The document presents insights from an international webinar discussing the impact of COVID-19 on research in commerce and management, highlighting shifts towards localization, digitalization, and resilience in management practices. It emphasizes the changing landscape of research opportunities and methodologies amidst the pandemic, urging researchers to adapt and leverage digital technologies. The content concludes with a call for collaboration among stakeholders and a recognition that traditional research norms may evolve as a result of these changes.

1. SG Deshmukh, IITD
Dr S.G. Deshmukh
Indian Institute of Technology Delhi
International Webinar on
Emerging Trends in Research in field of Commerce and Management
5 Sep 2020
P.G. Department of Commerce Science College(Autonomous),
Hinjilicut (Odisha)
Post COVID-19 implications for
research and researchers

2. Teacher and philosopher …
• 1931 : British Knight Bachelor award
• 1936 : Spalding Professor of Eastern Religion and Ethics,
University of Oxford
• 1938: Elected Fellow of the British Academy
• 1954: Bharat Ratna
• 1954: Order Pour le Mérite for Arts and
Sciences(Germany)
• 1961: Peace Prize of the German Book Trade
• 1963: British Royal Order of Merit
• 1968: Sahitya Akademi fellowship
• 1975: Templeton Prize

3. Five sorts of experiences
• Cognitive Experience:
– Sense Experience
– Discursive Reasoning
– Intuitive Apprehension
• Psychic Experience
• Aesthetic Experience
• Ethical Experience
• Religious Experience
Importance of intuition !
S Radhakrishnan, An Idealist View of Life
https://www.amazon.in/Idealist-View-Life-S-Radhakrishnan/dp/8172238444

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Talking points
01 Covid & Its Impact
02 Various examples
03 Implications -Exploration – Healthcare supply chain
04 Implications for researchers
05 Concluding remarks

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01: Covid & its impact
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Covid-19 has set the
entire globe into
turbulence and chaos !
Management research
no exception

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Management research..
A form of a systematic enquiry that contribute to the knowledge in
the field of management
❑Research for managers
❑Research about management and organizations
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Imperatives due to new normal**
• Shift towards localization
• Massive digitalization
• Cash-is-king paradigm
• Move towards variable cost models
• Resilience and Agility
• New order for Governance
• Technology interventions
**Based on KPMG report
• Challenge: Study each of these
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Disruptions in research ?
Sn Imperative Implications
1 Shift towards localization Local focus, sustainability, micro financial issues
2 Massive digitalization New norms for conduct of online survey, documentation,
3 Cash-is-king paradigm Financial perspective, cost savings ?
4 Variable cost models Capex vs Opex
5 Resilience and Agility Lean, streamlined, Agile workforce , method of training, Recovery
6 New order governance Leadership, teamwork, motivation, virtual form
7 Technology interventions Networks with speed, augmented/virtual reality,

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02 : Various examples

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Case ...
Lal10
• Innovative -start up in marketing crafted products(Jute based,
sarees , etc.): Forbes 30 under 30 laurel
• Highly innovative ethnic products
• 1200+ artisans
• 6000+ livelihoods impacted
• 18 countries exported
• Huge skill base of artisans leveraged through innovative
supply chain solutions
• Example of “Atmanirbhar” (Self-reliant ) India
Lesson : Informal supply chain
10Sunday, 06 September 2020
http://www.lal10.com/

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Case ...
AMUL
– Quickly adapted to changing needs
– Purchased raw milk from non-members
– Accommodated changing preferences of consumers from loose milk
to packaged milk
– Kept the supply chain running to capacity
– Supply chain partners rewarded
– E-commerce sales almost doubled
– Renewed emphasis on “Most Trusted Indian Brand”
– Social responsibility visible
Lesson : Resilience and Agile
– https://m.economictimes.com/markets/expert-view/amuls-e-commerce-sales-have-more-than-doubled-
during-lockdown-rs-sodhi/amp_articleshow/76197532.cms
11Sunday, 06 September 2020

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Case ..
Dharavi Model
• Dharavi, the largest slum in Asia, spread across
2.5 square km and has a population of around
6.5 lakh
• Population density of 2.27 lakh/Sqm
• Maze of tiny, tightly-packed tenements,
commercial spaces, narrow alleys and common
washrooms.
• 15,000 single-room factories
• A hub for SMEs - leather, pottery, textile etc.
• 5,000 GST-registered enterprises.
• A hub of international exports with an annual
turnover of $1 billion.
https://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-who-lauds-dharavi-model-s-success-in-
breaking-covid-19-transmission-chain-2831787

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Three C’s ?
Context Culture Connect

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Research opportunities..
• Identify the context
• Identify the critical factors
• Look for similar examples elsewhere and relate
• Understand the cultural undertones
• Document and prepare case
• Relate with theoretical concepts/frameworks/models
• Remember : Context and culture !

