ISBR Business School in association with ISBR College organized the International Conference on Global Perspective on Business, Economy and Society – Sustainability in the New Normal on August 5th and 6th, 2021. With the onset of pandemic and subsequent lockdown, the entire ecosystem witnessed radical change, the sustainability of the ecosystem had to be viewed from three different aspects Business, Economy, and Society. Businesses had to re-think their practices, the economy took a paradigm shift and these resulted in variations in the society and pattern of living as
well. The shift from offline to online functioning irrespective of the type of entity – corporates, educational institutions, and other institutions was inevitable and demanding. The conference envisioned the above perspective as the theme. Hence, the objectives of the conference were: providing a forum for deliberations on the shift in the businesses and their sustainability in the wake of new normal and to reflect on the multidisciplinary aspects of business and economy and its influence on the society at large, during and post-pandemic situation. The online inauguration ceremony was hosted on 5th August 2021 on the Zoom platform. Dr. K.S. Lakshmi, Conference Convenor gave a briefing of the conference. Dr.Y Lakshman Kumar, Director of ISBR Business School, welcomed everyone by introducing the topic and narrated numerous facets of India’s sustainability. He highlighted the current global predicament as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. The conference was inaugurated by Professor Paul Edmund Green, Dean of Faculty of
Business and Management Sciences at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology in Cape Town South Africa. Prof Green elaborated on the measures taken by the government and other administrative bodies in South Africa to combat the pandemic effect. He also emphasized the importance of Research, Leadership, and Entrepreneurship. The keynote address was delivered by Prof Rachid OUMLIL, Research Professor, ENCG Agadir, University of Ibn Zohr, Morocco, North Africa. Prof OUMLIL who also happens to be associated with African Research Centre for Innovation and Development emphasized the need for open innovation and its research opportunities. Dr. Manish Kothari presided over the inauguration. Further, he elaborated on the reports given by various monitoring agencies on how pandemic made remote working an unavoidable choice, shift from offline to online working. He later delved into the workforce
crunch in the emerging economies. He declared the opening of the International Conference. The inaugural session was attended by around 200 members across the globe. Subsequent to which the papers were presented by research presenter scholars both at the national and international levels. The inaugural session concluded with the Registrar and Dean (Academics), Dr. B.S. Patil offering his felicitations and best wishes to the participants. Around 160 papers are to be presented at the two-day conference by research practitioners, academicians, and corporate delegates. The conference was well deliberated with a number of papers being presented on both days doing justice to the theme.
As an offshoot, a Panel Discussion was organized on 6th, August 2021, on the topic: LGBTQ and Sustainable Development Goals. The panel of experts deliberated on the challenges, the discomforts experienced by the LGBTQ, and the change of the attitude required from various entities and stakeholders. The corporate initiatives and the acceptance of the LGBTQ in the workplace were well deliberated by the panelists. The notion of treating LGBTQ as a special gender and sympathizing was abhorred. The team of expert panelists was: Adam Pasha, Ambassador of Royal Campus, 1927, Dr. Uma Warrier, Professor, Area Chair – HR and OB, Jain Deemed to be University, Dr. R. Ratchana, Adjunct Faculty, Department of Professional Studies, Christ Deemed to be University, Mr. Mohan Kumar, Practice Head, Wipro, Mr. Rituparna Sharma, Life coach and author, Mr. Vinod Kumar, Founder, Good Quest Foundation. The session was ably moderated by Dr. Geetha Rajaram, Principal & Director, Global Institute of Management Sciences. The session was hosted and well-coordinated by Mr. Madan Gowda. The Panel Discussion session concluded with the Conference Convener, Dr. Guru Aradhya offering his felicitations and best wishes to the participants. The valedictory ceremony of the International Conference was conducted on 6th August 2021 on the Zoom platform. An initial introductory note about the conference was given by Dr. K.S. Lakshmi, Conference Convener. The Conference Deliberation Report which consists of details of the number of papers, the various institutes, the paper selection process, and the topics in each track was given by conference Convenor Dr. Guru Aradhya. Dr. Y. Lakshman Kumar, Director of ISBR Business School, welcomed everyone by introducing the topic and gave his insightful address on the pandemic and its repercussions. The valediction was presided by Dr. Manish Kothari, M.D. ISBR group of institutions. He detailed the six-problem solving mindsets for uncertain times. The book of proceedings of the conference, approved by the Ministry of Education was released by M.D. Dr. Manish Kothari. The valedictory address was delivered by Prof. Rohit Rampal, Chair of Management Information Systems and Analytics Department at the State University of New York, Plattsburg. He elaborated on the use of analytics in the real-time scenario, especially during the pandemic. The valediction concluded with M.D. offering felicitation to those who won the Best Awards and also to the other participants. The program concluded with thanksgiving by Prof. Veena Shenoy, Conference Convenor to all who made the conference a grand success by offering special thanks to Ms. Nivedhitha, Research Associate, and International Office, the technical team, the design team, and the student coordinators. The program ended with the rendering of the National Anthem.