Conference Committee

Prof. Samir K. Srivastava

Director, IIM Amritsar

Prof. Srivastava is a distinguished academician and industry expert with over three decades of experience spanning research, teaching, consulting, and industry leadership. He earned his doctorate from IIM Lucknow in 2004 and holds an undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering from the Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University (now IIT BHU), along with an MBA in Finance. Prof. Srivastava brings a unique blend of academic excellence and corporate expertise to IIM Amritsar. Before transitioning to academia, he held key technical and managerial positions at the Aditya Birla Group, where he played a pivotal role in implementing Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) at Indo Gulf Corporation. His efforts led to the company receiving the prestigious TPM Excellence Award from JIPM, Japan, in 2000.

Prof. Srivastava has held multiple academic and administrative roles at IIM Lucknow, including serving as Dean of Research. An esteemed faculty member, he has designed, developed, and taught cutting-edge courses at postgraduate and doctoral levels. Prof Srivastava also led executive education programs for government bodies, public sector enterprises, and corporate executives. A firm believer in research-driven policymaking, he has been at the forefront of high-impact projects, collaborating with global universities, research foundations, and multilateral organizations like The World Bank, Competition Commission of India (CCI), Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), and Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).

Prof Srivastava's scholarly contributions are widely recognized, with publications in top-tier academic journals and editorial board memberships in prestigious international journals. He has served as Chief Editor of Metamorphosis, an AJG-listed journal. His scholarly impact is underscored by his ranking among the top 2% of scientists in the world based on career-long impact in the "Author Databases of Standardized Citation Indicators" lists 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024. His research has garnered 14,000+ citations on Google Scholar (g-Index: 119), 5,000+ on Scopus (H-Index: 21), and 3,500+ on Web of Science.

Michael Hoffmeyer

Managing Director, Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship, Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland

Michael Hoffmeyer's career in higher education has focused on promoting entrepreneurship on campus and supporting diverse entrepreneurs in their journey. Prior to his work in higher education, he held executive and founder roles in several financial technology startups. Before joining Dingman, Hoffmeyer founded the Crews Center for Entrepreneurship at his alma mater, the University of Memphis, where he spent a decade championing entrepreneurship and delivering social and financial impact to ensure the center's long-term sustainability. He is a passionate thought leader in inclusive entrepreneurship and still enjoys personally helping diverse entrepreneurs develop confidence, self-efficacy, and competencies while also providing experienced insights into innovation, strategy, and leadership to help strengthen their business models. Hoffmeyer has served as a lead judge in the Memphis Business Journal's Small Business Awards for eight years, helped raise over $52M in venture capital for Memphis students, and was a recognized thought leader in the Memphis entrepreneurial ecosystem. He founded the ImagineU Summer Accelerator Program at Memphis, raising money to pay students a stipend to participate in the program, providing a level playing field for students regardless of socioeconomic status. Hoffmeyer was known for championing diversity, equity, and inclusion in the entrepreneurship space and was frequently sought out to partner on DE&I initiatives across the campus and ecosystem. Prior to his higher education experience, Hoffmeyer served as executive or co-founder in five startups, two of which he successfully exited. Hoffmeyer holds a Bachelor of Professional Studies, a Master's of Public Administration, and a graduate certificate in Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership from the University of Memphis. He lives in College Park, enjoys spending time with family, watching lacrosse and soccer, and plays the occasional video game.

Dr. Sakshi Aggarwal

Assistant Professor, Marketing Management, IIM Amritsar

Dr. Sakshi Aggarwal is an Assistant Professor in Marketing at the Indian Institute of Management Amritsar. She is a Ph.D. in Marketing from the Indian Institute of Management Indore. She is an alumna of Shri Ram College of Commerce, University of Delhi and ESSEC Business School, France. Her research interests are in the area of Consumer Behaviour, Behavioural Pricing, Numerical Cognition, Judgement and Decision Making.

Dr. Gurbir Singh

Faculty Member, Marketing Management, IIM Amritsar

Gurbir Singh is a faculty member in the area of Marketing Management at the Indian Institute of Management Amritsar (India). He earned his doctoral degree from the Indian Institute of Management Indore and is a Fellow of the Insurance Institute of India. Before joining the PhD program, he worked in the corporate sector for eight years. His research interests are in services marketing, branding and consumer behaviour. He has published in reputed journals such as the European Journal of Marketing, the Journal of Service Theory and Practice, the Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, the Journal of Business Research and the Journal of Product and Brand Management. He has presented papers at numerous national and international conferences and is the recipient of several research scholarships and awards.

Dr. Pavneet Singh

Assistant Professor, Economics, IIM Amritsar

Dr. Pavneet Singh is an Assistant Professor in the Economics area at IIM Amritsar. He obtained his PhD (Economics) from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad in 2020. Prior to his PhD, he has completed his MBA from IIM Calcutta in 2013, and a B.E. (Mechanical Engineering) from the PEC University of Technology, Chandigarh. Before joining IIM Amritsar, he was associated with the Misra Centre for Financial Markets and Economy at IIM Ahmedabad as a researcher. He has previously worked in the industry in the domains of interest rate trading and data analytics. His primary research interests lie at the intersection of institutional economics, economic growth and development. He also works in the domains of public finance, public policy and political economy. For his PhD dissertation, he analysed the interlinkages between governance and economic growth in the context of the Indian States. He is the recipient of the ‘IFCI Best Thesis Proposal Award, 2018’ for his PhD thesis proposal at IIM Ahmedabad. He has published in various international peer reviewed journals and presented his research papers at various national and international conferences.

