Prof Dheeraj Sharma Reflects on Institutional Legacy at IIM Rohtak’s 10th Foundation Day

Prof. Dheeraj Sharma

Prof Dheeraj Sharma, a respected academic and thought leader, addressed the IIM Rohtak community during its 10th Foundation Day celebrations. Highlighting the evolution of ownership, he remarked, “In the Mauryan period, property was held in common. Today, though the idea of ownership has changed, the emotional connection remains. Even after leaving this institute, you will always feel a sense of belonging to it.” Prof Dheeraj Sharma’s message resonated deeply with the values IIM Rohtak upholds.   #DheerajSharma #IIMRohtakDirector #DrDheerajSharmaIIM #DheerajSharmaIIMRohtak  #DheerajSharmaIIMAhmedabad

Transcript

00:00On this August day of our foundation, we must reflect on this world of ownership.

00:17What does the world ownership actually stand for and where did this all begin?

00:22So, I started thinking and you know, before I could lose my chain of thought, I said, I'll write certain things down.

00:28I mean, think about ownership. Let's take, for example, an instance of ownership of property.

00:34How did ownership come about? Since when property started to belong to individuals?

00:42And when I say property, let me be very specific. Let's say land, for instance.

00:48What is the origin? I think you need to study that the roots of ownership have changed,

00:57probably lions say anything, but the types of ownership has changed over a period of time.

01:01I was reflecting because I'm not a formal but informal student of history. I love reading history.

01:09If you go back and read in the Mauryan period, there was the concept of Ganasankhas.

01:15Gunasankhas are Ganasankhas, which means actually at that point in time, all property belonged to the community.

01:23The land belonged to the community. And the land revenues were also collected based on that from those communities.

01:31And there was a separation between the revenue collectors and actually people who had lost them.

01:37Many, many years later, in the time of Appar, this process was again reintroduced with a deviance.

01:47And if you study this, then the concept of ownership then also was different.

01:52And there were, you know, these things called, you know, Mahalwari system, the Jagirdari system, the Mansabdari system,

01:59which also talked about separation of ownership of land and getting revenues from the land.

02:05I'm just giving you land as a case in point.

02:10How does it reflect on you on this momentous day of our institution's foundation?

02:15Is that while the land, the buildings, the infrastructure will remain here in Rohtak, in this campus when you leave,

02:30but you will probably continue to get revenue from this institution without actually owning the physical assets.

02:40And that revenue does not necessarily mean revenue from financial revenue.

02:46And it might actually, I can give you a model by which it could be financial revenue as well.

02:51You will continue to benefit from this institution directly, indirectly and still continue to have that ownership.

02:59And ownership is the foundation of creating an institution, which means it's not the physical ownership, it's a sense of ownership.

03:11When you start to feel that this organization, this institution belongs to you and I must treat it with respect.

03:18And for that, you need to build something called an organizational culture.

03:27Now, as I was reading and I was thinking and I was reflecting, I thought of what could possibly be.

03:34I mean, there are numerous models, there are professors of organizational behavior sitting here, so I don't want to get into their domain.

03:40get into their domain, but what I could think of as the key ingredients of an organizational culture to build an institution are following.

03:48One, I believe that we need to have shared beliefs, shared values.

03:55Which means, if as an organization we believe innovativeness is something which is important to us, it must be shared.

04:03It must be believed that every single participant in this community should think that innovativeness is important to us.

04:10Openness.

04:12It could be, maybe, a tradition.

04:16I do not know.

04:18But we have to choose a value or values, a set of values which we share.

04:24And it has to be shared by all community members.

04:27Second, which comes to my mind, is symbols.

04:30And that's why you have logos.

04:32Symbols are very important.

04:34Those symbols have to be shared and have to be sacrosanct.

04:37Because symbols tie us together, they bring us together.

04:40That's why flags were important.

04:42If you go back to the history of flags, again you will learn a lot about the importance of symbols.

04:47Because they are a very strong ingredient of building an organizational culture.

04:53Recognitions.

04:54What is important to you should be important to me.

04:57Should be important to all stakeholders.

05:00Which means some recognitions which we must share.

05:04Which means if a student wins a particular award,

05:08if the award is not appreciated by other students,

05:10it really does not build an organizational culture.

05:12We should have shared recognitions as well.

05:15Then, what comes to my mind is shared behavioral norms.

