MDI Gurgaon gets IIM Ahmedabad professor Arvind Sahay as new director

NEW DELHI: MDI Gurgaon recently welcomed professor Arvind Sahay as the new director. Sahay previously served as the professor of marketing at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad.

He also served as the founding chairperson of the NSE Center for Behavioral Sciences and the India gold policy center chairperson at IIM Ahmedabad.

“The appointment represents a significant milestone for MDI in its journey towards excellence, given Prof. Sahay's standing in the field of marketing academia and his leadership role at IIM-A,” said MDI in an official statement.

Sahay got his PhD in Marketing Strategy and International Business from The University of Texas at Austin between 1992 and 1996. He began his higher studies with PGDM, focusing on marketing and finance, from IIM Ahmedabad from 1987 to 1989. Sahay completed BTech in Chemical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur from 1982 to 1986. He also possesses boardroom experience at London Business School.

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Apart from that, he has published research in international peer-reviewed journals and has written more than 60 cases. He played various leadership roles in his career such as Dean of Alumni and External Relations (2013-16), chairperson of PGPX (2007-09), chairperson of Executive Education (2017-19), and chairperson of the Marketing Area (2019-2021) at IIM Ahmedabad. He has also consulted with India, SE Asia and the UK firms. His recent work is in the area of applications of behavioural science in business.

Citing from The CXO Playbook programme, Professor Sahay believes "the right kind of intervention in a choice architecture helps to achieve the right kind of behavioural change required for desired outcomes – be it amplifying the efficiency of the sales team, or be in creating a brand that engages better with the customer, or be it in getting the creative team to adopt out-of-box thinking or be it in achieving a behavioural change that alters team dynamics – in each case leading to better organizational performance."

As the founding chairperson of the behavioral science centre at IIMA, he has also worked for leading firms in the applications of neuroscience in advertising (metrics, testing), branding (customer insight and brand positioning tests), and HR (employee engagement). His recent research focuses on diverse areas such as pricing, neuroscience, brand management, gold policy, FOPL, blockchain, and innovation.