Rural Business: Impact In The Digital Era | Abhivyakti’18 – XSRM

Why are business conclaves important?

India is a country of an emerging economy, with the government, state-level organizations and NGO’s, participating in bridging the rural-urban divide. Being a rural manager comes with its own set of responsibilities. For that, they must be in sync with the changing dynamics, aware of the current market scenario and the emerging trends. A business conclave bestows the RM students with an opportunity to interact with the eminent industry stalwarts and opens a new horizon of rational thinking for them. As quoted aptly by Prof. T. Kumar, “The RM conclave is a conclave with a difference”. It helps sensitize the students and to channelize their synergy for the betterment of rural India.

How is the theme relevant to the students of RM?

The urban development of the last 30 years is a new phenomenon for most countries in the world, but they still reproduce social behaviours and allegiances inherited from their rural connection. Therefore, changes and disruption in rural areas have consequences for a country as a whole. Rural business is the backbone for the rural sector and is believed to have outperformed urban businesses on many metrics. They earn better profits and have more financing support. With the onset of digitization, rural business is seeing a wave of exemplary change with people using digital platforms, net-banking facilities, and many more. Therefore, it was relevant for both the senior as well as the junior batch to know about the paradigm shift and the stemming trends from the acclaimed legendaries on the field.

What thought did you put behind inviting the speakers?

Once the theme was decided, our team, along with the RM Placement Committee and the RM Alumni Committee brainstormed to create an inventory of speakers relevant to the different domains such as marketing, policy-making, development, finance, technology to name a few. Besides the illustrious personage, we also concentrated on inviting our influential and celebrated alumni in those sectors, to help the present batches connect better.

What challenges did you face in organizing this conclave?

The entire journey had been exigent, but the speaker confirmation was an onerous task. We even found ourselves in circumstances where the speaker called off last moment. But, our months of preparation saved us. We always had a list of speakers handy. The team had worked diligently to organize the conclave. The D-Day is always nerve-racking. From ensuring that the schedules are strictly followed, to be wary of every minuscule detail, the complete responsibility falls on the shoulders of the entire team. The chaos of the process made me more patient, calm and reinforced by belief in the good old saying, “all’s well that ends well”.

Any tips for future organizers?

Proper planning, execution and team-work is the only mantra to a successful conclave. In addition to that, paying attention to details, having a well-coordinated team, being mindful of the logistics, taking permission from the authorities, sustaining cordial relations, taking advice, being alert, proper time management, and always having Plan B & Plan C works! Also, the Dean, the faculty coordinator and our alumni have always been the backbone. The whole XSRM fraternity worked as one team to make Abhivyakti’18 a grand success and I would suggest the future organizers work in sync with the RM placement committee, RM Alumni Committee, and IlluminatiX – The Media & PR Cell of XUB to make the future editions of Abhivyakti, successful like every year. I wish them good luck in carrying forward the legacy, down the batches.