PAN-IIM World Management Conference Organised By IIM Rohtak

Experts agreed that citizens need to involve themselves in public policy as owners and not as customers”. The concept of ‘Customer Centricity’ can be incorporated into public policy as citizen participation is the quintessence of public policy execution.

The panel recalled how in the times of cold war, the western nations used media to influence the public imagination in communist countries that ultimately led to the fall of communism. After the advent of the internet, the role and influence of social media have increased manifold. Social media is so much overwhelmed by marketing companies that in real sense consumer sovereignty has become a myth in the present world. The role of the marketer has become so pervasive in defining the product and services that it violates the privacy of individuals.

Elaborating on the predicament of a sports authority, the conference pointed out how the inefficiency of the sports culture in India is an issue of mindset stemming from a bureaucratic structure spread across sports federations. Sports is a state subject, and thus Centre control becomes a constitutional issue. The status of “second class citizens” accorded to athletes and sports players in comparison to mainstream sports has also been one of the reasons for the lack of athletic culture in India.

Role of data and analytics in public policy formulation and implementation was also highlighted at the conference. The panels talked about the role that data science can play in the development of public policy science. Data can help in developing a more in-depth understanding of the problem entrenched in the policy domain.

Eminent personalities such as Dr Subramanian Swamy, Captain Abhimanyu, Mr Hemant Dua, Mr Vivek Agnihotri etc. attended the conference. The chief guest for the closing ceremony was Hon’ble Chief Minister of Haryana Mr Manohar Lal Khattar. In his closing address, he highlighted the need for the educational institutions to rise to the challenge and conduct research in the field of public policy that serves the local needs. The PAN-IIM World Management conference was conducted successfully as the conference was able to invigorate the debate on the role of management in public policy formulation.