IILM Blog

Does Financial Literacy help in developing “Financially Smart Individuals”?

General Blog, IILM University, , , , ,

Making informed financial decisions is the key to effective financial planning. Every individual is required to deal with many financial decisions daily. Easy availability of a wide range of complex financial products in the market has led to a situation of “Paradox of Choice”, Killins, R. N. (2017) for the Individuals. It is thus imperative for individuals to be financially literate. To be equipped to make decisions, people must have an understanding of the basic financial concepts. Lack of such understanding may result in unproductive decisions. Financial choices relating to investments, savings, borrowings, retirement planning, estate planning, etc are effective and more productive if made by financially literate people.

What does Financial Literacy mean?

Financial literacy is achieved when an individual has access to the information about the various products and services available in the market; the information is achieved through an authentic source; the individual can comprehend that information in a way which results in informed financial decisions, thereby leading to financial betterment and well-being. 

According to OECD INFE, financial literacy has been defined as “A combination of awareness, knowledge, skill, attitude, and behavior necessary to make sound financial decisions and ultimately achieve individual financial wellbeing.”

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has defined financial literacy as “the ability to make informed judgments and to take effective actions regarding the current and future use and management of money. It includes the ability to understand financial choices, plan for the future, spend wisely, and manage the challenges associated with life events such as a job loss, saving for retirement, or paying for a child‟s education.” 

Basic understanding of the various financial products and services and the applicable framework of risk-reward forms the broad base for achieving financial literacy. Individuals must, therefore, appraise the key determinants of financial literacy and how they impact our daily lives. This can be the only way to wiser financial planning and welfare maximization, both- at the individual level and for the society as a whole. 

What are the key determinants of financial literacy?

The ability of individuals to control their Financials, how well they make their ends meet and their approach towards choosing appropriate products reflects an individual’s money management skills. An Individual’s level of financial planning, however, depends on the provision for Savings, knowledge about investments and attitude towards financial planning. Whereas financial knowledge of an individual can be assessed based on their understanding of key concepts such as inflation and compounding; and their knowledge about the concept of diversification. Thus, money management, Financial Planning, Financial Knowledge and Understanding are the key determinants of Financial Literacy levels. OECD INFE (2011), S&P FINLIT (2014).

 

Conclusion: 

As per a Global Fin Lit survey by Standard & Poor‟s Financial Services LLC (S&P) only 24% of adults or less are financially literate in India, S&P Fin Lit Survey (2014). Among the group of emerging economies, India stands at the lowest level in terms of financial literacy. This proves that financial literacy is yet to be given priority by Indian citizens. Being in a situation where 76% of its adult population in India does not understand even the basic financial concepts, the need of the hour is to refurbish the savings and investments approach of the Indian Households and develop financially smart individuals. 

 

http://www.oecd.org/finance/financial-education/49319977.pdf

http://gflec.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/3313Finlit_Report_FINAL-5.11.16.pdf?x87657

Killins, R. N. (2017). The financial literacy of Generation Y and the influence that personality traits have on financial knowledge: Evidence from Canada. Financial Services Review, 26(2), 143-165.

CHANGING PARADIGMS IN ACCOUNTING

Faculty, General Blog, IILM University, ,

Consеquеnt to financial crisis of 2008, wе arе witnеssing significant changеs in thе accounting systеms across all businеss sеctors in thе world. Thе quеstion comеs in what is thеrе at ‘bottom of thе hеart’ of this changе. Is it thе crisis pеr sе or thе еffеct of crisis on thе еxpеctеd rеsponsibility of accountants? In Junе 2010, a largе onlinе survеy was conductеd by thе Chartеrеd Institutе of Managеmеnt Accountants (CIMA) and by thе UK´s Univеrsity of Bath, whеrе 5,426 sеnior financе and sеnior non-financе profеssionals around thе World participatеd [5]. CIMA study showеd that thе latеst most important trеnd in accounting profеssionals is thе shift of accountants’ rеsponsibilitiеs from traditional accounting opеrations to stratеgic managеmеnt guidancе and support. This trеnd, a consеquеncе of thе 2008 financial crisis, rеprеsеnts an incrеasе of thе valuе addеd to thе organization and thе contribution pеrformеd by accountants. Now, thе accountant’s rolе is not limitеd to book-kееping, financial-rеcord kееping, prеparing and publishing financial statеmеnts and еnsuring rеgulatory compliancеs. Thе accountant’s rolе has shiftеd to support, guidancе and activе participation in stratеgy formulation. Now, wе sее accountants activеly participating in dеcision making. Thеy arе gеnеrating usеful information to hеlp businеssеs dеcidе about еffеctivе rеsourcе allocation.

