Sougata Ray
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Sougata Ray
Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship (Practice)
Thomas Schmidheiny Chair and Executive Director - Thomas Schmidheiny Centre for Family Enterprise (ThS_CFE)
Thomas Schmidheiny Chair and Executive Director - Thomas Schmidheiny Centre for Family Enterprise (ThS_CFE)
Biography
Sougata Ray is a Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship (Practice), Thomas Schmidheiny Chair Professor, and Executive Director of the Thomas Schmidheiny Centre for Family Enterprise, at the Indian School of Business (ISB). Earlier, he served at the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta for over two decades as a Professor of Strategic Management, a member of the Board of Governors, and Dean. He was also a senior-level executive at Infosys Technologies Limited for two years in a strategic role as Head of innovation Lab. He is an alumnus of Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad and the Indian Institute of Engineering, Science and Technology, Shibpur.
Professor Ray’s research interests have evolved over the years in understanding various facets of strategic management, entrepreneurship, innovation and the governance of firms and business groups in high-growth economies. Given the ubiquity of family firms in India and observing how family owners and leaders play a pivotal role in shaping the future of enterprises, he was gradually drawn into family business research. In recent years, under the aegis of the Thomas Schmidheiny Centre for Family Enterprise, he has been spearheading a mega programme towards developing a solid research-based understanding of family firms and business groups in India and South Asia. He has also been leading a research programme in the areas of social entrepreneurship, corporate sustainability strategy and practices, bottom-of-the-pyramid initiatives, and involvement of corporations in inclusive and sustainable development.
Professor Ray is one of the most prolific and cited home-grown strategy scholars in India. He has been publishing regularly in reputed scholarly journals and presenting in leading peer-reviewed international conferences. He has received over half a million dollars in research grants, several prestigious research and teaching awards, and numerous award nominations.
He blends over three decades of experiences in diverse roles – as an international-quality academic, research, and institution builder, alongside hands-on corporate managerial and governance roles as an executive, member of the Board of Directors, and co-founder of startups.. He has been an advisor to numerous medium and large corporations, family businesses, and startups, and he has served as Principal Consultant to leading international development agencies. He currently sits on the governing and advisory boards of several listed and unlisted companies, startups, and social enterprises.
Professor Ray has taught in numerous executive education programmes and has designed and conducted many workshops exclusively for owner-managers, entrepreneurs, and C-level executives of companies in India, Asia, Middle East, Nordic and Scandinavian countries. Over the years, he has led over thirty C- level executive delegations to countries on every continent for high-level meetings with the ministers, high-ranking officials, multilateral agencies such as the WTO and ILO, Chambers of Commerce, MNCs, industrial organisations, research labs, and academic institutions.
Education
- PhD in Management, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, 1998
- Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Engineering, Science and Technology (IIEST), 1989
Experience
Academic positions
- 2022 - Present: Executive Director - Thomas Schmidheiny Centre for Family Enterprise, Indian School of Business
