Fostering an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem for Carving Future Leaders – Dr. Urvashi Makkar

Economic development of a nation is synonymous with an upward change wherein the per capita income of the country gradually increases with the passage of time. However, technical progress alone is not sufficient to bring about economic development, unless technological breakthroughs are utilized creatively by entrepreneurs – the catalysts in the essential journey of industrialization and economic growth who actually explore the country’s available resources to their full potential.

If one analyzes the economic history of some of the presently developed countries such as the United States of America, Japan and Germany, it unveils a cause – effect relationship between entrepreneurship and economic progress. Research indicates a strong correlation between the quality and quantity of entrepreneurial ventures in a country and its economic development. As reported in The Financial Time, countries across the globe have reported a boom in startups against the backdrop of the recent pandemic, a surge partially attributed to the massive layoffs and uncertainty therein.

There is a tremendous shift in the requirements for a formal sector job, and entrepreneurship, which brings with it critical thinking, creativity, initiative and a sense of purpose is the burning need of the hour for equipping the budding professionals of today to confidently sail through the hyper volatile and competitive work environment of tomorrow. Entrepreneurs are the engines that energize a country towards economic growth. Nearly 60% Indians possess strong entrepreneurial qualities like business-mindedness, persistence, creativity, risk taking spirit and optimism. Despite this, data indicates that very few start new businesses, some of the reasons for which include bureaucratic potholes, right type of funding, poor infrastructure, personal risks, and cultural barriers.

In many ways, the New Education Policy 2020 is an endeavor to encourage and inculcate the spirit of innovation, and to a great extent, entrepreneurship.  It has been lauded by academicians and corporate alike as an instrument that is going to put the existing Indian education system at par with the advancing world. Having a strong focus on making the students to not only learn but rather, more importantly, ‘learn how to learn’, the policy also talks about pivoting education towards inculcating critical thinking, problem-solving, creativity in the learners while simultaneously guiding them on how to be multidisciplinary, and how to innovate, adapt, and absorb novel perspectives in the dynamic and changing domains.

However, the crucial aspect of entrepreneurship must not be discussed in silos. On the contrary, it must be discussed in terms of the entrepreneurial ecosystem nurtured at home along with the stimulus given by the society and country at large. The role of educational institutions in entrepreneurship development cannot be neglected as these are the breeding pools for the entrepreneurs. In India, the awareness about entrepreneurship is still in its nascent stage and students still prefer to seek employment rather than starting their own venture. This is because our education system is designed such that it kills creativity and innovation.

At IMS Ghaziabad, the focus of the legacy of 33 years has always been to equip the young minds with the skills of the 21st-century imperative to successfully navigate the tough challenges of the current business environment. Multiple support systems are available in the institute for enabling the students to carry forward their unique entrepreneurial ideas. An array of innovative initiatives is in full swing to foster the culture of innovation. One such initiative is the Center of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) which is envisioned with the belief that entrepreneurship can unleash the prospective inventive potential of India. With this belief, IMS Ghaziabad targets to help in the development of India’s entrepreneurial ecosystem by enabling easy and efficient interaction between its major components spanning students, working professionals, aspiring and existing entrepreneurs, mentors, angel investors, venture capital firms and corporate through interactive sessions, competitions, conferences etc. Having representation from students, faculty and experts, the mission of CIE at IMS Ghaziabad is to promote, sustain and practice the spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation among individuals by providing them a platform to convert their ideas into successful business. An incubation center to help budding entrepreneurs work on their startups for developing into scalable, profitable and sustainable business is in the pipeline.

IMS Ghaziabad recently organized a unique Expert Talk on “Ethical Entrepreneurship” by Diamond king of India, Shri Govind Dholakia, which was instrumental in fostering entrepreneurial competencies along with a spirit of cooperation, innovation, collaboration and perseverance amongst the budding entrepreneurs of the institute. Corporate Development and Excellence Center (CDEC) is the flagship training and consulting vertical of IMS Ghaziabad with an intent to provide world-class training and consulting services to the organizations by providing bespoke offerings. We have recently kick-started ‘Peer to Peer Mentoring’ sessions in collaboration with a reputed institute of Delhi University wherein students of IMS Ghaziabad have been coaching their fellow learners. The cumulative wisdom thus generated has given a further boost to creativity and learning for students of both the participating institutes.

At IMS Ghaziabad, numerous opportunities are provided to the students for advancing their skills in business development, competitive analysis and sustainability. A series of Expert Talks, Seminars, Panel Discussions, Workshops, Surveys and Research activities are regularly organized to provide a holistic platform for interacting and networking with entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and other experts from the corporate world, thus acquiring capabilities in the process of developing creative products and services.

There is a great need for higher educational institutions to move away from conventional memory-based learning to a system that is more focused to nurture creativity and innovation. For policy makers, fostering a favorable entrepreneurial ecosystem is a burning need of the hour for accelerating the nation on the road for economic progress.