The School of Post Graduate Studies, Department of Commerce, SSMRV College, Bangalore, in association with IQAC had organized a Virtual International conference on Inter Disciplinary Research 2021 on the topic âEmerging Business Opportunities and Challenges in the wake of Covid-19â, on 24th and 25th of November 2021. This conference was organized in association with âTshwane University of Technology, Pretoria Campus, South Africaâ; âBlue Crest University College- Monrovia-Liberiaâ; and âThe Institute of Cost Accountants of India , Bangalore chapterâ.
Papers on five different tracks were invited, those being Finance and Banking; Marketing and E-Commerce; Human Resource Management; Entrepreneurship and Business Management; and Information Technology. There were 280 registrations. Received 81 papers from across the Globe, of which, 22 papers were received from South Africa for the conference. The group consisted of faculty members, students from Undergraduate and Postgraduation courses.
The event was planned for two days. The Day -1 session commenced with an invocation song from III Sem M.Com students. This was followed by a welcome address by Prof.Lavanya Balaji, HOD, PG Department of Commerce, SSMRV College.
24th November 2021, the first day of the virtual conference consisted of 3 keynote speakers Dr.Malyadri; Dr.Dilip Kumar and Dr.Asadi Srinivasulu.
Dr.Malyadri spoke on how the pandemic has changed the lives of the population. Covid-19 has created a period of challenges. He stressed upon to convert these challenges into opportunities. Job losses has become the order of the day. Small and medium enterprises have faced cash shortage and closed down their businesses. Travel and tourism industry has faced lot of losses. Hotels, restaurants have also closed due to lack of business. Many have revived and come back but majority of them are yet to revamp. The past indicates that such challenges have come out with lot of innovations. This can happen only when we are positive, optimistic. This is the right time to do some empirical research on different sectors. New strategies, innovations, lessons learnt from the pandemic has to be utilized properly.
Dr.Asadi Srinivasulu shared his thoughts on how we are living with the era of tera. He shared the statistics of the terabytes of the era  to showcase how many users are using various websites. He spoke on how we are moving towards cloud computing services . How do we store, use and share the data paved the way for Big Data.  We are extracting the data from volume, files handling and what is the rate of speed of using the data for uploading or downloading the files for our work. Integrated patterns, statistical methods, process, algorithms are being used to measure the data in a system server or cloud. He explained what are the different challenges of information technology , finance and banking,  marketing and e-commerce, human resource management , entrepreneurship and business management. We are using disruptive technologies in order to use the banking systems,  in particular.
Dr.Dilip Kumar elaborated on how work force resilient, workflow management has changed. Current management textbooks has to be completely changed due to the pandemic. New styles of pedagogy to be brought in. Lot many changes are happening around us. He stressed upon ten emerging trends in how it will shape our future. Definition of the workplace has changed with remote working becoming the order of the day. It has led to urbanization but major industries have been affected like travel and hospitality, education and health. It is expected to have a long time for recovery. Around 51% of companies have witnessed digital transformation and 66% have completed the digital initiatives as per an IBM Report of 2021. The dimensions of IoT, Blockchain, robotic application system, artificial intelligence have grown in leaps and bounds. Ecommerce has grown two to five times faster than before the pandemic. Specialty chemicals have seen a growth of surface cleaners, disinfectants. Hospitals, pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, medical insurance, telemedicine has seen tremendous growth in the pandemic. Online education is witnessing an incremental growth with the help of technology. Lot of teaching materials, videos , online courses have increased.
Ms.Mayachandra gave the presidential address and expressed her profound happiness for organizing the international conference by PG Department of commerce. She congratulated the team for their effort. She also stressed upon the key take away from the conference.
This was followed by online paper presentations from students and faculty members on the tracks of Finance and Banking; and Marketing and E-commerce.