- 2021 - Present: Thomas Schmidheiny Chair & Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship (Practice), Indian School of Business
- 2021 - 2021: Executive Director Designate -Thomas Schmidheiny Centre for Family Enterprise, Indian School of Business
- 2012 - 2021: Professor, Indian Institute of Management Calcutta
- 2010 - 2012: Dean (Programme Initiatives) and Professor, Indian Institute of Management Calcutta
- 2006 - 2010: Professor, Indian Institute of Management Calcutta
- 2003 - 2006: Associate Professor, Indian Institute of Management Calcutta
- 2000 - 2003: Assistant Professor, Indian Institute of Management Calcutta
- 1998 - 2000: Assistant Professor, Indian Institute of Management Indore
- 1993 - 1997: Research Scholar, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad
Professional Positions
- 2011 - Present: Independent Director, Corporate Board of Tinplate Company of India Limited
- 2008 - 2010: General Manager & Head, Infosys Technologies Limited
- 2005 - 2008: Independent Director, Bongaigaon Refineries and Petrochemicals Limited (BRPL)
- 2002 - 2007: Independent Director, IBP Company Limited
- 1989 - 1993: Executive, Steel Authority of India Limited
Selected publications
- Lahiri, Somnath., Gadepalli, Sarada Devi., Mondal, Arindam., Ray, Sougata. (2025) "Towards a deeper understanding of performance variance in the context of business groups: A multilevel analysis at the business unit level", Long Range Planning, 58 (Issue 2)
- Bang, Nupur., Bhatia, Nandil., Ray, Sougata., Ramachandran, Kavil. (2024) "Pledging of Shares by Controlling Shareholders and Implications for Foreign Institutional Investors", Business Horizons
- Chanda, Sasanka., Ray, Sougata. (2023) "Is Comprehensiveness in Making Strategic Decisions always Helpful?", Australian Journal of Management
- Bang, Nupur., Ray, Sougata., Kumar, Satish. (2023) "Women in Family Business Research— What we know and what we should know", Journal of Business Research, 164
- Mondal, Arindam.., Ray, Sougata., Lahiri, Somnath.. (2022) "Family ownership, family management, and multinationality: Evidence from India", Journal of Business Research, Volume 138, 347-359
- Bhadra, Santanu., Ray, Sougata. (2022) "Outbreak of COVID-19: Economic Shocks and Corporate Responses in India", Journal of Asian Economics Letters, 3 (2, 2022)
- Mondal, Arindam., Ray, Sougata., Lahiri, Somnath. (2021) "Strategic Response to Inward Foreign Direct Investment: A Study of Indian Family Firms", Management International Review, Volume 61, 207–233
- Ray, Sougata., Chittoor, Raveendra., Aulakh, Preet. (2019) "Microfoundations of Firm Internationalization: The Owner CEO Effect", Global Strategy Journal, 9 (1), 42-65
- Ray, Sougata., Ramachandran, Kavil., Bhatnagar, Navneet. (2018) ""The Role of Familial Socio-Political Forces on New Venture Creation in Family Business,"", Cross Cultural & Strategic Management, 25 (4), 550-577
- Ray, Sougata., Chattterjee, Abha., Chanda, Sasanka Sekhar. (2018) "Administration of an organization undergoing change: Some limitations of the transaction cost economics approach"", International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 26(4), 691-708
- Ray, Sougata., Chaudhuri, Bikramjit Ray. (2018) "Business Group Affiliation and Corporate Sustainability Strategies of Firms: An Investigation of Firms in India", Journal of Business Ethics, 149 (2), 1-22
- Ray, Sougata., Mondal, Arindam., Ramachandran, Kavil. (2018) "How Does Family Involvement Affect a Firm’s Internationalization? An Investigation of Indian Family Firms", Global Strategy Journal, 8 (1), 73-105
- Ray, Sougata., Chakrabarti, A.B.. (2018) "“An exploratory study on the impact of pro-market reforms on the Indian corporate sector,”", Journal of Economic Policy Reform, 21 (1) (DOI: 10.1080/17487870.2016.1235498), 1-20
