Dr. Shashank Shah is a stakeholder management strategist, public policy specialist, international researcher, and national bestselling author. He has been consistently ranked among ‘The Top 200 Most Influential Global Thought Leaders’ by peopleHum. His research and writings focus on economic and social value creation through visionary leadership, stakeholder-centric decision making and inclusive strategies. He has developed strategic perspectives and operational frameworks on leading multinational and Indian public and private sector firms, including Fortune 500 companies.

Academic Achievements and Qualifications

Dr. Shah has the unique distinction of being a Fellow at the world’s preeminent universities including Harvard and Oxford. He was awarded the prestigious ‘Chevening Gurukul Fellowship for Leadership and Excellence’ at the University of Oxford in 2021-22 by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) of the Govt. of United Kingdom. As part of the fellowship, he worked on a public policy research project on ‘Transforming Indian Higher Education: Benchmarks and Insights from Global Higher Education Systems’, with Prof. Simon Marginson, Director, Center for Global Higher Education, and Prof. Roger Goodman, Pro-Vice Chancellor, University of Oxford.

Between 2014 and 2017, he was J.N. Tata Trust Scholar at Harvard Business School, USA, where he worked in collaboration with Prof. Kasturi Rangan, Professor of Marketing and Co-Chairman of the Social Enterprise Initiative, in the areas of Corporate Social Responsibility and Inclusive Business. Between 2015 and 2017, he held joint appointment as Project Director and Fellow at Harvard University South Asia Institute (SAI), USA, and worked with the Director Prof. Tarun Khanna and led the project on ‘Livelihood Creation in India through Social Entrepreneurship and Skill Development’. The two-year project led to the upskilling of 100+ social entrepreneurs and 180,000+ rural artisans. He also served as Editor-in-Chief, Postdoctoral Editors Association at Harvard University. In 2011, he was Visiting Scholar at the Center for CSR, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark.

Dr. Shah received a Doctor of Philosophy in corporate stakeholder management under the joint supervision of Prof. Sudhir Bhaskar, Dean, Faculty of Management, Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning (SSSIHL), and Prof. Peter Pruzan, Emeritus Professor, Copenhagen Business School. He was awarded the AIMS International Outstanding Doctoral Management Students Award 2010 at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad. He completed his double post-graduation in Business Management from SSSIHL where he received the President of India and Governor’s Gold Medals for standing first at the University in the MBA and MPhil programmes. He completed his graduation in Commerce with a specialisation in Accountancy and Taxation from University of Mumbai in 2002. He was a recipient of the ‘Mr. Mumbai University’ Award from Prof. Bhalchandra Mungekar, Vice Chancellor, University of Mumbai, at the 33rd Annual Youth Festival of the University in 2001. He was also conferred the Saraswati Award and Gold Medal by Bruhad Mumbai Gujarati Samaj for top honours in Class XII exams in 1999.

Research and Publications

Dr. Shah has published ~250 research-based papers, articles, case studies and technical notes in peer-reviewed national and international publications in the areas of stakeholder management, public policy, innovation and entrepreneurship, leadership and governance, higher education, humanised healthcare, corporate responsibility and sustainability, inclusive business, human values and ethics. These have been published by eminent publishers including Harvard Business School, Springer, Sage, Emerald, and Macmillan Publications. He has authored three highly acclaimed books, co-edited five books and four monographs in these areas.

His first book ‘Soulful Corporations: A Values-Based Perspective on Corporate Responsibility’ was published by Springer as part of the India Economy Series in 2013 and has been reviewed in leading management journals in India and Europe. His second book ‘Win-Win Corporations: The Indian Way of Shaping Successful Strategies’ was published by Penguin Random House in December 2016 and was featured for a special book launch at the Confederation of Indian Industry-Govt. of India’s International Partnership Summit and the Kolkata Literature Festival 2017. Over 20 industry captains and subject experts acclaimed his work through insightful observations.

