York University’s Schulich School of Business hosted a number of public discussions in India recently, centred on the business themes and issues contained in the book Re-Imagining Capitalism.
The book was produced by Schulich in collaboration with McKinsey & Company, and was published by Oxford University Press in 2016. It brings together renowned academics, global executives and NGO leaders who tackle some of the major issues confronting capitalism today and put forward a number of innovative proposals.
The main book panel discussion took place in Mumbai on Nov. 22 at the Taj Mahal Palace and featured Schulich Dean Dezsö J. Horváth together with fellow panelists Ratan N. Tata (LLD [Hon.] ’14), chairman emeritus of Tata Sons Limited; Dominic Barton (LLD [Hon.] ’12), global managing partner of McKinsey & Company; Sanjiv Mehta, managing director and CEO of Hindustan Unilever Limited; and Dirk Matten, Hewlett Packard Chair in Corporate Responsibility and associate dean of Research at Schulich.
The discussion was moderated by Matthias Kipping, the Richard E. Waugh Chair in Business History at Schulich, and co-editor of Re-Imagining Capitalism together with Dezsö J. Horváth and Dominic Barton.
A second panel discussion titled “Re-Imagining Capitalism: The Indian Perspective” followed, and featured O.P. Bhatt, independent director of Tata Steel and former chairman, State Bank Group; Debu Bhattacharya, vice-chairman, Hindalco Industries Limited & Vice Chairman, Novelis; and Ipsita Dasgupta, president – Corporate Strategy and Incubated Businesses at Star India. The discussion was moderated by Dr. V. Raghunathan , CEO of the GMR Varalakshmi Foundation and director of Schulich’s Hyderabad campus.
The third and final panel discussion of the day, titled “Re-Imagining Capitalism: The Multinational Experience in India”, featured panelists Krish Iyer, president and CEO of Walmart India; Kishore Moorjani (BBA ’94, MBA ’95), senior managing director and head of Tactical Opportunities Asia of Blackstone; Gunit Chadha, founder of APAC Financial Services and former CEO, Deutsche Bank, AG, Asia-Pacific Region; and Bhaskar Pramanik, former chairman of Microsoft India. The discussion was moderated by Kipping.
The book-related events concluded with a keynote luncheon address delivered by Barton. In introducing Barton, Horváth said “our keynote speaker is not only the global head of one of the world’s great consulting firms, but he is also one of the most forward-looking thinkers in business management today.”
He called Barton “a long-standing friend of the Schulich School and a valued member of the Dean’s Advisory Council” and “the man whose bold proposals have ignited this conversation”.
Horváth and Barton co-authored the book’s concluding chapter, “Capitalism Re-Imagined”, which takes a detailed look at how a re-imagined capitalism would work in practice from both the macro- and micro-perspective.
The following day, Schulich hosted a panel discussion in Hyderabad – home of the School’s India campus – titled “Re-Imagining Capitalism: A New Paradigm”. The discussion featured book co-editors Horváth and Kipping, together with Suresh Krishna, chairman of the TVS Group, and B.V.R. Mohan Reddy, chairman of Cyient Ltd. The discussion was moderated by Dr. V. Raghunathan.
The Mumbai and Hyderabad panel discussions were the latest in a number of events the School has hosted in connection with the book. The first panel discussion took place at the book’s Canadian launch in early October 2016 in Toronto, followed by the global launch of the book at the 2017 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, a panel discussion in London, U.K. in March, and a panel discussion this summer at the 2017 SHAPE North America Summit in Toronto.
The events have featured a number of high-profile speakers, including: Mark Carney, OC, governor of the Bank of England and former governor of the Bank of Canada; Philip Coggan, author and senior editor at The Economist; John Kay, economist, author and visiting professor at the London School of Economics; John Stackhouse, senior vice-president, Office of the CEO at RBC and former editor of The Globe and Mail; and John Manley, president and CEO of the Business Council of Canada and Chair of CIBC.