Government, Society,

and Business

BITSoM
2 Year Flagship MBA Program

A.K. Shiva Kumar, PhD

Course Objectives:
Main Objectives:
1) An informed assessment of India’s progress including features of Indian society that are holding the
country back
2) A better understanding of how to measure and judge progress in society
3) An appreciation of the role of the private sector, CSOs and the state in advancing well-being

Two related objectives:

o Familiarize students with key ideas and seminal contributions of important thinkers
o Familiarize students with social development indicators, definitions, and data sources – both global and
national

Sessions will offer an introduction to challenges facing governments, society, and businesses

It will offer a framework for policy analysis and practical insights into design of social policies and programs
About the Course:

The 10 sessions are divided into three modules:

• Module 1: Context setting
• 3 sessions
• Module 2: Understanding Indian society
• 4 sessions
• Module 3: The Role of Samaj-Sarkar-Bazaar
• 3 sessions
 Assessment criteria:

Class Participation: 10 points

One Group presentation: 40 points
One Quiz: 30 points
One short writeup 20 points
 ➢ One group presentation
(40 points):
o Topics have been assigned and dates announced.

➢ In-class Group presentation:

o Should not exceed 30 minutes with a maximum of 20
slides

About the ➢ QandA session at the end of every presentation:

o 10-12 minutes
Group
Presentations ➢ Group written assignment:
o Groups are expected to submit a written note of
maximum 2-pages to supplement the oral
presentation

Creativity, crispness and ending on time will be rewarded.

The PowerPoint presentation and the written note should be

submitted before midnight of the day of the presentation.
 One Quiz (30 points): A 30-minute MCQ quiz
based on:
(i) the required readings for the sessions, and
(ii) the group presentations made in the class.

One Quiz
(30 points) This will be held in-class on February 3, 2024.
Module 1: Context Setting
Date Topic Group Presentations

January 21, 2024 The world we live in None

(Sunday)

January 22, 2024 Assessing well-being None

(Monday)

January 23, 2024 Human deprivations in A1/B1: Bhutan’s Gross Happiness

(Tuesday) India Index

A2/B2: Financial inclusion of women

and disadvantaged communities in
India
Module 2: Understanding Indian society
Date Topic Group Presentations Date

4 January 24, The Population Question A3/B3: The population explosion?

2024
(Wednesday) A4/B4: India’s demographic advantage
5 January 25, Who cares about health? A5/B5: An assessment of India's Healthcare system
2024 (Thursday)
A6/B6: PMJAY and health insurance schemes
January 26, 2024 – Republic Day holiday
6 January 27, Basic Education: A7/B7: State of school education in India
2024 (Saturday) Where is India heading?
A8/B8: Education and youth unemployment in India
7 January 28, The position of women in A9/B9: Women's work participation rates in India
2024 (Sunday) India
A10/B10: Empowerment of Indian women
Module 3: The Role of the State, Society and Markets

Date Topic Group Presentations Date

8 January 29, 2024 The role of CSR A11/B11: Social Responsibility of Business
(Monday)
A12/B12: State of Indian Philanthropy

9 February 2, 2023 The role of CSOs A13/B13: CSOs in India

(Friday)

10 February 3, 2023 Role of the Welfare State None

(Saturday)
Key Questions for the Group Presentations + References:
Group Topic Key Questions
Session 3: Bhutan’s Gross o What is the significance of
A1/B1: Happiness Index human happiness? How,
according to Kahneman, does
it differ from satisfaction?
o What are the strengths and
limitations of measuring
happiness? Is constructing
and using an index of
happiness useful for tracking
progress in society?
o How does Bhutan measure
happiness? Discuss Bhutan’s
GNH
o What are some critical
comments you would like to
make on Bhutan’s Happiness
Index?
Indicative Reference Materials for the Presentations:
These are some links that might be useful for the presentations.
Groups are free to access additional sources.
o Why happiness? Read about it at
http://www.actionforhappiness.org/why-happiness
o Richard Layard on Happiness – read about it at
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/richard-layard/why-
happiness-should-be-a-global-
priority_b_2900256.html
o Kahneman on Objective Happiness accessed at
http://usd-
apps.usd.edu/coglab/schieber/hedonomics/pdf/Kahn
eman-1999.pdf
o Why happiness? Read about it at
http://www.actionforhappiness.org/why-happiness
o Bhutan’s Happiness Index
http://www.gnhcentrebhutan.org/what-is-gnh/
o Ura, K., Alkire, S., Wangdi, K., and Zangmo, T.
(2023). GNH 2022, Centre for Bhutan and GNH
Studies, Thimpu
o A. K. Shiva Kumar (2010), “Happiness Matters” in
Seminar October issue accessible at
http://www.india-
Enjoy the course!
 Main Sources of
Socioeconomic Statistics
A.K. Shiva Kumar, PhD
International: Cross-Country Data – Data sources
Economic performance World Bank: https://data.worldbank.org/

Extreme poverty
Health 2.15 dollars replacing WHO: https://www.who.int/data/collections
1.9
World Bank: https://data.worldbank.org/

Child Statistics UNICEF: https://data.unicef.org/

Population and Demography UNFPA: https://www.unfpa.org/data/world-population-dashboard

Education UNESCO: https://en.unesco.org/themes/education/databases

Environment World Bank: https://data.worldbank.org/

Human Development UNDP: https://hdr.undp.org/data-center

World Bank: https://data.worldbank.org/

 Two sources of data:
❑Administrative
❑Survey based

Administrative:
India and ✓ MoSPI
Indian States: ✓ Ministry websites: Annual Reports of Ministries
Education: U-DISE
Socioeconomic HMIS
✓ NITI Aayog
data
Surveys:
o Census of India, 2011
o NSS: Health, education, drinking water and sanitation
o NFHS-1 (1992-93); NFHS-2 (1998-99); NFHS-3 (2005-06) NFHS-4
(2015-16); NFHS-5 (2019-2020)
Sample registration system o SRS for IMR, MMR, birth rates, death rates, etc.
o CMIE and PLFS for employment data center for monitoring indian economy
Guidelines for
Presentations
A.K. Shiva Kumar, PhD
 Basic Stuff
What to do:
1. Number the slides
2. Graphs and Tables should:
a. Have a title
b. State the year
c. Mention the source
3. Rank the states in ascending or descending order when presenting comparative data on
states or countries
4. Use animation to make portions of the slide appear one at a time
5. Have a slide at the end that consolidates the references with the links

What not to do:

1. Do not use small font sizes that no one can read
2. Avoid overcrowding of slides with text and figures
3. When drawing graphs side-by-side, the axes should not have different scales
16
 Presentation tips
What to do:
1. Explain the structure of your presentation
2. State your position at the beginning
3. Distinguish between Attribution and Contribution
4. Make eye contact
5. Project your voice
6. End the presentation reiterating your position

What not to do:

1. Do not simply share information and data
2. Do not present numbers that can’t be interpreted
3. Do not state opinions unless there is evidence to back them up
4. Do not read out the slides
17
Thank you