Two SOM Conferences to Explore Emerging Opportunities in India and China

New Haven, Conn., March 30, 2009—Leading entrepreneurs, business leaders, policymakers, and academics will gather at the Yale School of Management (SOM) this week to participate in events devoted to emerging business opportunities in India and China.

The 2009 Yale School of Management India Conference, titled “India: Seeking Opportunities in Crisis,” will take place on April 3. The conference, sponsored by the Yale SOM South Asian Business Forum, will take stock of the impact of the global financial crisis on India’s economy and focus on opportunities and challenges faced by foreign investors.

Rakesh Mohan, deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India and co-chair of the G-20 working group to enhance financial regulation and transparency, will present the keynote address. Panelists include: Jishnu Bhattacharjee, vice president, Nexus India Capital; Ron Somers, president, U.S.-India Business Council; Thomas C. Barry, founder, Zephyr Capital; Ashok Vasudevan, CEO, Preferred Brands International; David P. Good, chief representative, North American Tata Sons, Ltd.; and Norman Prouty, senior advisor, Groton Partners.

The first annual China India Consumer Insights Conference will take place April 3-4. The event is hosted by the Yale Center for Customer Insights, Yale SOM’s research center that seeks to understand customer behavior and marketplace dynamics. This interdisciplinary conference is part of the center’s China India Consumer Insights Program, a new initiative that examines the changing patterns of consumer spending and investing as these emerging markets grow and bring about economic, social, and cultural change.

The latest research on the unique challenges global brands face in reaching consumers in China and India will be presented. Conference sessions will focus on issues surrounding consumer demand, consumer finance, and socio-cultural issues. Topics to be addressed include socio-economic changes and their affect on the retail sector; factors that affect durable goods purchases; brand preferences of young consumers; media influence on consumption; and cultural differences in price perceptions, traditions, regional tastes, and social networks that affect consumer behavior.

Adil Zainulbhai, managing director - India, McKinsey & Company and Deepak Advani, vice president of Information Management Software, IBM, will deliver conference keynotes. Presenters and panelists include Rajesh Shukla, chief statistician, National Council of Applied Economic Research, India; Rama Bijapurkar, marketing strategy consultant and author of Winning in the Indian Market; Eric Roth, principal, McKinsey & Company; Victor Yuan, CEO, Horizon Research Consultancy Group; Martin Ma, consultant, Boston Consulting Group; as well as scholars from Yale, Harvard Business School, the Wharton School, China Europe International Business School, Australian School of Business, and others.

The conference is sponsored in part by Warburg Pincus LLC, the South Asian Studies Council at Yale, and the Marketing Science Institute. In subsequent years, the conference will rotate among locations in the U.S., China, and India.

The mission of the Yale School of Management is to educate leaders for business and society. Founded in 1974, it is the youngest of Yale University’s professional schools. The school offers a two-year full-time MBA degree, an MBA for Executives program tailored for health care professionals, a Ph.D. program, and executive education programs. In the 2006, the school launched its innovative, integrated MBA curriculum.