Kulbhushan Balooni

Kulbhushan Balooni joined IIM Kashipur in June 2019. He has been associated with IIM Kozhikode for more than two decades. He was Director (i/c), IIM Kozhikode during 2014-18. He was also involved in instituting IIM Amritsar as Mentor Director during this period. He has been a visiting scholar to MacEwan University, National University of Singapore, University of Copenhagen, University of Tokyo, Uppsala University, and Wageningen University.

He undertook post-doctoral research in the University of Tokyo, and doctoral research at the RBI Endowment Unit, Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA). He is a Leadership for Environment and Development (LEAD) Fellow.

He undertakes interdisciplinary research on environment, resources, development policy and sustainability, and agribusiness in the context of developing countries. Within this broad area, he focuses on conservation, decentralization and local governance, CSR, and social entrepreneurship. His research has featured in Conservation Letters, Conservation & Society, Ecology & Society, Economic & Political Weekly, Geoforum, International Journal of the Commons, Journal of Social Entrepreneurship, Landscape & Urban Planning, and World Development among other journals.

He is currently working on two papers. One paper explores the role of promoting agencies in the success of farmer producer companies and other collectives by focusing on member centrality, internal organizational and value-chain governance, and market development to realize their potential as socio-economic institutions. Another paper focuses on strategic CSR in agribusiness in the context of Indian family-owned business entities. This paper explores how the firms involved with agribusiness in India are trying to align their CSR activities with strategic objectives.

Research Areas

I undertake interdisciplinary research on environment, resources, development policy and sustainability in the developing countries context, especially those in South and Southeast Asia. Within this broad area, I have been focusing on conservation, corporate social responsibility, and decentralization and local governance.

Other Professional Appointments

• Visiting Scholar, School of Business, MacEwan University, Edmonton, Canada (September 2017)
• Visiting Fellow, Uppsala Forum on Democracy, Peace and Justice, Uppsala University (September 2015)
• Visiting Scholar, Wageningen School of Social Sciences, Wageningen University (May-July 2013)
• Visiting Senior Research Fellow, Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore (April-July 2011)
• Visiting Scholar, University of Tokyo (October 2010)
• Visiting Scholar, University of Tokyo (June-October 2008)
• Visiting Erasmus Scholar, University of Copenhagen (April-July 2007)
• Visiting Scholar, University of Ruhuna & University of Tokyo (April-May 2006)

Corporate / Public Sector Leadership

• Fellow, LEAD (Corporate / Public Sector Leadership for Environment and Development) International and India (Cohort 10)
• Member, Board & Society of Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode (June 2014-June 2018 )
• Member, Board of Trustees, Malabar Rural Development Foundation, Kozhikode (March 2017- )
• External Expert, Academic Council, Indian Institute of Forest Management, Bhopal (June 2013- )
• Member, Expert Committee, CPHEEO, Ministry of Urban Development, Goverment of India (May 2011-March 2013)

Conferences, Seminars & Talks

• Keynote Address, Inaugural Session: 'Management knowledge creation: The role of Indian management institutions', Keynote Address, Inaugural Session, 2nd Pan-IIM World Management Conference, IIM Kozhikode, November 5-8, 2014. Presentation [Video 65.6 MB]
• Forest rights: The hard currency of REDD?, International Conference on Adopting REDD for Conservation, Sustainable Community Livelihood and Climate Change Mitigation?, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, December 12-13, 2013.
• Panel Discussion: ?Urban forest governance? (with C. Chojnacky & R. Hostnik), IUFRO Conference on Forests for cities, forests for people - Perspectives on urban forest governance, Zagreb, Croatia, September 27-28, 2012.
• Urban green spaces for ecological sustainability and livelihood security: Changing scenarios from an Indian City?. IUFRO Conference on Forests for cities, forests for people - Perspectives on urban forest governance, Zagreb, Croatia, September 27-28, 2012.
• How social is socially oriented forest tenure and land is change in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka??, Interdisciplinary Conference on Forests for People, Alpbach, Tyrol/Austria, May 22-24, 2012.
• Invited Presentation: ?Analysis of policy framework, structural obstacles and financing barriers for teak investment in Asia?, International Conference on Planted Teak Forests - a Globally Emerging Forest Resource, San José, Costa Rica, October 31 - November 2, 2011. (Invited by FAO of the United Nations, Rome).
• Can decentralized forest governance mitigate domination by state and local elites? Evidence from India's Shiwaliks?, International Symposium on Change in Governance as a Collective Learning Process: Management, Politics and Ethics in Forestry, Nancy, France, June 21-24, 2009.
• 'When is decentralization in forest management a success and when is it a failure? Case studies from the Philippines', 12th Biennial Conference of the International Association for the Study of Commons (IASC), Cheltenham, United Kingdom, July 14-18, 2008.

Academic Positions

• Professor, Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode (January 2012 - present )
• Associate Professor, Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode (July 2003 - December 2011)
• JSPS Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Tokyo (December 2003 - November 2005)
• Assistant Professor, Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode (January 1998 - June 2003)
• Lecturer, Indian Institute of Forest management, Bhopal (June 1994 - December 1996)