Committee Chairs
Honorary Chair
Prof. Kayhan Tajeddini,
Professor of Strategic Management and International Business
Sheffield Business School, Service Sector Management, Sheffield Hallam University, City Campus, Howard Street, Sheffield S11 WB, UK.
Institute for International Strategy, Tokyo International University, Japan
Short Bio-data:
Dr. Kayhan Tajeddini is a highly distinguished academic and seasoned professional with extensive expertise in strategic management, international business, innovation, and entrepreneurship. He currently serves as a Full Professor of Strategic Management at Sheffield Hallam University, United Kingdom, and also holds faculty appointments at Tokyo International University, Japan, along with associations with other prestigious institutions worldwide. Born on December 3, 1966, Dr. Tajeddini holds dual Persian and Swiss citizenship, reflecting his strong international orientation and cross-cultural professional experience. Dr. Tajeddini earned his Ph.D. in Management from the University of Bradford, UK, where his doctoral research focused on innovativeness in the Swiss watch industry. He also holds a Master’s degree in Management from Mazandaran University, Iran, and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Management from the University of Tehran. His academic career spans several countries, including Sweden, Japan, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland, where he has made significant contributions to teaching, research, and academic leadership in the fields of innovation management, service marketing, strategic entrepreneurship, and international business. An accomplished researcher and mentor, Dr. Tajeddini has supervised numerous doctoral candidates and actively contributes to the global academic community. He serves on the editorial boards of leading international journals, including the International Journal of Hospitality Management and the Middle East Journal of Management. His scholarly work has been widely recognized, earning him multiple accolades such as the Emerald Literati Award for Outstanding Author Contributions. Dr. Tajeddini’s research interests encompass innovation in service industries, entrepreneurial orientation, cross-cultural and international management, and strategic innovation. He has published extensively in high-impact, internationally reputed journals and has successfully secured substantial research funding from international organizations and competitive grant bodies. His research influence is further evidenced by his inclusion among the world’s Top 2% most-cited scientists in the Stanford/Elsevier ranking from 2020 onwards. A multilingual scholar and experienced educator, Dr. Tajeddini has taught and mentored students from more than 85 nationalities. He has designed and delivered advanced courses in global marketing, strategic management, innovation, and quantitative research methods. Beyond academia, he brings a rich professional background, having held executive and advisory roles and actively contributed to cross-border strategic initiatives and international collaborations. Dr. Kayhan Tajeddini’s career is marked by a sustained commitment to advancing global management practices, fostering innovation, and bridging academic research with real-world strategic challenges, positioning him as a leading figure in contemporary management scholarship.
General Chair
Prof. Sikandar Ali Qalati,
Associate Professor in Marketing, Liaocheng University, Liaocheng, China
Short Bio-data:
Prof. Sikandar Ali Qalati is an accomplished academic and researcher currently serving as an Associate Professor of Marketing in the School of Business at Liaocheng University, Liaocheng, Shandong, China. He holds a Ph.D. in Management Science and Engineering from Jiangsu University, China, along with an MBA in Marketing from Sukkur Institute of Business Administration and a BBA in Business Administration from the University of Sindh, Pakistan. Prior to joining Liaocheng University in 2023, he served as an Associate Professor at Jiangsu University, where he was actively involved in teaching, research, and international academic collaboration. Prof. Qalati’s research interests encompass entrepreneurship and SME performance, digital and social media marketing, consumer behavior, sustainable marketing, environmental management, and technology adoption, with a strong emphasis on quantitative research methods. He has published extensively in reputable peer-reviewed international journals and his work has received significant global citations. Proficient in advanced analytical tools such as SmartPLS, AMOS, and SPSS, he actively contributes as a reviewer and editorial collaborator for several international journals. Prof. Qalati is widely recognized for his interdisciplinary and globally relevant research, as well as for fostering international research collaborations and contributing to contemporary developments in marketing and management scholarship.
