Moving Indian Companies from Global Players to Leaders

The new Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship is hosting a panel discussion on 3 December in Mumbai, on how best to create and realise growth through innovation. Senior representatives from Imperial College London and Imperial Innovations will discuss the issue at the Centre's launch for Indian CEOs.

Imperial College will invest some 2.5 million GBP in The Rajiv Gandhi Centre, based in its Tanaka Business School, with support for scholarships and infrastructure. The Centre's purpose is to engage UK and Indian industry, research institutions, business schools and governments for closer collaboration in research and sharing of best practice in innovation management. The project is the first to systematically study how technology commercialisation can be successful in the Indian university, research institutes and business context.

There are tremendous opportunities for growth in India but there are also challenges. Many Indian corporations are now enacting a global strategy and developing a platform for sustained product and business innovation. The challenges they face include access to ideas and talent to create new sources of value. Indian companies and universities can accelerate the implementation of their strategy for growth through mutually beneficial connections with global partners.

David Begg, Principal of the Business School, speaking at the launch event explained the new Centre's focus: "Indian companies are stepping up, striving to compete globally on more than simply cost competition. Well managed innovation processes unlock the potential value in a company and are vital to this transformation. The Centre helps facilitate this important step change."

The Centre will offer a range of services to its partners in India and the UK. In addition to establishing collaborative research projects, it will provide corporate networking and executive education programmes. These will provide connections for opportunities with highly able professionals and researchers from both countries.

All programmes will be open to multi-national corporations, medium-sized businesses and individual entrepreneurs with plans for events in London and India. Executive education will offer access to advanced research in many disciplines tailored to suit the practical and managerial challenges faced by its clients. These will incorporate an appreciation of the culture, business practices and innovation management processes in both countries, and focus also on the recruitment and retention of talent, a key issue facing all companies today in India.