-free and non-violent manner, equipping and transforming individuals to tackle challenges at the global, national, community, and individual levels. While N R Narayana Murthy, Founder of Infosys, delivered a lucid session, talking about the different perspectives of progress.
Conscious capitalism
The second day also saw another panel discussion on the topic ‘Conscious Capitalism,’ moderated by Rahul Singh, featuring Ajay Piramal, Philanthropist and Chairman, Piramal Group; Radhanath Swami, spiritual guru and Founder, Govardhan Eco Village; and Vivek Bindra, motivational speaker and Founder, Bada Business. The discussion revolved around the need to have more socially responsible businesses and why businesses need to have a purpose, create social value, and how to evolve into entities that seek something beyond profits.
‘Rock your LinkedIn Profile’ workshop conducted by Varun Khullar, Head of Business Development, LinkedIn Events and Groups gave helpful tips to enhance one's LinkedIn profile and how to show your brand. The PayPal team talked about the importance of product management skill-sets required to lead cross-functional teams in developing products and defining the strategy and features for your company's products. A workshop on working knowledge of Excel with a practical perspective was conducted by team Finshiksha. Author Karthik Srinivasan, Communications Consultant, weighed in on the importance to have one's own personal brand and how effective personal branding differentiates you from the rest and builds trust and credibility with prospective clients and employers in a workshop on ‘Personal Branding.’
Range of competitions
Day two witnessed a multitude of competitions across analytics, public policy, green business management, finance and marketing sectors such as Data and Beyond, Deal Pro as well as a multi-domain simulation competition called C-Suite. It also included a fun, adventure-based treasure hunt — Wander Quest. The finale of the flagship strategy case competition ‘Numero Uno’ and ‘Opathlon,’ an operations-based case competition was also conducted. The day ended on a high with a stand-up comedy performance by entertainer Rahul Subramanian.