Since the global financial crisis in 2008, Britain’s GDP per capita has remained more or less flat. In the same period, India’s has grown by 2.5 times. Everywhere we see in the Western world, the CEOs of the most successful companies around the world are of Indian origin. An Indian-origin candidate may well be the next President of the United States. An Indian-origin candidate was already Prime Minister of Britain.
This very much points to the next few decades being part of India’s century. At the Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode (IIMK), one of India’s premier business schools, we are making a significant international foray to explore why and how this global change is happening. As Director of the school, I’m proud to be coming to London for our first ever international conclave on ‘Globalizing Indian Thought,’ on 24-25 October, 2024.
The aim of the conclave revolves around India’s soft power outreach, with discussions exploring ancient Indian wisdom and its relevance in today’s globalised world. We aim to highlight how India’s management principles, deeply rooted in philosophy, leadership, and governance, can offer valuable lessons for global business and policymaking.
India’s rise as a global economic powerhouse is increasingly complemented by its cultural, intellectual, and philosophical contributions on the world stage. The conclave serves as a platform for intellectuals, industry leaders, academics, and policymakers to engage in conversations on how Indian values—such as mindfulness, inclusivity, and sustainability—are becoming essential tools in shaping leadership styles and business practices globally. These discussions also tie into the broader theme of reverse colonisation, where ideas from India are now finding acceptance and influence in the West.
And IIMK is one of the most credible voices to be talking about these important topics. In the Financial Times Masters in Management ranking in 2024, we leapt nine spots to be recognised as the 68th best in the world. As one of the fastest growing IIMs in India we’re ranked third in the National Institutional Ranking Framework,. Despite being a comparatively new institution, we are able to bring new management and innovation thinking from India to the world.
We were the first institute in Asia to offer an intense and rigorous learning programme in management for working executives. Thanks to this, today we have more than nearly a hundred alumni across the top positions in London, with this number growing.
For this, I thank the innovative spirit of our programmes, relentless dedication of our faculty but also the genius of India, which has always been rooted in the perennial wisdom of its greatest leaders: the whole continuum from Gandhi to Buddha. Their thoughts have had a global impact without the help of the internet. The three elements of Indian thought that have the potential to hold sway over the world in the coming decades are Satyam (Truth), Nityam (Sustainability) and Purnam (Wholeness). These three have been intrinsically adopted by the Institute as its guiding principles.
The Indian Rupee has the words satyameva jayate (the triumph of truth) printed on it. Gandhi experimented with and conveyed to the larger world that truth was indeed more powerful than an Empire.
Nityam is the principle that sustains us perennially. It is about sustainability, the ability to nurture, support and endure. It is about India’s leadership of the Global South in COP negotiations, the G20 and on other international forums. Committing to nityam puts our shared values ahead of our personal needs.
Purnam is wholeness. It doesn’t mean the assembly of several constituent parts to form a whole. Instead, India’s philosophers talked about a conscious and realisable intelligence that kept planets in their orbit and everything in order and harmony with each other, a rta, which is an ecological principle sustaining the balance and interrelationship of all life.
India has held these elements of thought dear through the ages. India is so vast and so heterogeneous that everything you say of it, as well as the polar opposite, can be true in unison. That very complexity and associated intellectual heritage makes us ideally placed to provide leadership in an increasingly dynamic, multipolar world.
For long, the world’s traditional centres of learning, management theories and conversations around globalisation have been curated, cultivated and dominated by Western analytical thought.
We hope that the conference this week is the start of a conversation in London. Our initiative is based on the hallmark of IIM Kozhikode’s intellectual contributions, which are grounded in a belief that Indian management philosophies – derived from the teachings of ancient texts such as the Bhagavad Gita and Arthashastra – have much to offer in terms of leadership, ethics, and innovation. As global challenges become more complex, these time-tested Indian ideas provide unique perspectives on balancing material progress with human and ecological well-being.
Dr Debashis Chatterjee is Director of IIM Kozhikode.