Message from Prof. R L Raina, Director, LBSIM. LBSIM DELHI announces National Conference on Communication for Management, Teaching & Research in Indian Business Schools March 7 - 8, 2006 at LBSIM, Delhi RATIONALE In the context of global and multicultural business environment, communication problems of professionals assume great importance. Therefore, in a management school, developing abilities of effective communication in students is a major concern. 'Communication', thus, is a very important module. It prepares the students to excel in whatever they do by teaching them to express and advocate ideas effectively, and to understand and appreciate the diversity of human communication practices. The 'course inputs' help students develop and refine their 'communication' skills in various spheres, including communication in inter-personal, inter-group and inter-organizational relationships. The critical question, therefore, is how do we go about developing and delivering course inputs, which would be of significance and of value addition in respect of their current and future professional career. At broader levels, the students must also study communication climates and cultures, emergent networks, information environments, organizational symbols, information technologies, and cross-cultural communication in corporate settings. They must also understand the impact of messages transmitted by various mass media, role of communication in the functioning of complex organizations. The courses must also address issues such as target group analysis, internal/external communication integration, systems analysis and channel effectiveness. Again, the question is how do we go about incorporating such inputs in the course curriculum and delivering the same. Use of 'technology' in 'communication' is another area that needs to be comprehensively understood and investigated. Communication with new technologies is of great importance to students as they enter organizations in various capacities. This would include an understanding of the technologies and the effects of technology usage, theories of media choice and usage, implementation and adoption of communication technology in organizations. A special mention must be made here of the specific communication technologies (including Internet and intranets, WWW, email, computer conferencing, videoconferencing, electronic meeting systems, voice mail, pagers, fax, speech recognition, etc.) used in organizations. Of late, business schools (of excellence) have taken this issue very seriously and are offering courses in the area of 'communication' with an aim to equip the budding professionals with all those 'receptive' as well as 'expressive' communication skills that are needed by them the most to be successful in today's' highly competitive envirnment. However, a survey undertaken by IIM Lucknow to seek industry/alumni input/feedback for restructuring its course curriculum, revealed that the course/s taught in the area of Communication needed to be reworked upon, particularly in terms of content delivered, pedagogy followed and the assessment and evaluation techniques used. Similar revelations came up, in more concrete terms, in AMDISA Workshop (June, 2000) on 'Reinventing Management Education' as well as in IIM Ahmedabad 'National Seminar on Teaching Business Communication at Indian Business Schools' (March 2001). In line with the above scenario, the basic thrust of the conference would be to examine how this discipline is handled in leading business schools in the country. Soliciting enriching experiences from distinguished academics for discussion in the peer group, and publishing the findings will be an enriching contribution to the discipline. OBJECTIVES * To provide an opportunity to the academics to share their knowledge and experiences in teaching course/s on 'Communication for Management' in their respective schools; * To identify and bridge gaps in terms of the course content, pedagogy, evaluation mechanism, feedback etc; and * To get a first hand feel of Indian research initiatives in this upcoming area. COVERAGE The proposed two-day conference will provide an opportunity for deliberations among academics, professionals and practitioners on following issues : * Communication in the 'knowledge-economy'. * Course/s Content, Pedagogy, Feedback, Assessment, Evaluation. * Research initiatives in the area. * Industry response/feedback on 'teaching' as well as 'research' in the area. * Gaps, if any, vis-à-vis benchmark initiatives/practices. CALL FOR PAPERS Full papers, both conceptual as well as empirical, in about 5000 words are invited from academics as well as practitioners on topics related to any of the above facets of the conference, in double space (on A4 size paper) with 1 inch margin on all four sides using MS word 97/2000 (both hard and soft copies). The papers may be submitted on the following themes : 1. Teaching Course/s in "Communication for Management" in Indian Business Schools. (Course/s Content, Pedagogy, Feedback, Assessment, Evaluation) 2. Interface with Industry (Training & Consultation) in the area. 3. Research Initiatives in the area. 4. Industry response/feedback in the area. 5. Identifying & Bridging Gaps : Teaching, Research, Training & Consulting Initiatives in the area. DEADLINES