Centre for Scientific & Innovative Research Studies, Lucknow-India has four Centres of Excellence aimed at fulfilling the gap of research, engagement and capacity building in the areas of Infrastructure, Financial Markets, Retail and Corporate Governance.
The retail sector is a vital contributor to the economic growth of a country and provides significant employment to the country’s workforce. The enterprises performing in this sector are required to develop an understanding of the activities that will streamline efficient distribution functions and the interaction with firms selling goods and services for their resale or use. Retailers have to plan, function and adapt to a complex and changing business environment. Both opportunities and constraints have to be considered for prioritizing investments, focusing on areas that need efficiency, reducing costs while preserving brand and shopping experience.
The Indian retail environment is considered favourable because of the growing economy, high saving and investment rates, labour force growth, significant population, perceptive middle class and increased consumer spending. Growth opportunities are evident as organized retail is predominant in urban cities and retailers contemplating early-mover advantage are focusing on smart cities. The issues in regulatory frameworks, like FDI in multi-brand retail, as well as improvements in backend infrastructure, development of an efficient supply chain network, availability of trained manpower and access to suitable real estate, are causes for concern and impact sectoral output.
The CRM focuses on addressing emerging needs in the retail sector, including:
The Centre provides solutions for implementing better industry practices through industry forums, annual conferences, executive workshops, development programmes, industry projects, education and research, featuring top management.
The Indian corporate governance policies have gone through various stages. In the early nineties Securities and Exchange Board of India was established with jurisdiction over corporate governance issues. Several committees were constituted to provide recommendations on corporate governance, namely the Bajaj Committee, the Birla Committee, the Murthy Committee and the Chandra Committee. The Birla Committee’s recommendations were adopted as Clause 49 of the listing agreement by SEBI, which along with other recommendations, led to increased role of independent directors and strengthening of the audit committee. However, in spite of all these mechanisms, it was not possible to prevent corporate governance failures that have wiped out shareholder value and thrust the future of a growing company into uncertainty. There is therefore an urgent need to understand the application and effective implementation of corporate governance mechanisms by the government, institutional investors and corporate managers to prevent corporate failures.
To serve the increasing requirement for training, research and consultancy in corporate governance, the CCG focuses on the following across various sectors:
The financial sector in an economy plays an important role in channelizing the resources into productive uses. A well organized, efficient, smoothly functioning financial system is an important component of a growing economy like India. The financial sector in the Indian economy has undergone significant transformation since the liberalization measures undertaken in the nineties. Financial sector reforms were aimed at enhancing efficiency and profitability, while maintaining stability in the financial sector.
There are several issues and concerns that have come up with the process of transformation in recent years. Regulation of financial institutions in banking and non-banking sectors, like mutual funds, insurance and non-bank finance companies, has become an important aspect for the smooth functioning of the sector. Introduction of new products like derivatives and other hedging instruments, and investments by Foreign Institutional Investors in the Indian stock market, have sparked many a debate. In other financial markets, like the money market and the foreign exchange market, too, there are several policy issues that need to be examined. This is because the sectors are closely linked with the macroeconomic environment and hence have some bearing on the conduct of monetary policy.
The CFMS focuses on training, research and consultancy in areas related to banking and financial sector, with emphasis on the following:
Asia led by China and India have been increasingly playing a leading role in the global economy. The increasing importance of Asia has created increasing importance of research around Asian management and policy and will create many partnership opportunities for governments, corporate and academia for common benefits. The centre for Asian Studies at IMI-Kolkata has been developed to take up original research on contemporary issues in Asia particularly with reference to East Asia, South Asia and South East Asia. The institute has collaborations with Sichuan Academy of Social Sciences and Sichuan University, China and North South University, Bangladesh and plans to nurture and create further collaborations in this region. Affiliated members of the centre have wide experience in studies in this region which have deep policy implications.
