Faculties and Resources

B.Sc., P.G.D.C.A., M.B.A. University of Memphis, U.S.A, PhD (Marketing),
Area: Marketing
Experience: 31 years

Prof Neha Patel, PhD, is a Professor in Integrated Marketing Communications, Strategic Brand Management as well as the Director of Som Lalit Institute of Management Studies (PGDM) and Som Lalit Institute of Business Management (MBA). Currently, she is guiding 3 doctoral students in GTU and is co-supervisor of 3 doctoral students in Silver Oak University in the area of Management. She is also a co guide at Gujarat University. Prof Neha has over 26 years of experience in teaching, research, consultancy and Industry. She has authored multiple publications in international, national journals and book chapters. The publications are in Scopus, UGC Care and Peer reviewed journals. She has taken consultancy projects in the areas of training, retail mapping and communication strategy. Prior to joining academics, she had a strong corporate career in advertising with Mudra Communications Ltd. and Triton Communications Ltd. She also has worked with an IT start-up wherein she was responsible for the visualization and application of the Marketing Strategy as well as New Business Development in South East Asia.

Since Prof Neha was given the charge of being the Director, apart from being responsible for academics, admin and placements of the students of both the programs, she has initiated many programs in the institute like Social Outreach for students; Weekly Seminars and interactions with the Industry; Social Media presence of the institutes; participation of students in competitions at a national level as well as focussed towards the growth of the faculties by mentoring them towards research and faculty development courses.

Recently, she was on the panel of ELETS, Higher and Technical Education Virtual Conclave, West India for discussion on Mental & Social Wellbeing of Students, Teachers & Parents during COVID19 crisis, 17th World Education Summit and Awards 2020 on Discussion topic: Digital Transformation in the area of Education (Online) as well as for “ASMA Higher & Tech Leadership Summit” on How the process should be simplified from admission, enrolment, and assessment to academics? Among others. Her research specialities lie in consumer behaviour, advertising research via semiotics, luxury branding, tourism management and marketing as well as Integrated Marketing communication. Her current work entails being an expert on behalf of GTU for the Gujarat Tourism project of “Pavagadh”, live case of luxury brand – House of Marigold as well as Emotional and Social Wellbeing of people during the Pandemic.

Addl Director
Ass. Dean, Zone I, GTU
B.SC, M.B.A, Ph.D (Management)
Area: Marketing
Experience: 31years

Dr. Supriya Bhutiani works in the domain of Services Marketing, Retailing and Hospital and Health care Management. She is currently working as the Additional Director of Som Lalit Institute of Business Management (MBA) and also is the Associate dean of Management at GTU in the area of Management .She is on panel of various committees of the university like the UFM committee, the AIC/LIC committee and various other scrutiny committees. She is also has been the external examiner for Ph.D. candidates for GLS University. Dr. Bhutiani has over 29 years of experience in teaching, research, consultancy and Industry. She has authored multiple publications in international, national journals and co-authored book chapters. She has attended and presented numerous papers in national and international conferences; notable amongst them being at IIM-A. She has also conducted faculty development programs at the university level. She has also organised two conferences .She has under taken consultancy projects in the areas of corporate strategy, training, promotions and communication strategy in the services domain. Dr. Bhutiani has also worked on the tourism development project of Pavagadh as an expert resource for GTU. Her areas of research include the Services, Retail and Tourism sector. Prior to joining academics, she held responsible marketing positions at Fascel Ltd (currently Vodafone), Apple Industries and Gujarat Lease Financing Ltd.

B.E. (Civil), PGDM
Area: Finance
Experience: 35 years

Prof. Rakesh Shastri is a skilled individual implementing his academic knowledge and enhancing the organizational value. He holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management with specialization in Finance from Som-Lalit Institute of Management Studies in Ahmedabad, and a B.E. in Civil Engineering from Gujarat University. Prof. Shastri possesses various computer and language skills, including proficiency in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, English, Hindi, and Gujarati.

With over 34 years of experience after graduation, Prof. Shastri has worked in various roles such as a Project Manager for well-known builders, a Coordinator of Part-Time PGDM Programme at Som-Lalit Institute of Management Studies, an Assistant Coordinator of IGNOU Study Centre in Ahmedabad, and a Centre Superintendent for National and International level exams. He is also responsible for activities such as new admissions, taking group discussions and personal interviews, arranging faculties, preparing timetables, conducting exams, and preparing results. Prof. Shastri is currently looking after the maintenance of Som-Lalit School and College Building and is a faculty member at Som-Lalit Institute of Management Studies.

