B. Muthuraman, former chairman, Tata International Ltd. and former vice chairman of Tata Steel Ltd., said on Saturday that creating equal opportunities and equal access to opportunities was one of the biggest challenges facing the country. He was delivering the convocation address at the 29th annual convocation of T.A. Pai Management Institute (TAPMI) here.
Mr. Muthuraman said that many people in the country did not enjoy all opportunities. Merit was shaped by social circumstances and a small section of the society was enjoying all opportunities. Hence affirmative action was needed, he said.
Stating that all qualities could not be imparted in B-schools, he said that to overcome challenges in life, one needed qualities such as courage, vision, good judgement and ethical conduct. These did not come from text books or classrooms. But these qualities were essential for a person to succeed.
These qualities came from pursuing activities such as arts, sports, painting, yoga, reading, and “introspection and action cycle, where you have to spend time with yourselves.” Creativity and imagination were more important than mere knowledge. “Good leadership should have both right and left brain combination,” he said.
Emphasising that profit should not be the sole aim of an organization, Mr. Muthuraman said that the global economic meltdown of 2008 had taken place because B-schools had drilled into their students that profit was the sole objective. “But society is not merely a stakeholder in business, but also is central to the business. Being responsible to society is the prime objective of business,” he said.
B-school graduates wanted to become Chief Executive Officers of companies in a short time. “But life is not a 100-metre race, it is a marathon. You need to preserve your stamina for the marathon,” he said.
He added that India was the best place to be young in the world now. There was economic reshaping taking place in the world. Europe would take a long time to become economically strong. The U.S. and Japan had their own economic problems. This gave India with its demographic dividend, an opportunity.
Kathiresan L., bagged the Overall Best Student of the Batch Award on the occasion.
R.C. Natarajan, Director of TAPMI and Ramdas M. Pai, Chancellor of Manipal University, were present.
T.A. Pai Management Institute conducts annual convocation