To gеnеratе timеly, еrror-frее, rеliablе and accuratе information, businеssеs havе shiftеd to complеtе Accounting Information Systеm (AIS). Not only this, accounting information systеm and managеmеnt information systеm arе now intеgratеd to havе еfficiеnt dissеmination and еffеctivе utilization of thе accounting information. Hеrе, thе rеfеrеncе is not limitеd to thе financial accounting data only; rathеr is pointing out to non-financial, managеrial accounting data as wеll. Now, thе quеstion comеs in what is AIS? AIS is a collеction of rеsourcеs such as pеoplе and еquipmеnt dеsignеd to transform financial data into information. Thе information thus gеnеratеd is communicatеd to a widе variеty of dеcision makеrs. An Accounting Information Systеm (AIS) is gеnеrally a computеr-basеd mеthod for tracking accounting activity in conjunction with information tеchnology rеsourcеs [1].  AIS gеnеrally consists of six primary componеnts: Pеoplе; Procеdurеs and Instructions; Data; Softwarе; Information Tеchnology Infrastructurе and Intеrnal Controls. Thus, this is thе amalgamation of thеsе six variablе, which makеs an accounting information systеm work. AIS is rеsponsiblе for thе collеction, storagе and procеssing of financial and accounting data that is usеd for intеrnal managеmеnt dеcision making, including nonfinancial transactions that dirеctly affеct thе procеssing of financial transactions.

Typically an AIS is composеd of thrее major subsystеms: Transaction Procеssing Systеm (TPS) that supports daily businеss opеrations; Gеnеral Lеdgеr Systеm and Financial Rеporting Systеm (GLS/FRS) and; Thе Managеmеnt Rеporting Systеm (MRS). Litеraturе shows that, AIS lеads to a bеttеr coordination in an organization which, in turn, incrеasеs thе quality of dеcision-making. Somе studiеs in accounting show that thе еffеctivеnеss of AIS dеpеnds upon thе quality of thе output of thе information systеm that can satisfy usеrs’ nееds. TPS is rеsponsiblе for supporting daily businеss opеrations or transactions. Thеsе transactions can bе groupеd togеthеr in thrее transaction cyclеs: thе rеvеnuе cyclе, thе еxpеnditurе cyclе, and thе convеrsion cyclе. Thе purposе of thе first information systеms was to automatе businеss procеssеs, which shows that thе accounting domain was onе of thе vеry first to usе information systеms to support its activitiеs [2]. Usually sееn as a singlе intеgratеd sеrvicе, thе GLS/FRS arе two closеly rеlatеd systеms, with thе first onе dеdicatеd to the summarization of transaction cyclе activity and thе sеcond onе to thе mеasurеmеnt and rеporting of thе status of financial rеsourcеs, gеnеrally outputtеd in thе form of financial statеmеnts or tax rеturns to еxtеrnal еntitiеs [2]. MRS, usually in thе scopе of Managеmеnt Information Systеms (MIS), offеrs intеrnal managеmеnt with spеcial purposе financial rеports and information nееdеd for dеcision-making such as budgеts, variancе rеports, and rеsponsibility rеports. For almost all profеssionals from thе accounting domain, thе main idеa about thе information systеm of an organization and particularly an AIS is еmbracеd by thе Еntеrprisе Rеsourcе Planning (ЕRP), which еncompassеs all thе еssеntial functions to support an organization and is implеmеntеd in almost all largе organizations [4]. Not only this, but currеnt litеraturе is also moving away from this еstablishеd viеw about AIS domain, considеring now a morе modular approach to an AIS whеrе nеw tеchnologiеs likе Businеss Intеlligеncе (BI) or Balancеd Scorеcard (BSC) systеms play an incrеasingly important rolе [4]. In fact, studiеs provе that thеrе is a hugе sеt of nеw tеchnologiеs that can complеmеnt or intеgratе currеnt AIS and its prеsеnt availablе facilitiеs. So, thе world would soon bе sееing cloud computing, machinе lеarning, dееp lеarning and artificial intеlligеncе bеing usеd in accounting.

Rеfеrеncеs:

[1] A. Fontinеllе. (2011, 2013, Apr 5). Introduction to Accounting Information Systеms. Availablе:

http://www.invеstopеdia.com/articlеs/profеssionalеducation/11/accounting-information-systеms.asp

[2] A. Rom and C. Rohdе, “Managеmеnt accounting and intеgratеd information systеms: A litеraturе rеviеw,” Intеrnational Journal of Accounting Information Systеms, vol. 8, pp. 40-68, 3// 2007.

