Faculty

A rich and lively student-teacher interaction is at the heart of SPJIMR's success. Our faculty members are known to be great teachers, who can bring alive the subject, encourage critical thinking and offer a wider, holistic perspective that is critical in today's complex business environment.

Our faculty members are drawn from academia, industry, government sector and non-profits. Collectively, they bring in a wide range of experience in building and delivering knowledge and skills to prepare participants for leadership roles.

The teaching-learning process at SPJIMR is vastly enriched by a series of non-classroom initiatives through which our faculty help build among participants the right attitudes to enable them lead with purpose, meaning and with an idea of service to society.

The average experience of the core faculty is over 18 years, with several who have come to academics after years of experience as practitioners. In addition, we have around 20 adjunct faculty and several more visiting faculty who engage with participants of various courses.

FACULTY SEARCH

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Overview

Dr. Mihir Ajgaonkar

Associate Professor
Group Head, People and Performance & Business Communication

mihir.ajgaonkar@spjimr.org

BSc (Physics), Masters in Personnel Management (SIBM), PhD (B.I.T., Mesra), Certification in Intervention for Strategic HRM & Change, Ross Business School, University of Michigan

Faculty, S.P. Jain Institute of Management Studies and Research, Mumbai.

Mihir is a Human Resource Professional with an extensive leadership experience in consulting and HR leadership positions in diverse national cultures (India, UK, Far East, South Asia, Middle East). He has served as senior vice president & Head HR in Reliance Power Ltd; Head – HR & Change Management, L&T Heavy Engineering & other L&T group organizations; Head - Organization Development, Zensar Technologies (a Fujitsu joint venture); TQM Manager, Marico Industries Limited; Manager- Corporate Human Resources, Taj Group of Hotels.

During his versatile career, Mihir has led transformation consulting assignments for a global wealth management centre of the largest Swiss banking corporation in HR process reengineering and culture building initiatives and for other clients in multiple geographies. Mihir has effectively contributed to the turnaround of a premier construction equipment business through organization development interventions and executed HR integration as part of M&As.

Mihir has also published research papers, case studies and articles in leading journals and co-authored compendium “geometry of HR”.

He is an avid reader and loves scuba diving & travelling.

Experience

Dr. Mihir Ajgaonkar

Associate Professor
Group Head, People and Performance & Business Communication

mihir.ajgaonkar@spjimr.org

Senior Vice President & Head HR

Reliance Power Ltd
June 2014 - October 2014

Leading HR function of Reliance Power (sales: $ 2 Billion) as a member of the executive committee across 2 ultra mega and 4 mega thermal power plants.
HR due diligence for proposed acquisition of the hydro power assets to make the organization the largest private sector power producer in India
Building talent management and HPWT processes.
Initiating Integration of HR functions as a "business partner" to the line.
Leading strategic talent acquisition at CXO and senior management level.
Driving right sizing efforts within the organization.

Head - HR, Heavy Engineering ( July 2011 to June 2014) (Member of L&T Top Talent Cadre)

Larsen & Toubro Limited
August 2003 - June 2014

Leading HR function of L&T Heavy Engineering (sales: $ 1 Billion) as member of top management team across business verticals: Process plants equipment, aerospace, nuclear power, heavy forgings and strategic defence systems with multi- location presence in India and Middle East (manpower strength: 8000).
Facilitation of strategic business& organization excellence plans, developing& aligning HR strategies in congruence with business plans.
Developing thought leadership and implementing talent management strategies for organizational growth through competency profiling, succession management, leadership development, career planning for high flyers and development centres.
Driving employee engagement &vibrant organization culture through people & organization effectiveness and employee engagement (Gallop Q12) interventions.
Executive coaching for high flyers through L&T corporate processes.
Implementation of performance management&360* feedback systems, learning & development processes to develop sharp performance focus.
Conducting leadership training & other senior management training programmes.
Building cross cultural sensitivity within organization and HR domain expertise in multiple geographies for future business forays, HR due diligence regarding M&A proposals.
Overseeing strategic talent acquisition in India, Russia, USA, Brazil &West Africa
Providing guidance to unit HR teams for effective management of cordial industrial relations, HR systems and HR excellence journey.

