He was born on 18th February 1940 in Mumbai into a family of managers, professionals, educationists, freedom fighters, social reformers, politicians, institution builders, and writers. He studied for B.Com. at Sydenham College and then did CA. He opted to go in 1965 to the U.S. for an MBA at Wharton School. There he won the Ford Foundation Doctoral Fellowship, and enrolled for a Ph.D. at Carnegie Institute of Technology (later Carnegie-Mellon University) in 1966. He majored in Organization Theory, with minors in Economics and Management Science. In 1969 he joined McGill University's Faculty of Management in Montreal, Canada. He returned to India in 1975 on a sabbatical to be at Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad and decided to stay on until his retirement in 2002. During his years at IIMA he was Professor of Organizational Behaviour, L&T Chair Professor, and Director.
Research
He has been an active researcher. His research interests have been varied. They fall into the following seven categories:
1. The design and functioning of organizations and the forces that shape these. Effective organizational designs. The notable publications regarding this included two books, The Design of Organizations (1977) and Organizational Designs for Excellence (1992).
2. Indian indigenous styles of management and their distinctive features. Ten 'ideal type' management styles and their defective versions. How management styles can be combined for superior organizational excellence and innovativeness. The notable publication on this was Management Styles (1995).
3. Turnaround of organizations from sickness, especially the contrast between humane and harsh turnarounds, and innovative versus non-innovative turnarounds. Models of excellent turnarounds. The notable publications include Effective Turnaround of Sick Enterprises: Text and Cases (1989), Innovative Corporate Turnarounds (1992), and Turnaround Excellence: Insights from 160 Cases (2001).
4. Creativity at the individual, group, organizational, management and society levels, and how it can be enhanced for sustained creative achievement. The notable publications were Fourth Eye: Excellence through Creativity (1984, 1988), Corporate Creativity (2003) (translated into Mandarin Chinese, 2005), Lifelong Creativity (2004), Creative Society: Prospects for India (2014).
5. Effective management of public enterprises. The notable publication was Excellent Management in the Public Sector (1990).
6. Effective democracy and public administration, especially developmental administration. The notable publications were Revitalizing the State: A Menu of Options (1999) and Transforming Government through New Public Management (2010).
7. Civilizational excellence, and how, in the modern context of market economy, democracy and developmental state, through various practical mechanisms, it can be enhanced to yield more widespread humaneness, creativity, and performance excellence. The notable publication was Fast Forward toward Civilizational Excellence: Agenda for India (2017).
On the above themes, Professor Khandwalla has published scores of papers and articles in various international and Indian journals and other publications and in scholarly anthologies. The journals include Administrative Science Quarterly (U.S.), Academy of Management Journal (U.S.), Abhigyan (India), Asia Pacific Journal of Management (Singapore), Creativity Research Journal (U.S.), Indian Journal of Industrial Relations (India), International Studies of Management and Organization (U.S.), Journal of Accounting Research (U.S.), Journal of Applied Behavioral Science (U.S.), Journal of Business Administration (Canada), Journal of Euro-Asian Management (Thailand), Journal of Management Studies (U.K.), Organizational Studies (U.K.), Productivity (India), RVB Research Papers (Holland), The Indian Journal of Social Science (India), Vikalpa (India) etc.
Teaching
Professor Khandwalla has taught at Carnegie-Mellon University, U.S., Faculty of Management at McGill University in Canada, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, India, RVB, Holland, and University of Pittsburgh, U.S. The courses he has taught include Business and Industrial Psychology, Laboratory in Entrepreneurial Management, Organizational Behaviour, Organizational Structure and Dynamics, Organizational Design, Management of Creativity and Innovation, Organization Theories, Philosophical Foundations of Management, Macro Economics, and Micro Economics. He has coordinated a number of Management Development Programs and other workshops, on such topics as the management of creativity for corporate excellence, organization design, development and change agentry, effective top manager styles and organizational effectiveness, effective management of turnaround, management of excellence by chief executives, creative restructuring and innovational excellence for competitive advantage. He has mentored nearly 150 social leaders (heads of NGOs, CSR departments, social funds, etc.) through a series of retreats organized by the Aspire Circle.
Academic Administration
Chairman, OB Area at IIMA, Chairman, Fellow Program in Management (doctoral program) at IIMA, Director, IIMA, Chairman, Editorial Board of Vikalpa, IIMA, Chairman of Academic Council, Mudra Institute of Communications and Advertising, Chairman, Academic Council, Academy of Human Resources Development. Coordinated International Conference on Organizational and Behavioural Perspectives for Social Development, IIMA, and jointly coordinated International Conference on Euro-India Economic Relationship, EU. As Director, IIMA, promoted four new faculty groups for closer alignment with the needs of a globalizing India: International Management, Pioneering and Innovative Entrepreneurship, Educational Innovations, and Public Policy Management.
Major Consultancies and Training Interventions
Public sector enterprises: BHEL, Bharat Petroleum, CMC, GSFC, Indian Oil, etc.
Private sector enterprises: Aditya Birla Group, Alembic, Asea Brown Boveri, Bombay Dyeing, Cadila Pharma, Calico Mills, Emcure Pharma, Delton Cables, Godrej, Hewlett-Packard, Hindustan Lever, IPCA Labs, Indian Oxygen, ITC, L&T, Pfizer, Procter & Gamble, Reliance, Tata Steel, Whirlpool, Wockhardt, etc.
Financial institutions: Gujarat State Financial Corporation, IDBI, Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank, State Bank, World Bank.
Other institutions: Centre for Entrepreneurship Development, Commonwealth Secretariat, DFID, EDI, ISRO, MICA, Second Administrative Reforms Commission of GOI, SEWA, SEWA-Rural, etc.
Government Bodies' Memberships
AICTE's Board of Industry-Institution Interaction; Appointments Board, Department of Banking, Ministry of Finance; Gujarat State Planning Commission; , Science Advisory Committee of the Cabinet, Govt. of India Task Force on IIMs of HRD Ministry, Govt. of India
Membership of Institutional Boards/Governing Councils
Academy of Human Resources Development, CEPT, Centre for Environmental Education, Darshak Itihas Nidhi, Eklavya Institute of Teachers' Education, IIMA, Indian Institute of Advanced Studies, MICA, Mudra Foundation, National Institute of Design, etc.
Corporate Board Memberships
A.B. Hotels, Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (India), Amruta Mills, Bank of Baroda, Bank of Gujarat, Baroda-Pioneer Asset Management Company, Bharat Petroleum Corporation, Cadila Pharmaceuticals, Grow Talent, Gujarat Gas, Micro Inks, Mudra, National Textile Corporation (Gujarat), etc.
Honours and Awards
Ford Foundation Doctoral Fellowship (U.S.); Seagram-Bronfman Research Award, Canada; L&T Chair, IIMA; four best management book of the year awards; three lifetime achievement awards; convocation, key note, inaugural, and valedictory speaker at many academic conclaves; bio entry in several Who's Who.
Literary Contributions
Three books of poems in English and one in Gujarati, a book of literary essays in Gujarati, translation of two books of Gujarati short stories of Anjali Khandwalla into English, translation of over 200 offbeat Gujarati poems into English, translation of the vachanas of medieval Kannada Veer Shaiva poets into Gujarati, translation of Rilke's Duino Elegies into Gujarati. Currently working on the translation of over 150 poems published in English into Gujarati.
(Bio provided by Prof. Khandwalla in 2019)
Date of Birth: February 18, 1940