B.E (Mech.), M.B.A, Ph.D (Mgmt.), GCET, UGC-NET (Mgmt.)
Area: Marketing, Strategy
Experience: 25 years

Dr. Reshmi Menon, Associate Professor at Som Lalit Institute of Business Management, Ahmedabad. Dr. Menon has over 22 years of academic teaching and industry related experience. Her principal academic interests have been in the areas of strategic management and marketing management related areas including product and brand management, B2B marketing, rural marketing and international business. She has been the coordinating the summer internship projects for the first year MBA students of SLIBM for more than a decade, besides being actively involved in guiding the students in the comprehensive projects and MAP projects for the second year MBA students. The Quiz and Debate Club under her guidance has been conducting quizzes and debates for the management students at the institute thereby attempting to enhance their business knowledge and debating skills. She has also participated in a number of national and international conferences in management and presented papers. Prior to joining academics, Dr. Menon has also got industry based experience related to various sectors including design engineering consultancy, pharmaceuticals, hospitality and petrochemical industries.

Ph.D, MBA, Inter-ICWA
Area: Finance
Experience: 25 years

Ph.D. (Management –Finance), MBA (International Business), Inter. ICWA, B.Com with 26 years of experience in Academics and Financial Services Industry.
Teaching assignments in the area of, Management of Financial Services, Banking and Insurance, Strategic Management, International Business and Microfinance. Curriculum design as per Instructional System Design.
Research Publications in ABDC listed Journals and SCOPUS Journals.
Conducted Management Development Programme (MDP) in the areas of Strategic Management and Personal Effectiveness, for Abellon Clean Energy, Claris Life Sciences, Kalpataru Power Transmission & Havmor Icecreams.
Conducted Faculty Development Programme in the area of Experiential Learning.
Executed Education Department and ‘Vibrant Gujarat Summit’ Projects for Govt. of Gujarat, Higher Education Department.
Research Project for Friends of Women World Banking (FWWB), Green Field Control Systems P Ltd, & Nestle India Ltd.

B.B.A /M.B.A (Gold Medalist)
Ph.D(Management)
Area : Management, Ethics and Corporate Governance
Experience : 24 years

A doctorate in management, Dr. Deepal Joshi has 25 years of experience in management education, research and administration. She mentors students through case-based, activity-based and project-based learning pedagogies.
An alumnus of IIM-A, Dr. Deepal has authored numerous research papers and book chapters in the national and international domain.
She has played diverse roles as a keynote speaker, panel member, syllabus revision committee chairman, exam coordinator, PhD defense examiner and a corporate trainer.

B.Sc. (Statistics), PGDCA, MBA (Marketing), Ph.D (Management, Marketing)
Area: Business Analytics & IT
Experience: 22 years

Dr. Rajeshwari Jain is an associate professor at Som Lalit Institute of Business Management with a rich experience of 20+ years. She happens to be Ph.D. (Management, Marketing), MBA (Marketing), B.Sc. (Statistics), and PGDCA. She is a doctoral process committee at Gujarat Technological University. Her areas of interest happen to be Consumer Behaviour, Digital Marketing, Market Research, and Business analytics to name a few. She has been teaching across management development programs and online programs using simulations, story-building exercises, movie reviews, book reviews, case methods, and in-class activities.

She has authored many research papers which are published in national [IIMs and UGC care list] and international journals [ABDC category and Scopus] of repute. She has been actively involved in Industry-Academic, notably with NASSCOM and National Human Rights Commission India. She is a frequently invited judge to reputed inter-management college forums/panels/events. She has attended conferences and faculty development programs at national and international levels. She is a faculty coordinator for the Business Analytics Club and Data Research Club at SLIBM. She also heads the Comprehensive Project - an integral subject in the semester 4 MBA program and has mentored students for their summer internship projects including getting students' research papers published in peer-reviewed journals.

B.A, M.A, M.Phill, Ph. D
Area: Communication
Experience: 22 Years

M.Phil., Ph.D. Prof. Ghata holds M.Phil. and Ph.D. degrees in English Literature. She is a communications skills and English language and possesses an overall teaching experience of 22 years. She received her Ph.D. degree for a study entitled ‘New Literatures: Socio-Political Realities in Select Fiction’ in 2018. She grooms students in English language and communication skills through debates, speeches, group presentations, group discussions, framing questionnaires, English grammar learning, etc.

MCA, ADCA, PGDCA, B. Sc. (Chemistry), Ph. D (Computer Science)
Area: Wireless & Computer Networks
Experience: 22 years

Dr. Kamlesh Raval is an Assistant Professor. He has a diverse educational background with a strong focus on computer science and information technology. He has completed various courses and certifications such as MCA, ADCA, PGDCA, A-Level, MCTS, MCP, JNTCP, HDSE, and CIC, which have provided him with a deep understanding of software engineering, computer applications, and networking. He has completed a Ph.D. in the area of wireless sensor networks from Gujarat Technological University. He has a B.Sc. with a Chemistry degree. He has been associated with the institute since 2006.