- Ray, Sougata., Chanda, Sasanka Sekhar., Mckelvey, Bill. (2018) "“The Continuum Conception of Exploration and Exploitation: An Update to March’s Theory”", M@n@gement, 21(3), 1050–1079
- Ray, Sougata., Venkatraman, S.. (2017) "“Environment, Social, and Governance Indices and Corporate Sustainability Research from a Strategic Perspective: A Reflective Appraisal and Suggestions for Improvement,”", Journal of Environmental Investing, 8(1), 74-91
- Ray, Sougata., Chanda, Sasanka Sekhar. (2016) "“Learning from Project Failure: Globalization Lessons for an MNC,”", Thunderbird International Business Review, 58 (6) (doi: 10.1002/tie.21776), 575-585
- Ray, Sougata., Sathyajit Gubbi., Preet Aulakh. (2015) "Exogenous shifts, business group affiliation and heterogeneity in firm responses", Organization Science, 26 (5), 1485-1501
- Ray, Sougata., Sasanka Sekhar Chanda. (2015) "Formal Theory Development by Computational Simulation Modeling: A Tale of Two Philosophical Approaches", Decision, 42 (3), 251-264
- Ray, Sougata., Sasanka Sekhar Chanda. (2015) "Optimal Exploration and Exploitation: The Managerial Intentionality Perspective", Computational and Mathematical Organizational Theory, 21 (3), 247-273
- Ray, Sougata., Raveendra Chittoor., Preet Aulakh. (2015) "What drives overseas acquisitions by Indian firms? A behavioural risk-taking perspective", Management International Review, 55 (2), 255-275
- Ray, Sougata., Raveendra Chittoor., Preet Aulakh. (2015) "“Investments in innovation in developing economy firms: the role of accumulative and assimilative learning,”", Global Strategy Journal, 5, 133-153
- Ray, Sougata., Sathyajit Gubbi., Raveendra Chittoor., Preet Aulakh., M.B. Sarkar. (2010) "Do International Acquisitions by Emerging Economy Firms Create Shareholder Value? The Case of Indian Firms", Journal of International Business Studies, 41, 397–418
- Ray, Sougata. (2009) "A comment on Revisiting the Internationalization – performance relationship: Implication for emerging economy firms", Decision, 36 (2), 40-44
- Ray, Sougata., Sathyajit Gubbi. (2009) "International acquisitions by Indian firms: Some observations and implications for future research on emerging multinationals", Indian Journal of Industrial Relations, Special Issue on Global Indian Firms, 45 (1), 11-26
- Ray, Sougata., Raveendra Chittoor., Preet Aulakh., M.B. Sarkar. (2009) "Third-World Copycats’ to ‘Emerging Multinationals’: Institutional Transformation and Strategic Renewal in the Indian Pharmaceutical Industry", Organization Science, 20, 187-205
- Ray, Sougata., Raveendra Chittoor., Preet Aulakh., M.B. Sarkar. (2008) "Strategic Responses to Institutional Changes: ‘Indigenous Growth’ Model of the Indian Pharmaceutical Industry", Journal of International Management, 14 (3), 252-269
- Ray, Sougata., Raveendra Chittoor. (2007) "Internationalization Paths of Indian Pharmaceutical Firms: A Strategic Group Analysis", Journal of International Management, 13 (3), 338-355
- Ray, Sougata. (2006) "Resources, Competences and Capabilities Conundrum: A Back-To-Basics Call", Decision
- Ray, Sougata., A. Chakrabarty. (2006) "Strategic change of firms in response to economic liberalisation in an emerging market economy", International Journal of Strategic Change Management
- Ramachandran, Kavil., Ray, Sougata. (2006) "Networking and Resource Strategies in New Ventures: a study of information technology start-ups", Journal of Entrepreneurship, 15 (2), 146-168
- Ramachandran, Kavil., T P Devarajan., Ray, Sougata. (2006) "Corporate Entrepreneurship: How?", Vikalpa, 31 (1), 85-97
- Ray, Sougata. (2004) "Discerning Corporate Strategy", General Management Review, 4(2), April-June, 21-29
- Ray, Sougata. (2004) "Environment-Corporate Strategy-Performance Linkages: A Study of Indian Firms during Economic Liberalization", Vikalpa, The Journal of Decision Makers (29 (2)), 9-23
