ICER-BRIC International Conference on

Entrepreneurship and New Venture Creation: International Models and Benchmarks

 Indian Institute of Management Bangalore: 8-10 December 2011

The International Consortium for Entrepreneurship Research (ICER), a cross-continental network of five leading academic institutions from Italy and the BRIC countries, organized its First International Conference on “Entrepreneurship and New Venture Creation: International Models and Benchmarks” during 8-10 December at IIM Bangalore. The ICER Network was established in 2010 with a vision of developing collaboration among like-minded professionals from various countries, starting with the BRIC nations, for research, training, and consultancy on entrepreneurship and related issues, especially in the high-tech sectors. The network has already initiated a major research project among the BRIC nations and Italy with funding support from Fondazione Cariplo. The special focus on the BRIC nations, to begin with, is in recognition of their emergence as major players in the world economy. The international conference, coordinated by Professors Mathew J Manimala and K Kumar in association with partners from BRIC countries and Italy, is the second major initiative of the ICER Network. While the conference was designed to be self-supporting, it received partial funding support from three organizations, namely: Centre for Entrepreneurship Research, University of Essex, UK; Emerald Group Publishing Limited; and Texport Syndicate (India) Limited.

The aim of the ICER-BRIC conference was to bring together academicians, entrepreneurs and policy-makers from various parts of the world to discuss a wide range of issues related to entrepreneurship and policies for supporting new venture creation in BRIC countries and what they can learn from the best practices of other countries. The conference was inaugurated by Dr. Pronab Sen, Principal Advisor to Planning Commission, Government of India. He briefly discussed the various policy initiatives undertaken by the Government of India to promote entrepreneurship at various levels. The presidential address was delivered by Professor Pankaj Chandra, Director, IIM Bangalore.   

The three days of the conference were divided into six plenary sessions in the mornings held at IIMB Auditorium, and twenty four parallel sessions in smaller conference rooms, where the research papers were presented. The plenary sessions were based on keynote speeches delivered by renowned scholars on broad themes of contemporary importance, such as: Institutions and entrepreneurship; Academic partnerships in BRIC countries for entrepreneurship development; Entrepreneurship in clean technologies; Emerging economies and emergent entrepreneurship; Entrepreneurship as method; and Ecosystem for entrepreneurship. The keynote speeches were delivered by Professor David Smallbone, Associate Director of Small Business Centre, Kingston University (UK), and President of the International Council for Small Business (ICSB); Professor J Philip, Founding Director and President of XIME Bangalore; Ms Leena Pishe Thomas, Regional Manager (Bangalore), European Business and Technology Centre (EBTC); Professor Jay Mitra, Director, Center for Entrepreneurship Research, University of Essex (UK); Professor Saras Sarasvathy, Darden School of Business, University of Virginia (USA); and Professor Daniel Isenberg, Director, Babson Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Project (BEEP) at Babson Global (USA).

In addition to the keynote speeches and the discussions on them, there was a plenary panel session on the findings of the BRIC countries entrepreneurship research project, which was led by the five academic partners of the project: Professor Fabio Corno of Milano-Bicocca University (Italy); Professor Renata Lebra La Rovere of Institute of Economics, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil); Professor Elena Pereverzeva of Moscow International Business School (Russia); Professor Mathew J Manimala of Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (India); and Professor Daniel W. Lund  of Fudan School of Management, Fudan University (China).

The academic papers presented in 24 Parallel Sessions in the two afternoons on the 8^th and 9^th December added to the conference the flavor of on-going research in the field. A total of 96 papers selected after rigorous review from among 200-odd papers submitted by scholars from over 30 different countries, were presented in the conference. For the purpose of thematic unity in presentation, these papers were grouped under the following 12 themes: Financial support; Emerging economies; Innovation and R&D; Socio-cultural factors; Social entrepreneurship; Women’s entrepreneurship; Rural entrepreneurship; Entrepreneurial personality; Entrepreneurship education; Entrepreneurship development; Government policies and programmes; and Enterprise management and performance.