He has authored many research papers which are published in national and international journals. He has participated actively in paper presentations in various national and international conferences. He has authored many books related to information technology. He has notable workshops and faculty development programs to his portfolio as well.

B.B.A, M.B.A, PGDIBO, M.Com,Ph.D (Management), GSET
Area: Marketing & Human Resources, Business Governance
Experience: 20 years

Dr. Twinkle Trivedi (MBA, Ph.D.), is an Associate professor at Som-Lalit Institute of Management Studies. Prof. Twinkle has been associated with SLIBM as a full time faculty and has over 19 years of experience in teaching, research and industry. She has completed her doctorate in Management from Indus University. She has taught subjects like human resource management, organizational behaviour, business ethics and corporate governance and international business at post-graduation level. Her research interests are in the area of human resource management, organizational and consumer behaviour specifically, she likes to work on topics related to change readiness, personality, strategic human resource practices, and online shopping behaviour and cause related marketing. Her research papers have been published in reputed journals indexed in UCG Care list, Scopus and ABDC. She has attended and presented numerous papers in national and international conferences like AIB, AMA Summer conference, and IAPNM. She has attended several faulty development programs and workshop on effective teaching, research methodology, quantitative and qualitative data analysis.

She has been coordinating the summer internship project program and has guided the post graduate students for various projects like Multidisciplinary action projects, Comprehensive projects and summer internship projects. She has been member of syllabus revision committee in the subject of HRM at graduate and post graduate level for B.B.A and M.B.A programs. She has served as paper setter, evaluator and observer at MBA program under Gujarat Technological University. She is coordinating the social club at SLIBM where she guides and motivates the students towards working in a team and conduct social responsibilities and volunteering. She also has volunteering experience in content writing; creating messages and emails templates for various stakeholders of NGOs and developing research based qualitative case study for various Non Profit Organizations.

BA (Economics), MA ( Economics) with
distinction and 6 gold medals awardee
Area: Economics.
Experience: 20 years

M.A. (Economics-Gold medalist) Prof. Navaz Postwalla has teaching experience of twenty years in undergraduate and post graduate courses. She has completed Masters degree in Economics in 1999 with distinction , attended two UGC sponsored refresher courses with first class, also attended various seminars and workshops organized by university and Economics department .She has also presented paper in agricultural economics at State level economic conference. She has wide experience as paper setter, examiner, and observer of various exams.

MBA (Finance), CFA (ICFAI), Ph.D (Finance), UGC-NET
Area: Finance
Experience: 19 years

Dr Riddhi Dave has more than 15 years of experience in industry and academia. Her work as Investment advisor with Kotak Securities involved conducting extensive research and analysis to identify the best investment opportunities for clients; both retail and HNIs. She had developed customized investment portfolios tailored to clients’ unique financial situation, risk tolerance, and investment goals and enabled them to create wealth. In academia her association with Indian Institute of Management – Ahmedabad as Academic Associate and guest faculty at premier institutions has enriched and well-honed her teaching and research skills. She has presented papers at international and national conferences including IIM-A , IIM -L , International Finance Conference -CCFS, to name a few. She has won the Best Paper Award at the International Finance Conference, CCFS for three consecutive years (2014, 2015, and 2016). She has also published papers in reputed journals in Scopus, UGC- Care and book chapter.

She is a continuous learner who believes in upgrading her skills and keeping an eagle’s eye on what is happening in industry and academia. She has accomplished online courses from world reckoned universities like Financial markets: Yale University; Managing company of the future: London Business School; Private Equity and Venture capital: University Bocconi, Europe; Fintech: The Hongkong University of Science and Technology; Investments II: Lessons and Implications for investors: University of ILLINOIS, USA; Investment Management in Volatile and Evolving world by HEC Paris and Axa Investment Managers. She was All India Topper of Financial Markets and Services Course by SWAYAM, NPTEL. She was Member of syllabus designing team for redesigning MBA syllabus -GTU. She is a sought after consultant for her expertise in the domain of strategy and Finance.

BBA, PGDBM and M.COM
Area: Marketing and General Management
Experience: 19 years

BBA, Post-Graduation in Marketing Parin Shah has more than 19 years of Corporate and Academic experience. After earning his management degree he joined the corporate world. He has served various companies at different management levels for 7 years, like Citi Corp (channel Sales manager for loans), Vadilal (product executive designing-&-managing promotions and advertising), ICICI Bank Ltd (Equipment Loans Manager), , and HSBC (Associate VP for liabilities).

