The Hindu Business Line : `Innovative ideas needed to stay competitive'

Coimbatore May 29 Mr N. Lakshmi Narayanan, Vice-Chairman, Cognizant Technology Solutions and Chairman, Nasscom, called upon students to become specialists and leaders in their chosen field.

Delivering the graduation ceremony address at the PSG College of Technology here, he said transition from college to the professional world would be far more enjoyable, rewarding and satisfying, yet, in leveraging the opportunities, it would not be enough to tread the beaten path. "Youngsters should do what it takes to ride the next big wave of ideas. And in this attempt, should remember to be honest and appreciative of others, think global and compete as vigorously and humanly as possible," he said

Being the "best" is no longer enough. One should aim instead in becoming "better than the best", he said, and pointed out that the present day competitiveness demanded innovative ideas. These ideas, however, have no value if not properly implemented. Calling upon students to broaden their outlook and develop a global mindset, the Nasscom Chairman said, "Markets no longer stop at national boundaries, neither do corporate operations. It is, therefore, imperative to understand the nature of global forces and the impact it would have on business strategy development. Only in thinking `big' can we dominate the world markets."

Stating that the current competitive landscape demanded continuous innovation, Mr Lakshmi Narayanan said individuals and organisations should have the foresight and courage to conceive, build and deliver products and services in a faster, cheaper and efficient manner than competition itself. While there are extraordinary opportunities for those who are prepared to face the challenge of change, only those who survive and succeed would be able to anticipate change and exploit it as well.

The problem in the real world though, is enormous and individuals alone would not be able to solve them. "Work as a team. Diversity helps bring creativity and innovation to the fore and the greatest learning happens in a team environment," he told students.

Finishing school models

He later told presspersons that manpower availability was not a problem as suitability itself, in making the candidate `industry-ready'. Nasscom would facilitate and expose the concept of finishing school, which anyway was not new.

Explaining that the finishing school was basically for those who were not placed in campus and need that "extra" orientation and training, Mr Lakshmi Narayanan said the key challenge was in scaling up the number of such schools. (About 12 or 13 finishing schools are functioning across the country).

He expects several variants to the existing finishing school models to come up in the long-term.

More Stories on : Education | Human Resources | Tamil Nadu

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page