Program Chair
Professor TC Gamage,
Professor, Management Studies, Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka
Short Bio-data:
Thilini C. Gamage is a Professor in Marketing in the Department of Marketing Management at Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka. In 2009, she earned a BSc. (Hons) in Management and Information Technology from the University of Kelaniya, graduating with first-class honours. That same year, she also completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing from the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), UK, which laid the foundation for her interdisciplinary approach to teaching and learning. In 2016, she received her PhD in Marketing from the University of Colombo. Prof. Gamage joined the Department of Marketing Management at Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka in 2010 and currently teaches both undergraduate and graduate students in the Faculty of Management Studies and the Faculty of Graduate Studies. Additionally, she serves as a visiting faculty member at various local and internationally affiliated universities. Her research interests are Digital Marketing, Technology Management, Tourism and Hospitality Marketing, Strategic Management, and Entrepreneurship. She has published articles in top-tier management and marketing journals, including Tourism Management (A*), Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services (A), Journal of Business Research (A), Journal of Product & Brand Management (A), Journal of Strategic Marketing (A), and International Journal of Hospitality Management (A*), among other outlets. She has also actively presented papers at international conferences and symposia globally and has been awarded several times for her outstanding research performance. Moreover, Prof. Gamage has won a few local and international research grants, including Special COVID-19 Project Grants with China, Japan, South Korea, and the ASEAN Region by Leading House Asia, ETH Zurich, Switzerland, and Postgraduate Research Grant by the University Grants Commission, Sri Lanka (2014 – 2016). She is currently the Managing Editor of the Asian Journal of Management Studies, published by the Faculty of Management Studies, Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka. She is also a Guest Editor/ Associate Editor for leading management journals, including Service Industries Journal, Annals of Leisure Research, Middle East Journal of Management, Iranian Journal of Management, and many more. She also serves on the editorial board and review panel of numerous journals and international conferences. Prof. Gamage has also been serving as the Director of the Staff Development Center of the Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka since December 2024.
Publication Chair
Dr. Anil Kumar Bandrana,
Guildhall School of Business and Law,
London Metropolitan University (LMU),
London, United Kingdom (UK)
Short Bio-data:
For the last twelve years, Dr. Anil Kumr Bandrana has been associated with teaching and research. Before joining LMU, he was Post-Doctoral Research Fellow in Decision Sciences at the Centre for Supply Chain Improvement, University of Derby, UK. He earned his Ph.D. in Management Science from ABV-Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management, Gwalior, India. He did his graduation in Mathematics (Hons) and M.Sc. (Mathematics) from Kurukshetra University, India. He earned his Master of Business Administration (MBA) and qualified National Eligibility Test (NET), in June 2011. He has contributed over 150+ research papers in internationally referred journals, and conferences at the international level. He has published his research work in A*/A as per ABDC indexed and 4*/3* as per ABS journals like the International Journal of Operations & Production Management (IJOPM), Transportation Research Part E Logistics and Transportation Review (TRE), Journal of Business Research (JBR), International Journal of Production Research (IJPR), Government Information Quarterly (GIQ), Production Planning & Control (PPC), Technological Forecasting and Social Change (TFSC), Business Strategy and the Environment (BSE), Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services (JRCS), Journal of Cleaner Production (JCP etc. Due to his remarkable contributions to the literature, he has been listed in the ‘World Ranking Top 2%’ researchers by Stanford University-Elsevier list in October 2022. He is an Associate Editor of Heliyon-Information Science (Elsevier) (Impact Factor: 3.776, SCIE/SSCI & Scopus Indexed) and the International Journal of Mathematical, Engineering and Management Sciences.
