The India Way: How Indian Business Leaders are Revolutionizing Management

The Wall Street Journal Europe's Future Leadership Institute presents

The India Way: How Indian Business Leaders are Revolutionizing Management

An evening with Wharton Professors of Management Michael Useem and Harbir Singh and Vindi Banga – former President Unilever, Global Foods, Home and Personal Care

The Wall Street Journal Europe's Future Leadership Institute will host the UK launch of ‘The India Way: How Indian Business Leaders are Revolutionizing Management’, a book authored by Peter Cappelli, Harbir Singh, Jitendra Singh and Michael Useem, professors from The Wharton School.

Please join us for the book launch, panel discussion and networking session. Canapés and drinks will follow. All participants will have the opportunity of getting a complimentary copy of the book courtesy the Future Leadership Institute.

Since the liberalization of the Indian economy in 1991, Indian firms have shown substantial growth and innovation. After the initial success of the information services firms was noted the world over, innovation in other industries began to receive attention as well.

Harbir Singh and Michael Useem will discuss how they, through interviews with more than 100 of India's most visible business leaders, have identified a unique combination of features of modern Indian management that they call "The India Way."

Mr. Vindi Banga, former President Unilever, Global Foods, Home and Personal Care, will join Dr. Harbir Singh to provide his perspective on the book’s themes.

Learn what insights the authors gathered from the leaders of companies such as Wipro Limited, Tata Consultancy, Hindustan-Unilever and Infosys. Come. Be part of the conversation.

Agenda

• 17.00: Registration and Welcome Address
• 17.15: Introduction to the Book: Professor Harbir Singh and Professor Michael Useem
  
• 17.30: Panel Discussion
  
• 18.00: Q&A
• 18.20: Networking over canapés & drinks

About the speakers

Harbir Singh is the William and Phyllis Mack Professor of Management and co-director of the Mack Center for Technological Innovation at the Wharton School.  Dr. Singh is also Vice-Dean for Global Initiatives at the Wharton School.  He has been Chair of the Business Policy and Strategy Division of the Academy of Management, and was Chair of Wharton’s Management Department. He holds a bachelor’s degree in technology from the Indian Institute of Technology, an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad and a PhD from the University of Michigan. He is widely published in the areas of strategy, governance, acquisitions, joint ventures, and restructuring and is the coeditor of Innovations in International and Cross-Cultural Management.  In 2010 he was named one of top ten thought leaders in India by the Financial Times.

Michael Useem is the William and Jacalyn Egan Professor of Management and Director fo the Center for Leadership and Change Management at the Wharton School. He holds a PhD from Harvard University, and his research had focused on leadership, decision making, governance, and corporate change. He has presented leadership development programs in India, China and elsewhere and with Harbir Singh and Jitendra Singh has offered an annual program on corporate governance in Mumbai. He is the author of several books on leadership, including The Inner Circle, Investor Capitalism and The Leadership Moment.

Vindi Banga joined Unilever in India and has since worked in a number of roles around the world. In 2000 he was appointed Chairman and Managing Director of Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) which is Unilever’s operating company in India. HUL is India’s largest consumer products company; one of the country’s most respected companies and one of the most valuable companies on the Indian stock exchange. 

He led the creation of a One Unilever Global Foods, Home & Personal Care Global Category Organisation which is now responsible for innovation and marketing mix development for all brands. Unilever has 270 brands in 13 categories of which 11 are above €1bn each; these brands are marketed in 200 countries. He was also responsible for the sustainability agenda for Unilever.

In 2004 he was appointed to serve on the Prime Minister of India’s Council of Trade & Industry. In December 2009, Vindi was named India’s Global Achiever at a CNBC-sponsored awards ceremony in New Delhi. In 2010 he was awarded the Padma Bhushan, one of India’s highest civilian awards.

Organising committee

1. Gert Van Mol - Wall Street Journal Europe - Future Leadership Institute
2. Sok Be - The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
3. Gutenberg Communications
4. Pratik A Dalmia