Labdhi Bhandari
Labdhi R. Bhandari | |
|---|---|
 Labdhi Bhandari at IIM Ahmedabad in 1977. | |
| Born | 29 July 1948 Khimel, Rajasthan, India |
| Died | 19 October 1988 (aged 40) |
| Citizenship | India |
| Alma mater | IIM Ahmedabad, Columbia Business School |
| Occupation | Professor |
Labdhi Bhandari (29 July 1948 – 19 October 1988[1]) was the State Trading Corporation of India Professor of Marketing at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad[2] and a widely respected authority on marketing in India.[3][4][5][6]
Early life and Education
Bhandari was born in 1948 in the village of Khimel, near Rani, Rajasthan, to Akal Kanwar Bhandari and her husband, Dhanpati Raj Bhandari, a successful lawyer in Sojat and a member of the Indian National Congress. He grew up in Sojat where he was initially home schooled and then attended a local hindi-medium government school. At the age of 14, he moved to Jodhpur for his undergraduate studies at the University of Jodhpur, taking a bachelor's degree in economics in 1965. He then applied and was admitted to the second batch of the new Post-graduate Programme in Management offered by the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, taking his diploma with the 5th rank in 1967, at the age of 19.[7][8]
Academic Career
Bhandari was recruited straight out of IIM Ahmedabad by Hindustan Lever Limited[9][10][11] to work in their marketing division. At HLL, he was the product manager of Surf (detergent)[12] and later headed the Client Services Group of the Marketing Research department.[13]
In 1972, Bhandari was recruited by Ravi J. Matthai to the faculty of his alma mater, the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. The institute sponsored his doctoral studies through a Ford Foundation grant and he earned his PhD in 1976 from the Columbia Business School working with Prof. John U. Farley[14] and writing a dissertation on Social Marketing.[10] His dissertation, entitled Communications for social marketing: a methodology for developing communication appeals for family planning programs, won the Honorable Mention in the John A. Howard/AMA Doctoral Dissertation Competition in 1976.[15] He is considered a pioneer of social marketing in India by his colleague Prof. Anil Kumar Gupta.[16] After completing his PhD, Bhandari returned to the faculty of Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad where he was acknowledged as an excellent teacher by his students and colleagues.[17][18][19] In time, he would be spoken of as the 'star' of the marketing faculty [17][20][21][22] and the leading marketing academic in the country.[23] He served as the Chairman of the Marketing Area and of the Management Education Program (MEP).[24] and was the first Chairman of the Kasturbhai Lalbhai Management Development Centre. He also chaired the Institute's Task Force on International Management. In 1986, he won a research award from the Colgate Darden Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia where he spent a summer.[25] According to V. Krishnamurthy, the then Chairman of the Board of Governors of IIM Ahmedabad, Bhandari was in the running to succeed NR Sheth as Director of the institute in 1989, after his name was prominently proposed by both the faculty and the alumni [26] and he had been sounded out about the likelihood of his selection just before his death in 1988.[27]
Management Consulting
Bhandari was a highly sought after management consultant.[28] His clients included Citibank India,[29] Hindustan Unilever, Marico,[30] Crompton Greaves, Lipton India, Madura Coats, Blue Star India, State Timber Corporation of Sri Lanka,[31] State Bank of India, Hindustan Motors, Automobile Products of India, Tea Board of India,[22] and Steel Authority of India. He served on the Board of directors of Enfield India,[32] EID Parry,[33] and the Cement Corporation of India. He also served as a consultant to the Commonwealth Secretariat for the management of public enterprises among its member countries.[34] He was a nominated member of the advisory group on Consumer Industries appointed by the Planning Commission of India. In the year of his death, he was nominated by the Ministry of Commerce as a member of the Steering Committee of the Trade Development Authority of India and the National Committee on the Long Term Strategy for the Development of the Tea Industry and Chairman of the sub-committee on Marketing and Export of Tea.[35]
Death and Legacy
He died in the crash of Indian Airlines Flight 113. The Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad instituted an endowment in his memory.[36] This endowment has helped fund 6 editions of the IIMA Conference on Marketing Paradigms for Emerging Economies, which also awards the Labdhi Bhandari best paper award.[37][38] The IIMA Alumni Trust has also instituted a scholarship in his memory.[39] Bhandari is the subject of the Reconstructing LRB biographical project.[3]
References
- ^ Indian Airlines Flight 113 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- ^ "IIM, Ahmedabad Annual Report 1987-88". Retrieved 15 January 2014.
