PUMBAites have a huge appetite, so when it is time for a sumptuous lunch we are the first to queue up, and if the lunch is held just once every year it becomes all the more tempting. But on that auspicious day it was not just food for the stomach but food for the mind and soul too. On Saturday, 5th January, 8:30 am onwards, Le Meridein at Pune, witnessed the convergence of professionals from industry and academia - Vision 2020, a National Seminar organized by PUMBA.
The day was divided into 3 sessions with intermittent breaks. The Chief Guest was alumnus of IIT Bombay and chairman of Praj industries, Mr Pramod Chaudhary. His inaugural speech touched all the aspects of the Vision 2020 even those that our myopic eyes fail to see. The Guest-of -honor was our honorable vice-chancellor Dr. Narendra Jadhav. True to his style, his speech left every one exhilarated. It was supported by a lot of economic statistics and was a true to the life account of his experience with the RBI during the economic crisis of 1991. It concluded with our role in realizing the vision by corporate social responsibility.

During the beginning of the first session we had Mr Manish Udhas (Director Special Projects, Seimens AG) who was informal and directly connected to the audience. He focused on the power of the individual and how by increasing quality in every sphere of life we can write history instead of merely reading it. The stress was on changing the perception of the people by action and not by argument because only a change in attitude can take the country forward.

Next was Mr. Balaji Gopalan (alumnus of Symbiosis and an HR professional with Carraro group). His focus was on HR aspect of business and managing people in the year 2020. With increasing intelligence and focus on achieving objectives the organizations of tomorrow will have to face new challenges regarding workforce. Tomorrow’s employee will try to balance work and quality of life instead of just slogging it out and will be paid for the value he/she adds to the organization rather than his qualification. Contemporary management theories will become obsolete and the Systems theory, Contingency theory and Total Quality Management will become the norm. The prospective managers will have to align themselves to the paradigm change if they have to realize their Vision.

Mr. Shashank Pathak (alumnus of PUMBA and with Gitanjali Gems) throwed light on what really vision means to us? With increasing pace of change we will have to make stronger efforts to tune into the environment. Only a person with vision will become the leader in the year 2020. The retail sector of India (currently the 5th largest and worth $330 billion) will grow to $637 billion by 2015 and there would be no sector of industry left where it would not enter. We can take the example of Future Group, from cloth manufacturing to readymade garments to branded outlets for those garments to shopping malls for the common man and now to capital holding. Kishore Biyani wants to trap every segment where the common man spends his every rupee.

After some nice tea the second session began on the topic ‘Infrastructure sector financing and patterns in urbanization.’ The first speaker was Capt. Deepak Shastri —Director Pune Airport who gave insights on SEZ’s and the rapidly growing airport sector. The Govt. of India is not just constructing new airports now but the focus is on building satellite townships around those airports so they are no longer known as airports but airport cities.

The next speaker was Mr. P. V. Krishna (alumnus of PUMBA and VP---Lehman Brothers) who explained the ancillary benefits of spending on infrastructure. These are the spillover benefits, for example construction of a road results in increase in the number of automobiles ultimately giving livelihood to millions and improving the quality.

Dr. Ketan Gokhale (Technical advisor—University of Pune) throwed light on the social and political problems faced in infrastructure development like acquiring land and intervention by the government. He also encouraged the corporates to pay for the public infrastructure because ultimately it will lead to benefits for them. For example expanding the metro railway from Delhi to Gurgoan will raise the property prices in the area, opening a goldmine for the builder.

The third and concluding session was based on ‘Sustainability of India’s resources to achieve Vision 2020’. Capt. C. M. Chitale (Dean—PUMBA), Dr. K. B. Sainis (Director—BARC), Mr. Milind Kaulgud (Tata Technologies), and Mr. Kamlesh Pandey (Forbes Marshall) gave their views on the issue. The stress was on changing ourselves and getting rid of the ‘chalta hai’ attitude. The problem of no centralized agenda by the government was also raised. Every change in the centre of power changes the plans like the path of particle during Brownian motion. The net effect of the programs and policies is zero. On the positive side we are becoming more and more accommodating. Year 2020 will require people with multitasking abilities. There will be massive educational programs to continuously upgrade the skill of employees and old skills will become redundant. Knowledge, economy and innovation will determine the competitiveness of a firm in the coming decade. The future managers will have to strike the right balance between being Jack of all trades and master of one.

The concluding speech by Dr. Pandit Vidyasagar (Director, BCUD) was an apt end to a healthy discussion inspiring us to strive harder to fulfill the Vision. Kudos to the Seminar Cell for NATSEM’08, I hope it will only get better.