The Track judges for Finance and Banking Track was CMA Sreepada, Past chairman of Bengaluru chapter of the Institute of Cost Accountants of India. Mr.Santosh and Dr.Lalitha.B.S, won the 1st Prize under the âFaculty and studentâ paper presentation category .
The track judge for the Marketing and E-Commerce Track was Dr.Bhavani, Principal, Surana College, South End Campus. Ms.Vindhya and Ms.Divya were the winners under the âFaculty and studentâ paper presentation category.
25th November 2021 the second day of the virtual conference was commenced with the Guest of Honour speech of Dr.Umesh Neelakantan , President, Blue Crest University followed by a keynote speech of CMA Sreepada, Past chairman of Bengaluru chapter of the Institute of Cost Accountants of India
Dr.Umesh Neelakatan shared his views on how e-commerce has picked up particularly during the pandemic. Hobbies like jewellery design, digital designers, knitting can turn into a store particularly by using platforms like facebook, Instagram. Executives has been affected with the traumatic stress. Tools of information technology are being used in the fullest extent . Pandemic has offered an unforeseen pain and changes in the strategy, management, operations and budgetary priorities. Accelerated investment in digital tech, cloud computing, artificial intelligence is being witnessed. Organizational complexity has become more due to the pandemic. Employees feel overloaded and this shows the need for a diversified workforce. How they are treated now will be having an impact in the future. Businesses need to take action in precritical areas in order to survive and absorb, lead, engage and inspirational leadership paving way to hybrid work model, emphasize on employee health, well being and development.
CMA Sreepada elaborated on basic purpose and principles of life has remained the same . The destination is always the goal towards human life. We cannot expect people to accompany us from the origin to the destination. Covid 19 is like a broken road and is a temporary situation. The lifestyle has changed and people have lost the face to face contacts with people. Online education is not giving the positive effect when compared to the offline education. There is no dearth of opportunities. Education is not just to obtain a certificate but to acquire knowledge to survive in the world. Exploring the opportunities is very much essential. Skills sets can be obtained from across the world. We need to be flexible enough to put in effort to earn a professional degree.
This was followed by online paper presentations from students and faculty members on the tracks of Human Resource Management, Entrepreneurship and Business Management and Information Technology
The Track judge for the Human Resource Management Track was Prof.Pete, Tshwane University of Technology, South Africa. Ms. Triveshika; Ms. Fathima Thaskeen and Prof. Lavanya Balaji, won the 1st Prize under the âFaculty and studentâ paper presentation category.
The Track judge for the Entrepreneurship and Business Management Track was Dr.K.M.Nagendra, Principal, BIMS. Ms.Sanjana B; Mr.Vaibhav Prakash and Prof. Nandini, won the 1st Prize under the âFaculty and studentâ paper presentation category .
The Track judge for the Information Technology Management Track was Dr.Dinesh Elango, Assumption University of Thailand, Bangkok. Ms. Jeysri and Mr. Yashank T, won the 1st Prize under the âStudentâ paper presentation category.
The concluding remarks of the Virtual International Conference was given by Dr.Lalitha.B.S , Assistant Professor, PG Department of Commerce, SSMRV College
THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE TEAM OF 2021
Opening Remarks on Day-1 by Prof.Anusha, Asst.Professor, Department of Commerce
Address by Chief Guest from Dr.Malyadri Pacha, Senior Research Fellow, ICSSR
Address by Keynote Speaker Dr.Asadi Srinivasulu, Bluecrest University, Liberia
Address by Guest of Honour, Day 1- Dr.Dileep Kumar, Director, NFCT, Malaysia, Pro-V.C, GNS University
Opening Remarks of Day 2 by Prof . Vandana Revankar, Asst, Prof. Department of Business Administration
Address by the Guest of Honour-Day 2- Dr.Neelakantan Umesh, Blue Crest University, Liberia
Address by Chief Guest- Day 2- CMA Sreepada, Past Chairman, The Institute of Cost Accountants of India
