SFU visiting scholar Kanika Tandon Bhal took her passion for behavioral psychology into the workplace and has been making her mark on the study of business management ever since.
A professor who recently headed the Department of Management Studies (DMS) at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Delhi (2012-2016), Prof. Bhal specializes in strategic leadership, environmental responsibility and business ethics. She is the first to visit SFU through the Varshney Visiting Scholars program in Indian Studies.
Currently serving as Modi Foundation chair, Prof. Bhal also heads a centre of excellence on business ethics, corporate governance and corporate social responsibility at IIT Delhi.
Based at SFU Vancouver’s Venture Labs since September, she is meeting with students, faculty, and industry leaders, sharing her expertise and learning how business management practices here compare with those in India.
“I am a psychologist by training, and moved from a humanities background to business over 25 years ago,” she says. “This move to business management was greatly facilitated by my experience as a visiting scholar at the Sloan Institute of Management at MIT. The experience influenced my thinking and I knew what I wanted to do. My interest in understanding human behavior and workplace management was set. When I returned to India, I stayed in the field.”
Upon her return from MIT she landed her job at the IIT Delhi. As the economy opened up and businesses began flourishing, there were opportunities to both apply and test her expertise. “We were a closed economy, and when we began to open the economy to the private sector, it was a new phase and businesses were getting into India,” she recalls.
“It was a time when much needed to be done to advance understanding, as businesses were traditionally run differently in India. It was a fascinating time to turn my focus to organizational behavior.”
As businesses grew, the MBA became one of the most popular professional degrees in India. “There was a huge demand, and those studying in programs, like engineering, often ended up doing an MBA. It became highly valued by business organizations across the board, which resulted in a whole range of new programs.
“The concept of management that originated in North America became India’s adopted model of business education. It remains about 80 per cent that way, though we have developed our niches and continue to incorporate Indian concepts, value and culture.”
One of the latest IIT initiatives has students taking global field studies, which involves spending 10-12 days in another country, learning about its business culture and government. “Students who are preparing to be managers today need to think globally, and to do that, they must experience it,” she says. “At the same time, we apprise them of the Indian realities through a social sector engagement process, where students understand and work for more inclusive growth. So they see both the global as well as the local realities.”
Meanwhile her latest research focus is related to the environmental responsibilities of different sectors. Plans for a collaborative study with SFU researchers will compare regulations of environmentally responsible practices here and in India.
“In India, there is also a debate between development and the environment; we are a developing economy, and for development to happen, you will have some trade off with the environment,” she says. “We must have strong regulations and policies concerning environmental responsibility. We don’t want to make mistakes as we leapfrog and learn from others’ experiences. As a member of several company boards and government committees, I’m hopeful that I will have opportunities for input.”
The Visiting Scholars Program in Indian Studies was first established by SFU and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) and was named the Hari and Madhu Varshney Visiting Scholars Program in Indian Studies in recognition of the Varshneys’ generous investment.
The program will foster and strengthen cultural relations by hosting world-class Indian scholars from a wide range of disciplines such as international studies, contemporary arts, business and world literature. SFU is the first western Canadian university to receive support from the ICCR to create such a program.
