NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Monday, April 4, 2011

Delhi, India – The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Ross School of Business signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in Delhi April 1 confirming their intent to collaborate as strategic partners. The MOU will bring together two very unique efforts. It will support CII’s India@75 initiative and the Ross School’s C.K. Prahalad Initiative. The MOU was signed by Robert J. Dolan, dean of the Ross School, and Chandrajit Banerjee, director general of CII.

The two organizations will collaborate in planning, facilitating, and implementing experiential learning projects on which Ross students and Ross faculty will work with CII member institutions and strategic partners to advance both the objectives of India@75 and the Ross School’s academic and educational aims.

“CII is looking forward to this partnership,” said CII’s Banerjee. “C.K. Prahalad inspired the India@75 agenda, which CII took across the country to a large cross-section of society, even reaching out to those beyond business. The result was an agenda that represented universal aspirations of Indians from all walks of life and how they saw their nation in the year 2022, when India completes 75 years of independence.

“Today India@75 is truly a ’people’s agenda,’” he continued. “The partnership with the business school and the university where Professor Prahalad made his academic home for so many years is therefore very special. We think the Ross School’s C.K. Prahalad Initiative’s interest in identifying and understanding next practices aligns well with the desires and needs of the agenda of India@75.”

Dean Dolan noted the agreement also would provide new opportunities to strengthen the already robust relationship Ross enjoys with India.

“We have graduated many outstanding Indian students,” Dolan said. “We also have sent many students and faculty to work on field projects for outstanding Indian organizations. In addition, we have provided executive education to a number of Indian companies.

“Over the years, we have become acutely aware that relationships work best when the flow of knowledge and ideas is reciprocal,” he continued. “That has certainly been the case with our experience in India. So we are extremely pleased to develop this natural affinity between our own C.K. Prahalad Initiative and India@75. We think it is a great foundation from which to advance a global understanding of how innovative next practices can shape the relationship between business and society in many parts of the world.”