Kavil Ramachandran

Professor Kavil Ramachandran, a founding faculty set up the Wadhwani Centre for Entrepreneurship Development at the ISB in 2001. Later, he was the Associate Dean (Academic Programmes) before becoming the Thomas Schmidheiny Chair Professor of Family Business and Wealth Management and then the Executive Director of the Thomas Schmidheiny Centre for Family Enterprise till recently at the Indian School of Business. He has specialized in family business, entrepreneurship and strategy and has 36 years of combined experience as an academic at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad and the Indian School of Business.

He did his Ph.D. from the Cranfield University, UK and has done research on family business, entrepreneurship and strategy; has authored/edited seven books and published extensively in reputed Indian and overseas journals. His consulting experience includes areas such as family business governance, professionalization, succession planning, strategic planning, identification of new opportunities for growth, corporate entrepreneurship and turn around strategies in family and non-family environments. His special expertise is in managing the challenges at the interface of governance, professionalization and strategy, particularly in rapidly growing mid-size multi-generational family businesses.

Ram has demonstrated special interest in mentoring young members of business families. He took the initiative in ISB offering a new MBA level programme for the next generation members of business families (PGP MFAB), and was adjudged the “Faculty of the Year” by students in 2018 and 2019. Ram has been repeatedly included in the top 100 global influencers (academics) in the field of Family Business by the Family Capital Magazine.

He has prepared several case studies, interacted with several well-known family business leaders and global experts, and has consulted on transformation of family business. He is a frequent speaker to communities of family businesses in India and abroad, and writes for popular media regularly. He has conducted training programmes for family businesses on governance, professionalization, strategic management and entrepreneurship. He has served on various advisory committees of the Government of India, World Bank and Securities and Exchange Board of India. His book “The 10 Commandments for Family Business” has been considered as one of the best books in this area. He has been a pioneer academic entrepreneur, propagating the message of strengthening family business in India and outside. Ram has been conferred with Bharat Asmita Acharya Shreshta Award 2022, Best Teacher in Management category by MIT World Peace University, Pune (MIT-WPU).

Experience

Academic

• 2001 - Present: Professor of Entrepreneurship (Practice), Indian School of Business
• 2015 - 2021: Executive Director - Thomas Schmidheiny Family Business and Wealth Management, Indian School of Business
• 2008 - 2014: Chair Professor of Thomas Schmidheiny Family Business and Wealth Management, Indian School of Business
• 2007 - 2009: Associate Dean, Indian School of Business
• 2007 - 2007: Thomas Schmidheiny Fellow of Family Business and Wealth Management, Indian School of Business
• 1986 - 2001: Professor, Indian Institute of Management - Ahmedabad
• 1978 - 1979: Lecturer, St. Joseph's college - Calicut

Professional

• 2022 - Present: Senior Advisor, Thomas Schmidheiny Centre for Family Enterprise, Indian School of Business
• 2022 - Present: Senior Fellow, Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Indian School of Business

Government

• 1979 - 1983: SME Consultant, APITICO Ltd. , Hyderabad