[3] Bеlfo F and Trigo A, “Accounting Information Systеms: Traditional and Futurе Dirеctions”, Sciеncе Dirеct, Procеdia Tеchnology 9 (2013) pp. 536-546

[4] J. A. Hall, Accounting Information Systеms: South Wеstеrn Еducational Publishing, 2010.

[5] W. Van dеr Stеdе and R. Malonе, “Accounting trеnds in a bordеrlеss world,” Chartеrеd Institutе of Managеmеnt Accountants

1859716903, 2010.

 

Role of financial inclusion in achieving sustainable development goals…

Blog Catgeory, General Blog, IILM University, , , ,

What is financial inclusion?
According to world bank, Financial inclusion means that individuals and businesses have access to useful and affordable financial products and services that meet their needs – transactions, payments, savings, credit and insurance – delivered in a responsible and sustainable way.
Financial inclusion does not only include the access to and usage of financial services by individuals and businesses but also includes the dimension of quality of the products and the service delivery. It is also a key to prudent financial development and well being, both- at the individual level and for the economy as a whole. An all-inclusive approach which considers both demand side and supply side needs to be adopted to reach global goal of Universal Financial Access (UFA) by 2020, says World bank.

What are the key indicators of financial inclusion?
First and the foremost step towards broader financial inclusion is to have access to a transaction account allowing people to exchange and save money. Thus, ensuring that people have a transaction account is the most crucial dimension of financial inclusion (Universal Financial Access 2020 initiative). Financial access opens the doorway to various financial services such as managing daily monetary requirements, long term planning and even planning for future unforeseen circumstances. However, by merely having an account, the objective of financial inclusiveness cannot be achieved. It is therefore imperative that the focus should equally be levied on the usage of these financial services, which forms the second dimension of financial inclusion.
(https://databank.worldbank.org/data/download/g20fidata/G20_Financial_Inclusion_Indicators.pdf)

The current status: According to Global Findex database, 2017; about 515 million adults worldwide opened an account at a financial institution or through a mobile money provider between 2014 and 2017.
• About 69 percent of adults now have an account, Up from 62 percent in 2014 and 51 percent in 2011.
• About 65% of the women adults now have an account.
• About 52% of adults either receive or make payments.
• About 87% of SME’S have an account with a formal financial institution.
• About 30% of people worldwide have Received wages or government transfer payments directly to an account.

(https://globalfindex.worldbank.org/basic-page-overview)

The above facts reveal that the economy’s worldwide are progressing towards the goal of financial inclusion by staying committed to G20 High-Level Principles for Digital Financial Inclusion, Universal Financial Access (UFA) by 2020, Sustainable Development Goals, National financial inclusion strategies, financial consumer protection and literacy and many more initiatives taken so far in this direction.

What are Sustainable Development Goals?
A new set of development goals adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in Sept 2015, are collectively called as Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),2030. After years of deliberation and negotiation, the agenda for these goals was put in place and has been endorsed by around 193 member nations of the General Assembly including booth developed and developing countries. The SDGs cover a set of 17 goals.(https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdgs)

How does financial inclusion help in achieving sustainable development goals?
Financial inclusion offers wide range of benefits such as Improving earning potential, enhanced women empowerment by encouraging women entrepreneurs, reduction in the costs of transactions, easy accumulation of funds, increased use of digital platforms etc. While financial inclusion does not explicitly targets achieving the SDG’s, greater access to financial services has paved the way for achieving a number of sustainable development goals. Financial inclusion has been identified as an enabler for 7 out of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, says World Bank.

The following SDG’s can be achieved via increased financial inclusion:
A better access to financial services enables the people even in the rural segments of any country to have better access to funds and other related financial services. This enables people to come out of poverty and thereby enabling the first SDG i.e Eliminating extreme poverty (SDG 1). Better and improved access to avenues for raising funds, access to crop agricultural insurance and improved credit facilities also enables the people working in the primary sector to mange their finances in the season for plantation and thereby generate higher yields. It not only improves food production in the country but also generates food security in the economy, which is the second SDG i.e. Reducing hunger and promoting food security (SDG 2).When people are able to come out of the poverty line, are ensured of their food security ,have access to various insurance facilities; achieving the third SDG i.e. Achieving good health and well-being (SDG 3), is bound to fall in place. Increased availability of funding options has removed the barrier of monetary constraints which stop people from getting educated. People are encouraged to invest in educating their children and this enables the achievement of the fourth SDG i.e. Fostering quality education (SDG 4). Financial inclusion has also encouraged women entrepreneurs to take up ventures which earlier were impossible for them. Enhanced women empowerment is the key to promoting gender equality (SDG 5), the fifth SDG. Financial exclusivity weakens up the thread between smaller goals and larger socio-economic goals. These five SDG’s acts as a strong base for achieving broader socio-economic goals such as Promoting shared economic growth (SDG 8) and Promoting innovation and sustainable industrialization (SDG 9).

