ISB launches B2B marketing research centre

In the rapidly developing economy of India, businesses are swiftly coming up with new ways to keep their heads above the shoreline, and the Indian School of Business (ISB) plans to dive deep into market research. With the newly launched Centre for Business Markets (CBM), ISB hopes to bring forth the "best practices of B2B marketing".

Launched in collaboration with the Institute for Study of Business Markets (ISBM), this centre will aim to refine the practices already proven in developed markets, as well as work on practices in emerging markets. ISB is a not-for-profit organisation committed to creating young leaders with global perspectives on developing economies.

The inaugural event held on Saturday at the Hyderabad campus of ISB was themed around 'Contemporary Challenges in Business Markets for Companies Operating in Growth Economies'. Among the seven featured distinguished personalities from the industry were the Dean and Novartis Professor of Marketing Strategy and Innovation at ISB, Professor Rajendra Srivastava, the Director of the Centre for Marketing Excellence at Singapore Management University, Professor Srinivas Reddy, and Professor Sundar Bharadwaj from the University of Georgia, USA.

A panel discussion featuring six industry speakers from known firms including Tata Steel and Infosys was engaged in discussing emerging challenges in their respective industries. Prof. Rajendra Srivastava spoke on the challenges of companies in growing economies, "Practice defines the theory. As academicians, our job is to help industries graduate to the next best practices."

The discussion shed light on the vitality of connecting theory with real-world experiences. Prof. DVR Seshadri said during his valedictory speech, "B2B is pervasive. B2B marketing is a specialised area that needs rigorous academic study and corporate engagement to meet ground reality needs in growth markets." With growing agendas in company portfolios, fruitful research remains to be seen from the research centre.