Adaptation, Agility & Creativity are the key for Survival in the VUCA World avers Kishore Jayaraman, President, Rolls-Royce India & South Asia at Amity University
New Delhi: Increasing volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity is making businesses seek renewed perspectives, orientations to embark in this new world with innovative ideas supported by strong leadership. To gain deep insight into the changing business paradigms, Amity School of Communication (ASCO) organized a webinar on “Leadership and Change Management in a VUCA World” with Mr. Kishore Jayaraman, President, Rolls-Royce India & South Asia.
Mr. Jayaraman averred that with the significance presence of the Rolls-Royce in the business segments of Defence, Civil Aerospace and Power Systems come a number of challenges & opportunities. He stated that students in this generation are lucky to be experiencing something very early in their life as to what can change in a fraction of a second. He shared that the first lockdown in the country was the beginning of a new era. New habits have been formed that have brought in a fresh wave of products, services, leadership and business models. Talking about what the new world will look like, he added that technology will witness great advancements as people are aware that it is possible to communicate, collaborate & create through digital forums. He stressed on the need for skills to match the pace of technological advancement.
Mr. Jayaraman further added that every industry will have a novel footprint in this coming era and talent will have to think of ways to position themselves & provide value in this technology dominated world. He averred that a path will have to be found for building trust in businesses in the digital world. He also stated that changes will not be drastic but will take time to evolve with the scenario being between evolution and revolution. Changing geopolitics with the countries going from a globalised to a localized world is the cause behind this. He shared that conversations around the world are happening on digital sustainability and evolution with a very different world being created that requires people to be prepared for it.
He stressed that leadership and preparation for this change is going to be the key. He added that while having the commitment to start is important, the consistency to finish is even more integral. Mr. Jayaraman averred that change is the way of life today and businesses & products have a reduced survival time to adapt to change, people have to be creative and courageous. Planning around what is going to happen next and being prepared for scenarios will determine the future course in the new world. He shared that looking around the corners will be the mantra for leadership in the future and digital technologies like AI & machine learning will gain a lot of prominence to attain this. He averred that change is adaptation and adapting with pace is agility that generate solutions with creativity.
Dr. Balvinder Shukla, Vice Chancellor, Amity University shared how the Covid-19 has impacted all sectors & individuals across the globe. She stated that while some have been adversely impacted, few sectors have witnessed positive growth as well. She talked about how universities like Amity have been able to move to online learning without breaking the academic continuity with its focus on technology development and planning ahead of times. She shared the various social contributions and collaborations being made by the University in these trying times. She further added that if the organization has agility, it can bounce back in any adversity. Dr. Shukla averred that successful leaders focus on sustaining superior performance by aligning responsibilities and allowing implementation of innovative technologies. She also added that communication in an organization plays a vital role to effectively share the leadership lessons and strategies till the last rung. Dr. Shukla also shared how the Alumni Forum and Alumni Leadership Forum initiatives are playing a key role in entrepreneurial development of the students.
Prof (Col) R.K. Dargan, Professor & Advisor, Amity School of Communication stated how the leadership at Amity adapted to tide the challenge. He further averred that balancing will be required for short-term needs and requirements of the future and managing change effectively is a leadership change that will need to be adopted in this VUCA world. The webinar was well-attended by hundreds of students and faculty members through various social media platforms.