
Dr C B RaoProfessorThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Ajit Singhvi Chair Professor
Academic Experience
Dr. C. Bhaktavatsala Rao received his Ph.D. Degree in Industrial Management and M.Tech. Degree in Industrial Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai. He received his B.E. Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati.
Experience
Dr. C. B. Rao has over 46 years of diversified experience in driving business and organizational growth in reputed world-class Indian companies, including subsidiaries of global MNCs. His expertise and experience covers pharmaceutical and automobile industries as well as other industries. He led multiple value-adding growth initiatives in the companies he was associated with, spanning conceptualization, execution and development of green-field and brown-field projects.
Dr. Rao has travelled across USA, Europe, Japan and Korea for business development and strategic alliances. He has built high-performance organisations with talent from multiple business and functional domains, and nurtured leadership and operating teams that could deliver competitive advantage.
Dr. C. B. Rao’s recent formal leadership assignment was as Executive Chairman and Managing Director at Pfizer Healthcare India Private Limited (2010-2015). Prior to that he was Deputy Managing Director of Orchid Pharma (1998-2010) and Head of Corporate Planning of Ashok Leyland and Hinduja Group (1978-1998). His initial assignments were in State Bank of India, Tata Motors and Scooters India (1974-1978).
In 2016, Dr. Rao founded LeaderCrest Academy to share his experience and expertise with professional and academic communities. LeaderCrest is currently into high quality academic publishing.
Dr. C. B. Rao serves as Ajit Singhvi Chair Professor in Management Studies at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai. He also supports select global and Indian corporations as Senior Advisor and Director on the Boards.
Teaching and Research Interests
Dr. C. B. Rao’s teaching and research interests include competitive strategy, strategic management, business leadership and entrepreneurship, among others.
NPTEL
Dr C. B. Rao has offered two courses of 12 weeks each on the NPTEL platform: “Entrepreneurship: Perspectives of Business Strategy and Economic Development” in January-April 2020 semester and “Leadership for India Inc: Practical Concepts and Constructs” in January-April 2021 semester.
Publications
Dr. C. B. Rao has contributed over 170 papers in reputed management journals and business forums. He has authored and published nine books on strategy and leadership under the LeaderCrest banner over the last five years. These are listed below:
-
From Start-up to Ramp-up: Indian Context and Global Insights (2016)
-
Technology and Competitive Strategy: Strategies for Innovators, Differentiators and Followers (2016)
-
Competitive Strategy: A Contemporary Retake (2016)
-
Leadership for India Inc.: An Experiential Treatise (2018)
-
India as Global Start-up Hub: Mission with Passion (2018)
-
India’s Economic Resurgence: A Modified Paradigm for a Welfare State (2018)
-
Work-Life Balance: Essays in Individual and Organizational Behavior (2019)
-
Product Strategy and Corporate Success: Concepts and Cases from the Indian Automobile Industry (2019)
-
Strategic Management: Practice and Philosophy for India Inc (2021)