Meet Dr Somdutta Singh, the first Indian woman on Kotler Impact's board

Dr Somdutta Singh is now on the Kotler Impact's Board of Advisors under the Kotler Impact program. As per Dr Som, the said program is designed to provide an opportunity for talented people by giving them more access through in-depth management education, one with a curriculum that is globally accepted.

Kotler Impact runs the 'Kotler Business Program' which is already running at many institutions worldwide. Dr Som believes the program and the Kotler Business School can reach out to the youth and those who don't have access to extremely competitive premier all state institutions in India.

With this elevation, her responsibility will involve giving shape and implementing the Kotler Business School and Kotler Business Program as well as heading the World Marketing Summit and Kotler Awards in India, the US among other territories.

A rebel with a cause

Speaking to the International Business Times India, Dr Som, who was formerly the Vice-Chairperson of NASSCOM Product Council, said that she had always been a 'rebel with a cause' from the time she chose to challenge traditional roles for women and decided to pursue her own business ventures.

Hailing from a "typical" Bengali Brahmin family in Kolkata, Dr Som said she wanted to pursue economics from the beginning itself. "I come from a family of doctors and while the path was already chosen for me, between becoming a doctor or engineer, I decided against my father's wishes and pursued economics instead." She explained how her interest in economics and business stemmed from observing Marwari businesses thriving in the city.

Women have double the power

Responding to the lack of female representation in senior positions acting as deterrence for those who aspire to lead, Dr Som said, "Women already come with two x-chromosomes and men have one, which means we have double the power to do anything more than a man."

Out of 1,814 senior leadership positions of National Stock Exchange (NSE) listed companies, only 67 companies or 3.69 per-cent had women in top positions -NSE Infobase.

She recalled the time when she decided to campaign for the Vice-Chairperson position at NASSCOM. "It was the first time a woman campaigned for the position and I was discouraged not to contest. But I decided to give my 100 per-cent and after campaigning and standing up to myself, I eventually won," she said.

The Kotler Business School

Dr Som also stated that part of the issue lies in the lack of formal education systems and not having enough jobs to capture the potential of India's youth.

"There are not enough Indian Institute of Management (IIMs) and Indian Institute of Technology (IITs) to capture the talent of India," adding that having graduated from it is not "determinant of anybody's ability to become a great management guru."

Dr Som was most excited about her plans for further promoting the Kotler Business School. She said, "It is kind of like having an Ivy-league standard of business schools all over the world. Having a globally standardized curriculum also encourages students to get exposure by allowing them to continue their semesters in other countries. Which means that if students finish one semester in India, the can study another semester in Tokyo and the third in Singapore depending on whichever subject they choose."