AYUSH GUPTA

Brief Profile

I am a third year doctoral student in Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management Area at the Indian Institute of Management Tiruchirappalli. My research interest aligns towards conducting research on employee engagement in global virtual teams (GVT’s). More specifically, I intend to emphasize on the drivers of employee engagement in context of GVT’s, the evolution of employee engagement as a construct, the reasons of change of the meaning of employee engagement due to changing working contexts, the requirement of a universal scale to understand employee engagement in GVT’s, keenly following the employee engagement survey by AON, and their ways of conducting/understanding employee engagement in organizaitons, their ranking methods, and methods of evaluation. Applications for practitioners of my research might include to differentiate the ways of ‘being engaged’ and ‘doing engaged’ in GVT’s, the importance of technology to impact engagement in employees in changing ways of work, and most importantly, a scale to measure employee engagement in new forms of working, (GVT’s in particular). Though the topic of my thesis work is not yet finalized, I intend to focus on employee engagement in GVT’s as a broader topic.

I have been working as an academic collaborator with Prof. Biju Varkkey (IIMA) for his research projects since 2015. I am committed to high quality and robust research program, beginning with a case study on Amara Raja Group, which is under publication in the IIMA Case Center. My research papers are in different stages of my research pipeline. My research papers have also been accepted for presentation at some of the most coveted conferences nationally such as the PANIIM and INDAM; and internationally such as the IHRM and EGOS.  My research projects on employee engagement in GVT’s are being funded by a global organization, Cyient Ltd, with its presence in about 48 countries, and employee nearly 14000 associates.

Research Interests

With changing nature of workforce and new forms of work, the research emphasizes on the changing nature of ways of being and doing engagement at workplace. Broadly, my research tries to understand the nature of employee engagement in Global Virtual Teams (GVT’s).

Research Output

Conference Presentations/Acceptances:

1. Shaik B, F.F., & Varkkey, B., (2018, December) (Upcoming). Transition of HR into a Strategic Business Partner: Case of an Indian Business Group. Paper presented at 6^th PAN IIM World Management Conference, IIM Bangalore, India.
2. Shaik B, F.F., & Makhecha, U.P., (2018, July). Global Virtual Teams: Leveraging Cultural Intelligence for Employee Engagement in a Climate of Trust. Paper to be presented at 34^th European Group of Organizational Studies (EGOS) Colloquium, Estonian Business School, Tallinn, Estonia. [Paper accepted for presentation but could not attend due to delay in visa procurement].
3. Shaik B, F.F., & Makhecha, U.P., (2018, June). Cultural Intelligence in Virtual Teams: Effect on Employee Engagement. Paper presented at 15^th Biennial International Human Resource Management Conference, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain.
4. Shaik B, F.F. (2017, December). Social Identity and Employee Engagement in a Cross Cultural Virtual Team: A Conceptual Analysis. Paper presented at 11^th Indian Sub-Continent Decision Sciences Institute Conference, IIM Tiruchirappalli, India.
5. Shaik B, F.F. (2017, December). Meaning Making of Employee Engagement by Managers of a Virtual Team: Analysis of their Lived Experiences. Paper presented at 5^th Biennial Indian Academy of Management Conference, IIM Indore, India.
6. Shaik B, F.F., & Makhecha, U.P., (2017, November). A Phenomenological study of employee engagement in virtual teams. Paper presented at Academy of Human Resource Development International Conference (AHRD-Asia and USA), IIM Ahmedabad, India.

Case Study Publication:

1. Varkkey, B., & Shaik B, F.F., (2018). Teaching Case - Amara Raja Group (A), IIMA Case Center. (Under Publication)

Proceedings Publication:                                                                                                                           

1. Shaik B, F.F., & Makhecha, U.P., (2017, November). A Phenomenological study of employee engagement in virtual teams. Sustainable Development of Human Capital: Exploring Perspectives from Grassroots to Global Research & Practice: Proceedings of Academy of Human Resource Development International Conference 2017, IIM Ahmedabad, India.
2. Shaik B, F.F. (2017, December). Social Identity and Employee Engagement in a Cross Cultural Virtual Team: A Conceptual Analysis. Proceedings of 11^th Indian Sub-Continent Decision Sciences Institute Conference, IIM Tiruchirappalli, India.

