April 8, 2009
The surname of Professor Jaideep Prabhu invokes a sense of affinity among the Konkani speaking people of the Konkan coast. However, very few people of Karnataka are aware that Prof. Jaideep Prabhu is a genius and presently occupies one of the prestigious positions at the University of Cambridge in England. Since September 2008, Prof. Jaideep Prabhu has been appointed as the first Jawaharlal Nehru Professor of Indian Business and Enterprise at the Judge Business School, University of Cambridge. The Professorship was funded by a £3.2 million grant from the Government of India.
The establishment of the Professorship and Center for India and Global Business was first announced in New Delhi in January 2008 by Cambridge Vice-Chancellor Professor Alison Richard. A major objective of the Professorship and the Center is to help forge closer links between India and other economies globally and to promote a deeper understanding of India's interests and place in the world economy.
According to Prof. Jaideep Prabhu, the Center aims to generate cutting-edge thought leadership by bringing together business, academic and policy leaders from around the world to understand, promote and engage with Indian innovators. The Center’s vision is to become a World Knowledge Platform for creating and disseminating cutting-edge practices and insights related to India and innovation.
Prof. Jaideep Prabhu’s journey from Bangalore, where he was born into a Mangalorean family, to Cambridge has been spectacular and inspiring. He had his initial education at various places including Karwar, Delhi, Bangalore, Belgaum, Goa and Delhi in that order. He acquired BTech degree from IIT Delhi (1989) before going to the United States where he completed his PhD at the University of Southern California, USA (1995).
Prof. Jaideep Prabhu is a research oriented scholar. In a general way his research interest has been in the field of Market Strategy, whereas his specific research interest covers diverse areas such as Radical Innovation, Organizational Learning and Competitive Interaction. Prof. Jaideep Prabhu is a member of the International Business research group and the Strategy and Marketing teaching group.
Prof. Jaideep Prabhu taught at different Business Schools and Universities. His first teaching assignment was at the Anderson School of Management, University of California, Los Angeles as Visiting Assistant Professor (1995-96). Later, he proceeded to Netherlands where he was Assistant Professor and Fellow at the Center for Economic Research, Tilburg University (1996-99). In 1999, Prof. Jaideep Prabhu moved into England and took up teaching assignment as the Senior Lecturer in Marketing at the Judge Institute of management, University of Cambridge (1999-2004). He was Professor of Marketing (2004-08) and Director of Research (2007-08) at the Tanaka Business School, Imperial College London prior to his elevation as the first Jawaharlal Nehru Professor of Indian Business and Enterprise at the Judge Business School, University of Cambridge since September 2008.
Besides being a scholar, professor and researcher, Prof. Jaideep Prabhu has been a prolific writer. He is associated with some of the prestigious business and marketing journals. He has been a member of the editorial boards of the “Journal of Marketing”, the “Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science” and the “Journal of Management Studies”, and a member of the senior advisory board of the “European Journal of Marketing”. Besides contributing regular articles to various business and marketing journals, he writes a monthly column for “The Financial Express”.
Prof. Jaideep Prabhu has a flair for fiction. His literary fiction, “The Middle of Life” was published in 1998 by Harper Collins India. Another novel of his, titled “The City of Victory” is awaiting publication. This is a historical novel set in mid-sixteenth century India covering the present-day states of Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra. The period that the novel covers was one of great turmoil in the region. It marked the arrival of the Portuguese in India, and their clash with the local powers of the day: the Muslim Sultanates of the Deccan and the Hindu Vijayanagar Empire of South India.
Prof. Jaideep Prabhu has written a large number of research papers which have been published in reputed journals and co-authored a number of books related to the Center for Global Innovation. He is also the recipient scores of awards and scholarships.
The knowledge and experience of Prof. Jaideep Prabhu has been availed by various organizations and companies. He has been consulted or taught executives from some of the reputed organizations in Colombia, Finland, Germany, Netherlands, Portugal, Switzerland, England and the United States. These organizations include among others ABN Amro, British Telecom, ING Bank, Nokia, Philips, Roche and Xerox.
The reputation of Prof. Jaideep Prabhu prompted the media, both print and electronic, to interview him or publish his work profile. These include- BBC News 24, MIT Sloan Management Review, The Financial Times, The Times of India, The Economic Times, The Statesman, the Calcutta Telegraph, etc.
In March 2009, Prof. Jaideep Prabhu visited India on a lecture tour. He utilized these lectures as an opportunity to announce that the Center established at the Judge Business School, Cambridge University would devote to the study of India’s leading role in the global economy with a vision to serve as a collaborative platform that would engage multiple stakeholders from India, England and other countries.
At Delhi, Prof. Jaideep Prabhu addressed senior policy makers, diplomats and elected officials. In his lecture, Prof. Prabhu identified the opportunities and challenges facing India in its quest to emerge as a global research and development hub. Addressing Indian and multinational corporate leaders at Bangalore, Prof. Prabhu advised them how they should lead their firms during a recession by fostering sustainable culture of innovation. Finally, in his address in Mumbai to Corporate leaders, Prof. Prabhu reiterated the theme of corporate innovation and further made a case for exploring the ways how India can speed up her innovation-led growth by strengthening academic-industry collaboration.
Commenting on the launch of the new Center, Professor Jaideep Prabhu said: "India stands today at a threshold of greatness. Its young population combined with its service economy predisposes it to play an important role in the global knowledge economy of tomorrow.”
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