The ICER-BRIC Conference also served as a venue for a book release function for the book titled: Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Regional Development, authored by Professor Jay Mitra and published by Routledge (Taylor & Francis Group), UK: 2011. Professor Mathew J Manimala introduced the book and its theme to the audience, and Professor David Smallbone released the book by presenting a copy to Professor Y K. Bhushan, Senior Advisor and Campus Head of ICFAI Business School, Mumbai, and Vice Chancellor of ICFAI University Meghalaya.

The valedictory function of the conference had two distinguished speakers: Mr. Suman Bose, the Country Managing Director and Vice President for India of Siemens Industry Software Limited spoke on the role and relevance of entrepreneurship (intrapreneurship) in corporate organizations, and Mr Vinay Deshpande, Chairman and CEO of Encore Software Ltd and Managing Trustee of Simputer, spoke on the pleasures and pains of being an ICT entrepreneur. The conference was concluded with an award ceremony, where scholars were presented with Best Paper Awards in three categories from among the papers presented in the conference: Best Conceptual Paper, Best Empirical Paper, and Best Case Study. Besides, there was a Special Award for the Best Paper among all the submitted papers.

ORGANIZERS

Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB)

(Represented by N.S. Raghavan Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning – NSRCEL)

Established in 1973, IIMB is one of the top business schools in India. The Institute has highly accomplished faculty, world-class infrastructure as well as talented and motivated student body, which has helped it to emerge as one of the premier institutes for management education and research, promoting managerial excellence in the world. IIMB strives to achieve excellence through partnerships with the industry as well as leading academic institutions the world over. The mission of IIMB is to “build leaders through holistic, transformative and innovative education”. IIMB was rated the best Business School of the country and was also given the status of a ‘Universal Business School’ in the Eduniversal Worldwide Business Schools Ranking 2011. Recently IIMB obtained EQUIS accreditation. The institute has always been a hub of innovative activity, with its faculty members initiating a variety of teaching, research and consulting projects often in collaboration with other world-class organizations.

The NS Raghavan Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning (NSRCEL) was set up in May 2000 at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, India, for promoting teaching and research in entrepreneurship. It has a clearly defined incubation process which helps entrepreneurs to realize their ideas and covert their business plans to commercially viable products/services. The Centre conducts several training programs for entrepreneurs and encourages research activities and has completed many research projects, of which the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) research project was carried out in collaboration with research partners from more than 30 countries.

PARTNERS

Fondazione Cariplo, Italy

Fondazione Cariplo, Italy is one of the largest philanthropic organizations in the world, which manages the assets accumulated over 180 years by Cassa di Risparmio delle Provincie Lombarde to carry on its long-standing philanthropic tradition. Headquartered at 23 Via Manin, Milan, Italy, Fondazione Cariplo aims at operating on the basis of the principle of subsidiarity, anticipating needs and fulfilling its special mission of being a resource that helps social and civil organizations better serve their community. It fosters the formation and consolidation of independent, robust and efficient social entities that can autonomously take care of community needs.     

Milano Bicocca University, Italy

The Milano-Bicocca University, Italy was established with state support on June 10, 1998, to serve students from Northern Italy. It is a young, dynamic and multidisciplinary university, which in a period of ten years has created an extensive network with many world-class universities, research centers and top corporations. The Milano-Bicocca University has twenty-one departments for teaching and research in the fields of Economics, Educational Sciences, Law, Mathematics, Physics and Natural Sciences, Medicine, Psychology, Sociology, and Statistical Sciences. The departments promote research and organize doctoral programs.

