Babson Connect, the annual Babson Collaborative Summit was held in Bangkok, Thailand from 23rd to 26thMarch, 2017. Dr. Rajkumar Phatate, Associate Professor, Entrepreneurship, at FLAME University attended this event.
Dr. Kerry Healey, President of Babson College, gave the welcome address. She introduced the Babson Collaborative as an initiative that brings together all colleges and universities seeking to increase capabilities and capacities for imparting entrepreneurship education. The Babson Collaborative aims to share Babson College’s years of knowledge, insights and expertise in entrepreneurship education with other members and expects fellow members to do the same.
Her address was followed by Heidi Neck, Faculty Director and Professor of Entrepreneurship at Babson College. This session addressed challenges member institutions face and how to address them by creating collaborative opportunities in teaching and research through webinars and conferences. How to increase student participation was also deliberated. The session concluded with a discussion on design thinking and its advantages as a tool to drive innovation and inculcate entrepreneurial skills.
After the formal sessions, the member participants spent the first day visiting Bangkok University (Rangsit campus), two manufacturing plants of Osotspa Co. Ltd. and lastly Ayuthaya, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The following two days were dedicated to one on one discussions with Mr. Tom Simon, Managing Director and Business Development Director of the Babson Collaborative, to understand how to enhance the collaborative activities between member institutes. Additionally, multiple presentations were made with panel discussions. Some of them included, Mendiola, CEO, Florida Ice and Farm Company on, ‘Triple Bottom Line’; and Roshni NadarMalhotra, CEO, HCL Corporation and Trustee, Shiv Nadar Foundation on, ‘Global Women and Entrepreneurship Conversation’.
It was a great opportunity for FLAME University to network and interact with representatives from various global entrepreneurship educators.