Ajeet Mathur

Ajeet N. Mathur is Professor in Strategy and International Business, concurrently affiliated to the Economics and Business Policy Areas at IIM Ahmedabad. His interests are at the crossroads of economics, human behaviour in groups, law, strategic management of organisational knowing and international business. These are reflected in his multi-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary work with corporates and as an expert on change management, institutional design and missing markets with ILO, WHO, ADB and the European Commission. A significant focus of his research is on pervasive uncertainty and systemic risks, how motives and powerbases combine in group relations and the unconscious dynamics of groups, on bridging strategy with organisation development, on the dynamic co-evolution of capabilities, on politics of disharmony in the management of gender differences, why missing markets remain, market barriers, and the management of institutional diversity in cross-border value chains.

As a certified "Yoga Shikshak" of the Bihar School of Yoga and an Affiliate LIfe Member of the Indian Psycho-analytic Society, he is interested in the evolution of human consciousness and the connections between yoga and mindful well-being of persons, groups and organisations for harmony-sensing and harmony-seeking in communities. He is a Fellow of Sumedhas Academy of Human Context, a Founding Member of the Harmoninen Laulu Yhdistys Ry (Harmonic Music Foundation) and an Invitee to the Finnish Chapter of the Club of Rome. He is a member of the International Society for the Psychoanalytic Study of Organisations and was one of the five hosts worldwide invited to anchor the ISPSO social dreaming matrix in 2016. He is biographically cited in several international directories.

Before joining IIM Ahmedabad, he served as Founding Professor of International Business, University of Tampere, Finland, EU-TEMPUS Professor of European Integration and Internationalization, and as IFCI Chair Professor, Indian Council of Research on International Economic Relations. He has held visiting academic appointments at K.U. Leuven, Belgium, University of Edinburgh, Cornell University, University of California at Berkeley, University of Bielefeld, Germany, Helsinki School of Economics, Aalto University, Turku School of Economics, Royal University of Bhutan, and Fresenius University, Cologne.

His publications include twenty eight books and over one hundred and fifty papers in scientific journals and anthologies. His most recent books are "Strategies for the Future" and "Mysteries in Management" (Penguin Random House, 2016).

A recipient of the President of India's Medal for the best all round student (1972), and the Bharat Chamber of Commerce Gold Medal for the most balanced approach to management problems (1977), Ajeet Mathur received his Ph.D. degree from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. In his early career, he worked in various positions of responsibility with Tata Economic Consultancy Services, ITC Limited and the Times Group for more than a decade before his appointment as a tenured Professor at IIM Calcutta where he taught and researched for ten years. He has been a Senior Fulbright Fellow and a Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Scholar. He was nominated India's National Expert on Managerial Productivity with APO, Tokyo. He is the Project Director, Finland-India Economic Relations. He is the recipient of the Prestige Award as "Professor of the Year 2014" and Academy of Management "Outstanding Reviewer" Award in 2016.

He has been a member of the Board of Directors with Corporates in India and Europe and is consulted by businesses, governments, international organisations and the policy research community. He served a term as the Director and CEO, Institute of Applied Manpower Research with the rank of Secretary to the Government of India in the Planning Commission. He is Chairperson, Centre for Gender Equity, Diversity and Inclusivity, IIM Ahmedabad. He has directed IIM Ahmedabad's Group Relations Working Conferences titled "Authority, Organisation, Strategies, and Politics of Relatedness" (AOSPOR) since 2009 and "Managing You and Me in Roles and Systems" (focusing on processes concerning couples, dyads and pairs in organisations) since 2011. He has been a member of the Board, School of Inter-disciplinary studies, Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) He is a member of the Governing Board of the Global Foundation for Integrating Spirituality and Organisational Leadership (ISOL).

Educational Qualifications

MBA (PGDM, IIM), Ph.D. (IISc. Bangalore), DCWE (IGNOU), CE (TAKK, Tampere, Finland), HÄ (Viitakivi and Paris)

Academic Affiliations

Professor in Strategy and International Business concurrently affiliated to Economics and Business Policy Areas, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad

• Conference Director, Working Conference "Authority, Organisation, Strategies and Politics of Relatedness" (AOSPOR) https://web.iima.ac.in/exed/AOSPOR2017
• Faculty Chair, Family Business Organisation, Strategies, Internationalisation and Succession (FBOSIS) https://web.iima.ac.in/FBOSIS/
• Faculty Chair, Doing Business Abroad https://web.iima.ac.in/DBA/
• Chairperson, Centre for Gender Equity, Diversity and Inclusivity (GEDI) IIM Ahmedabad (2010- to date). https://web.iima.ac.in/grc
• Conference Director, Working Conference "Managing You and Me in Roles and Systems" (MAYUMERS)
• Faculty Chair, Strategic Management of Intellectual Capital and Organisational Knowledge (SMICOK).
• Visiting Professor Fresenius University, Cologne; Turku School of Economics, Finland; IAE Aix-en-Provence, France; Aalto University, Finland; Flame School of Business, Pune; Royal University of Bhutan; Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi.
• Yoga Shikshak, Bihar School of Yoga, Munger
• Visiting Professor, Aalto University School of Economics International Centre at Mikkeli
• Project Director, Finland-India Economic Relations
• Study of Finland-India Business Prospects 2007-2017 can be downloaded from: Finland-India Business Prospects 2007-2017

Previous Affiliations

• Director, Institute of Applied Manpower Research and Secretary,Government of India, Planning Commission.
• EU-Tempus Professor of European Integration and Internationalisation
• Visiting Professor, University of Economics, and Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia
• Founding Professor of International Business, University of Tampere
• Visiting Professor, Helsinki School of Economics, Finland
• IFCI Chair Professor, Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations, New Delhi
• Visiting Professor, K.U. Leuven, Belgium.
• Professor, Indian Institute of Management Calcutta
• Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Scholar
• Senior Fulbright Scholar in Development Economics with the University of California at Berkeley
• UNDP Fellow at INSEAD, Fontainbleu, ISF Munich and Edinburgh University
• Visiting Professor, Bielefeld University. and Cornell University
• Turku School of Economics, Finland
• Aalto University, Finland.
• Flame School of Business, Pune

Management Development Programmes/Executive Education Programmes

• Managing Organisational Knowledge and Business Intelligence
• International Business Strategies
• Developing Successful Teams
• Managing Cultural Diversity
• International Business Negotiations
• Strategies and the Future
• Family Business Organisation, Strategies, Internationalisation, and Succession (FBOSIS)
• Doing Business Abroad
• Doing Business in India
• Doing Business in Nordic Europe
• Group Relations Working Conference on Authority, Organisation, Strategies and Politics of Relatedness (AOSPOR)
• Group Relations Conference on Managing You and Me in Roles and Systems (MAYUMERS)
• Business in Emerging Economies
• Doing Business in Europe
• Workshop on Signs of Organisational Toxicity, Health and Enlightenment (SOOTHE)