Instituto de Economia (UFRJ), Brazil

The Institute of Economics (IE) was set up at Rio de Janeiro Federal University (UFRJ) in 1996. The UFRJ Institute of Economics is committed to presenting and discussing, thoroughly and critically, the major paradigms of modern economics theory, the vision that informs each of them, the inter-disciplinary boundaries between them, their analytical tools, their explanations of modern economic realities and their opposing propositions. The research projects pursued at the institute are conceived from the widest diversity of theoretical and empirical concerns, although with special emphasis on understanding the Brazilian economy and how economic policies impact Brazil. The Instituto de Economia has eighteen research groups devoted to a wide range of themes. These eighteen groups manage over forty ongoing projects, while the Institute conducts other special projects independently.

Fudan University, China

The Fudan University was established in 1905 and is one of China’s topmost institutions of advanced learning and higher education. Fudan University consists of 29 schools and departments, with seventy undergraduate disciplines. The University confers bachelor's degrees in seventy academic disciplines, and master's degrees in two hundred and twenty five disciplines, and doctoral degrees in twenty-four Level I and one hundred and fifty-three Level II academic disciplines such as humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, technology and management. There are also twenty-five research stations that offer postdoctoral fellowships. The two major areas of research are Social Sciences and Natural & Medical Sciences.

Moscow International Higher Business School (MIRBIS), Russia

MIRBIS is one of the oldest and most renowned business schools in Russia. It is an international business school aiming to meet the challenges of management in the 21^st century. The main objective of MIRBIS is to train managers and executives in order to develop their capabilities of adapting themselves to the needs of the Russian market as well as the trends in the global economy, and thereby becoming agents of innovation and change in their organizations. MIRBIS co-operates with universities, training centers and companies in more than 40 countries of the world, with which it has long-term agreements on joint programs and projects.

Centre for Entrepreneurship Research (CER), University of Essex, UK

The Centre for Entrepreneurship Research (CER), University of Essex, UK, provides a focus for research activity in the area of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, a key area of the University’s research, teaching and knowledge transfer portfolio. The Centre’s main aim is to provide a forum for excellence in entrepreneurship research and dissemination, focusing on varied aspects of new venture creation, entrepreneurial business growth, internationalization, marketing, social enterprise and the impact of entrepreneurship on regional and local economic development. The Centre builds on the research portfolio of all academic staff at the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Group (EIG) of Essex Business School (EBS), and supports the work of research students and a group of international associates. CER has already established working links with similar centers in UK, US, China, France, Hungary, India, Italy, Lithuania and Poland. It houses the well-established International Entrepreneurship Forum (IEF) and has close working links with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and its Local Employment and Economic Development (LEED) Programme. Strong international, organizational and industry links (in UK, China and India) have contributed to the development of new areas of activity on China’s business links, and technology-based entrepreneurship.

International Entrepreneurship Forum (IEF)

The International Entrepreneurship Forum (IEF) was founded in October 2000 with its headquarters at the Enterprise Research and Development Centre (ERDC), University of Central England, Birmingham, UK, and currently has members from more than 15 countries. The IEF is a forum of academics, policy makers and practitioners, who are brought together to discuss and interact with each other on issues related to entrepreneurship research, education and training. During the past 10 years IEF has successfully organized international conferences in different countries of Europe and Asia covering various aspects of entrepreneurship.

International Council for Small Business (ICSB)

Founded in 1955, the International Council for Small Business (ICSB) was the first international membership organization to promote the growth and development of small businesses worldwide. ICSB brings together educators, researchers, policy makers and practitioners from around the world to share knowledge and expertise in their respective fields. ICSB affiliate associations  include the United States Association of Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE), European Council for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (ECSBE), Small Enterprises Association of Australia and New Zealand (SEAANZ), ICSB-Brazil, Canadian Council for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (CCSBE), Korea Small Business Institute (KOSBI), ICSB-Japan, Middle East Council for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (MECSBE), ICSB- PR/C (Puerto Rico and Caribbean), ICSB-China. The process of forming an India Chapter of ICSB is in its advanced stages.

