The workshop was organised by the Aditya Birla India Centre of the London Business School. One of the objectives of setting up the centre was to document management issues pertaining to successful businesses in India.

Echoing his words, Kumar Birla, chairman of the Aditya Birla group said ``When I studied at the London Business School, India was not discussed. It has changed today but there are several misconceptions, and there is need to increase awareness about Indian talents.''

The AV Birla India Centre is undertaking such activities that showcase India. The centre recently organised a seminar of Indian jointventures involving foreign partners. These seminars are closed door meetings, not open to the media, where the business community from India and the rest of the world, interact with academicians, students and professionals, Ghoshal added.

Ghoshal said: ``We at the centre are trying to develop an informal network of people related to India. It will be an intellectual hub that will orchestrate research in India. There is need to breakdown traditional boundaries in developing the network.''

Ghoshal added that European knowledge on management may not always be acceptable or appropriate in India. ``There is need to develop a research database on Indian management practices,'' he added.

Professors of management from different universities were in Calcutta during the week-end to vet the research proposals put in by doctoral students all over India, following which they would be eligible for funding by the Centre.

Elaborating on the role to be played by the AV Birla Centre, Ghoshal said ``We will put togetherthe people who will collaborate to do such work. We will also help to arrange access to databases of top companies for them.''

The centre aims to operate as a single point interface for Indian business, and frame research issues. ``A proper framework for initiating research stands to be more important than just a mere analysis and a standard methodology. The relevance for realistic applications is indispensable,'' added Ghoshal.

According to N Venkataraman, professor of management at the Boston University, ``The average quality of management in India happens to be quite poor benchmarking against international standards.''

It was pointed out by Venkataraman that while there are bright spots like Infosys in the Indian corporate scene, the rest of the spectrum presented a bleak picture. ``We want to stress that if Infosys or Reliance are strong in certain areas, others can emulate their practices,'' he said.

``The competitiveness of a nation is judged not by government policy, but rather by business andthe best that the government can do about it is to stay away,'' Ghoshal said