Head - HR & Change Management) L&T Financial Services (March 2010 - July 2011),

Larsen & Toubro Limited
August 2003 - June 2014

Leading the HR team for L&Ts business initiative in the financial services sector in retail finance, corporate &infrastructure finance, private equity & mutual funds & insurance (manpower strength:2000). Driving business growth through appropriate HR strategies, organization structuring and culture building, talent acquisition, people & organization effectiveness interventions.
As a member of the top management, actively contributing to the start up venture in insurance space to build a performance centric organization through HR structures, policies & processes.
Leading HR integration regarding M&A of an asset management company.
Internal Project Manager at L&T Corporate for "L&T Future Leaders" project being undertaken in consultation with Mckinsey & Co to design a leadership development process for future global business leaders for L&T. Involved defining and validation of leadership archetypes and archetype parameters based on business strategies, leadership potential assessment, pear coaching & mentoring, development through Mckinsey Forum & Field methodology.

Head HR & Change Management, Machinery & Industrial Product Division (September 2004- February 2010) &
Head HR, Cement Division (July 2003 - September 2004):

Larsen & Toubro Limited
August 2003 - June 2014

Active facilitation for implementation of business strategy projects, design & deployment of HR strategy, organization and people effectiveness programmes within Machinery and Industrial Products Division (turnover approx. $ 1 billion), a conglomerate of L&T businesses and joint ventures with other world leaders (L&T Komatsu, L&T CNH, Audco India and others, with businesses among two verticals: Industrial Products & Machinery & construction Equipment; in India & China (manpower strength: 7500).
Leading due diligence on HR for probable acquisitions in Europe, organization planning and HR process design & people integration, management of cross-cultural diversities for joint ventures in China,
Design and implementation of Talent Management, Employee Engagement processes, Learning& Development and Compensation Strategies.
Leading finalization of division wide manpower plans & talent acquisition of senior management personnel & for leadership positions.
Successfully handled HR integration aspects regarding de-merger of businesses& its subsequent merger with other business entities: UltraTech Cement Limited, L&T John Deere & Glass Businesses.
Led the transformation efforts of TPM & Six Sigma and change over from functional to process based organization in manufacturing arena of cement business (manpower strength:6000) to achieve cost leadership.

Head - Organization Development

Fujitsu joint venture (Zensar) in IT & Transformation Consulting
June 2001 - July 2003

Contributed in enhancement performance focus and people effectiveness through innovative OD interventions and employee engagement programmes in this company of 3500 software engineers, with operations in 18 countries. Consulted a global banking organization as Principle Consultant for Strategic HR Consulting.
Led implementation of HR processes inclusive of performance management; career planning and succession management initiatives (through competency modeling, 360* feedback and assessment center methodologies) as per PCMM level 5 standards.
Facilitated HRMS implementation (Peoplesoft version 8) to improve HR effectiveness.

Associate Professor

N. L. Dalmia Institute of Management Studies & Research (University of Bombay)
February 2000 - May 2001

Taught Organization Behavior, Human Resource Management & Organization Development to graduate students for Masters in Business Administration.

TQM Manager

Marico Industries Limited
January 1999 - February 2000

Actively contributed to the development of HR strategy for this FMCG major. Led the implementation of organization wide TQM road map. Also facilitated design of Balance Business Scorecard & management review process, process & product benchmarking, Keizen and TPM programmes.
Reengineered key HR processes and implemented HRMS to improve effectiveness of HR services.

Manager - Corporate Human Resources

Taj Group of Hotels
June 1986 - January 1999

Formulated HR policies and supervised HR policy deployment for properties in UK, Middle East, Africa, Sri Lanka & Maldives.
Institutionalized training & development systems for senior managers. Conceptualized and spearheaded a leadership and organization development intervention to build leadership pipeline and build a performance centric & service oriented culture. Enhanced customer satisfaction levels by 20%. Also assisted in propelling the organization on business excellence journey as per Malcolm Baldrige model. Actively established performance planning and counseling practices with focus on stretched objectives and supported the efforts through design of variable performance bonus and cafeteria approach to compensation management. Managed talent acquisition for senior management cadre.