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03 : Implications
Exploration – Healthcare systems

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Health Care in India
• India has 48 doctors per 100,000 persons which is fewer
than in developed nations
• Wide urban-rural gap in the availability of medical services:
Inequity
• Poor facilities even in large Government institutions
compared to corporate hospitals (Lack of funds, poor
management, political and bureaucratic reasons etc.)

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Typical issues
• Role of government
• Role of private players
• Role of regulatory bodies
• Role of technology
• Role of healthcare workers
• Incentivization for various stakeholders

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Take away from Covid-19
• Covid-19 is like ‘Plastic deformation”
• Not going back to original state !!
• Disruptions are going to be normal !
– Disruptions on account of serval reasons (Pandemic is one of them !)
– How do we secure ourselves against these disruptions?
– Agile, Adaptable, Resilient
– Essential solution could be local

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04: Implications for researchers

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Attributes of management researcher..
• Inquisitiveness
• Empathy/Compassion
• Flexibility/Adaptability
• Innovativeness
• Enterprise
• Ability to sustain with limited resources
• Ability to share with community
• Articulate world view
https://www.basicknowledge101.com/subjects/educationquotes.html
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Upgrade the skill set
Be comfortable in
using digital
technology in creating
content
1
Understand ,
appreciate and
connect with the
situation
2
Understand
implications of
resilience, adaptability,
flexibility etc.
3

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Indicative tool set
• Environmental scanning (SWOT/PEST/SAP-LAP etc.)
• Interpretive Structural Modelling
• Structural Equation Modelling
• System Dynamics
• Regression Analysis
• Machine learning based models
• Multi-attribute/utility decision making models
• Simulation

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What we must do..
• Observe the environment
• Study and take notes
• Document evidences
• Explore online resources
• Understand and appreciate human psyche
• Scan local issues and connect it with global
• Look through the lenses of a researcher !!
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Connecting with COVID-19
• Identify & leverage your strengths
• Dovetail your research philosophy with COVID-19
• Use appropriate digital technology
• Share & collaborate …
• Internalize research (one must absorb deeply into the process so that the topic
becomes part of his genetic code or DNA )
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Researcher Development Framework *
Engagement, influence and impact
D1 Working with Others
• 1. Collegiality
• 2. Team working
• 3. People management
• 4. Supervision
• 5. Mentoring
• 6. Influence and leadership
• 7. Collaboration
• 8. Equality and diversity
D2 Communication and Dissemination
• 1. Communication methods
• 2. Communication media
• 3. Publication
https://www.vitae.ac.uk/researchers-professional-development/about-the-vitae-researcher-development-framework
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D3 Engagement and Impact
• 1. Teaching
• 2. Public engagement
• 3. Enterprise
• 4. Policy
• 5. Society and culture
• 6. Global citizenship

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Various attributes of researchers
• The Informed Researcher
• The Balanced Researcher
• The Leading Researcher
• The Engaging Researcher
• The Creative Researcher
• The Enterprising Researcher
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Take away from this session ?
• Post Covid world is likely to be different for both research &
researchers
• Remember role of 3Cs- Context, Culture and Connect
• Digital everywhere
• Research agenda is going to alter !

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Concluding remarks ..
 Huge opportunity
 Active collaboration between various stakeholders .
 Traditional concepts of research will become irrelevant
 Covid-19 has provided an opportunity to look at the localized solutions
in a different way- Huge scope for management researchers !
 New set of metrics will evolve to judge efficacy of research
 New domain to emerge where design of SC will be dictated by public
health care systems !
28Sunday, 06 September 2020

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Resources
• http://www.oecd.org/coronavirus/policy-responses/food-supply-chains-
and-covid-19-impacts-and-policy-lessons-71b57aea/
• http://www.fao.org/2019-ncov/q-and-a/impact-on-food-and-agriculture/en/
• https://www.sipri.org/commentary/topical-backgrounder/2020/impact-
covid-19-critical-global-food-supply-chains-and-food-security Good map
Deshmukh SG & Haleem Abid, 2020, Framework for Manufacturing in
Post-COVID-19 World Order: An Indian Perspective, Int J of Global
Business & Competitiveness, June 2020
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s42943-020-00009-1
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Thank you !
deshmukh.sg@gmail.com