His third and most recent book ‘The Tata Group: From Torchbearers to Trailblazers’ is published by Penguin Random House. It captures the 150 years of India’s largest and most globalized conglomerate – The Tata Group from several lenses including leadership, culture, governance, customer-centricity, people and supply chain practices, corporate responsibility, and nation-building. The book was selected for an exclusive cover launch at the Tata Literature Festival 2018. It has been acclaimed by several subject experts from India and overseas as the most definitive book on the group and featured at the International Book Fair New Delhi, Kolkata Literature Festival, Madras Management Association, Tata Sons, Tata Motors and TCS headquarters, and several other platforms. Amazon listed it among the most memorable books of 2018. Penguin Random House acknowledged it as a National Bestseller in 2021 and released a special edition with a foreword by Ratan Tata, Chairman Emeritus, Tata Group.

Professional Experience and Affiliations

Dr. Shah has served as Board Research Chair, Institute of Risk Management, and Academic Advisory Council Member, New Delhi Institute of Management. He has been a Fellow, European SPES Institute Belgium; International Advisory and Editorial Board Member, Journal of Values-Based Leadership, Valparaiso University, USA; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Review of Professional Management; and Reviewer, Journal of Human Values (Sage Publications), Harvard Business History Review (Cambridge University Press), Emerging Market Case Study Series (Emerald Publications) Journal of Management, Religion and Spirituality (Taylor and Francis Publications), International Journal of Indian Culture and Business Management (Inderscience Publications); Book Reviewer for Palgrave Macmillan; and Consulting Editor, The Business India Group. He was a nominated member at the International Project Management Advisory Board, IIB Council, USA, and Malaysia.

Dr. Shah has been an invited Research Faculty at Executive Development Programmes organised by the Harvard University South Asia Institute, World Bank and the Govt. of India, Harvard Business School Executive Education, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, and the Larsen & Toubro Group of companies. These programmes were organised for middle and senior management executives with 15 to 35 years of professional experience and focused on diverse themes including: ‘Non-State Players in Human Development – Achieving India’s Goals’, ‘Organisational Stewardship and ESG’, ‘Multi-Stakeholder Value Creation’, and ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’.

Public Speaking

A TEDx and Talks at Google speaker, Dr. Shah has given 250+ invited lectures and keynote addresses in 50+ cities globally. These include eminent higher education institutions like Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA), Indian School of Business (ISB) Hyderabad, BITS Pilani, Management Development Institute (MDI) Gurgaon, SP Jain Institute of Management & Research, and Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII) Gandhinagar; leading public and private corporations like Tata Group, NTPC, Amdocs, and National Housing Bank; prestigious platforms like the Manipur Legislative Assembly, Delhi and Madras Management Associations, Young Presidents’ Organization Nepal, NASSCOM Foundation, National HRD Network, Rajasthan IAS Association, CIO Klub, Chief Learning Officers Summit, and Traditional Art Entrepreneurship Summit; popular literature festivals at Kolkata, Pune and Mumbai; and impactful social welfare institutions like Tata Trusts, Reliance Foundation, Rotary International, United Way, and Sri Sathya Sai Organisations.

Media Presence

His work and interviews have been featured in leading Indian dailies including The Times of India, The Economic Times, Hindustan Times, Mint, The Hindu, DNA, The Indian Express, The Financial Express, The Statesman, The Free Press Journal, The Pioneer, The Tribune, The New Indian Express, Business Standard, Quartz India, Scroll, Millennium Post, International Business Times, and leading business magazines such as Business India, Business Today, and Business World.

In July 2022, Dr. Shashank Shah delivered the 30th Convocation Address of the Institute for Technology and Management at Navi Mumbai. He was interviewed for the prestigious programme ‘State of the Economy’ on the Rajya Sabha TV channel of the Indian Parliament in January 2017, ‘Beyond The Lines’ a show with bestselling business authors on Amazon Fire TV in June 2019, ‘Awaaz Desh Ki’, a show on Sansad TV, and several other shows and podcasts in Asia, Australia and North America.

Knowledge Creation and Dissemination

He has interviewed 250+ senior leaders across national and multinational corporations in India and top academics from USA and Europe including the Harvard Business School, Harvard Kennedy School, MIT Sloan Business School, Boston University, Stern School of Business, Darden School of Business, INSEAD, University of Oxford, Copenhagen Business School, and experts from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the United Nations. Through his two-decade-long research, he has curated insights on best-in-class practices in Strategy, Sustainability and Social Responsibility, and a knowledge base of multi-sectoral, multi-industry and multi-stakeholder leadership insights of a collective experience of 5,000+ years, which he presents at diverse platforms.