Poster Presentation:                                                                                                                                             

1. Shaik B, F.F. (2017, December). Driving Employee Engagement in a Virtual Team: Interpretative analysis of managers’ lived experiences. Paper presented at 5^th PAN IIM World Management Conference, IIM Lucknow, India.

Research Projects and Research Grant:                                                                                               

1. Shaik B, F.F., & Makhecha, U.P., (2018). Working with a Research Project (June 2018 – June 2019) entitled on Employee Engagement in Virtual Teams at Cyient Ltd, Hyderabad.                                    Research Grant of Rs.8.26 Lakhs provided for one year by the organization for this project.
2. Shaik B, F.F., & Makhecha, U.P., (2017). Research Internship (April 2017 – May 2017) entitled on Employee Engagement in Virtual Teams at Cyient Ltd, Hyderabad.                                                          Research Grant of Rs.15,000/-  provided for one month by the organization for this project.
3. Varkkey, B., & Shaik B, F.F., (2015). Working with a Research Project (September 2015 – June 2018) entitled on Strategic Human Resource Management at Amara Raja Group, Hyderabad.                   Logistic support (Travel and Accommodation) provided by the organization.

Workshops:                                                                                                                                                                  

1. Shaik B, F.F. (2017, December). Meaning Making of Employee Engagement by Managers of a Virtual Team: Analysis of their Lived Experiences. Paper selected at 5^th Biennial Indian Academy of Management Paper Development Workshop, IIM Indore, India.
2. Shaik B, F.F. (2018, March). Phenomenological Analysis of Employee Engagement in Virtual Teams. Paper selected for the Qualitative Track of IIMA Doctoral Summer School 2018, IIM Ahmedabad, India.

Awards:                                                                                                                                                                         

1. Shaik B, F.F., & Makhecha, U.P., (2017, November). Received the Best Paper Award instituted by the AHRD – Asia and USA for the Paper presented at Academy of Human Resource Development International Conference (AHRD-Asia and USA), IIM Ahmedabad, India.

Education:

1. Fellow Programme in Management (Doctoral Programme), OB & HR, Indian Institute of Management Tiruchirappalli (June 2016 – current)
2. Master in Business Administration (HR & Marketing), Pragati Mahavidyalaya PG College, Osmania University, Hyderabad. (2008 – 2010)
3. Graduate – Software Engineering (ANIIT), NIIT, (2005 – 2008)
4. B.Sc (Microbiology, Chemistry, Computer Application), Pragati Degree College for Women, Osmania University, Hyderabad (2005 – 2008)

Certifications:

1. Faculty Development Program in Management – IIM Ahmedabad (June 2015 – September 2015)
2. Andhra Pradesh State Eligibility Test (2012)
3. Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (2014)
4. KPMG Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (2016)

Reviewer Assignments for conferences:

1. Academy of Management Annual Meeting (2017, 2018),
2. European Academy of Management Conference(2018),
3. PAN IIM Conference (2017) and
4. Indian Academy of Management Conference(2017)

Work Experience:

1. Assistant Professor, Pragati Mahavidyalaya PG College (2012 – 2016)
2. Senior Technical Trainer - NIIT Ltd (2010 – 2012).

Honours, awards, and distinctions:

1. Scored highest credits for the two year FPM course work in the batch (2016).
2. Second rank in MBA (Silver Medalist)
3. First Rank in BSc (Gold Medalist)
4. Best GNIIT Student (2005-08)
5. Best Teacher at PG Level (2015)