Hyderabad Management Association (HMA) has instituted a new award this year recognizing outstanding Academicians through its “Academician Excellence Award”. Prof. B. Raja Shekar, Pro Vice Chancellor and faculty in the School of Management Studies, University of Hyderabad (UoH) has been chosen for this award. This Award is conferred upon achievers in the field of Management academia who have shown exemplary contribution fulfilling the following minimum criteria for preliminary eligibility and consideration. Since its inception in 1964, the HMA has continuously evolved to represent the interests of Management Professionals. The Vision of HMA is “Achieving Progress and Enriching Society through Professional Management”.
Prof. B. Raja Shekhar has a commendable track record in the field of higher education as an academician and academic administrator. Prof. Shekhar has been associated with the School of Management Studies since its inception (June 1999) and also Coordinating a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management offered by the Centre for Distance Education and Virtual Learning, University of Hyderabad. He was associated with the Telangana State Public Service Commission as one of the members of the committee for formulation of scheme and syllabus. As the Dean of the School of Management Studies, University of Hyderabad, Prof. Shekhar has played a significant role in launching a unique MBA program in Business Analytics. He has successfully coordinated two MOOCs programs namely in Research Methodology for Social Sciences through SWAYAM and Data Analysis for Social Sciences through ARPIT of MHRD. Prof. Shekhar is appointed as one of the members of the expert committee constituted by UGC to draft Learning Outcomes Based Curriculum Framework for Management. Prof. Shekhar participated in LEAP (Leadership for Academicians Programme) of MHRD at Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur and Nanyang Technological University, Singapore and one-week training programme on “Becoming a top 100 university” at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. Prof. Shekhar successfully coordinated LEAP (Leadership for Academicians Programme) of MHRD at University of Hyderabad as Associate Coordinator.
Prof. Shekhar obtained his Bachelor of Technology degree in Civil Engineering (Acharya Nagarjuna), Masters degrees in Business Administration (Osmania), Psychology (Sri Venkateswara) and Education (IGNOU). He was awarded Doctorate degrees in Business Management (Kakatiya) and Psychology (Sri Venkateswara). Added to above, he acquired two Post-Graduate Diplomas in Personnel Management & Industrial Relations (Kakatiya) and Computer Science (Hyderabad). Prof. Shekhar also underwent a Faculty Development Programme (FDP) at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmadabad. Prior to joining the University of Hyderabad, he taught at Kakatiya University and Kamala Nehru Polytechnic for women.
Prof. Shekhar authored, edited and co-edited books in the areas of consumer protection, Supply Chain Management and Quality Management. He has published 52 research papers in reputed Journals and contributed 30 papers in Conference proceedings and Books. One of his Research papers (with Subrahmanyam Annamdevula) titled ‘The effects of service quality on student loyalty: the mediating role of student satisfaction’ published in Journal of Modelling in Management was identified as a Highly Commended paper in the 2017 Emerald Literati Network Awards for Excellence. Prof. Shekhar successfully guided 17 research scholars for Ph. D. and 8 more scholars are working under his supervision. He is a specialist in the Service Quality area and has been doing extensive research in various issues of service quality. He has been running a career counselling column in a leading Telugu daily newspaper Eenadu titled ‘Sandehalu-Samadhanalu‘ under the Chaduvu category.
Besides his academic activities, Prof. Shekhar served various administrative positions in the University of Hyderabad including Dean of the School of Management Studies, Head of the Department of Education and Educational Technology, Director of Internal Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC), Dean of Students’ Welfare, Registrar, Chief Warden, Deputy Chief Warden, Warden etc.
Prof. Shekhar’s primary areas of interest include Service Quality, Quantitative Techniques, Operations Management, Industrial & Organisational Psychology and Research Methodology.