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Creativity and Innovation reach new heights when great minds with different valuable experiences work together. The quintessential manifestation of this synergy took place at the Great Lakes Institute of Management Gurgaon campus on Monday, 13th January 2020, when management students from University of Massachusetts Boston, met the PGPM and PGDM Great Lakers on campus and discussed the future viability of Electric Scooters for Indian families.

The meet was organized by Dr. Mohan Lal Agarwal, visiting faculty for CRM and Marketing at University of Massachusetts Boston and the senior Marketing faculty of Great Lakes Gurgaon, Dr. Umashankar Venkatesh and Dr. Jones Mathew, with the support of Dr. Debashis Sanyal, Director, Great Lakes Gurgaon. The students of both business schools came together in three teams and discussed how the introduction of Electric Scooters would impact the common Indian household, the challenges that it would face, and how it can be made a value-added offering to the Indian population.

When you have people from different cultures, economic backgrounds and professional experiences coming together to solve a single problem, the outcome can be phenomenal. One cannot overlook the influx of ideas and perspective, and the resulting learning, that takes place with such a collaborated effort. The students of U Mass Boston got a glimpse of how consumer behaviour in India differs from that in their own countries, the role that a particular type of mode of transport plays in a family, and the roles that different members of the Indian family play in the decision-making process. On the flipside, the Great Lakers were exposed to innovative ideas on how an Electric vehicle can be made viable for an Indian customer, based on certain initiatives already in place in different countries where it has already become a common sight on the streets.

With growing environmental concerns, India is on the path of adopting electric vehicles for everyday commute. The Government of India has already begun providing financial support for procuring light and heavy commercial electric vehicles. Electric buses and auto-rickshaws are currently plying on the streets of Delhi NCR. Hybrid cars and electric two-wheelers have begun proliferating into the market for personal use. With the booming sharing and renting economy, we could soon see electric vehicles being rented out, making it more affordable to adopt this eco-friendly mode of transport on a larger scale and do our bit to save the environment. We could soon see electric scooters become the everyday family transportation vehicle in the near future.