Organising Chair
Prof.(Dr.) Jayadev Kar, Ph.D,
Director, I.I.M.T, Bhubaneswar
Short Bio-data:
Dr. Jayadev Kar is a distinguished academician and administrator with a robust background in human resource development, management, and multidisciplinary education. With an MBA in Personnel and Marketing from Utkal University and a Ph.D. in Human Resource Development with specialization in MIS & HR, Dr. Kar has over three decades of influential experience in academia, leadership, and institutional development. His extensive contributions span across student-centric curriculum design, research, and administrative innovation. Formerly a Professor and Dean at the Regional College of Management, Bhubaneswar, and Technical Head at Pathani Samanta Planetarium, he has guided numerous Ph.D. theses and authored multiple books in vocational education. Currently serving as Director at Interscience Institute of Management & Technology, Bhubaneswar, Dr. Kar continues to drive academic excellence and institutional progress through outreach, scholarship, and strategic academic leadership.
International Advisory Committee Chair
Prof. Dr. Jochen Wirtz,
NUS Business School, National University of Singapore (NUS)
Short Bio-data:
Professor Jochen Wirtz is Vice Dean, MBA Programmes and Professor of Marketing at the NUS Business School, National University of Singapore (NUS). He is an international fellow of the Service Research Center at Karlstad University, Sweden, an Academic Scholar at the Cornell Institute for Healthy Futures (CIHF) at Cornell University, US, and a Global Faculty of the Center for Services Leadership (CSL) at Arizona State University, US. Prior to this, Professor Wirtz held the positions of Associate Fellow at the Sad Business School, University of Oxford (2008–2013), Founding Member of the NUS Teaching Academy (2009–2015), and Founding Director of the Dual Degree UCLA–NUS Executive MBA Program (2002 to 2017). Prof. Wirtz did his PhD. From London Business School in the area of Services Marketing. His academic work focuses on service marketing and management, and he has written more than 200 book chapters, industry reports, and scholarly publications (incl. six features in Harvard Business Review). Professor Wirtz has won more than 50 awards for his excellence in research and instruction, including the prestigious Christopher Lovelock Career Contributions to the Services Discipline Award in 2019 (the highest honour given by the American Marketing Association (AMA) service community), the Academy of Marketing Science (AMS) 2012 Outstanding Marketing Teacher Award (the highest honour given by AMS globally for teaching excellence), and the top university honour.
Technical Chair
Prof.(Dr) Debashish Jena,
IIIT, Bhubaneswar, India.
Short Bio-data:
Prof. Jena has more than 15 years of Industry experience. He was consulting to Health Department, Govt. of Orissa for a period of 2 years. He is the author or co-author of over 50 publications and book chapters. His research interests are Information Security, Mobile Ad-Hoc Networks, and Network Security. He teaches Networking, Network and Information Security. His professional memberships include IEEE, ACM, ISTE, IACSIT, MIE (I), CSI, and OITS.
Finance Chair
Prof. Dhananjaya Sarangi,
IT Expert, World Skill Center, Bhubaneswar, India
Short Bio-data:
Dhananjaya Sarangi is a Professor of Computer Science and Applications of Interscience Institute of Management and Technology (IIMT), Bhubaneswar,Odisha since April 2019. He received his MCA degree from NIT, Rourkela in 1989. He is having 30 years of rich experience as Head of IT in various reputed MNCs both in India & abroad. Professor Sarangi was Head of IT of Hindalco Industries, Aditya Birla Group company located at Hirakud, Odisha for both its Smelter & Power plant and then relocated to Malaysia as Head of IT for its Palm Oil Edible Oil and Oleo Chemical division. Subsequently professor Sarangi moved to Singapore as Head of Business Information System of Palm Oil Business of RGE Pte Ltd Singapore. Professor Sarangi has vast experience mainly focused on IT Strategy, IT Project Management, IT Planning & Governance, IT Infrastructure Management, Business Transformation, Change Management, People Management, IT Policy & Security, Vendor Management, ERP implementation etc.. He has undergone various training& seminars from reputed institute like NTU-Singapore, IIM-Kolkata, NITIE-Mumbai, Human Synergistic International- Bangalore, NityoInfotech-Singapore. Currently Professor Sarangi is continuing his PhD from Birla Global University (BGU), Bhubaneswar, Odisha. Professor Sarangi has travelled various countries like Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, China, Hong Kong, Vietnam & Australia.
