Programme

PGPX

Term

V

Academic Year

2021-22

Course title

Business Relationship and Networks

Area

PGPX Area

Credits

0.75

Instructor(s)

Prof. Rajesh Pandit (VF), Prof. Suryanarayana Valluri (VF)

Course Description & Objectives

Introduction: Motivation for the course:  “Do as adversaries in law, strive mightily, but eat and drink as friends.” - William Shakespeare (1564 – 1616); English dramatist and poet “Nobody is a permanent friend, nobody is a permanent enemy. Everybody has his own self-interest. Once you recognize that, everybody would be better off" - DhirubhaiAmbani What truly explains business deals often being made on the golf course! More often than not, we buy from people we know or comfortable with. Answers to these questions have a huge influence in our ability to influence business outcomes.  With massive proliferation of globalization, goods, services and experts are seamlessly moving across borders. Resulting complex web of networks have increased the interdependencies between companies many fold. Strong services economies world over have resulted in increased customization needs from the customers. Customer needs and choices are changing at lightning speed. Competition is no longer restricted to the players in one‟s own turf. Threat of competition from disruptive innovation from another part of the world has become quite acceptable possibility today. Companies considered leaders in their segment for decades that had monopoly in the market place have gone out of business owing to competition from unanticipated corners.  Success of businesses, hence, is dependent on the proximity a service provider or supplier has been able to establish with the customers. Customer of today is demanding comprehensive solutions than a mere product. Shorter shelf life and associated financial implications have forced companies to limit their play to their core competencies and depend on an ecosystem comprising of other organizations to create the solution for the customer. Solutions are delivered by a network of companies arranged much in the fashion of assembly lines.  In this context, establishing business networks and managing relationships with different entities has become a necessity. Therefore, appreciation of business relationships and networks right from strategy formation stage to post sale service has become imperative for the very existence of organizations. Organizations can create competitive advantage by well crafted business networks and strong relationship focus.  Clearly, success of future strategists and business leaders will be determined by their ability to build and sustain a network of business relationships. This course hence tries to bring strong academic focus on this very important topic. The primary purpose of this elective is to enable participants to appreciate the importance of developing business networks, and help develop strategies to forge relationships that create sustainable competitive edge.  Objectives: To inculcate deep interest among participants in the importance of business networks and relationships in success of businesses, so as to enable them to pursue specialist career paths with good growth opportunities in this crucial field. To enable participants to develop specialist knowledge in the domain of establishing business networks and forging lasting relationships.  To equip participants with knowledge to make informed decisions on behalf of their companies, after taking into account the risks involved and the opportunities that are available. To assist the institute in becoming a destination for specialized skills that can attract companies with need for specialized skills.

Pedagogy

The case method will be the primary pedagogy