Various Management Positions beginning a career as management trainee

Independently handled establishment of HR operations for green field hotel projects employee unrest at start up frozen foods business, wage settlements with unions and discipline management.

Research & Publications

Dr. Mihir Ajgaonkar

Associate Professor
Group Head, People and Performance & Business Communication

mihir.ajgaonkar@spjimr.org

Ajgaonkar M, Baul U, Phadke S M. "A model to ascertain relationships between organizational citizenship behaviour, job characteristics, EP&PO expectancies, and psychological contract within Indian industrial environment." IFRSA Business Review (IBR), March 2012, Volume 2, Issue 1, pp 32 - 42.

Ajgaonkar M, Baul U, Phadke S M "An empirical study of relationships between relational psychological contract (employees´ perception about their commitments to the employer) and employees´ preferences towards OCB factors in Indian organizations". The Management Accountant, the Institute of Cost Accountants of India, May 2012, Vol.47 No.5, p.p. 569 - 572.
Ajgaonkar M, Baul U, Phadke S M "Relationship between Organizational Citizenship Behaviour and Job Characteristics Model of Motivation: An Empirical Study". NMIMS Management Review, Volume XXII, April - May 2012, pp. 51 - 72
Ajgaonkar M. and Ajgaonkar M. "Service Strategy Development and Implementation: The Balance Scorecard way", SIBM Essays on Management, Vol. 1, April 2003, pp 212 to 219.
Sadri S., Ajgaonkar M., " Developing capacities for innovation and learning in an organization", Prestige Journal of Management, 2001,Vol. 6, No. 1 -2, April - October 2002, pp 91 to 103.
Sadri S., Ajgaonkar M., Sadri J., "Geometry of HR", Himalaya Publications, India, 2001.
Ajgaonkar M., "Reading between the lines: Looking beyond myths and realities of employee focus", Human Capital, Vol. 4, No. 2, July 2000, pp. 40 to 46.
Ajgaonkar M."Face of the future: Competency and process based organization structures" Human Capital, Vol.3, No. 12, May 2000, pp. 38 to 43.
Ajgaonkar M., "Wings of Tomorrow: a competitive leadership model", Human Capital, Vol. 3, No. 10, March 2000, pp. 20 to 24.
Ajgaonkar M., ´Coming of Age: Models for designing people processes", Human Capital, Vol. 3, No. 9, February 2000, pp. 22 to 25.
Ajgaonkar M., "Moving with times: HR strategy", Human Capital, vol. 3, no. 7, December 1999, pp. 32 to 36.
Ajgaonkar M., Achieving zenith of performance through leadership fusion", Express Hotelier & Caterer, December 6, 1999,
Ajgaonkar M., "servicing the Service industry", Express Hotelier & Caterer, Vol. 5, no. 50, October 25, 1999, pp. 17.
Ajgaonkar M., "In the wonderland of Six sigma", Express Hotelier & Caterer, Vol. 5, no. 48, October 11, 1999, pp. 11.
Ajgaonkar M., "Eye of the beholder: Organizational Brand Value Mapping", Human Capital, Vol. 3, no. 5, October 1999, pp. 26 to 30.
Ajgaonkar M., ´Clash of Titans: Comparison of Leadership Models", Human Capital, Vol. 3, no. 3, August 1999, pp.28 to 34.
Ajgaonkar M., "Brand Value Mapping", Express Hotelier & Caterer, vol. 5, No. 40, August 16, 1999, Vol. 5, No.41, August 23, 1999, pp. 11, 11.
Ajgaonkar M., "QFD: The House of Quality", Express Hotelier & Caterer, August 9, 1999,Vol. 5, No. 39, pp.11,14.
Ajgaonkar M., "Process Vanguard: Know your customer", Express Hotelier & Caterer, Vol.5, no. 34, July 5, 1999, pp. 16.
Ajgaonkar M., "Achieving Excellence through TPM", Express Hotelier & Caterer, vol. 5, No. 31, June 14, 1999, vol. 5, No. 32, pp. 16, 16.