Given the fact that there exists an association between Financial inclusion and overall economic development, it can be concluded that greater emphasis should be laid on financial inclusiveness.

References:
https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/financialinclusion/overview
https://databank.worldbank.org/data/download/g20fidata/G20_Financial_Inclusion_Indicators.pdf
https://globalfindex.worldbank.org/basic-page-overview
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdgs
https://www.microinsurancenetwork.org/sites/default/files/CGAP_Working-Paper-Achieving-Sustainable-Development-Goals.pdf

The Power of Poetry

General Blog, IILM Institute for Higher Education, IILM University, , , , ,

Poetry has survived and survived really well…It is one of the finest and powerful forms of writing. In short, poetry is creativity in disguise. It teaches us to communicate in a compelling way, thereby enhance learning. Poetry is about expressing those thoughts and emotions we keep the most suppressed. An integral part of writing poetry is to be honest with ourselves about what we feel in order to write anything worth reading. It’s about connecting our hearts and our minds to ourselves and our environs. It’s about finding peace.

Poetry is one of those skills that will remain in use for your entire life no matter what you end up doing professionally. It gives us a salubrious outlet for pouring our emotions. Reading original poetry aloud can foster trust and empathy in a community, while also accentuating speaking and listening skills. There are many of us  who don’t like writing essays but may like poetry, with its dearth of fixed rules and its kinship with rap. For such people, poetry can become a doorway to other forms of writing. All forms of writing benefits from the powerful and succinct phrases found in poems.

Additionally, poetry can help us to learn how to utilize grammar in our own writing by studying how poets do—and do not—abide by conventional writing rules in their work. Poetry can teach writing and grammar rules by showing what happens when poets strip them away or distort them for effect for example; Dickinson often capitalizes common nouns and uses dashes instead of commas to show sudden shifts in focus in his poetry, similarly, Agee uses colons to create dramatic, speech-like pauses. The more we read different poets, the more we can carve out our own style. The point of reading a poem is not to try to decipher it. Still, that quantifiable process of elucidation is precisely what needs to be encouraged often in lieu of curating a powerful experience through literature.

So, don’t wait…reach for the pen, and let go of those things that have been encumbering your freedom. Read poetry with your heart and let it affect you in one of the most defining ways.

 

 

 

Dealing Mindfully with Anger and Conflict in your Relationships

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Dealing Mindfully with Anger and Conflict in your Relationships

How can you deal more effectively with anger and conflict in your life? Here I am referring specifically to the anger and conflict that you experience in your outer relationships with other people. Below are some pointers for becoming more mindful in this area. This in turn will then naturally start to suggest practical ways you can be more successful dealing with the challenges presented.

  • Observe the way in which you currently experience anger and conflict

Ask yourself the question: What is my current relationship with anger and conflict, both within myself and into relationships?
Bring to mind a time when you have been angry. What happens when you get angry? How does your body start to feel? Practice mindfully creating anger in your body and mind, and learn to relax into it, without being panicked by it or forced into a reaction. Get used to holding anger in your body comfortably, letting it flow.
Similarly, bring to mind a conflict you have in your outer relationships right now. Observe how you feel in the face of another person’s anger, disapproval or aggression. Practice mindful holding your own space and breathing with the experience of conflict, so that when it happens in real-time, you are not panicked or intimidated.

  • A working definition of anger

‘Anger is a powerful emotion centered around issues of justice and fairness’. In its negative expression it is incredibly destructive and dangerous. In its positive expression it can be a powerful cause for order, justice and good in the world. ‘Positive anger’ might be thought of as simply the benevolent expression of justice and fairness in the face of malevolence or aggression. There is a lot to be gained from working to transform your own negative anger into positive anger.

  • Working with conflict in your relationships                                                                                                 Once you have done a little contemplation around Point 1 above, here is a short exercise you can apply to any relationship you may have where there is anger and conflict. Firstly, consider the situation from three perspectives –
    1st person – I/mine/ours – What is happening in this situation from your personal point of view? What are you feeling?
    2nd person – the other(s) – What is the other person/people experiencing? What do you start to see if you mindfully take their perspective for a period of time?
    3rd person – It’s, objective – What do you start to see if you take a more objective/detached point of view, outside of all the personal stuff?

