e-business for aspiring minds

QA Session with the students - WCC College

Inaugurating a career oriented program titled “Management of e-business” in WCC (Women’s Christian College) one of the reputed women’s college in the city last week. Little did I realize that I was stepping into one of the oldest and reputed institutions in the city living upto its mission of providing a complete, meaningful and relevant education to women so that they are intellectually well-trained, morally upright, socially aware and spiritually inspired.

Established in 1915, and set amidst a sprawling campus, the program gave me an opportunity to interact with a wonderful batch of motivated students who excelled in their communication skills and a very enterprising principal who inspires the students as well as the faculty members in delivering the best.

The objective of the newly started program was to empower students to mould themselves and embrace changes brought about by IT in the domain of business. The program which is currently open to the college students has attracted students from various departments who will be trained into the latest concepts and techniques in areas of e-business & Technology management, Online marketing, Cyber law and Enterprise Resource Planning.

Excerpts from my Inaugural address

While delivering my inaugural address I made a mention that the students should consider themselves fortunate for being in a good institution under the guidance of an excellent principal doing the most opportune course in one of the most happening places in India, which is Tamil Nadu, traditionally known as the Detroit of South Asia due to its large automotive and manufacturing base this fastest growing state ranks 3^rd in India for attracting FDI investments.

The outstanding work environment & industry friendly government of Tamil Nadu has also attracted major ICT players to set-up their operations in Tamil Nadu. With India becoming the global innovation hub, the growth in ICT in Tamil Nadu has brought before it, a great opportune moment to realize its ICT vision 2011 as the independent India turns 75.

This stipulates that

– ICT Industry output in TN shall be USD 33 Billion by 2011.

– Tamil Nadu aspires to be the number one state in India in ICT revenue contributing to 25% of total Indian ICT industry

– Additional employment of 3 million and investment of USD 6 Billion in Tamil Nadu.

The Country and the State has the necessary potential in terms of knowledge, resources, skills, talents, leaders and industry clusters. Besides growth is not being restricted to cities already industrialized, but the focus is now on taking ICT to Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities in the State and the Country thereby providing all inclusive and equitable growth.

Technological advancements have played a great role in reducing gap amongst people and bringing them together. Earlier the socio-economic divide used to be on what a person has and what he does not have. Today it is based on whether we are connected or not connected. Earlier we used to go to a bank to carry out a transaction, ATM machines slowly replaced the cashiers and tellers, today mobile phones are emerging as alternatives. Our lives are getting connected and we are becoming more open and collaborative.

The advancement of technology has made great impacts on large business corporations which are more than willing in adapting to changes, they are also constantly innovating and take to technology which would help them to stay competitive and deliver the best.

Procter and Gamble is one such company which has now launched a program for rewarding and encouraging people to share ideas. P&G has set up a forum for this and instead of using internal resources for idea generation which could be expensive and cumbersome, they are now open to take inputs, suggestions and ideas that can be used in developing new products or improvising the existing products. Best ideas which can be implemented are rewarded.

Similarly Unilever’s marketing strategy for promoting their product line Sun silk through sun silk gang of girls, is an innovative strategy which was well received and drawn the attention of the product to potential prospects. These are some of the examples of e-business which is a pervasive technology all by itself and we experience it day in and day out. Therefore an opportunity to explore the areas of e-business and being trained in this area is a welcoming one.

The enthusiastic batch of girls were all excited about the program which lasted close to 2 hours, followed which we were treated with tasty snacks and a warm cup of coffees, in a palatial room which is used by the college as a reception area to meet guests and key members. I was bit taken by surprise when the coordinator announced that Robert Clive had lived in this building. The hospitality showered by the principal, faculty members and the students was amazing.

While taking leave from these aspiring group of youngsters, I advised them to think and innovate new concepts as success of such programs will be determined only when students make an effort to think and apply innovative ideas in their chosen fields.

To make this happen, students instead of adapting to changes must become the change themselves.