Business
New dean pledges to start new chapter at Sasin

PHUKET: THE NEW DEAN of the Sasin Graduate Institute of Business Administration, Dipak C Jain, wants to turn the institution into a top business school in Southeast Asia, one that is Asean-focused and driven by some of Thailand’s core strengths.
The highly respected educator caught the business school world by surprise when he announced on July 7 that he had been appointed the head of the Bangkok business school, which has failed to make the rankings as one of the world’s top business schools.
“It is my duty. This is a special place for me,” said Jain in an exclusive interview with The Nation at Sasin.
Jain has been teaching at Sasin as a visiting professor since 1989. He was personally invited by Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn to become dean when she was in Chicago last September.
Born in Assam, India, Jain served as dean of Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management in the US from 2001-09 and was dean of Insead, a top European business school, from 2011-13.
Illness led to his resignation at Insead, where he remains chaired professor of marketing.
Jain wants to turn Sasin into one of the best business schools in Asean by 2017, which means becoming a good source of talent for local and multinational companies operating in or looking to invest in the region.
The school must also be attractive to students from other Asean nations and regions. At present, up to 85 per cent of MBA students at Sasin are Thai.
“Let’s start the second chapter at Sasin. We must expand to reach more candidates from outside Bangkok and Thailand,” Jain said.
He said his challenge was to establish a clear “differentiation plan” for Sasin and to implement it successfully in the face of stiff competition in the business education market, the global economic situation and the “geopolitical mindset”.
Jain hopes that by focusing on Asean, Sasin can carve out a niche while leveraging Asean and Thailand’s key strengths in manufacturing, hospitality, healthcare and wellness, and social responsibility.
He also wants to set up a center of excellence for family businesses at Sasin and a center for innovations, in addition to the center for entrepreneurs that was recently established.
Jain said he would discuss with Philip Kotler, a world-famous marketing guru who is his former colleague at Kellogg, his aspiration to move the annual World Marketing Summit to Bangkok.
He said Sasin’s new Phuket campus, slated to open next year, could help the institute meet its goal of attracting more international students.
He would meet Somkid Jatusripitak, an economic adviser to the National Council for Peace and Order, and Thai corporate leaders this week to share his Sasin plan and get their reactions before presenting his final draft of the plan to the Sasin alumni on Sasin Day on September 15.
Jain has succeeded Toemsakdi Krishnamra, who founded Sasin and led the school of management for the past 32 years, becoming one of world’s longest-serving deans.
The National University of Singapore Business School and the Nanyang Business School in Singapore were the only Asean institutions included in the Financial Times’ top 50 business schools in the world in 2014.
Insead, which has a campus in Singapore, was ranked No 5.
— The Nation
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Business
Governments & old media versus social media – who will win? | VIDEO

We look at the recent changes made by the Australian and Indian governments to except control over the world’s biggest social media platforms. India has issued strict new rules for Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms just weeks after the Indian government attempted to pressure Twitter to take down social media accounts it deemed, well, anti social. There is now an open battle between the rise of social media platforms and the governments and ‘old’ media that have been able to maintain a certain level of control over the ‘message’ for the last century. Who will win?
The rules require any social media company to create three roles within India… a “compliance officer” who ensures they follow local laws; a “grievance officer” who addresses complaints from Indian social media users; and a “contact person” who can actually be contacted by lawyers and other aggrieved Indian parties… 24/7.
The democratisation of the news model, with social media as its catalyst, will continue to baffle traditional media and governments who used to enjoy a level of control over what stories get told. The battles of Google and Facebook, with the governments of India and Australia will be followed in plenty of other countries as well.
At the root of all discussions will be the difference between what governments THINK social media is all about and the reality about how quickly the media landscape has changed. You’ll get to read about it first, on a social media platform… probably on the screen you’re watching this news story right now.
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Business
The social media giants in battle with ‘old’ media and world governments | VIDEO

“The rules signal greater willingness by countries around the world to rein in big tech firms such as Google, Facebook and Twitter that the governments fear have become too powerful with little accountability.”
India has issued strict new rules for Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms just weeks after the Indian government attempted to pressure Twitter to take down social media accounts it deemed, well, anti social.
The rules require any social media company to create three roles within India… a “compliance officer” who ensures they follow local laws; a “grievance officer” who addresses complaints from Indian social media users; and a “contact person” who can actually be contacted by lawyers and other aggrieved Indian parties… 24/7.
The companies are also being made to publish a compliance report each month with details about how many complaints they’ve received and the action they took.
They’ll also be required to remove ‘some’ types of content including “full or partial nudity,” any “sexual act” or “impersonations including morphed images”
The democratisation of the news model, with social media as its catalyst, will continue to baffle traditional media and governments who used to enjoy a level of control over what stories get told.
The battles of Google and Facebook, with the governments of India and Australia will be followed in plenty of other countries as well.
At the root of all discussions will be the difference between what governments THINK social media is all about and the reality about how quickly the media landscape has changed. You’ll get to read about it first, on a social media platform… probably on the screen you’re watching this news story right now.
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Never miss out on future posts by following The Thaiger.
Business
Turbulence ahead for Thailand’s aviation industry | VIDEO

When the airlines, in particular, were asking the government to put their hands in their pockets for some relief funding in August last year, it was genuinely thought that international tourists would be coming back for the high season in December and January. At the very least local tourists and expats would head back to the skies over the traditional holiday break. And surely the Chinese would be back for Chinese New Year?
As we know now, none of that happened. A resurge in cases started just south of Bangkok on December 20 last year, just before Christmas, kicking off another round of restrictions, pretty much killing off any possibility of a high season ‘bump’ for the tourist industry. Airlines slashed flights from their schedule, and hotels, which had dusted off their reception desks for the surge of tourists, shut their doors again.
Domestically, the hotel business saw 6 million room nights in the government’s latest stimulus campaign fully redeemed. But the air ticket quota of 2 million seats still has over 1.3 million seats unused. Local tourists mostly skipped flights and opted for destinations within driving distance of their homes.
As for international tourism… well that still seems months or years away, even now.
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