IIM Ranchi successfully concluded the three-day 10th Pan-IIM World Management Conference (WMC) 2025 on Saturday, November 29, 2025. The final day witnessed thought-provoking discussions led by distinguished academic leaders and policymakers. Conversations centered on themes such as the importance of management research, the role of happiness in leadership, and the contribution of IIMs in achieving the vision of Viksit Bharat. During the valedictory session, outstanding research papers across nine academic tracks were awarded, recognizing exceptional scholarly contributions.

In the valedictory session, Prof. Deepak Kumar Srivastava welcomed the dignitaries on the dais and noted the successful completion of the three-day conference. He highlighted the overwhelming response, with over 1,400 paper submissions, of which 950 research papers were selected. He acknowledged the tremendous efforts of all stakeholders and emphasized the importance of social impact, underscoring how management research contributes to creating meaningful societal value. He added that IIM Ranchi looks forward to fostering many more such initiatives in the future.

Hon’ble Shri Suresh Prabhu, Former Union Minister for Railways, Commerce & Industry, Civil Aviation, and Power graced the valedictory session as the Guest Speaker. He emphasized that IIMs must expand their impact beyond corporate spheres and become drivers of positive social change. He also highlighted that India’s growth must prioritize social development. He cautioned that while India is the 5th largest economy, its per capita income ranking (below 130) reflects a serious development gap. True progress requires building human and social capital, similar to successful models seen in China and other nations.

Targeting grassroots growth for national impact - Shri Prabhu proposed that focusing on just 3% growth in each of India’s 700 plus districts can significantly boost national GDP and improve citizen well-being. He also highlighted two critical areas for management intervention: Economic Inequality, where management expertise must be applied to bridge the gap between rising corporate valuations and insufficient job creation; and Climate Sensitization, where management tools should help local communities understand and act on climate-related issues. He emphasized that India’s livelihood crisis, exemplified by the need to provide free food to 80 crore citizens, demands urgent, mission-oriented research. He called upon IIMs to develop strategies that enable these citizens to become productively engaged human resources, ensuring balanced economic and social growth - starting with states like Jharkhand.

Director, IIM Ahmedabad, Prof. Bharat Bhasker highlighted Entrepreneurship and Non-Linear Growth as key. Delivering a powerful address, Prof. Bharat Bhasker emphasized that achieving India’s aspirational 32 trillion economy demands a mindset shift toward entrepreneurship and non-linear growth. He noted that India currently produces only 25,000 quality management graduates annually, which is insufficient to meet future economic demands. While foreign universities add value, the real transformation must focus on creating job creators, not just job seekers. In India, MSMEs contribute 45% to India’s exports and employ over 30 crore people, making them central to economic acceleration. With time, IIMs should nurture entrepreneurs capable of scaling India’s 7 crore MSMEs. Prof. Bhasker highlighted the impact of IIMA Ventures (formerly CIIE), which has contributed to 25% of India’s startup ecosystem, supported by dedicated funds such as the Bharat Innovation Fund. He cited success stories like IdeaForge (drones) and ClearSight (micro-satellites), which challenge global players by leveraging India’s innovation and cost advantage. He also spoke about IIM-A's increasing focus on deep-tech, agri-tech, and social impact ventures, including projects like the North East Growth Lab, which preserves and commercializes indigenous resources such as Assam’s traditional Juha rice.

Speaker Prof. Rajendra Srivastava, Novartis Professor of Marketing, Strategy & Innovation and Former Dean, ISB Hyderabad, delivered an insightful talk on “Accelerating Growth through Sustainable Business Innovation.” He explained that transforming business mindsets requires understanding how value shifts across the product-market lifecycle - spanning assembly, design, branding, services, and R&D. He stated that the 20th century focused on tangible assets - factories, land, buildings - but the 21st century emphasizes brands, customers, intellectual property, innovation, and organizational strategy. Businesses must continuously redefine and redesign innovation to maintain long-term value. And management institutions must promote a growth mindset, focusing on purposeful and transformative innovation.

During the valedictory session, dignitaries unveiled the Book of Abstracts of the 10th Pan-IIM WMC 2025. Outstanding research contributions were also recognized. Sidharth Sinha was awarded for the Best Offline Paper Presentation, while Prapti Aggarwal was named the Overall Winner for Best Online Paper Presentation. In the Poster Presentation category, Vikrant Singh was declared the Overall Winner. In addition, winners were announced across nine invited research domains: Economics: Varun Sharma; Finance & Accounting: Gokhilavani R, Dr. Lakshmi Subramani, and Amit Tripathy; ISBA: Sourya Jayee De; Responsible Business: Sidharth Sinha; Marketing: Sanskruti Deshpande; OBHR: Prapti Aggarwal; Quant & Operations: Arnab Adhikari; Strategy & Entrepreneurship: Sandeep Yadav; Interdisciplinary Studies: Apurva.

The successful organization of the conference was made possible through the dedicated efforts of Conference Chairpersons Prof. Manish Bansal, Prof. Subhro Sarkar, and Prof. Krishna Kumar Dadsena. In the closing session, Prof. Naliniprava Tripathy, Director (I/C) of IIM Shillong, announced that the 11th Pan-IIM World Management Conference 2026 will be hosted by IIM Shillong. She informed the audience that the conference is scheduled to be held in December 2026.