Second, nation building from a business education standpoint requires that MDI produce graduates that have depth and excellence in particular subject areas (perhaps 2-3) and the ability to be able to solve problems that transcend disciplinary boundaries. The National Education Policy is a step in this direction that will help MDI move forward in different areas of endeavour. How can we at MDI be seen to be a unique model for higher education, with internal and external governance that promotes values and actions that provide responsible freedom and choice in the academic world leading to a leadership position for MDI? How can we deepen our engagement with industry and government while maintaining the essence of an academic organization? Maintaining and enhancing the right processes would enable faculty to help MDI students to become the best problem solvers with the right solution orientation. Recruiters want graduates that can solve problems!! Such students will also become the excellent brand ambassadors for MDI.

Given these macro trends, MDI is investing in state of the art facilities, including new classrooms, libraries, technology, administrative support and more global engagement. And in creating new courses and upgrading its curriculum. And in deepening the scale and scope of its engagement with its alumni – alumni are after all the stakeholder group that has the highest long term interest in the institution growth and excellence.

Third, as sustainability and ESG become mainstream, MDI would need to think about ways to integrate sustainability into all aspects of its functioning – the curriculum, the campus and the engagements. It includes reducing the carbon footprint, minimizing waste, and ensuring that operations and business practices are ethical and responsible. The MDI campus already has some initiatives in this area. The MDI-TERI conference in October 2023 on responsible organizations can set the tone for a lot of future activities that allow MDI to become the hub in this area. After all, future leaders, that we hope MDI graduates will be, must show anticipation about and responsiveness towards creating sustainable alternatives. It is our collective responsibility to give a better world to the coming generations. To achieve our goals, MDI must constantly strive for innovation and excellence in all that it undertakes.

Given the strong foundations that MDI has in terms of its legacy, its current governance structure, a strong faculty that is committed to enhancing brand MDI, and robust systems, let us try to make MDI count at the highest levels. We would like to be agile in exploring new vistas, creating new opportunities and in becoming known as the place to be for quality and excellence in business education – and in other streams of learning such as Policy, Management of Financial Institutions, etc. This means staying up-to-date with the latest practices, research and technologies for faculty and students. It means excellence in research and teaching. It means constant outreach to and engagement with different stakeholders. It means innovation. As Peter Drucker said, innovation is the only way to maintain long term advantage. We aim to equip our students to operate successfully and navigate through the uncertain and ambiguous environment with the right set of tools, perspective, skills and the ability to innovate – and do so in ways that allows them to set new benchmarks of quality and excellence.

Prof. Arvind Sahay Ph.D
Director
Email: [email protected]