IIM Bangalore’s Executive Education department is honoured to host Mr. Doreswamy Prashanth, the President and CEO of Continental India on the 17th of January, as a guest lecturer for its short duration Executive Education programme on Strategy and Leadership in a VUCA world. The Programme directors Prof. P.D. Jose and Prof. Gopal Mahapatra warmly welcomed the esteemed guest lecturer, who later delivered an insightful session on the topic on ‘Building Leadership resilience in a Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous (VUCA) business environment’.
Mr. Doreswamy explained the growth story of Continental India, along with the challenges it faced in a competitive business ecosystem. It traced the evolution of the automotive industry, emphasizing the shift it made from being a mechanical-orientated company to mechatronics and now as a tech company working on software-defined vehicle architecture.
It was also highlighted during the session that companies need to have an agile approach, practice scenario planning, develop business case analysis, anticipate changes in the regulatory environment and be in-sync with the technological transformation within the technical & business ecosystem to successfully navigate in a VUCA world.
To encapsulate things in a more concise manner, individual cases from Continental India were discussed to make participants understand the below listed elements to formulate efficient strategies that help in succeeding in a VUCA world.
- Strategizing Tech Leadership
- Investing in Long term R&D
- Applying the Best Owner Strategy
- Talent development and Upskilling
- Evolving Ecosystem Capabilities
- Developing Resilience
The lecture served as a thought-provoking exploration of strategic approaches, providing a roadmap for leaders and senior executives to thrive even in the most challenging business environment.
Apart from the guest lecture, this short duration programme directed by the programme directors also consisted of multiple team project discussions on managing in a VUCA world, formulating strategies in disruptive times, implications of VUCA and BANI (Brittle, Anxious, Non-linear & In-comprehensible business ecosystems due to disruptions), building better talent management vision and ways to fortify organisations to make them future-ready.