DIRECTOR’S DESPATCH
SPEARHEADING CHANGE FOR A BETTER FUTURE A series of workshop events in India has left AMBA & BGA membership director Victor Hedenberg impressed by the impact of business school initiatives that address the most critical challenges for business and society, as he recounts here
R ecently, I was in India to help host a trio of capacity-building workshops in the cities of New Delhi, Bengaluru and Goa. During my trip, I was able to get a glimpse into the serious challenges that India continues to face in its journey from developing nation to global superpower. One challenge relates to India’s continuing demographic growth and how this is pushing the country’s infrastructure to its limits. In addition, the South Asian nation must contend with environmental concerns on a scale that has perhaps never been witnessed in the history of mankind. Worsening pollution in cities such as New Delhi goes hand in hand with skyrocketing cases of asthma and cancer. Meanwhile, good arable land is becoming in increasingly short supply due to a widespread use of aggressive pesticides that kill all the life in soil, turning it into useless dirt. Caught in the middle of these issues are universities and business schools that have the opportunity to play an instrumental role in how the country’s future will be shaped. And while the challenges I see in India are enormous,
communities. A similar initiative at SP Jain Institute of Management & Research has the same goal. Business schools such as IIM Calcutta are also playing a role in planting trees and reinvigorating the ecosystem; an essential step given the demands being placed on good farming land. Other institutions seek to change cultural norms, taking steps such as recruiting more talented female faculty and students. This is the case at IIM Sambalpur, where there is a realisation that every talented individual, regardless of background or gender, needs to be given an opportunity if real change is to be achieved. Seeing such wonderful initiatives across AMBA & BGA’s network of business schools in India – and the level of engagement they achieve among students and staff – fills me with confidence for the future. As a global membership and accreditation organisation, our role is to push and encourage schools to play an even greater role in society and boost the positive impact they have on individuals, communities and ecosystems. In this sense, the business schools in India we currently work with offer a shining example for others to follow.
there is so much hope to be found in the astounding work that schools in the AMBA & BGA network are doing. This includes shaping new cultural habits and behaviours, while remaining sensitive to centuries‑old traditions and respecting the great diversity of background and experience that is a source of pride in the world’s largest country by population. Take the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Indore as an example, where a community outreach programme is inspiring students to launch products aimed at improving health and hygiene in rural Indian “The challenges in India are enormous, but there is so much hope to be found in the astounding work that schools in the AMBA & BGA network are doing”
38 Business Impact • ISSUE 2 • 2025
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