emerging business trends and management practices: lessons from the pandemic

Explores the dramatic changes in the business environment from the phenomenal impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. It highlights the nuances of business growth and sustainability and different management functions where change results in new management trends and business models followed by innovative ways for competition.

Himanshu Rai, PhD, is the Director of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Indore, India. Before joining IIM, Indore he was teaching postgraduate and doctoral students at Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Lucknow. He is the former Dean at MISB Bocconi (India Campus of Bocconi, Milan) and Professor at the SDA Bocconi School of Management, Milan, Italy. Professor Rai is an educationist and an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, India. He has authored many books and dozens of research articles that have been published in international journals of high repute. His profile includes a stint of over eight years at Tata Steel, India, where he played a pivotal role in developing quality systems for his departments and communication policy for the company. Prof. Rai has trained over 20,000 professionals, both in the private sector as well as in government. He provides strategic consultancy to the Government of India and has audited programs sponsored by the Planning Commission of India. He also provides strategic consultancy to state governments in areas of restructuring, strategic HR management, and employee development. An expert in interpersonal negotiation, he provides consultancy in negotiation to individuals and organizations. His core area is human resource management, wherein he focuses on negotiation, mediation, arbitration, strategic HRM, and leadership. He frequently conducts training programs and workshops for executives as well as bureaucrats around the world. He has earlier taught in the HR area at XLRI Jamshedpur, India. As the Convener of CAT 2010, he successfully led the largest format change in the world’s testing history, exceeding all global standards of testing. Through his initiatives, gender and educational background parity was achieved by IIMs. Dr. Rai is a celebrated academician and researcher in the field of management.

Mubashir Majid Baba, PhD, is presently a faculty member at the Department of Management Studies at the University of Kashmir, Jammu and Kashmir, India. Dr. Baba has two books to his credit and has published papers in national and international journals (Scopus/SSCI indexed). He has also presented papers at national and international conferences, and has attended many workshops, seminars, and conferences around the country. He has also remained associated with the Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow (IIML) as Project Fellow. He is also a columnist for various newspapers, writing on topics in business management. His areas of interest include strategic business management, organizational behavior, human resource management, leadership, and emotional intelligence. Dr. Baba holds a PhD in Management from the University of Kashmir and a master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA) from Central University of Kashmir, India. In addition, he holds a postgraduate diploma in International Business Operations (PGDIBO) and in Information Technology (PGDIT). Dr. Baba was selected for a prestigious Stipendium Hungaricum Scholarship 2015 by the Tempus Public Foundation and the University Grants Commission (UGC) for a PhD program in University of Kosovar (doctoral school for management and organization science), Hungary.

Mansi Babbar is presently Assistant Professor at the University of Delhi, India. She has been awarded an Emerging Scholar Award by the University of Illinois Research Park for her outstanding contribution towards research in the field of management. She has also been honored with the BLAZER COLOR Award for her contribution towards university student placements. She has authored books and published numerous papers in Scopus/SSCI-indexed and peer-reviewed journals of international repute and has presented her research at various national and international conferences organized by prestigious institutions worldwide, such as the University of Navarra, Spain; Chapman University, California; and Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode, India. Her writings on critical issues in national newspapers and magazines have been well received and highly appreciated. She has also undertaken courses at the University of Amsterdam, Netherlands, and IESE Business School, Spain. She has been invited to various research workshops and faculty development programs. She was also invited as evaluator by the Government of India for a national-level event and as coordinator for various university events. Her areas of interest include strategic business management, human resource management, organizational behavior, and workforce diversity management.