Great Lakes and NASMEI organize 2 day International Marketing Conference

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Great Lakes Institute of Management in collaboration with NASMEI (North American Society for Marketing Education in India) organized the International marketing Conference on December 22nd -23rd. The participants were from different parts of the world including US, Canada, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Australia and of course India. The conference showcased research work on various areas in Marketing which included Consumer Behavior, Customer Relationship Management, Customer Focused Marketing, Retailing, Advertising etc. The participants were from some of the top B Schools of the world such as Stanford, Wharton, IIMs, MDI etc. The two day event started with the inaugural speech from the Prof Sriram, Executive Director, Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai. Dr.Dipak Jain, Dean, Kellogg School of Management was also present on the occasion as an honorary guest.

Prof Sriram, Executive Director, Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai

He started off by welcoming one and all to the International Marketing Conference. He pointed out that Great Lakes wanted to position itself as a marketing school and “customer centricity” was its theme. He talked about the Dean Dr. Bala who created Great Lakes, his third venture after being instrumental in starting MDI in the 90s and ISB, more recently. He said that this conference spearheaded by Dr.Seenu in conjunction with Great Lakes would establish Great Lakes as a center of marketing excellence. He also said this conference would provide the platform for academicians to network and interact with their counterparts from different parts of the world.


Dr Bala Balachandran, Honorary Dean and Founder, Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai

He started off by welcoming one and all to the International Marketing Conference. He talked about the decision that he had to make when he started his pet project Great Lakes. He wanted Great Lakes to be known as a center of excellence in a functional area of management. Given that he was at Kellogg, well known for its Marketing excellence, coupled with the fact that there were no b schools in India with a strong marketing focus, he wanted Great Lakes to be a center of Marketing excellence. In line with this, recently, 4 professors of marketing - Prof Bharadwaj from IIT Chennai, Dr.Swaminathan from IFMR, Prof Xavier and Dr. Krishna Ram - have joined Great Lakes. Great Lakes also instituted a chair professorship for marketing excellence funded by Chandrashekhar and christened as the “Kotler Srinivasan Chair of Research in Marketing’. Recently, it was decided that the chair would be headed by Dr. Xavier.

Dr. Xavier, Professor of Marketing, Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai

He began his talk by saying that it was an honor to be made the recipient of the Kotler Srinivasan Center for Marketing chairship. Marketing in India was not as evolved as in the US. He outlined his plans to develop a marketing portal which would allow people to interact with legends like Dr. Seenu and Dr.Phillip Kotler. He would also organize marketing competitions which would include thesis submission to foster research in Marketing not just within Great Lakes but also in India. This was one of the many ideas he had in store.


Dr. Seenu Srinivasan, Legendary professor of Marketing, Conference Organizer, Stanford University

He started off by welcoming one and all to the international marketing conference organized by Great Lakes and NASMEI. This conference is being conducted under the auspices of the Kotler Srinivasan Center for Research in Marketing. He talked about the fact that the conference delegates had come from mostly the US, Canada as well as Australia and other parts of the world. He talked about the fact that this conference had created a community of marketing professors who could take marketing to the next level in India. This conference would provide the opportunity to critically examine the research work presented by their counter parts from various parts of the world.



Dr. Dipak Jain, Dean, Kellogg School of Management

He started off by saying that it was a privilege to be in the midst of legends like Dr.Seenu Srinivasan and every marketing professor considered it an honor to share the conference space with Dr.Seenu. He talked about his days at Tejpur, Assam at a time when India was backward and it took a long time to for letters to reach abroad as well as secure scholarships for post graduate programs. He talked about his academic journey. He talked about the way to Success and he said that it was not all about luck and in fact, it was due to the people he interacted with and heeding advice at the right time. There are enough marketing professors in the leading management institutes coming from India. This is ample testimony to the fact that there was enough marketing talent in India. He talked about Dr. Bala’s initiative to start Great Lakes and he commended him for achieving this feat of running a management institute that was dedicated to marketing and fostering the development of marketing. He talked about the fact that Kellogg was known for Marketing and had managed to establish itself as a brand which he said was lacking with the Indian B Schools. Today, marketing has earned the respect of corporate America and CEOs think that marketing is a crucial element of their strategy and there has been a gradual shift towards marketing in terms of marketing professors heading leading management institutes. He also talked about the opportunity for Great Lakes to create a marketing brand in India. Lot of people are interested in doing cross cultural research and developing a global framework and Great Lakes could play a big role in bridging this gap. When we are trying to promote research, pick a problem that appeals to people and provide credible results. The choice of the problem selected as well as methods used is important. He said that it was important to take risks and do cutting edge research and to be known for creating something new and revolutionary. It is a great opportunity for NASMEI to provide Great Lakes a platform and a direction for Marketing in India. It is important to create a symphony with all the notes out there. The challenge ahead of you is never tougher than the force behind you.
 
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