Targeted at the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and with the intent of ending the cycle of poverty in developing economies, The Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) on Thursday said it is keen on setting up The Stanford Institute for Innovation in Developing Economies (Stanford Seed) initiative in India.
“In the next 12 months Stanford wants to have a Seed centre in South or South-East Asia and India is one the countries under consideration. India is attractive to us because of our existing programme in Bangalore in partnership with Infosys. We know we can do it in India and also believe there is a need here given the enormous number of SMEs that have great potential in the country,” said Stanford GSB, Dean, Garth Saloner.
The Business School already runs the 11-week certificate program called Ignite for innovators and entrepreneurial thinkers.
One of the drivers of poverty alleviation is through the growth of an enterprise and Seed aims to provide private intervention to speed up the process. “We decided to focus on Small and Medium size businesses who have the potential to scale and help them grow, generate employment and become the engines of growth for the community,” said Saloner.
Saloner, who is on a five day trip to India, says he is very encouraged after his meetings with very significant business leaders who have expressed the enthusiasm and willingness to help.
“I admire that you have this group of very successful business leaders who are committed to India and using their success to help the standards of living up for everybody. This for me is on its own is a reason to come to India and I go back with positive feelings,” said Saloner.
Seed’s regional center in West Africa was launched in 2013 with an initial cohort of 36 executives representing 29 companies from Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, and Sierra Leone. In May, Stanford will open a center in Nairobi, which will serve East African markets like Namibia, Rwanda, Uganda among others.
The Seed Transformation Program (STP) looks to create an impact through leadership training, general management sessions, networking, and coaching for founders/senior leaders of existing enterprises.
Saloner says the programme is very important for Stanford as it introduces students and the faculty to the challenges and opportunities of doing business in developing economies. “Given that 44 % of my students are international, we need a curriculum that is global,” said Saloner.
Source: The Economic Times
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