- Ray, Sougata. (2003) "Strategic Adaptation of Firms during Economic Liberalisation: Emerging Issues and a Research Agenda", International Journal of Management, 20(3), 271-281
- Ray, Sougata., Ramachandran, Kavil. (2002) "New Venture Resource Strategy in High Velocity Environment", General Management Review, 4(4), October-December, 10-20
- Ray, Sougata. (2002) "Towards A Reconciliation of Choice versus Determinism Debate: A Model of Organisation - Environment Coevolution", Management and Change (6(1)), 1-35
- Ray, Sougata. (2001) "Do Entrepreneurial Owners Make Firms More Responsive? A Study of Ownership Effects on Firms’ Strategic Response to Economic Liberalisation in India", Sasin Journal of Management (7(1)), 73-86
- Ray, Sougata. (2000) "Strategic Adaptation during Economic Liberalisation: A Study of Indian Manufacturing Firms", Decision (27(1)), 117-134
- Ray, Sougata., S, Chaudhuri. (1997) "Competitiveness conundrum: literature review and reflections", Economic and Political Weekly (32(48)), M83-M91
- Ray, Sougata., S, Chaudhuri. (1997) "Competitiveness: A Managerial Perspective", Strategic Marketing, 1(1), 16-26
- Ray, Sougata. (1997) "Developing competitiveness of NICs: A policy perspective", Journal of Indian Management and Strategy, 2(2), 14-21
- Ray, Sougata. (1997) "The Competitive Spirit", Indian Management, 35 (4), 39-45
- Ray, Sougata., Ramachandran, Kavil. (1996) "Towards a Framework for a Comprehensive Theory of Entrepreneurship", Journal of Entrepreneurship, 5 (1), 1-22
- Bhadra, Santanu., Ray, Sougata., Manikutty, Sankaran., Ramachandran, Kavil. (2022) "Family Business Groups in India: Perspectives on Their Roles, Strategies, and Innovations", Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, 159–185
- Ray, Sougata., Bhadra, Santanu. (2020) "Indian Family Firms in Emerging Digital Economy: An Analysis of Digital Technology Adoption", Routledge
- Ramachandran, Kavil., Ray, Sougata., Basuthakur, Yashodhara. (2020) "Changing Landscape of Indian Family Businesses", Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd, 169–184
- Ray, Sougata., Anjan Ghosh. (2014) "Evolutionary Dynamics of Organizational Legitimacy of a Social Enterprise in a Developing Economy", Springer
- Ray, Sougata., Mukherjee, Indrajit. (2009) "Founding context, business model and performance of new ventures in emerging economies-a longitudinal study", Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research, Babson College, Boston
- Ray, Sougata., Munish Kumar. (2009) "Parivaar: A Family of Destitute Children", Tata McGraw-Hill,
- Ray, Sougata., R. Das., Raveendra C. (2009) "WIMI Long Duration Executive Education", Tata McGraw-Hill,
- Ramachandran, Kavil., Ray, Sougata. (2008) "The role of government in the formation of late emerging entrepreneurial clusters of India", Phillip Phan, S.Venkataraman and R.Velamuri, Entrepreneurship in Emerging Regions around the World: Theory, Evidence and Implications, 228-275
- Ramachandran, Kavil., Ray, Sougata. (2005) "Creating IT Industrial Clusters: Learning from strategies of early and late movers", Information Communication Technology and Economic Development: Learning from the Indian Experience
- Ray, Sougata. (2005) "The Essence of Strategy in Managing Business in the 21st Century", Oxford University Press
- Ray, Sougata. (2004) "Behaviour of Firms during Economic Liberalisation: Conceptual Propositions and an Integrative Model." In Transformative Organisations: Global Perspective", Sage Publications, 421-440
- Ray, Sougata., S, Chakraborthy. (2003) "Business failure in the digital world in Management of Research and Development in the New Millennium", Macmillan
