MPOWER Alumni Meet

 

 

100 Nextgen Youth Transporters & Mentors from 28 cities, running over 20,000 trucks in 20 applications, employing nearly 18,000 people, with a combined turnover of Rs. 8,000 Cr created history at the first ever MPOWER Alumni Meet, deliberating upon the future of Indian Road Transport with the revered Faculty members from Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad and Bangalore, in the presence of Mr. Anand Mahindra - Chairman, Mahindra Group, Dr. Pawan Goenka - Managing Director, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., Mr. Vinod Sahay - CEO, Mahindra Truck and Bus Division & Mahindra Construction Equipment Division and the MTB Leadership!

 

 

14th Oct 2019 will go down in the history of Indian Road Transport, as a red-letter day! The who's who of Indian Transport and that too from the NextGen, gathered at Mumbai for the first ever Mahindra MPOWER Alumni Meet. These NextGen youth transporters are the ones who have attended the Mahindra MPOWER Program at the IIM, Ahmedabad, a customised Management Development Program, specifically created by the Faculty Members of IIM, Ahmedabad for the NextGen of Indian Transporters from family businesses. Even the case studies that are taught as a part of the 8-day course at the IIMA Campus, are based on the stories of Indian Fleet Owners.

The theme of the program was, "Growing your Transport Business in the VUCA World amidst Economic Slowdown". As you'd know, VUCA is a popular acronym, standing for Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous, to describe periods when the geo-political & economic environment is unsteady/ unstable and changing rapidly, and there is lesser clarity on future course.

The program was attended, besides 100 young transporters and some of their mentors, by the Mahindra Leadership team, including Mr. Anand Mahindra, Dr. Pawan Goenka, Mr. Vinod Sahay and MTB Leadership team members, other special guests, the Keynote Speaker, Mr. R. Seshasayee (former Vice Chairman, Ashok Leyland), eminent faculty members from Indian Institute of Management, Prof G. Raghuram, Director, IIM Bangalore and Co-founder of MPOWER, Prof Arvind Sahay, Professor of Marketing & International Business, IIMA and Prof Debjit Roy, Associate Professor in Operations Management, Production & Quantitative Methods Area, IIMA and other special invitees like MTB Dealers, Agency heads, etc.

The event began with Mr. Rajeev Malik, VP - Marketing, Mahindra Truck and Bus, welcoming the guests, followed by Anurag Dubey, Vice President Sales and Customer Care, Mahindra Truck and Bus, sharing the background and journey of the MPOWER initiative, and all the related programs like MPOWER Mentors Summit, MPOWER War Room and D-EXCEL that have been conducted at IIM, Ahmedabad. All these programs together have engaged more than 650 delegates including 401 MPOWERIANS as well as their Mentors and Transport Industry Veterans, across 25 programs.

The proceedings progressed with Dr. Pawan Goenka, Managing Director, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., setting the context for the day. He talked about the VUCA World (a world that is experiencing Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexities and Ambiguity) and the challenges in a global as well as Indian context. He also stressed upon the global benchmarks vis-à-vis Indian standards in the trucking industry, especially around operational efficiency, driver performance and pay, and road safety.

Dr. Goenka also introduced the topic for the most exciting part of the day, the Interactive Session - "How to Make Indian Trucking the Best in the World?". He asked the delegates to share their ideas and come up with innovative solutions - what needs to be done by the Government, by the OEMs, by the Transporters and by the End-customers (users of Transport Services).

Thereafter, Dr. Venkat Srinivas, Senior Vice President, Product Development of Mahindra Truck and Bus, introduced the eminent personality who graced the occasion as the keynote speaker - Mr. R. Seshasayee, former Vice Chairman, Ashok Leyland.

 

Mr. R. Seshasayee's discourse - very simple, rooted in nature and filled with stories and lessons from his four decades of vast experience in the commercial vehicle industry, enthralled the audience. He highlighted the necessity for pragmatism about the current economic slowdown but also stressed the importance of being strong and taking this situation as an opportunity to grow. He emphasized the significance of the short-term and the long-term impact of the structural changes underway, and how change brings opportunities to grow. He gave a few examples of corporates doing well even in the current economic slowdown and the reasons why they are succeeding. Similarly, he opined about the disruptive technology that can be used by transporters to create an edge over competition.

 

After the keynote address, the IIM Professors who have played a very important role in all the 25 MPOWER programs, were felicitated. Prof. G. Raghuram, Prof. Arvind Sahay and Prof. Debjit Roy shared their thoughts on the MPOWER Alumni Meet and then were felicitated for their tremendous contribution in nurturing the Nextgen Transporters of our country.

 

Post a short break, the delegates headed for their respective breakaway sessions. These sessions were moderated by the IIM Professors and Mr. PV Satyanarayana, National Product Head - HCV, Mahindra Truck & Bus. The delegates were asked to wear the cap of various stakeholders viz. Government, OEM, Fleet Owners and End Users and recommend changes that would help Make Indian Trucking the Best in the World. Post a rigorous brain storming of 90 minutes, the chosen delegates presented their recommendations for each stakeholder to the entire audience. The audience were given an opportunity to add their thoughts and ask questions to further enhance the session.

Once the young delegates finished presenting their take on the future of the industry, Mr. Vinod Sahay, CEO, Mahindra Truck and Bus Division & Mahindra Construction Equipment Division, reassured them by reaffirming that the CV/ transport industry encounters a periodical slump every 5-6 years, and the current situation being nothing different. He the shared his views on the future of the economy and the CV industry, with his analysis and views on the suggestions that emerged from the interactive sessions. Further, he gave a number of insights into the role that Mahindra Truck and Bus would play in driving positive change in the transport industry.

Dr. Pawan Goenka, who has been the visionary behind the institution and continuance of this Mahindra RISE initiative at IIM, Ahmedabad for 7 years now, summarized the proceedings with his concluding remarks on the first ever MPOWER Alumni Meet and shared views on the future direction of the transport industry.

The meet would have been incomplete without an address from and interaction with, Mr. Anand Mahindra. And the free-flowing, knowledge sharing interaction session with Mr. Mahindra made everyone realise, why over 7.2 million people follow him on Twitter! To everyone's surprise and delight, Mr. Mahindra was so enamoured by the calibre of the nextgen transporters, that he spent an hour moving around the ballroom, interacting with the audience, asking the delegates to share their individual thoughts and experiences on fighting tough times and coming out victorious, whether in business or in personal life, and sharing his own personal experiences in dealing with tough times.

The Mahindra MPOWER Alumni meet would be long remembered for the high level of interaction.