Professor Lakshmi Kumar

Dean, IFMR GSB Professor, Economics, IFMR GSB

Professor Lakshmi Kumar’s areas of teaching include, Macro Economics, Managerial Economics, International Business and Micro Finance. She has taught thousands of Executives and Management students at IFMR GSB over three decades. Professor Lakshmi has also participated in various field based studies, including projects sponsored by Harvard University, University of California, Irvine and NABARD, India. She is passionate about understanding the savings behaviour of low income households, rural livelihoods and the analysis of Government-provided basic services. Professor Lakshmi holds a degree in Mathematics, a postgraduate qualification in Econometrics, and a PhD from IIT Madras.

Professor N Chandrasekaran

Professor, Operations and Strategy, Area Chair – Strategic Management, Chairperson – Executive MBA programme, IFMR GSB

With over twenty-five years of corporate experience, Professor Chandrasekaran has worked in Information Technology, Venture Capital, and Knowledge Processing sectors. His areas of expertise include Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Human Resources, Leadership Development, and Investor Relationship Management. His consulting, research, corporate training, and teaching experience span Supply Chain Management, Operations Strategy, Logistics Infrastructure and Management, Service Operations, Strategy, and Analytics. Professor Chandrasekaran also serves as an independent director, mentor, and management consultant with several leading companies and start-ups. Additionally, he acts as a research guide to scholars pursuing a PhD degree in Management, in the areas of Strategy and Supply Chain Management. An alumnus of IFMR, Chennai, Professor Chandrasekaran holds a PhD in Economics and Financial Management from the University of Madras. He is also a certified Supply Chain Management Professional of APICS – the American Association of Operations Management, USA. Chandrasekaran has also been a part of a leadership team involved in setting up Centres of Excellence in Logistics and Supply Chain Management.

Dr Bharath Sundaram

Sustainability officer, Faculty Director – Krea – IFMR Research Centers Coordination Cell,

Sundaram Fasteners Associate Professor of Environmental Studies, SIAS

Bharath Sundaram’s teaching areas include Analytical Tools and Methods in Environmental Studies, Sustainability and Climate Change, Ecology and Development, Political Ecology of Biodiversity Conservation, Environmental Communication and Scientific Reasoning. He enjoys using the classroom environment to nudge participants towards deeper comprehension and critical analysis. Dr Sundaram has research interests in the field of Biodiversity, Plant Ecology, Conservation Studies, Sustainability and Political Ecology. His current work includes the long-term monitoring of a social-ecological system in the Western Ghats, and a pan-Indian, data-driven project on forests, human population, and biodiversity conservation. His research has been funded by the International Foundation for Science (Sweden), International Social Science Council (France), and the National Geographic Society (USA. Dr Sundaram did his doctoral studies with Manipal University. He is also a sportsperson, film buff, photographer and a cook.

Professor Balasubramanian G

Former Dean, IFMR GSB Senior Professor and Advisor – Finance, Accounting & Quantitative Finance, IFMR GSB

Professor Balasubramanian has more than three decades of experience in executive training, teaching, consulting and research in Accounting, Finance and Information Technology. He has designed and implemented Decision Support Systems for major organisations. He has trained thousands of executives across private and public sector enterprises across the world. Professor Balasubramanian is a resource person for a study on the disinvestments of public sector enterprises sponsored by the USAID. He is also a member of the Doctoral Committee at IIT, Madras.

He is the Managing Editor of “Journal of Emerging Market Finance”, and has published papers on capital markets, accounting, information technology, and knowledge management; has co-authored a book “Brain Re-engineering”. He is also a visiting faculty member in Finance and Information Technology at several institutions in Asia and Africa.

Professor Vijayalakshmi C

Professor, HR & OB, IFMR GSB

Professor Vijayalakshmi has over two decades of corporate experience in HR consulting, and has served on the boards of several organisations. Her research expertise includes organisational transformation in public sector organisations. Her research and consulting interests include design and delivery of psychometric tests in vernacular languages, competency mapping and assessment, and the evaluation of HR processes in both for-profit and development sector organisations. Professor Vijayalakshmi has conducted several workshops and trained hundreds of executives. She has also facilitated workshops using a modified T-lab titled ‘Journey to Self’. Her current work includes collaborating with not-for-profit organisations to enhance sustainable livelihoods and serving as a member of the Ethics Committee of the Banyan Academy of Leadership in Mental Health. She is a Fellow from MDI, Gurgaon and holds a Master’s degree in Agriculture and a PG Diploma in Rural Management from IRMA.

Dr Sathya Saminadan

Associate Professor of Practice & Area Chair – Marketing, IFMR GSB

Dr Sathya Saminadan has over 25 years of extensive experience. Before his academic roles at Great Lakes Institute of Management and IFMR GSB, his professional journey spanned the aviation, banking, and pharmaceutical sectors. Dr Saminadan teaches executives and students in areas such as Customer centricity, Marketing, Sales, Branding, Digital Marketing, and Product Strategy. He received the Best Professor Award for 2016 from the International Business Conference in Goa. Dr Saminadan’s career saw significant growth, culminating in his role as Vice President of Marketing. In this position, he led a large, diverse team of managers, overseeing market expansion and revenue generation. He currently consults with both start-up and established firms, assisting them in designing digital strategies and business development models. Dr Saminadan completed his PhD in e-commerce with a focus on consumer behaviour and has published research papers and articles in the fields of e-commerce, SEO strategies, and other marketing domains. He is a fiction author, having published several acclaimed best-selling novels since 2020.

Ramanathan Hariharan

Executive Director, Professional Learning, IFMR GSB

Ramanathan has over 35 years of experience and has held top and senior leadership positions in Pharma, Training, HR consulting and in Executive education. He consults and coaches with many multinational and Indian client leaders, and is a sought-after leadership trainer and coach. He has been a top-notch sales professional, scaling businesses across many industries and has successfully curated and grown many accounts. He was also the founding Director and CEO of a boutique HR consulting firm that specialised in talent management, leadership development and transformation journeys. Ramanathan has completed his PGPM from XLRI, Jamshedpur, and is a Certified Leadership and Behaviour Trainer and Executive Coach, with certifications in DiSC, AiA, SPIN, Hogan, and more.

Professor Raghuraman Sundar

Professor, OB & HR, IFMR GSB

An expert in Human Resource Management and Organizational Behaviour, Prof Raghu holds an MBA and a PhD from OUBS, UK, and a Master’s degree in Natural Resources and Forestry Management from IIFM, Bhopal. Before joining IFMR GSB in 1995, he worked with the Worldwide Fund for Nature and Harrisons Malayalam Ltd. Professor Raghu currently teaches MBA and PhD level courses on People and Organisations. He also develops and leads multiple Management Development Programmes (MDPs) for senior and middle managers from organisations such as Kobelco, L&T, Toshiba, Murugappa Group companies, and Real Image Technologies. He has served as a Principal Investigator for various sponsored research projects from international and national agencies, including DFID (UK), IDRC (Canada), USAID, and NABARD. He has published articles, case studies, and technical reports in international journals and business newspapers.