05:19In IIM system particularly, we pride in this.

05:23That we have shared norms of behavior.

05:26We behave in a particular manner.

05:28The level of faculty-student interaction in IIM system is not that of the university.

05:33It is not that of even IITs.

05:35The interaction is very, very strong.

05:37And people interact quite frequently and even informally.

05:41This is a strength.

05:43This is a case in point of how we have shared behavioral norms.

05:48Where you can interrupt, you don't have to schedule a particular,

05:51you know, you stop people on the hallway and start having a discussion with them.

05:55These are shared behavioral norms.

05:56You may not be able to do this in various industries, in various settings.

06:00Finally, I think a shared skill set.

06:03That all of us must have something shared, which we possess.

06:06That is probably the best thing that comes to my mind is the case-based pedagogy.

06:11That's why IIM's pride in the case-based pedagogy.

06:14Because that's something we use predominantly in imparting education.

06:17And as well as our students appreciate that this particular pedagogy allows them to learn

06:24and also hone their decision-making skills on various business dilemmas,

06:29which are confronted or presented to them in a given context in the form of a case.

06:35With all of that, I thought I should first give you an example and then maybe come up with something.

06:41I was just thinking, you know, I had to come up with all of this material.

06:44I wasn't prepared.

06:45I thought, let me think about it.

06:48If I could give you the best example or the examples come from the military.

06:53I wrote a book many years ago on military leaderships and lessons for the businesses.

06:59There's so much we can learn from all of our organization, culture.

07:05It transcends boundaries.

07:07Think about this.

07:09Think about a regiment called Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry.

07:15Anybody from the military background care about father, mother, brother, sister, anybody in the army?

07:21Anybody?

07:22With a show of hands?

07:23Nobody?

07:24Which means defense people are not sending their kids to IIMs nowadays.

07:27Is there anybody at all?

07:30None?

07:31Anyhow, they must have all joined the defense forces then.

07:35Think about this.

07:36There is a regiment called Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry.

07:39I have some people calling the defense forces right in the first row.

07:43The troop composition, which means the soldiers predominantly, not predominantly, all of them are largely Muslim.

07:53All of them.

07:56But the officers can be anybody.

07:59The troops are drawn from a particular area.

08:04That's how the army works.

08:06But the officers are from any religion.

08:09So they will have a pastor, a priest, or so forth, who will then have a religious sermon.

08:20It's part of the traditions.

08:23An officer who is a non-Muslim will lead them.

08:27It can only happen in the defense services.

08:34In the…

08:35In…

08:36You know, I do not have a lot of knowledge about theology.

08:40But the…

08:41You know, the person who would be leading the prayer would be a non-Muslim.

08:46The prayer would be a non-Muslim.

08:49And it's a tradition which has been followed for…

08:52For 75, 70 years since our independence.

08:55So, KM is for?

08:57Keepers of tradition.

08:58Are you all there?

08:59We are going to keep our traditions?

09:01Yes.

09:02Yes?

09:03Yes.

09:04And you are all ambitious?

09:05Yes.

09:06Yes.

09:07You are all going to do better?

09:08Yes.

09:09You are all going to be thoughtful.

09:10Please be thoughtful.

09:11Honest?

09:12Yes.

09:13Yes.

09:14At least they will try.

09:15Yes.

09:16Yes.

09:17Organized?

09:18Yes.

09:19Well, you should be organized because that's something that I am pride in.

09:24And righteous.

09:25Always try to be fair.

09:27And I'm trying to say, be fair.

09:30So, I hope that we genuinely attempt to become cut holes.

09:36And I wish to congratulate all the students.

09:40The FPM students who have contributed in the research of this institution.

09:44The PGP students through their plethora of activities which they have undertaken.

09:49Our students of other programs who are now going to be contributing and taking ambassadors

09:54of our institutions and the industry.

09:57Faculty, they have been leading the charge in making IIM Rotak one of the best in India

10:05and amongst the best in Asia.

10:07And hopefully you are aspiring to the best in the world.

10:10And finally, the administrative staff of this institution and all the staff members

10:15who silently work behind the scenes to provide that facilitative environment so that all these

10:21transactions could take place.

10:23Ladies and gentlemen, I wish to congratulate all of you on this momentous day.

10:29And I wish you all the best and we can have some question and answer hereafter.

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