- Doctoral Studies: Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad - Fellow, IIM Ahmedabad (Multiple Best Dissertation Proposal Awards)
- Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech.), University of Kerala (First Rank, Gold Medal)
- [Briefly Studied @ IIT Kharagpur, B.Tech. (Agricultural Engg.), Jul-Oct 1983]
Academic Positions
- ICCR Rotating Chair Professor (Gastprofessor), Friedrich- Schiller-Universität Jena, Germany; 01.11.2017 to 27.04.2018
- Professor (HAG Scale), IIM Kozhikode; Feb 2012 Onwards
- Professor, IIM Kozhikode; Feb 2006 - Feb2012
- Associate Professor, IIM Kozhikode; Oct 2000 - Feb 2006
- Assistant Professor, IIM Calcutta; Jun 1997 - Oct 2000 [lien till March 2002]
Awards
- [Emerald] Best Research Paper Award (& Cash Prize of GBP 500) - for Paper Co-Authored with Ankita Tandon, at the 2nd Pan IIM World Management Conference, 5-8 Nov 2014, held at IIM Kozhikode.
- Best Research Paper, Association of Indian Management Schools (AIMS), 1998 (while at IIM Calcutta).
- Best Thesis Proposal Awards, while at IIM Ahmedabad, from: [1]. Industrial Finance Corporation of India (IFCI), March 1996; and [2]. Choudhury-Padmanabhan-Pant IIMA FPM Alumni Trust, March 1996.
- Fellowship for Doctoral Research from PD Agarwal Foundation.
- First Rank, University Gold Medal, May 1988 for B Tech. in Mechanical Engineering; Kerala University.
- National Talent Search Scholarship from NCERT, Oct 1981.
Conferences, Seminars & Talks
- Azeez, N., Nair, U.K., & Jeyavelu, S. (2018). "Factors Influencing Co-worker’s Attribution of Workplace Romance Motives," Academy of Management Proceedings, Vol. 2018, No. 1. 78th Annual Meeting of US Academy of Management, Chicago, August 10-14.
- Nair, U. K. (2018). "Impressions on Leadership: Select Episodes from the Life of Mohandas K Gandhi." The ICCR India Lecture, 20 Apr 2018 , Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Germany.
- Tandon, A., & Nair, U. K. (2015). Organizational learning in social enterprises: Navigating implicit and dynamic boundaries. 75th Annual Meeting of US Academy of Management, Vancouver, Aug 7-11
- Tandon, A., & Nair, U. K. (2015). Enactment of knowledge brokering: Agents, roles, processes and the impact of immersion. 75th Annual Meeting of US Academy of Management, Vancouver, Aug 7-11
- Tandon, A., & Nair, U. K. (2014). Learning about learning routines: Insights from the Indian social enterprise sector. 2nd PAN IIM World Management Conference, IIM Kozhikode, Nov 5-8. Emerald Best Research Paper Award [& Cash Prize of GBP 500]
- Nair, U. K. (2014). "Executive Learning, Education & Development: An Indian Scenario Scan." Keynote Address. 2nd HR Dialogue (& 1st HR Conference), Deptt. of HRM, Sri Jayewardenepura University, Sri Lanka, 29 Nov 2014. Video at: http://mgt.sjp.ac.lk/hrm/2nd-hr-dialogue-2014/
- Nair, U. K., & Chatterjee, D. (2014). Documenting Organizational Culture: Not just a Top-Down or Bottom-Up Act. Management Consulting Division Paper. 74th Annual Meeting of US Academy of Management, Philadelphia, Aug 1-5.
- Purani, K., & Nair, U. K. (2009). Project Zero-D : Managing Sales Force Attrition at Karnavati Healthcare Limited. Annual Meeting of the North American Case Research Asscociation (NACRA), Santa Cruz, California, October 29-31 [Purani participated].
- Nair, U. K. (2006). Diminishing Marginal Utility of the “Next Attribute”: Cognitive Complexity & Complex Decisions. In the MOC Division, Annual Meeting of the US Academy of Management, Atlanta, August.
- Das, H., & Nair, U. K. (2007). Attitudes of Indian MBAs toward Unions: Some Correlates and Implications. South East Decision Sciences Institute Conference, Savannah, Georgia, February. [Das participated].
- Das, H., Chhokar, J., & Nair, U. K. (2005). “Preparing For Global Business Careers: Findings From India” Conference on Post Globalization: Higher Education Institutions Facing the Knowledge Society, Veracruz, Mexico, July. [Das & Chhokar participated].
- Nair, U. K. (2001d). Middle managers score less goals and make more fouls: Musings from a Computer simulated top management game. Selected in the refereed section, Annual Meeting of Australian & New Zealand Association of Management (ANZAM), Dec. 5-8, 2001 at Auckland. [Couldn‟t participate - funding constraints. Later published in Simulation & Gaming.]
- Nair, U. K. (1998). Cognitive Maps of Managers and Complex Problem Solving. Int. Conf. on Managerial & Orgn’l. Cognition, Stern School of Business, NYU, May. [Couldn‟t participate - funding constraints, but the paper was presented by the organizers and then selected to be a Chapter in the Book edited by T.Lant & Z. Shapira].
- Nair, U. K. (1996). "Ethical Dilemmas of Managers: Moral Reasoning and Teaching Ethics." Int. Conf. on Mgmt. & Business, McGill Univ. & Lahore Univ. of Mgmt. Sciences, at Lahore, June 3-5, 1996. [Couldn‟t participate as Pakistan denied Visa, waiting till the last day of travel].
Corporate / Public Sector Leadership
- Chairperson - Post Graduate Programme (PGP), IIMK [i.e. Director, MBA Programme]; 2006-08.