Based on your insights from these three perspectives then decide ‘Am I going to’:

  • Change myself/adapt to the other person/people, (maybe not worth the hassle to confront?) or
  • Try and change the other person, or take a stand for what I feel is right (genuine issue if justice, and or ‘worth it’)?

Finally, having made your decision, strategize! Use your natural intelligence to come up with a way of approaching the relationship conflict, communicating skillfully in a way that you think is going to give the best result!

Experiment with small conflicts
Small and relatively insignificant conflicts are great places to start working with the above methods. Finding ways to gently work with conflict, anger and confrontation in minor situations helps you build the skill and confidence so that when something big kicks off, you are able to hold your own and enjoy learning how to articulate your own power in relationship conflicts.

 

 

Why-MBA-at-IILM-University

Why MBA at IILM University?

IILM University, , , ,

If you ask any aspirant why he or she wants to pursue MBA, the prompt response that comes is “package.” While it is fair to give the millennials credit for this response, they must stop for a moment and introspect as to what value they bring to the organization to aspire that “package”. As a faculty who sees the students sit for various processes year after year, I know for sure that MBA is not about package – it is not about a student’s ROI, it is more about their employability. While they aspire for the money from day 1 of their job, their returns to the organization begin only after a few months of training. And that too if they have the skill-sets required to do their jobs well. The responsibility of the MBA institution is to offer an exciting learning environment to the students, so that they become employable. The students in turn must make the most of the opportunities and exposure their institution offers them during their two-year tenure.

Flagship program
MBA is the flagship program of School of Management at IILM University Gurugram. Students have the options of both functional and sectoral specializations. Through internationally benchmarked curriculum with regular inputs from the industry experts, students at IILM study contemporary courses. These include Intentional Networking, Emotional Intelligence, Critical Thinking, Digital Innovation and Transformation. Online Certifications from institutions of repute are embedded in the curriculum. In each module, a guest expert is invited to share practical, organizational insights whereby beautifully adding to the concepts and theories done in class. We offer students international exposure through exchange programs and study tours abroad, thus giving them an edge over their counterparts.

Giving practical exposure
There is emphasis not only on academic and technical skills, but also the soft skills and life skills. Most of us faculty have PhD and a combination of academic plus corporate experience that contributes to a wonderful learning environment in the classroom. Our focus is on experiential learning with the help of latest tools and techniques using case studies, role plays, videos, field visits, projects, management games, classroom exercises etc. Using innovative pedagogy and emerging technologies, we strive towards a predominantly robust academic delivery to make the education process stimulative, interactive, reflective and creative. As a faculty, I have personally learnt a lot and progressed academically while delivering lectures to the post-graduate students.

Industry Connect
Strong industry linkages are a forte of IILM which facilitate excellent placement and internship opportunities. IILM boasts of highly successful alumni who are now working at very senior positions in multinational corporations. All students are given an opportunity to work on live projects that hone their reasoning and analytical skills.

Mentoring
Each student is assigned a faculty mentor who is involved in giving direction, guiding and ensuring personal and professional development. I am involved in mentoring the students and preparing them to take up meaningful roles in organizations. This increases my connect with them and helps establish a life-long relationship with my students. And that is why many of them start giving importance to their future “job role” over “package” at the time of campus placements.

Almost all events on campus are driven by the students, which enhances their organizing skills and improves their team skills. It gives them an opportunity to be independent in decision making and resource management. Campus life at IILM contributes to their holistic development and enables them to come out of their comfort zone, making them shed their inhibitions. I feel all these factors combine to increase the employability quotient of IILM students. They are groomed to be responsible professionals, ready to take on the challenges in organizations. MBA at IILM is a unique experience, and having seen it myself, I can surely vouch for the same.

Tug of War

Children’s Day Event

Events, Faculty, , , ,

Children’s Day Event

IILM University believes in and nurture all round development of its students to prepare them for all the challenges of life with a smile on face and positive spirit in their heart. On one side if it leaves no stone unturned in maintaining highest level of rigor in academic activities than on the other hand give exposure to students to develop and showcase their talent and skills through various co-curricular activities organized under clubs at IILM.

In the pursuit of academic success, students sometimes need a break from the classroom and an opportunity to release pent-up energy. Athletics and sports not only have great physical benefits, but also help one to improve mentally and emotionally. When students are physically fit, they will achieve more academically too. Sport develops a sense of friendliness among the students and develop their team spirit Participation in organized sports offers the chance for youth to enhance their physical and social skills. Sports offer children a change from the monotony of their daily life. It is also a useful means of entertainment and much required physical activity for them.

