Jaipuria Institute of Management, Lucknow recently hosted its Eighth National Conference amidst much excitement and fanfare. Themed Corporate Governance (IIC 2013) the conference brought several leading lights from the industry on the same platform. One of the objectives of the institute is to offer its students a comprehensive learning experience by exposing them to the influences of real world corporate scenario. And the conference, held in the same vein, turned out to be a huge success

The two day conference began on 21st December 2013 with Mr. M. Damodaran, Former Chairman, Securities and Exchange Board of India inaugurating it. Mr. Damodaran has been member of the premier Indian Administrative Service, Manipur – Tripura cadre, since 1971 and has worked with the State and Central Governments in different positions. He is also a renowned voice in India’s financial sector.

Mr. Ashish Kumar Chauhan, Managing Director & CEO, BSE Ltd delivered the keynote address and set the ball rolling for the day by talking about the positives and negatives of the corporate world. According to him, “Conceptual technologies like invention of zero, double entry book keeping system, creation of corporate have their importance in time. The definition of corporate governance has evolved over a period of time and the corporates are now largely answerable to the youth.”

Mr. Damodaran went on to elaborate on the matter of corporate governance by saying, “It should be done in a manner that is consistent with the interests of stakeholders. Content in corporate governance is more important than its structure and mere compliance to regulatory framework is not governance.” He then went on to urge the youngsters to participate actively in the functioning of corporate governance.

Dr. Pankaj Gupta, Director General, Jaipuria Institutes of Management gave a vote of thanks and the IIC 2013 Souvenir was released. But the gathering’s appetite had just been whetted and they were looking forward to the next sessions with great anticipation.

Session 1

Mr. R. K. Dubey, Chairman and Managing Director, Canara Bank Limited moderated the first session of the conference based on Finance and Corporate Governance. He talked about the virtues of transparency, compliance and risk management in corporate governance before adding, “A company’s performance is reflected in the effectiveness of its boardroom dynamics.”

Dr. A.C. Mahajan, Chairman Banking Codes and Standards Board of India brought the impact of global financial crisis into the picture and talked about how businesses have had to reconsider their corporate governance. It was quite an insightful session that had complete attention from the audience throughout.

Session 2

This was a session on Legal Perspectives on Corporate Governance and brought Justice Sudhir K. Saxena, Honourable Judge, High Court of Allahabad to the panel. By citing examples of companies like Walmart and Satya he made his point, “Good governance is one that needs to be governed the least.” Mr K.V. Viswanathan, Additional Solicitor General of India took the message forward. He was of the opinion that corporate governance is a three-fold concept that includes sustainable business, generating long term value, and ensuring benefits for all stake holders.

Mr K.T.S Tulsi, Sr Advocate, Supreme Court was another important speaker on the panel and he made a mark with his inimitable style. He encouraged students to bring in receptance and glory to the Nation and emerge as ethical corporate leaders. It was a truly inspiring experience for students in the gathering as Netri Aggarwal said, “Rarely do we get to hear about legal perspectives in the corporate world. Listening to the bigwigs from the legal system has been a fantastic experience for me.”

Session 3

“Regulatory issues of corporate governance” was the topic of the third technical session meant to be informative for the gathering. Mr Atul Mittal, Director (Tax & Regulatory) Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India Pvt. Ltd talked about synergy of transparency and ethical values in corporate governance. He said, “It’s a mechanism to increase the efficiency and the growth of the business.” He pointed out real life incidents to drive his point home amongst his audience.

Mr Prithvi Haldea, Chairman PRIME Database then highlighted the structural flaws in the laws of corporate governance and the ambiguity present in their definition. He tried to make the audience understand the importance of consistency, clarity and timely complete disclosure.

His talk drew the first day to an end and the participants went back home completely sated, looking forward to more on the next day.

Day 2 – Session 4

“Technology and Corporate Governance” was the session for the day and Mr. J N Gupta, Managing Director, Stakeholder Empowerment Services Pvt Ltd was at the helm of the matters. He highlighted the role of technology in issues like insider trading, surveillance, and its benefits in audit trailing. Mr. Pawan Kumar, Commissioner of Income Tax said, “The advent and adaptation of technology has made India one of the first countries to use 100% electronic registrations of companies.” With good use of numbers and statistics he made a huge impact with his talk.

Mr. N.C. Bajpai, Chairman of State Planning Commission on the other hand said, “As far as corporate governance is concerned, there is a structured internal accountability whereas in state government, we have diffused multi point accountability. Good governance coupled with technology accelerates development, ensures equity and entitlement to people.”

VALEDICTION

In this session, Dr. Anil Khandelwal, Former Chairman and Managing Director, Bank Of Baroda, shed light on how success can be achieved, making his audience sit up and take notice. He said, “Those who do not face rejection will never be entitled to personal growth; facing pain and rejection makes you successful.” He drew on his personal example where he almost lost his job when politicians criticised him for using orange colour in the new logo of Bank Of Baroda. He said it was seen as his allegiance to the BJP. But Dr. Khandelwal was quick to respond to the criticism as he said, “I’ll remove the colour in the logo as soon as you remove the colour in the Indian flag.” Thus he concluded that higher the risk one takes; greater is the chance of gain.

It was the right note for the conference to end as it had been enriching for the participants who were looking forward to take the ideas they learned to their classrooms and future careers. Said Mansi Srivastava “Not every day, do you get a chance to listen to such well known speakers who are experts in various fields. This conference gave us this opportunity and it’s an experience I won’t forget.” And it indeed turned out to me a memorable experience for many.

Written by: Sanchit Kacker and Soumya Sharma
Interviews taken by: Shubhi Tripathi and Deepti Bansal