South Asian Journal Of Management (SAJM)

South Asian Journal of Management (SAJM) is a double-blind refereed academic journal published by the Association of Management Development Institutions in South Asia (AMDISA). SAJM has an international editorial board and publishes conceptual and empirical research papers, case-studies, research notes, book reviews and articles in the broad areas of management and administration, especially those with a focus on the South Asian, South-East Asian and the Asia-Pacific Regions. The papers published in SAJM are indexed in two reputed databases, namely EBSCO and ProQuest-ABI/Inform. It is included in journal ratings such as ERA (Excellence in Research for Australia) and ABDC (Australian Business Deans Council), which cover more than 2000 journals worldwide.

Organisations / Institutions Participated

AdityaVarna Private Limited Alliance University, Bangalore AMR- Andhra Pradesh Academy of Rural Development Anand Engineering College, Agra Anna University Aravali Power Company Pvt. Ltd Azim Premji University, Bangalore Baba Farid College of Management and Technology, Bathinda Babson Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Project (BEEP) at Babson Global (USA). BITS, Pilani C.Z. Patel College of Business & Management,Mota Bazar, Vallabh Vidya Nagar, Anand, Gujarat Centre for Entrepreneurship Research, Unversity of Essex College of Veterinary Science Darden School of Business, University of Virginia Development Economique-cld Gatineav Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University, Lucknow Encore Software Ltd European Business and Technology Centre Federal University of Technology, Minna. Nigeria Fondazione Cariplo,Italy Fudan University, China G Pulliaiah College of Engg and Technology, Andhra Pradesh. Graduate School of Business University of Cape Town Graphic Era University, Dehradun Gujarat Law University Guru Jambheshwar University of Science & Technology,Hisar Hong Kong Baptist Univeristy IBS Management College, Mumbai ICFAI University IIM Ahmedabad IIM Bangalore IIM Kozhikode IITTM, Gwalior Indian Institute of Technology (Bombay) Indian Institute of Technology (Madras) Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management, Bhubaneswar Institute of Health Management Research (IHMR), Jaipur Institute of Management Technology,  Nagpur Institute of Management Technology, Ghaziabad Institute of Management technology, Hyderabad Institute of Remote Sensing, College of Engg, Guindy Instituto De Economia UFRJ, Brazil International council for Small Business (ICSB) International Entrepreneurship Forum (IEF) ISB Hyderabad Italia Lavoro Spa, Roma J K Lakshmipat University Jain University, Bangalore. Jain University, Center for Management Studies, Bangalore Jammu University JK Lakshmipat University, Jaipur Kingston University Kumar Enterprises M.Kumarasamy College of Engineering, Karur MAEER's MIT-MBA Manipal University MIC College of Technology Milano Biccoca University, Italy MIT School of Telecom Management Moscow International Higher Business School (MIRBIS), Russia Motilal Nehru College, University of Delhi National Entrepreneurship Network National Institute of Technology National Institute of Tourism and Hospitality Management National Law University, Orissa NGM Collegeof arts and Science Pollachi NIT, Warangal Nittie Mumbai NMKRV Degree College for Women Northeastern University, China PWDS Chennai Reva Inst of Science & Management Rural Engineering College Sasurie Academy of Engineering, Coimbatore School of Business, Alliance University School of Economics and Management, Lund University, Sweden School of Management studies, B.N.M Institute of Technology School of Management studies, Hyderabad School of Management, Doon University SEBRAE, Rio De Janiero Shivaji University Siemens India Software Ltd Somaiya Vidyavihar Sri Krishna Arts and science college, coimbatore SRM university Swami Vivekanada Institute of IT and Management Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies, Pune. TAPMI Thiagarajar College of Engineering Thimphu Tech Park Pvt. Ltd Unitedworld School of Business University of Applied sciences Maint University of Essex, UK University of Pretoria University of Regensburg, Germany Velammal Engineering College VIT Business School,VIT University Waikato University, Hamilton, New Zealand Write2Excel Services, Inc Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar XIME, Bangalore

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