Keeping in mind all these benefits, the sports club of IILM University organizes various activities for all the students to offer an escape from the walls of classrooms and working on gadgets. The recent addition to those activities was Tug of War, to teach them competition as well as teamwork and of course to have lots of fun.

TUG OF WAR

It is always good to ignite a child in you and what better than tug of war on children’s day i.e.  14th November, 2018. To commemorate Children’s day Sports Club and NGO Club organized 2 events simultaneously. Post exams of Term 1 students also feeling stressed out and looking for a break in routine, so the sports club organized for both undergraduate and postgraduate students ‘Tug Of War’ that seems to be the most appropriate to pump them up. And it also made the children’s day really exciting and special. We invited the underprivileged children’s living nearby, who are the part of IILM University, NGO Club and it was really rewarding to see the smiles on their faces when they participate in various fun activities including musical chair and few performances from them.

All the boys and girls from Post graduate and Undergraduate showed their strength and vigor. IILM University always believes in gender equality and empowering women in all possible ways, so teams had equal number of boys and girls and their strength and enthusiasm was also matched. There were total eight teams who fought with each other. ‘Pull House’ from PG 2nd year and the ‘Flyers’ from PG 1st year played the final match. The sense of representation was high as everyone wanted their batch to win and everybody was willing to give their all to make that happen. Audience were their throughout cheering and boosting the morale of the team battling it out at the field. The music and the witty commentary set the mood at the field.  ‘Pull House’ ultimately stood victorious but not without facing some serious challenger from PG 1st year and the undergraduates. And the winning team and the runner up team received a prize which matches the heart and effort that they had put into competing.

Thereafter children from nearby villages took part in some fun activities and received some gifts arranged by NGO Club.

The event was immensely enjoyed by the audience. Everyone departed with smile on their face biding good bye to the day full of energy and memories to be cherished.

The requests for another such event were already coming in. Sports club will surely organize many such events in the future.

Contributors:  Divisha Agarwal ,  Rupanshi Sharma
Faculty Co-ordinator : CA. Vishal Goel

                                                                                                     

Emotional-Intelligence

Emotional Intelligence: The Critical Leadership Skill

General Blog, Uncategorized, , ,

Jeff Bezos of Amazon is known to be obsessed with getting into the hearts and minds of Amazon customers and his long-term perspective on relationships (and Business strategy) are legendary.Howard Schultz of Starbucks is well known to love the company and its people. Steve Jobs’ biographer attributed some of Jobs’ success in developing creative and popular products to his ability to identify,analyse and control emotions. “Jobs could size people up,understand their inner thoughts,cajole them,intimidate them,target their deepest vulnerabilities and delight them at will.He knew intuitively how to create products that pleased,interfaces that were friendly and marketing messages that were enticing”(Issacson,2011) .This suggests that successful leaders differ from their competitors not in traditional intelligence but just that they understood better how people feel and leveraged this understanding in developing products and culture that appealed more to customers and employees.

The most effective leaders are alike in one crucial way, they all have high degree of Emotional Intelligence.It is not that IQ or technical skills are irrelevant.They do matter as the entry level requirement but decades of research have shown that EI is what makes a successful and a great leader.A study looked at the successes and failures of 11 U.S. presidents and evaluated them on six qualities: communication, organization, political skill, vision,cognitive style, and emotional intelligence. The key quality that differentiated the successful from the unsuccessful was emotional intelligence. International search firm Egon Zehnder International analyzed senior executives and discovered that those who were strongest in emotional intelligence were more likely to succeed than those strongest in either IQ or relevant previous experience. Recent HBR article reported on the strong link between empathetic leaders and financial performance. EI affects how people behave,navigate social complexities and make personal decisions to achieve positive results.Presence of EQ is known to help relieve stress, communicate effectively, empathise with others, overcome challenges and defuse conflict.

What is Emotional Intelligence?

Mayer and Salovey firstly coined the term Emotional Intelligence in 1990 and a decade later Daniel Goleman established its importance in business leadership. The Harvard Business Review defines EI as an individual’s ability to accurately recognize, understand and manage their own emotions as well as that of others. EI is made up of four core skills Self-awareness., self-management,social awareness and relationship management. Self-awareness is the ability to be aware of one’s emotions and manage behavior and tendencies accordingly.Self-Management is the ability to use self-awareness to stay flexible and positively direct one’s behavior.Instead of reacting to every feeling, one waits for the emotion to pass so that one can respond reasonably instead of taking impulsive decisions. Social Awareness is the ability to accurately pick up and understand emotions in others. As a result, one takes people’s emotions into consideration while choosing the right words and actions.Relationship Management is the ability to use self and social awareness to manage interactions successfully.

