IIM Indore

Indore (Madhya Pradesh): In line with its mission to stay contextually relevant and contribute to nation building, Indian Institute of Management Indore has joined hands with The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ), German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), to connect the dots across myriad sectors to understand how they grappled with COVID-19 for forthcoming pandemic preparedness.

For this, IIM Indore has received a research grant of Rs 85.3 lakh. Covid-19 has not only impacted the health index of several countries (WHO, 2020); but also created the macro-level turbulence that has severe implications for economic, political, social and psychological well-being.

The institutions will now work together on documenting the challenges faced by these business sectors and their ways of tackling challenges.

The documentation will be based on in-depth research to capture the finest practices on solutions for forthcoming pandemic preparedness. The research activities include two book projects, research papers and detailed case studies.

Expressing delight over the association, IIM Indore director Prof Himanshu Rai said, “The overall research project relies on a mixed-method approach, integrating qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection and analysis.”

“The results of this research will be instrumental in cross-sectoral learning and pandemic preparedness; and also, in shaping further health policies for sectoral pandemic readiness within India,” he added.

Indo-German Social Security Programme programme director Dr Nishant Jain said, “I am delighted to start this partnership between GIZ representing German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and IIM Indore on generating evidence and knowledge related to COVID.”

The book projects will capture the challenges faced by the industrial sector and the actions taken; while the research papers would include details of the employee experience of the industrial sector. The research would be based on interviews with management and government officials.