Strathclyde Business School and Indian Institute of Management partner for entrepreneurship conference
The Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship at the University of Strathclyde Business School is partnering with the Foundation for Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Kashipur to organise an entrepreneurship conference at IIM Kashipur on December 15-18, 2022.
This conference is aimed at developing understanding of this entrepreneurial ecosystem and its actors by bringing together scholars, entrepreneurs and other ecosystem actors working in the context.
Entrepreneurship in India is currently in an exponential growth phase and is seen as a centrepiece in the national government’s strategic vision of India becoming a 5 trillion dollar economy by 2026. The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2021/22 Report placed India among the top 5 economies for ease of starting a new business, with as many as 83% of the respondents believing that there are good opportunities to start a business in their area which is second globally.
Amidst this rise in entrepreneurial activity, it is important to understand the key pillars of this entrepreneurial growth and the ecosystem developing around it which is why the Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship is working with the Foundation for Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development to organise the entrepreneurship conference.
Dr Sreevas Sahasranamam of the Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship said, “One of the key focus areas of this conference will be emerging trends in entrepreneurship within India. For instance, a study of entrepreneurs on the impact of COVID observed the rise of new trends such as digitalization, multi-sector collaboration, the rise of social enterprises, and localization. It is important to understand the entrepreneur and policy implications of such emerging trends. This study by academics at the University of Strathclyde and King’s College London in 2020 also found that almost 60% of entrepreneurs in India predict a long-term positive impact of COVID-19 on their businesses.
“We will also be trying to gauge the long-term implications that COVID-19 has had on Indian entrepreneurship during the conference. The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2021/22 Report noted that entrepreneurial intentions among the general population and growth expectations among entrepreneurs are still muted in India. So, there is a need for cultural change around reducing the fear of failure amongst the general population, and support for scaling-up new ventures. This could be achieved through a combination of approaches including an increased focus on entrepreneurship education in schools and encouraging innovative thinking and entrepreneurial approaches in underserved communities through bottom-up-ecosystem creation. Initiatives such as the SDGZero, an open social movement that the University of Strathclyde is a part of, are aimed at contributing to this.”
During the first day of the conference, academics from the Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship will be delivering an Entrepreneurship Mindset workshop for SMEs and startups. Several Scottish SMEs have benefitted from such focussed workshops that Strathclyde Business School offers through its Growth Advantage Programme. There will also be a strong focus on PhD students and early career researchers at the conference, through sessions such as Paper Development Workshops and Meet the Editors session.