- Ray, Sougata., S, Khanna., A, Sen. (2001) "Tube Investments of India Limited: Repositioning in a Liberalising Economy," in World Class in India", Penguin Books India
- Ray, Sougata., Ramachandran, Kavil. (1998) "A framework and entrepreneurial typology for developing comprehensive theory of entrepreneurship in Entrepreneurship and Innovation: Models for Development", Sage Publications
- Bang, Nupur., Ray, Sougata., Bhatia, Nandil., Ramachandran, Kavil. (2021) "Share Pledging and its Consequences: A Study of Indian Firms (White Paper)"
- Bang, Nupur., Bhatia, Nandil., Ray, Sougata., Ramachandran, Kavil. (2020) "Family Businesses and India's Transition to a Services Led Economy (1991 – 2018)"
- Bang, Nupur Pavan., Ray, Sougata., Ramachandran, Kavil., Vishwanathan, Anierudh. (2018) "Family Businesses: Promoters’ Skin in the Game 2001-2017 (White Paper)"
- Bang, Nupur Pavan., Ray, Sougata., Ramachandran, Kavil. (2017) "Family Businesses-The Emerging Landscape, 1990 - 2015 (White Paper)"
- KATHURIA, ABHISHEK., Ray, Sougata., Karhade, Prasanna., Sachdeva, Abhishek. (2024) "How do family businesses embark on digital transformation? a call for future IS research", Springer Nature Switzerland, 99-118
- Ray, Sougata. (2017) ""Theorizing "Strategic Transition towards Organizational Hybridism": Action Research with CINI India"", Academy of Management Best Paper Proceedings
- Ray, Sougata., Chittoor, Raveendra., Aulakh, Preet. (2013) "Managerial intentionality and Internationalization of emerging market multinationals", Academy of International Business Annual Meeting
- Ray, Sougata., Gubbi, Sathyajit., Aulakh, Preet. (2009) "Do business groups enable or constrain the strategic transformation of affiliated firms?", Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management
Cases published
- Ray, Sougata., Mehrotra, Sonia., Sharma, Pramodita., Ramachandran, Kavil. (2025) "Thermax: Balancing Growth and Sustainability", Harvard Business Publishing, 17
- Bang, Nupur., Ray, Sougata., Ollapally, Tara. (2024) "Breaking up Amicably : Leveraging Mediation in Phoenix", Harvard Business Publishing, 14
- Chittoor, Raveendra., Sethuram, Shridhar., Ray, Sougata. (2024) "Educational Initiatives (Case A) —Balancing Purpose and Profits", Harvard Business Publishing, 21
- Chittoor, Raveendra., Sethuram, Shridhar., Ray, Sougata. (2024) "Educational Initiatives (Ei) in the age of Artificial Intelligence (Case B)", Harvard Business Publishing, 10
- Malik, Tajuddin., Bang, Nupur., Ray, Sougata. (2024) "Kanwal: Navigating uncertainity and building for tomorrow", Harvard Business Publishing (ISB440-PDF-ENG), 14
- Bhatnagar, Navneet., Ray, Sougata., Ramachandran, Kavil., Garg, Moksh. (2023) "Mariwala's Family Entrepreneurship Challenges (A)", Harvard Business Publishing (ISB374-PDF-ENG), 19
- Bhatnagar, Navneet., Ray, Sougata., Ramachandran, Kavil., Garg, Moksh. (2023) "Mariwala's Family Entrepreneurship Challenges (B)", Harvard Business Publishingaa, 16
- Bhatnagar, Navneet., Ramachandran, Kavil., Calabro, Andrea., Ray, Sougata. (2018) "Merck, Darmstadt: Sustaining Legacy Beyond 350 Years", Harvard Business Publishing
- Ray, Sougata., Roy, Kaushik. (2017) "Birla Sun Life Asset Management Company - Charting a Unique Success Trajectory", International Academy of Case studies
- Ray, Sougata., Roy, Kaushik. (2017) "Birla Sun Life Asset Management Company - Charting a Unique Success Trajectory – Instructor’s Note", International Academy of Case studies
- Ray, Sougata., S. Venkatraman. (2014) "The Caribbean Information and Credit Rating Services Limited (CariCRIS) (A)", Richard Ivey Publishing
- Ray, Sougata., S. Venkataraman. (2014) "The Caribbean Information and Credit Rating Services Limited (CariCRIS) (B)", Richard Ivey Publishing.
- Ray, Sougata., Anjan Ghosh., Indranil Biswas. (2013) "Child in Need Institute: Non-Profit or Hybrid?", Richard Ivey Publishing.