To facilitate sincere academic interaction, the fee has been consciously kept as highly reasonable. Submission of Abstract December 26, 2005 Submission of Full Paper January 16, 2006 Confirmation about Acceptance of Paper January 31, 2006 REGISTRATION FEE Academics Rs. 2000/- Industry Professionals Rs. 3000/- Students Rs. 1000/- Registration fee includes a copy of the conference proceedings, registration kit, tea and lunch. However, the arrangements for boarding & lodging can be made on request of the participants. VENUE Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management, New Delhi CONFERENCE PAPERS Full text of the papers received up to January 15, 2006, and accepted by January 31, 2006 will be made available at the time of conference. Selected papers presented at the conference will be considered for publication in, LBS Journal of Management & Research, after due review process. CONFERENCE CONVENOR Dr. Roshan Lal Raina is Director, Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management (LBSIM), Delhi. Before joining LBSIM, Dr. Raina was Professor, 'Communication' at the Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow (IIML), where, besides teaching courses in the area of 'Communication for Management', conducting high impact and very well received training programmes for the corporate sector, as well as undertaking research and consulting programmes in the area, he was also responsible for developing and managing state-of-the-art and world class academic infrastructure. At IIML, Prof. Raina also successfully initiated and handled activities in areas like 'Corporate Communication' and 'Media Relations'. Dr. Raina's contributions in matters academic and administrative are many and varied. His research and teaching are in the general area of Business Communication, Corporate Communication and Cross Cultural Communication. A regular speaker at top management Institutes, Dr. Raina is a frequent consultant for a wide range of clients and develops training programmes in the area of Effective Communication, Corporate Communication, Crisis Communication, Persuasive Presentation and Conflict Resolution through Communication for organization in both Public and Private Sector. Concurrently, Dr. Raina has been involved in consulting assignments awarded by the JSI, Deliver, USA, IDRC, Canada, The Johns Hopkins University/Centre for Communication Programms, Baltimore, USA, the UP State Electricity Board (in connection with an injunction from the Apex Court), and the MHRD (GOI). Dr. Raina is a life member of several professional bodies in the country and holds the unique distinction of having bagged three of the top professional honours/awards. Dr. Raina can be reached at roshan@lbsim.edu For any further information, please contact: Prof. R.L. Raina Director Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management Shastri Sadan, Sector III, R.K. Puram, New Delhi 110022 Tel. : 26191081, 26172407 Fax : 91-11-26191080 E.mail. director@lbsim.edu Website : www.lbsim.edu ABOUT THE INSTITUTE Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management, Delhi, established in memory of the nation's second Prime Minister, Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri, is recognized as a premier and dynamic centre for excellence in management education, research, training & consultancy, mandated to create a new class of managers in tune with the needs of today's highly competitive global environment. The ethics, values and principles of Shastriji have been the constant guiding light to help us produce professionals with a humane and pragmatic approach. TOP RANKING SCHOOL The Institute has been constantly ranked as one of the top twenty Business Schools in the country. ACTIVITIES * Two Year Full-Time Post Graduate Programme in Management. (AICTE Recognized) * Three Year Part-Time Graduate Programme in Management for Working Executives (Evening) (AICTE Recognized) * Three Year Full-Time Post Graduate Programme in Master of Computer Applications (MCA) (Under Affiliation with GGSIPU, Delhi) * Lal Bahadur Shastri Research Centre for Public Policy and Social Change * Management Development Programmes * Research and Consultancy * Seminars, Conferences and Workshops COLLABORATION The Institute has entered into academic collaboration with several premier business schools abroad. LAL BAHADUR SHASTRI NATIONAL AWARD LBSIM has instituted the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for Excellence in Public Administration, Academics and Management. The honour carries an award of Rs. One Lac plus a Citation and a Plaque. The awardees are designated as Lal Bahadur Shastri Fellows and their names are inscribed on the roll of honours of the Institute. The award is conferred every year by His Excellency, The President of India, at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. RECIPIENTS OF THE LAL BAHADUR SHASTRI NATIONAL AWARD Prof. C.K. Prahalad (1999) University of Michigan Business School, USA Mr. Sam Pitroda (2000) Chairman, World-Tel, UK Mr. N.R. Narayana Murthy (2001) Chairman and Chief Mentor, Infosys Technologies Ltd. Dr. R.A. Mashelkar (2002) Director General, CSIR and Secretary, DSIR Smt. Ela Ramesh Bhatt (2003) Founder General Secretary, SEWA Shri C.P. 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