- Member, Faculty Advisory Committee (FAC), IIM Kozhikode, 2013-14.
- Chairperson (Founding) - Organizational Behaviour & Human Resource Area, IIM Kozhikode; 2000-03 & 2005-07.
- Member, Committee on Future Directions for IIMK (Chair: Professor AH Kalro; Member: Professor Pulapre Balakrishnan), 2002-03.
- Chairperson (Founding) - Management [Executive] Development Programme, IIM Kozhikode; 2001-03.
- Chairperson, Publications & Research Dissemination, 2005-07.
- Jt. Co-ordinator (Founding), [Satellite Based] Interactive Distance Learning Programme, IIM K ozhikode, 2001-02. [IIMK was the pioneer in Asia (and perhaps in Asia-Pacific as well), of this mode of education]
- Faculty Advisor (Founding), SPICMCAY, IIMK Chapter, 2001-08.
- Chairperson, College Students Council (Elected), TKM Engg. College., Kollam, Kerala, 1987-88.
- Editor, Wall Magazine, National Service Scheme (NSS), 1985-86.
- School Captain, Sainik [Military] School, Trivandrum, Kerala, 1982-83.
- Captain, School Field Hockey Team, 1982-83.
Other Professional Appointments
- Member, Board of Governors, IIM Kozhikode [IIMK]: Sep 2012 - Mar 2014
- Member: Editorial Review Panel, IIMB Management Review (Elsevier), May 2008 Onwards.
- Member, Board of Governors, Govt. Engg. College Kannur, Kerala: Academic Year 2011-12 to AY 2016-17
- Member: Editorial Review Board, IIMK Management & Society (Sage), March 2011 - May 2015
- Member: Manuscript Review Board, Decision (IIM Calcutta), July 2008 - Mar 2013.
- Member, Governing Council, Socio-Economic Unit Foundation [SEUF; a NGO working in the Domains of Waste Mgmt., Toilets for Girls in Schools, Rain Water Harvesting, etc.]: 2003 to 2009
- Member, Board of Governors, IIM Kozhikode [IIMK]: Aug 2006 - Jul 2008.
- Member of Jury, Selection of
Recent Consulting / Other Assignments
- Strategy Formulation Workshop (Strategic Retreat) for the Top & Very Senior Mgmt. of Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL), towards Vision 2030 for CSL (with Prof. Abhislash S. Nair; June 2017)
- Marketing Strategies & Organization Development towards Oushadhi Vision 2020 (with Professors Keyoor Purani & Rajesh Upadhyayula; March 2017)
- Documenting Organizational Culture - of A Leading US Media Research Firm (with Prof. Debabrata Chatterjee; Oct 2013)
- Restructuring Kerala Tourism Department (Completed; 2003)
- Restructuring National Testing Houses (while at IIM Calcutta, 1998-99; with Professors Ramachandran & Bani Sinha)
Research Areas
- Leadership
- Managerial Cognition & Complex Decisions
Significant Publications
- Nair, U. K., & Purani, K. (2018). KHL: Consulting for Managing Sales Force Attrition (A). Asian Journal of Management Cases. (https://doi.org/10.1177/0972820118806399) [Teaching Note available from the authors on request].
- Nair, U. K., & Purani, K. (2018). KHL: Consulting for Managing Sales Force Attrition (B). Asian Journal of Management Cases. (https://doi.org/10.1177/0972820118806434). [Teaching Note available from the authors on request].
- Nair, U. K., & Tandon, A. (2015). Boundary Objects and End User Engagement: Illustrations from the Social Enterprise Domain. In "Boundary Spanning Elements and the Marketing Function in Organizations," Sahadev, S., Purani, K., & Malhotra, N. (Eds.), pp. 137-160, Springer.
- Nair, U. K. (2003). Middle Managers Score Fewer Goals and Make more Fouls: Findings from a Computerized Top Mgmt. Simulation. Simulation & Gaming, Vol. 34, No. 3, 387-408. [Special Issue on Asian Experiences in Simulation & Gaming]
- Nair, U. K. (2001a). Adaptation to Creation: The Progress of Organizational Learning and Increasing Complexity of Learning Systems. Behavioral Science and Systems Research. Vol. 18, 505-521.
- Nair, U. K. (2001b). Cognitive maps of managers and complex problem solving. In Z. Shapira and T. Land (Eds.), Organizational Cognition: Computation and Interpretation, Ch. 10, pp. 211-239. Series Editors: J. P. Walsh & A. P. Brief, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum. [Won the Best Research Paper Award, Assn. of Indian Mgmt. Schools,1998]
- Nair, U. K., & Ramnarayan, S. (2000). Individual Differences in Need for Cognition and Complex Problem Solving. Journal of Research in Personality, 34, 2, 305-328.
- Ramnarayan, S., & Nair, U. K. (1999). Fostering Organizational Learning Process: Evidence from an R&D Organization. Journal of Euro-Asian Mgmt., 5, 2, 113-142.
- Nair, U. K. (1996). Managerial Implications of Postmodernism. IIMB Management Review, 8 ( 3 & 4 ): 65 - 73
Working Papers
1. Diminishing marginal utility of the 'next' attribute: cognitive complexity & complex decisions
K. Unnikrishnan Nair (2006) Abstract
2. Implicit Boundaries, Boundary Configurations And Key Agents: Tracing Social Enterprise Learning
Ankita Tandon & Unnikrishnan K. Nair (2014) Abstract
3. Enactment of knowledge brokering: Agents, roles, processes and the impact of immersion
Ankita Tandon, Unnikrishnan K. Nair (2015) Abstract