- Ray, Sougata., S. Chakraborty., S. Sharma. (2008) "Samsung’s Entry into India (A)", Richard Ivey Publishing
- Ray, Sougata., S. Chakraborty., S. Mishra. (2008) "Samsung’s Entry into India (B)", Richard Ivey Publishing.
- Ray, Sougata., S. Khanna., A. Sen. (2000) "Tube Investments of India (A) & (B)", Penguin Books India
In the press
- January 1, 2025: Kumar Mangalam Gets Ready to Fight for Birla’s Future, Outlook Business.
- October 27, 2024: Ratan Tata's undying legacy: How one man transformed the Tata Group into a global business empire, Business Today.
- August 1, 2024: The Peacemaker, Outlook Business.
- May 30, 2024: ISB global report uncovers power of legacy, Bizz Buzz.
- May 30, 2024: ISB’s report shows role of legacy in success of family businesses, The Hindu Business Line.
- May 7, 2024: The Family Business Saga: Business Succession should be Vision-Led, Mint.
- April 22, 2024: Harmonising family business dynamics: The role of mediation in sibling rivalry, Financial Express.
- March 11, 2024: Navigating Succession Storms: A Mediation Odyssey in Family Business, Financial Express.
- March 3, 2024: Mediation in family business disputes: A holistic approach beyond failed negotiations, Financial Express.
- December 24, 2023: Nurturing diversity and women’s leadership in family enterprises: A call to action, Economic Times.
- December 12, 2023: Indian Family Office Thought Leaders 2023, Priwexus.
- November 29, 2023: Gender equity infamily business inevitable : Experts at ISB roundtable, The Hindu Business Line.
- November 24, 2023: Religare's Saluja, Baba Kalyani's sister or Singhania's ex-wife, the Spotlight falls on Women's Corporate War, Economic Times.
- September 29, 2023: The Change Makers of India, Economic Times.
- September 22, 2023: Pledging of Shares by Promoters of Family Firms in India: Regulatory Concerns and Recommendations, Prime Database.
- June 27, 2023: Why India's B-schools should take the issue of gender parity more seriously, Business Today.
- May 29, 2023: Entrepreneurs Play Book, Business Today.
- May 9, 2023: ESG and Stakeholder Capitalism: Seeking Value for All, Outlook.
- April 26, 2023: How N. Chandrasekaran charted a new course for theTata group, Business Today.
- April 5, 2023: What family and non-family businesses can learn from each other, Economic Times.
- March 14, 2023: Leveraging the power of an independent board, Financial Express.
- March 7, 2023: Managing Differences in the Family to Prevent Destruction of Business and Wealth, Economic Times.
- January 11, 2023: Book launch - A Talk On Entrepreneurship With Dr BVR Mohan Reddy, Sakshi, Telangana Today, India Education Diary, Navayuga Sandesh, Namaste Telangana.
- November 15, 2022: Tricks to Ensure the Next Generation becomes capable to take over the Family Business, Economic Times.
- September 18, 2022: Rise of the Daughters, Business Today.
- September 7, 2022: Indian Family Businesses are Indian Economy's Backbone - CII, The Himachal Times, The Hawk, The Garwhal Post.
- August 10, 2022: India at 75: Family Businesses that Reform, Rethink and Reinvent, Rule, Financial Express.
- July 6, 2022: Ambani Succession Journey – Well Begun But Not Over, BQ Prime.
- June 28, 2022: What Drives Resilience in Family Businesses, Business Journal, Financial Express, MSN News, Times of India, Babushahi, India Education Diary,.
- April 18, 2022: Shareholder capitalism to stakeholdercapitalism: Are Indian Family Firms Prepared?, Money Control.
- April 5, 2022: Family Firms in India: Performance and Relevance, Money Control.
- April 5, 2022: Why the Rs 4.6 lakh crore Pledged Promoter Shares Matter for India Inc.,?, Financial Express.
- March 29, 2022: Family firms: Preordained to be governed by passion and purpose, Money Control.
- September 8, 2021: Some Firms Create Value using Funds Raised via Pledging of Shares, finds ISB study, Hindu Business Line.
