The Lally School of Management & Technology

Next month, the Severino Center for Technological Entrepreneurship and the Lally School of Management & Technology will honor A.P. "Preetham" Parigi with the 2009 William F. Glaser '53 Rensselaer Entrepreneur of the Year Award. The annual honor recognizes entrepreneurs whose vision, commitment and creativity epitomizes the entrepreneurial spirit that is Rensselaer’s past, present, and future. Mr. Parigi is managing director of Entertainment Network (India) Limited, and managing director and CEO of Times Infotainment Media Limited. He is credited with transforming Radio Mirchi, once a small player in a highly segmented and heavily regulated industry, into India’s largest private FM radio network in just seven years time.  

In redefining the radio industry in India, Mr. Parigi has exemplified the core mission of the Lally School, which focuses on themes of innovation and technological entrepreneurship in the global economy. Informed by the cutting-edge research of its faculty, the school’s curriculum aims to develop aspiring business leaders who have a passion for technology with the ability to work across business functions. Indeed, as reflected by the school’s own organizational structure, a central tenet of Lally’s philosophy is that successful innovation requires a holistic and integrative approach to managing the enterprise. Effectively managing innovation requires much more than just hiring good engineers, technology support people and managers: it requires a cross-functional and interdisciplinary approach. 

Then to sustain a successful trajectory of continued innovation coordination is necessary across complex and multi-faceted disciplines. From a marketing perspective, you need to understand what customers either want now or will want in the near future. From a human resources perspective, you need to help foster a culture of creativity that encourages bold new initiatives from both managers and employees alike. Likewise, the firm’s incentives structures have to reward such initiatives while also being tolerant of occasional failed experimentation. Even the firm’s financial structure plays a critical role in the successful managing of innovation. While tight budget controls can have many benefits for firms, research has shown that innovation is more likely to flourish when firms have sufficient financial slack to sustain R&D initiatives during unforeseen economic slumps. Overarching all of this, upper management must provide the leadership and vision to achieve coordination and strategic fit across all these functional areas, a task which can be aided by employing the appropriate information technologies within the organization. Thus, while innovation does sometimes spontaneously arise within organizations, the successful implementation of innovation requires disciplined, informed, and thoughtful management.

Although the leadership at Times of India might not have shared the vision, nor the commitment that Parigi held for Radio Mirchi, they reluctantly allowed him to develop its brand. Radio Mirchi has grown from its humble placement in 4 markets to an overall market share of 50 percent, capturing 200 million listeners, in 32 cities and in 10 languages. And in 2008,  Radio Mirchi expanded its international presence when it purchased Britain’s Virgin Radio. This is corporate entrepreneurship and innovation at its finest. Join us for April 8, 2009 in EMPAC as we celebrate Preetham Parigi’s vision, commitment and compassion. Visit: www.lallyschool.rpi.edu for more information.

The Future of New York Business Series

in partnership with The Business Council of New York