IMA Insights

A key part of a CEO's role is to orchestrate actions by the team he or she leads, influencing behaviour at various levels. This can mean changing habits and routines within the organisation, as well as effectively managing the emotional ‘climate’. These actions are dependent on how well the CEO can leverage the way people’s minds work. Neuroscience and cognitive science can, with the aid of neuro tools, provide a powerful means of obtaining insights that enhance the ability of CEOs to orchestrate the required behaviours in the organisation. 

At a recent India CEO Forum session in Mumbai, Arvind Sahay, Director and Professor of Marketing & International Business, MDI Gurgaon, explored a range of neuro tools that are now available and their applications in business. This podcast summarises these discussions.

At a recent India CFO Forum session in Mumbai, Ramit Gupta, Partner at IBM Consulting, and Kumar Subbiah, CFO & ED at CEAT Tyres, shared practitioners' perspectives on AI in Finance, offering insights from their experiences. The session delved into examples of successful end-to-end process optimisation and the challenges faced in implementing AI and other emerging solutions in Finance. 

This podcast summarises these discussions.

The recent Indian general election was not defined by a clear, sweeping mandate. Rather, the BJP's victory was the culmination of several intertwining factors —ranging from caste and religious considerations to nuanced sub-regional dynamics and strategic candidate selections. During a recent joint session attended by IMA India’s CEOs, CFOs, CHROs, CMOs and CFO NxT Forum members, R Jagannathan, Editorial Director at Swarajya Magazine, delved into the post-election landscape, highlighting the missteps that led to the BJP falling short of a majority. Moreover, he offered insights into the anticipated trajectory of the Modi 3.0 regime and its potential contours. This podcast summarises these discussions.

With rising global temperatures and a domestic air-pollution crisis, environmental factors will come to occupy an increasingly important place in corporate decision-making and operations. The intense heat waves seen this year across India only underscore the urgency of the situation, both for businesses and for society at large. Higher-than-average temperatures present a real threat to human life and health, and workplace design and policies must account for this. More generally, air pollution demands longer-term, strategic responses by corporations as well as short-term mitigation. 

At a recent online session of the India CHRO Forum, Bharati Chaturvedi, Founder and Director of the Chintan Environmental Research and Action Group, and a member of several government bodies and committees, explored both the science and the human-resource implications of the twin crises of climate change and pollution. She also looked at what businesses can do, both to safeguard their people and to give back to society. 

In today's dynamic business environment, innovation is not a matter of choice but an imperative. 'Innovate or perish' is the new norm. At a recent India CEO Forum session in Pune, Shishir Joshipura, CEO and MD of Praj Industries, shared his perspective on innovation as a growth enabler using anecdotes and real-life stories. He also shed light on how Indian companies can leverage the power of innovation to become globally competitive. 

This podcast summarises these discussions.

India’s technology-regulation environment has seen major developments in the last 12 months, and further changes are likely once the new government settles in. The passage of the DPDP Act last August means that India now has a robust data-privacy law for the first time. Meanwhile, the draft Digital India Bill covers a range of issues around cyber security and data protection. Recent indications are that the government may also soon move to frame regulations in the AI space. All these changes create new complexities and challenges for Finance heads, who are the ultimate owners of risk and compliance within the organisation. 
At recent IMA CFO Forum Sessions, Arun Prabhu, Partner and Head - Technology & Telecommunications at Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, offered insights on existing and potential new regulations as well as some best practices for CFOs.

The podcast summarises these discussions. 

In all the coverage surrounding the parliamentary elections, it may have slipped the attention of a few that India signed a deal with Iran on developing and operating the Chabahar port. As this podcast explains, this is geopolitically significant. 

Global geopolitics is in a state of turmoil unseen in decades. Europe and the Middle East are at war and there is a risk of these conflicts spreading. National security and energy supplies are therefore of real concern. Adding to the worry is the escalating rivalry between America and China, and the fact that rising nationalism is creating new barriers to flows of people, goods and investment across borders. At recent sessions of the India CEO Forum in Pune and Bangalore, Pramit Pal Chaudhuri, South Asia Practice Head for the Eurasia Group and former Foreign Editor of the Hindustan Times, outlined how geopolitical factors will impact businesses over a medium-to-long-term horizon. This podcast summarises these discussions. 

As global temperatures rise inexorably, governments and companies are coming around to the concept of net-zero. Simply put, net zero means cutting emissions to a bare minimum and then absorbing and/or durably storing the residual emissions, leaving ‘zero’ in the atmosphere. What, though, does making such a commitment mean in practical terms – from either a national or a corporate perspective? What can businesses do to move in this direction, and how can they benefit from doing so? 

At a recent joint session of the India CEO and CFO Forums in Delhi, Jayant Sinha, a two-term Member of Parliament, and Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Finance, provided insights from both a policy and business standpoint on this issue. He also discussed how the net zero development model may unfold across various sectors, and the steps that leading businesses can take in this sphere. This podcast summarises these discussions. 

At a recent India CEO Forum session in Chennai, Dilip Sawhney, Regional Vice President of Rockwell Automation, provided a perspective on how digitisation and automation are impacting the manufacturing sector. This podcast summmarises the discussion.