CIB Pune Chapter
Inaugural Meeting Report
January 31, 2014
Venue: Tata Management Training Centre, Pune
When Caux Initiatives for Business (CIB) scheduled its first Pune City Chapter Meeting, the expectations were that the meeting would be low-key. However the inaugural meeting of the Pune Chapter on January 31, 2014 went beyond expectations. Set in the beautiful, idyllic campus of Tata Management Training Centre in Pune – a setting that seems far removed from the hustle and bustle of a busy city – a meeting was organized by the CIB team in Pune to describe the purpose and work of CIB and invite like-minded persons from the Pune community, more particularly from business and industry, to join hands in promoting that it is possible to do business ethically and still remain competitive.
The classroom named “Takshashila” – a name from one of the earliest universities of the world – was filled to its maximum capacity of 50 persons. The composition of the gathering ranged from mostly heads of small and large business companies, a few persons from training organizations and young management students.
T. P. Mukherjee, the Convener of CIB’s Pune City Chapter, after welcoming the distinguished participants showed a short presentation that explained what CIB and its activities were. Sarosh Ghandy, the Director of CIB, elaborated further why it was
necessary to come together to join hands in making business ethical and sustainable. Introducing Kishor Chaukar, the former MD, Tata Industries Ltd., Sarosh invited him to deliver the key-note address.
Mr. Chaukar’s speech was brief but to the point. He shared that it was necessary to bring about a change in our mindset while doing business. This, more so now because the consumer and the community has become more aware and conscious than ever before and that other stakeholders including the environment were not in a position to be taken for granted as in times past. He recounted from his past experience at Tatas how a citizen while keenly welcoming the idea of large investment for business in her city, suddenly withdrew when she heard that the investment could be for a thermal plant to provide power supply for the region. The high level of awareness amongst people in this hyper- connected world of ours, and their activism in taking a stand to protect their intere sts’ calls for more conversations in building a common ground, he said.