Date:17/02/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/02/17/stories/2008021759920600.htm

Tamil Nadu - Tiruchi

“Sustaining productivity, essential for global competitiveness”

Staff Reporter

— Photo: M. Moorthy.

ENCOURAGEMENT: M. Anandakrishnan, Chairperson, Madras Institute of Development Studies, presenting the Best Paper Award to S. Victor Anandakumar, Department of Management Studies, School of Management Pondicherry University, in Tiruchi on Saturday.

TIRUCHI: Managing Research and Development and innovation in national and global contexts is an emerging issue future managers should be conversant with, the Chairperson of Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS) M. Anandakrishnan said on Saturday.

Addressing the valedictory of Athenaeum ’08, the International Conference on Management Research, organised by the Centre for Contemporary Management Research, Bharathidasan Institute of Management, Dr. Anandakrishnan observed that efficacy in managing science and technology reflects in the country’s prosperity against the backdrop of corporates entrusting the task of research and development with universities and laboratories, and relocation of global R & D from developed to developing countries.

R & D, which warrants several processes and does not fetch immediate results, is different from innovation that combines existing knowledge, products and processes for arriving at a new product. Over the past decade wealth generation has been more due to innovation than research and development. Innovation being the foundation for economic development, knowledge management warranting a keen insight into the globalisation process is vital for enhancing productivity in various spheres including agriculture and industry, Dr. Ananthakrishnan said.

Sustaining productivity is essential for global competitiveness, he said, calling for strengthening of the pillars of competitiveness such as infrastructure; health and primary education; higher education and training; technological readiness; market efficiency; labour market efficiency; financial market sophistication; market size; and business market sophistication. Emphasising on sovereignty in decision-making, Dr. Ananthakrishnan viewed as sectoral distortion the undue importance given for Information and Communication Technology sector despite its contribution of only five per cent of Gross Domestic Product.

In his special address, the General Manager (HR), BHEL, T. Anandan, said sticking to vision, binding team for common purpose, challenging existing complacency, being alert to signs of change, and anticipating changes are the attributes of a good manager.

They presented Best Paper Awards under the following categorisations: Human Resource (received by Priya Baguant of the Department of Management, Faculty of Law and Management, University of Mauritius, Reduit), General Management (Manoj Mathew, Sam Thomas and James T. Antony of Rajagiri School of Management), Finance (Krithika Babu and C. Samuel Joseph of the Department of Management Studies, The American College, Madurai), System (Bernard Fallery and Florence Rodhain of the University of Montpellier 2, France), Operation (Celal Hakan Kagnicioglu of Anadolu University, Turkey) and Marketing (S. Victor Anandkumar of the Department of Management Studies, School of Management, Puducherry).