Dr. Riya Singla

Assistant Professor, Finance, Accounting, and Control, IIM Amritsar

Dr. Riya Singla is an Assistant Professor in the area of Finance, Accounting, and Control at the Indian Institute of Management Amritsar. She has completed her Ph.D. in Finance from the Indian Institute of Management Lucknow. Prior to her Ph.D., she had completed a Master's and a Bachelor's in Commerce from the University of Delhi. Her broad area of interest lies in Behavioral Finance. Her doctoral thesis was titled ‘Essays on the Role of Analysts in Market Efficiency.’ She has published in various peer-reviewed journals and presented her work at reputed national and international conferences.

Dr. Mohd Mujahid Khan

Assistant Professor, Quantitative Methods & Operations Management, IIM Amritsar

Dr. Mohd Mujahid Khan is an Assistant Professor in the area of Quantitative Methods & Operations Management at the Indian Institute of Management Amritsar. He was a Fellow for Academic and Research Excellence (FARE) and completed his Ph.D. at the Department of Management Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur. Dr. Khan works in the areas of Behavioral Operations, Operations-Finance Interface, and Supply Chain Resilience, where he primarily explores propositions, designs, and conducts experiments, analyzes and models data, and presents results. His research has been presented globally at over ten reputable events, including MSOM2025, EURO2025, MSOM2024, BOC2024, ORS2023, BOR2023, ISB-POMS, and POMS-India, among others. He has contributed a book chapter to the Springer International Series in Operations Research & Management Science and has a paper published in the Journal of Operations Management. Dr. Khan has received recognitions, including best paper and research showcase awards, outstanding PhD thesis award, multiple competitive travel scholarships, and has served as a member of professional societies and review committees.

Prof. Subra Tangirala

Area Chair, Management and Organization, Dean's Professor of Management, Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland

Prof. Subra Tangirala is Dean's Professor of Management. He teaches the leadership course in the MBA program. In his research, he explores reasons why employees often remain silent despite having information, concerns, or suggestions to share, and what organizations can do to facilitate candid exchange of ideas at the workplace. His research has been published in academic journals such as the Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Applied Psychology, Organizational Science, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, and Personnel Psychology. Tangirala received his PhD in organizational behavior and human resources from Purdue University. Prior to his doctoral studies, he worked for several years as a human resources manager.

Prof. David A. Kirsch

Affiliate Associate Professor, Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland

Prof. David A. Kirsch is Associate Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at the Robert H. Smith School of Business and the College of Information Studies (by courtesy). His research focuses on the intersection of problems of innovation and entrepreneurship, technological and business failure, and industry emergence and evolution. Because of the particular challenges associated with documenting the history of emerging industries, Prof. Kirsch has a long-standing interest in the business records of failed companies, especially startups. With colleagues at the i-School and elsewhere, he has helped preserve the records of many such firms. In addition to essays and articles, he has written two books — Bubbles and Crashes: The Boom and Bust of Technological Innovation (Stanford, 2019, co-authored with Brent Goldfarb) and The Electric Vehicle and the Burden of History (Rutgers, 2000) — that examine episodes of industry emergence.

Prof. Patrick Flood

Professor, DCU Business School, Dublin City University

Prof. Patrick C. Flood is a Full Professor of Organizational Behaviour at Dublin City University. He is an expert on organizational behaviour, leadership, and change management and teaches on executive programmes worldwide. He is the holder of both the DCU President's Overall Teaching Award and the DCU President's Research Award. Most recently, he served as an Erskine Fellow at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand. His research work focuses on the impact of leadership and human resource practices on organisational performance. He consults on top management team functioning and leadership development. He is a frequent industry conference speaker and media commentator. His advisory work is concerned with improving the effectiveness of organisations and top teams. Patrick received his PhD from the London School of Economics (LSE), where he was a British Council Scholar. He has held faculty and visiting appointments at a number of business schools, including London Business School, University of Limerick, University of Maryland, Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Canterbury, NZ, CUEB, PRC, and the Australian Graduate School of Management. Patrick is a former Erskine, Fulbright, EU HUMCAP, and British Council FCO Scholar. He is an elected Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences. His articles appear in the Journal of Management, Human Relations, Human Resource Management, Industrial Relations, Journal of Organizational and Occupational Psychology, and the Strategic Management Journal. His 12 books include Outsider Leadership (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018), Change lessons from the CEO (Jossey Bass, 2013) (http://www.managers.org.uk/bookclub-book-prize-march-2014); Persuasive Leadership: Lessons from the Arts (Jossey Bass, 2010), Leadership in Ireland (Blackhall, 2010); Strategy Implementation (Blackwell, 2000), Effective Top Management Teams (Blackhall, 2000) and Managing Without Traditional Methods (Addison Wesley, 1996).