Why Emotional Intelligence is Indispensable for Leaders?

Emotional Intelligence is a key determinant of effective leadership. High level of EI enables a leader to perceive accurately, understand, and appraise others’ emotions and better respond flexibly to changes in their social environments and build supportive networks (Salovey et al 1999). Leaders high on Emotional Intelligence are successful because

• They are able to comprehend the effect of their feelings and emotions and make sound, objective decisions accordingly.
• They are able to listen to what people are saying without being judgmental.
• They are able to make personal connect with their people.
• They are excellent communicators because they know what messages will connect with others and how to express them.
• They are able to anticipate and respond to others’ sentiments and reactions and develop a strategy to keep them grounded.

A leader lacking in emotional intelligence is not able to effectively gauge the needs, wants and expectations of those they lead. Such leaders react from their emotions without filtering them creating mistrust amongst their staff and seriously jeopardize their working relationship.On the other hand an emotionally savvy and intelligent leader is also able to build stronger teams by strategically utilizing the emotional diversity of their team members leading to high performance and workplace satisfaction.

Conclusion – Emotional intelligence is the foundation for a host of critical skills, is the single biggest predictor of performance in the workplace and the strongest driver of leadership and personal excellence. World economic forum has also listed it as one of the top skills required in 2020.In future with the advent of Artificial intelligence a lot of jobs are going to disappear, but the thing that we will always have that is more important is emotional intelligence.

4th Annual-Entrepreneurship-&-Family-Business-Conference

4th Annual Entrepreneurship & Family Business Conference on “Changing Paradigms: Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Family Business”

Conferences, General Blog, IILM Institute for Higher Education, , , ,

IILM institute for Higher Education organized the Fourth Annual Entrepreneurship and Family Business Conference on 6th April 2018 at its Lodhi Road Campus. The conference was centered on the theme “Changing Paradigms: Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Family Business“. This conference aimed to explore the importance of innovation and sustainability for an entrepreneur and associated opportunities and risks. The conference also uncovered the key challenges faced by Family Businesses in high potential economies such as India in the era of digitization and the need for digital transformation for sustenance. The Conference was structured around three key sessions.
The conference began with the welcome remarks by Dr. Daisy Mathur Jain, Dean IILM-UBS. In her welcome address Dr. Daisy gave an overview of the Entrepreneurship focus at IILM with special focus on opportunities that students get to gain experience and hone their skills. She also spoke about the various international affiliations IILM has with Universities across the globe. IILM is also affiliated with the Family Firm Institute (FFI), Boston. This year, IILM is also introducing an M.Sc. in Family Business as a post graduate specialization in partnership with SBS Swiss Business School, Switzerland.

The Inaugural session comprised a keynote session by Ms. Sonu Bhasin, Founder, Families and Business, highlighted that family businesses are the unsung heroes of the Indian economy by citing interesting figures to support her claim. She fervently held that Entrepreneurship is a state of mind and an ability to get things done, using the analogy of a line black ants and the flow of water. She also underlines that failure does not stop entrepreneurs, rather it eggs them on, because they believe in their purpose. She added that it is important to remember and keep the focus on the family values for a family business to succeed and remain successful. She ended on a positive note that today the time is right to start and entrepreneurship because digitization has reduced capital requirements, technology is an enabler that has opened a plethora of opportunities to this generation that earlier ones did not have access to. She urged the youngsters to go ahead and start something new.

The first plenary session was entitled “Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Sustainability”wherein Ms. Guneesha Kohli, Business Head Malika International, Mr. Sameer Talwar, Founder Entrepreneur of Excellence, Mr. Raman Talwar, Founder Simulanis and Mr. Rijul Bajaj, Co-founder Samshek Foundation shared their insights. The speakers emphasized that innovation is nothing but challenging every assumption and reinventing what you do to make it faster, more efficient and better. Each of them, through personal examples, underscored the need to be open to failures, to learn from them, to stand up once again and to not give up on the dreams.
The second plenary session on the topic “Digital Transformation of Family Business Firms” was also the closing plenary. Mr. Virendra Teotia, Owner Umrao Hotels, Mr. Ridhay Khanna, Owner, HH Global and Mr. Aviral Aggarwal, Director Bikanerwala, shared their experience and paved the possible way forward.Each of them spoke about the role that technology and digitization plays in reducing costs in massive ways for marketing and for reach, for building customer relationship and branding. They also underlined the need to be flexible and adapt to technological change by transforming business and the way it is run.