- ^ a b "Reconstructing LRB: the-teacher". labdhibhandari.org. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
- ^ "» M. N. Vora: A Farewell to Indian Management Education’s Case Study Pioneer". knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
- ^ Seek: Find Your True Calling by Rakesh Godhwani
- ^ "Wasteside Story – Hari Menon". outlookindia.com. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
- ^ Reconstructing LRB: SL Rao remembers
- ^ Reconstructing LRB: R. Gopalkrishnan remembers
- ^ "Reconstructing LRB: R. Gopalkrishnan remembers..." labdhibhandari.org. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
- ^ a b "Reconstructing LRB: A 1985 interview with LRB..." labdhibhandari.org. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
- ^ "Labdi%20Bhandari%2013%2011%202009". slrao.com. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
- ^ http://www.labdhibhandari.org/2014/05/hrishikesh-bhattacharyya-remembers.html
- ^ "Reconstructing LRB: K. S. Srinivasa Murty remembers..." labdhibhandari.org. Retrieved 2014-04-04.
- ^ "Why Indians make best marketing brains - The Economic Times". economictimes.indiatimes.com. Retrieved 2014-04-04.
- ^ "American Marketing Association Foundation - Howard Recipients". themarketingfoundation.org. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
- ^ "Building institutions of excellence | Latest News & Updates at Daily News & Analysis". dnaindia.com. Retrieved 2014-04-04.
- ^ a b http://www.labdhibhandari.org/2009/03/dr-v-raghunathan-remembers.html
- ^ http://www.labdhibhandari.org/2009/10/dr-vasant-mote-remembers.html
- ^ http://www.labdhibhandari.org/search/label/the-teacher
- ^ http://www.labdhibhandari.org/2012/11/kapil-kapoor-remembers.html
- ^ http://www.labdhibhandari.org/2008_06_01_archive.html
- ^ a b http://www.labdhibhandari.org/2009/02/prof-sudas-roy-remembers.html
- ^ http://www.labdhibhandari.org/2009/03/harsh-mariwala-remembers.html
- ^ Financial Express: Sign up for the oldest executive plan
- ^ "US Grant for Indian", Times of India, April 20th, 1986, p9, Bennet, Coleman & Company Ltd.
- ^ http://www.labdhibhandari.org/2014/10/dr-v-krishnamurthy-remembers.html
- ^ http://www.labdhibhandari.org/2009/03/shyam-sunder-remembers.html
- ^ http://www.labdhibhandari.org/search/label/the-consultant
- ^ "Reconstructing LRB: Jerry Rao remembers..." labdhibhandari.org. Retrieved 2014-04-04.
- ^ "Marico Chairman Harsh Mariwala shares a lifetime of learning - Economic Times". articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com. Retrieved 2014-04-04.
- ^ Adventures in Management: A Saga of Managing in a Developing Country - Kenneth Abeywickrama - Google Boeken
- ^ http://www.labdhibhandari.org/2009/03/n-ramanathan-remembers.html
- ^ "Reconstructing LRB: MV Subbiah remembers..." labdhibhandari.org. Retrieved 2014-04-04.
- ^ The Parliamentarian, volumes 69-70, 1988, Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, Great Britain
- ^ IIMAlumnus magazine, 1989 issue
- ^ IIM Ahmedabad 27th Annual Report, 1988-89
- ^ 6th IIMA CONFERENCE ON MARKETING IN EMERGING ECONOMIES
- ^ "IIM-A to host 5th intl conference on marketing in emerging economies – Business Standard". business-standard.com. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
- ^ http://www.iimahd.ernet.in/users/webrequest/files/25jan12_GJC.pdf