Speakers at the meet say rural markets in India have a wider scope of growth.
That the younger generation should focus on innovation and chart a different path in terms of product, designing and customer services was the consensus reached upon by various speakers at Confluence 2009 at Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA). The speakers also said that rural markets in India have a wider scope of growth as the aspirations of rural mass are not very different from that of urban population.
There is an urgent need to focus on critical sectors such as infrastructure, and information technology, and bring out more innovations in them. “The companies should forcibly ask employees to bring in innovations in whatever work they do. However, one must be ready to face failure as well,” said L Ramkumar, managing director of Tube Investment of India (TII).
On the other hand, Arvind Mahajan, executive director and head business advisor services of KPMG Advisory Services Pvt Ltd, said that the myth has been exploded that R&D is at the centre of innovations. Innovations do not come out from the secret fencing wall of R&D; it is an age of co-creation. In R&D, the focus should be more on research, said Meenu Handa, director of Corporate Communications of Microsoft India.
The speakers also felt the need to cater demand of the rural India that is promising good growth in all the sectors. The customers in rural parts of the country do have knowledge about the products and their aspirations are also same as in case of urban customers.
They may not go for premium segments, but they would like to have all the facilities available to urban population. The companies should create a supply and delivery chain.
In the health care sector, the rural areas of the country are still deprived. The health care facilities have not reached the village level yet. According to World Health Organisation (WHO) India still needs around 15 lakh doctors and 30 lakh nurses, said Dr Preetha Reddy, managing director of Apollo Hospitals, Chennai. The health care market in India is around $35 billion (Rs1.62 lakh crore) and is expected to reach at $75 billion (Rs3.48 lakh crore), she said.
Shailesh Rao, managing director of JAPAC Media and Platforms and India Sales and Operations of Google India, said that employees should take out around 20 per cent of the office hours for innovative ideas and 10 per cent for implementation of those ideas. This will lead to both individual and organisational growth.
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