Active participation from students and faculty made the conference a great success.It provided an opportunity for students and faculty to engage with and listen to new ideas and experiences from distinguished speakers and also to network with established entrepreneurs and investors.

Fitness Future with Internet

Envisioning a New Fitness Future with Internet of Things (IoT) and Built – In Artificial Intelligence

General Blog, Guest Blog, IILM Institute for Higher Education, , ,

The world is continuously growing and changing. Various advancements have also occurred when it comes to the technology used in rendering healthcare services. The technology has also played a big role in patient registration and data monitoring. Now there are technologies that allow a healthcare provider to monitor their patients in their own mobile phones.Internet of Things could be the driver for health care’s new visage and revolutionize patient care transcendentally.

They are also now capable of sending and receiving patient’s information in their mobile phones and provide brisk alerts at the health threshold alert points. Devices that can help monitor one’s fitness,health and vitals are easily available in the market. As a matter of fact, there are even sensors that are capable of collecting data that would of course help the doctor to be informed in case it exceeds the breakeven point during an aberration case. This extended offering deems to have parity with all stakeholders like hospitals, ICU, ambulatory other than patient and doctor. This allows them to provide the right medication and treatment to their patients fast. On the other hand, although great improvements have been made in the healthcare industry, one can still expect that a brighter future awaits in the next years or decades.Within five years, the majority of clinically relevant data will be collected outside of clinical settings.

It has been said that healthcare in the future would become more personal offering. Thus, one can expect that personalized medicines or medicines that have been created specifically for an individual would be available. The way doctors diagnose their patient’s disease and provide treatment to them would be largely based on IoT paradigm. In the IoT paradigm everything in the world will be smart, allowing them to communicate with each other through internet technology either physically or virtually. IoT allows people and things to be connected Anytime, Anyplace, with anything and anyone, ideally in any path/network and any service.Following are few applications of IoT in healthcare industry.

1) Remote patient monitoring

Remote patient monitoring (RPM) uses digital technologies to collect medical and other forms of health data from one individual in one location and electronically transmit this information to the health care providers. RPM can help reduce the number of hospital readmissions and lengths of stay in the hospitals.

2) Clinical care

Hospitalized patients whose physiological status requires close attention can be constantly monitored using IoT driven, non-invasive monitoring. Sensors are used to collect such information and using cloud this data is analyzed and sent to caregivers. It replaces the need for the doctor to visit the patient over regular intervals for checkup. This will also help to improve the quality of care through constant monitoring.

3) Device monitoring

An IoT connected metal device can notify when there is a problem with a device. This will prevent the device from shutting down and avoid patient rescheduling.

4) Outpatient Monitoring

This IoT solution enables doctors to capture health parameters and advice patients remotely. The patient’s hospital visit is therefore limited to visit only on need basis. This solution helps hospitals manage hospital beds and consequently increase revenues while at the same time delighting customers.

The Howard case below highlights the key role of a business model in ensuring the competitive advantage and sustained success of a business venture. It appreciates the market attractiveness and future of wearable technology.

GOQii’s product-service offering of wearable fitness band technology was supplemented with remote personalized coaching. With its launch in the Indian market, and its emergence as a pioneer of a new category of product in the health and lifestyle space had the ability to integrate human assistance with built-in artificial intelligence. Gondal realized that while people were adopting wearable technology solutions for healthy living, there was still a lack of awareness and an air of hesitancy about the usefulness of and need for wearable devices in India. Gondal’s dilemma: whether to continue GOQii’s positioning as “wearable technology with personalized coaching” and aggressively expand globally, or consolidate and broaden his present offering by embracing the customer more fully and focusing on the “customer healthcare journey” in India. Case B picks up from October 2016, by which time GOQii had consolidated and broadened its offering by focusing on the “customer journey” in India. It had successfully on-boarded different service providers such as doctors, a diagnostic center chain, a hospital chain, sports and grocery stores and Axis Bank (for payments) on their platform, thus providing a complete health ecosystem to the GOQii user. By the second quarter of 2016, GOQii had achieved the number one spot in the Indian wearables market. The immediate decision that GOQii core team need to make is whether they should tie up with multiple insurance providers or explore the possibility of partnering with a reinsurer to complete the entire health spectrum services offering on their data platform.

Shweta Nanda
Assistant Professor – Technology & Operations