harsh shrivastava's chass presentation on september 25,2012

May 1, 2023The Human Dimension: Inaugural CHASS Forum

1

PRESENTATION TO“THE HUMAN DIMENSION”

BYHARSH SHRIVASTAVAWEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2012

People AND Profits?How can HASS Help?


2

After lunch blues? A FANTHASSTIC session!

Finding A New Track for Humanities Arts Social Sciences To achieve International Cooperation


3

Profit: the one, true path!

Business drives everything.Government also supports business

Productivity Commission AusTrade offices COAG debates

Academic support: B-schools and law schools

Science seems to be also subordinated to this goal Medicine, chemistry, biology


4

HASS: Harry Potter before Hogwarts

Unbalanced: HASSUnfunded.So far: unconcerned.

Although the presence of the Minister AND the Shadow Minister is good.

Seemingly unlinked from the daily concerns of the Footy fans or Herald Sun readers. The Wizards of HASS vs. the Muggles of Money


5

Further behind in other countries

India 350,000 MBAs; far fewer historians, anthroplogists, social

scientists. Students give these up for “safer” government jobs. Cambridge HASS conference in India: First session Delhi’s new HASS university

Singapore and HK: all business, all the time Qatar, by emphasizing the A of HASS is different.

Latin America: literature, but what else?Africa: anthropology …

Is HASS a luxury, only for the rich (34 OECD countries)?


6

But other countries are bigger, faster

34 OECD countries have a 2010 population of 1.25 billion and GNP of 42 trillion USD

BRIICS alone have a population of close to 3 billion and a GNP of 18 trillion USD.

More importantly, these countries are growing much faster. (2010 OECD, 3.8; China 10.4, India 8.4, Indonesia 6.1)


7

Yet businesses struggle in these countries

It is difficult to do business in: Africa Brazil China India Indonesia Russia

… is the common complaint of all CEOs!

Q: What are MNCs missing in these markets …


8

People: the missing link

A: The Human Dimension

Consumers are people first ... As they get richer, their complex human dimensions are increasingly important.

To paraphrase Thomas Friedman …I might buy your Lexus, but first you’d better understand my olive tree!


9

One Lexus, but many olive trees

What was the history of this olive tree? Of other olive trees? Of other olive groves?

How does the olive tree define my life? In plays, poetry, and prose?

What did women have to do with this olive tree? Or immigrants?

Will my kids’ “Olive App” for their tablets, be enough to explain this tree’s importance?


10

Need ALL the HASS to sell more

Markets are big, but they are also diverse. Income is no longer the only criteria. People consume products or services for different

reasons.All the disciplines

have a business angle.

Cellphones are a good example


11

iPhone 5 vs. Galaxy S3

After all the patent wars are over, these two iconic phones still need to be sold—round the world to people who already own a phone.

Apple and Samsung are not selling them only on their tech specs, but on many other “human” criteria. Many of the HASS disciplines used as inputs in the

design and the promotion of these phones and cloud services.

Galaxy S3: “Designed for Humans” …… as if they knew about “The Human Dimension”!Nokia, Blackberry: engineering, business doesn’t sell.


12

The HASS Imperative for Australia Inc. #1

It’s not only minerals that you export, but also movies, museums, marketing services, apart from motorcars and manufactured widgets.

High-end services like consulting (2.8 bn), architecture, tourism, and even education (15 bn) need a more holistic and far deeper understanding of your foreign customers and potential customers.

Your competition is already doing this: Hollywood, Hyundai, and Huawei


13


Understanding foreigners is good; understanding your fellow citizens who have come from across the globe to become Australians is better. Sandridge Bridge in Melbourne is a great example of

how HASS can help bring the world to our workday lives.

Understanding the cultures, crafts, cuisines, cities of these 128 (and counting) countries is a good way to sell to an increasingly affluent middle-class. Westpac’s win in the Indian immigrants’ market

depends on how it uses HASS; else it will leave this big demographic to our ICICI Bank.


14


Marketing departments need to work with HASS to sell more.

But HR departments also need to “deploy” HASS to get the most out of their multi-cultural workplaces. Eg. Speakers at this conference; the staff of CHASS.

If we don’t understand where we’re coming from (historically, culturally, geographically), how can we walk together to reach our organization’s goals. And individual goals too! http://wadhwa.com/2012/05/17/washington-post-why-

silicon-valley-needs-humanities-students/


15


Business usually reacts to government and policies

Business lobbying to government is linked to economics, but politics, often trumps economics. Politics is shaped by humans and our concerns.

If business worked with the HASS communities, it can help shape the government’s agenda. Mining is a good example of how “whining”

doesn’t work.


16


The world is changing at a faster rate—is a truism.

But individuals and the collective society and nations and the globe are also changing.

HASS can help make sense of this accelerating change—and point to the future. Will the Arab Spring mean new markets—for

what? How will rising nationalism in China play out—

and what will this mean for Korea and Japan What will multiculturalism look like five years

hence?


17


Super funds and insurance funds are big (nearly $2 trillion).

They are looking for stable, long-term investments.Economic forecasting is not enough to get the best

returns.HASS disciplines can help better predict Australia and

the world’s future. Will China be a democracy in fifteen years? How will Australians react if the mining moolah ends? Is gay marriage foreseeable? What’s the business

impact?


18

Startups: HASS more valuable than MBA

Previous five slides—big companies.HASS can help startupMost are in urban services

Widgets are all from ChinaRestaurants—what do people like to eat (culture).Hardrock—new gym driven by adventure (TV)Festivals—understand human curiosity

Floriade in Canberra Mural festival of Sheffield, Tasmania


19

People AND Policies: How HASS can help

Rising prosperity is making more people concerned about their culture; making it more difficult to sell anything more than just “stuff”.

Similarly, rising democracy (including information) is making it more easy for people to resist policies that may be economically correct, but don’t appeal to their human concerns.

In both cases, HASS can help


20

HASS for international cooperation

Australia’s HASS system can help promote Australia’s soft power in three ways.Help other countries replicate the institutional

structure: CHASS Philippines; CHASS Vietnam; CHASS Iraq

Make AusAID more effective.Australia can host many cross-country HASS

dialogues—involving its immigrants. India and Pakistan; Thailand and Cambodia; Israel and Palestine?


21

Wizards WITH Muggles: HASS and the All Ords

Next year’s conference: Delegates from the 25/500 companies that

comprise the Sydney All Ordinaries Index. 3/38 speakers from companies. Sessions on the “What” and the “How” of how

HASS can work more with business (and not the other way around).

Learn from the relative success of the Arts.

HASS


22

[email protected]

Questions?

harsh shrivastava's chass presentation on september 25,2012

Documents