Ph.D (Management, Marketing) MBA (Marketing), B.E (IT)
Area: Marketing
Experience: 17.5 years

Dr. Preyal Sanghavi is an Associate Professor at the Som Lalit Institute of Business Management. She has a Ph.D. in management from Kadi Sarva Vishwavidyalaya University. She also qualified for the UGC- NET examination. She is a management graduate with a specialization in marketing management and a doctorate in the field of management. She is a member of the Board of Studies at GTU for the MBA Programme. She has rich and diversified experiences in the areas of academic administration, teaching, and research. She has more than fifteen years of experience in her academic career and more than one year in corporate .

She has conducted several SPSS workshops for the faculty members of management, commerce, computer, education, economics, science, etc. She has been actively attending various FDPs, seminars, and workshops organized by various organizations. Her areas of teaching and research include marketing management, consumer behavior, research methodology, management information systems, product and brand management, and business analytics. She has various national and international publications to her credit. She has a passion for teaching and is greatly concerned about students' learning and development.

B.com, M.com, M.B.A. (Finance) Ph.D (Pursuing)
Area: Finance
Experience: 15 years

Prof. Rani Shah is a rare blend of industry practice and academics. Since 2020 she is an Assistant Professor at SLIBM in the Finance and accounting area, prior to that she was manager at IDBI bank for 9 years and also worked as Investment Advisor at Wealth First Portfolio Managers Pvt Ltd. During her tenure with IDBI Bank, she worked in several departments of banking like branch banking, centralized operation, and retail asset financing and corporate reporting departments. At Wealth First she worked as investment consultant for high net worth individuals.
Prof Rani is an active member of placement committee and accreditation committee of SLIBM. Apart from teaching, mentoring and being project guide for students; she also does collaborative research projects and works as industry consultant. She primarily teaches courses in Finance and accounting domain such as Corporate Finance, Financial Derivatives, FinTech & Financial Analytics and Cost & Management Accounting.

BBA, MBA (Finance & Human Resource Management)Ph.D (Pursuing)
Area:Finance
Experience: 14 years

Prof. Dipti Gadhavihas combined industry and teaching experience of over 15 years in the field of Finance and HRM. She holds the degree of MBA in finance and HRM. She is an Assistant Professor in the area of Finance at SLIBM. Her area of interest is in Finance, Organization Behaviour and Human Resource Management. She has carried out business advisory assignments for Aavad instrument Pvt. Ltd. She has published research papers in national journals in the area of finance and HRM. In her academic career she has taught subjects such as International Finance, Behavioral Finance, Management Control System, Principles of Management, Communication Skills and Organization Behaviour. She has worked as Financial Analyst at S&P Global and also worked as Senior Operation Executive at VKC Credit & Forex services Pvt. Ltd.

Prof Dipti is the faculty in charge of Alumni Association and Cultural club of SLIBM. She currently teaches courses in the Finance domain such as International Finance, Behavioural Finance and Management Control System at SLIBM. Apart from teaching, she is mentoring and guiding the students for projects; she also does collaborative research projects and works as industry consultant. She tries to blend her industry experience and insights with her theoretical subject knowledge to enhance learning experience to students.

M.Com., LLM (gold medalist),
Ph.D., Law
Area: Business Laws & Legal Drafting
Experience: 14years

Dr. Archana Shah is faculty of Business Laws and Legal Drafting and Management accounting. She is associated with Law Firm for the last 14 years. She was awarded two gold medals for securing first position at Gujarat University at LLM. She has completed her doctorate in law on the topic of ‘International Instruments on Human Rights: An Analytical Study with Special Reference to Promotion and Protection of Women’s Rights in the State of Gujarat’ under the guidance of Dr. Kaushik Raval, Director, School of Law, Gujarat University.

BBA, PGDM
Area: Marketing, Brand Management, Business Development, Supply Chain Management
Experience: 14 years

With over 12 years of rich, unique, and integrated expertise in marketing, brand management, digital marketing, business development, and market research, Mr. Shastri is an inquisitive and passionate about marketing. It is important to note here that he had successfully launched India’s First Diabetes Care Oil - Fortune VIVO across India & which was awarded as India’s Best Product Launched in Newly Launched FMCG Product Category.
He has prior experience in brand building, corporate communication and media management... He is able to leverage his prior experience in various industries to the students benefit and combines his corporate acumen with academical rigor to bring a rich experience to students.

B.sc(CA&IT), M.sc(CA&IT), Ph.D - Pursuing
Area: Computer Science
Experience: 12.5 years

Ms. Heena Thakkar is a highly experienced professor with over 12 years of expertise in teaching and research across various domains, including Database Management Systems (DBMS), Web Development, Computer Networks, and Programming. Her dedication to academic excellence and student mentorship has made her a respected figure in the field of computer science. Through her dynamic teaching methods, Ms. Thakkar ensures that her students not only grasp theoretical concepts but also develop practical skills relevant to the ever-evolving tech industry.

MCA, BCA
Area: Information Technology
Experience: 11 years

Prof Khyati Shah (MCA) is a self-motivated individual with a positive mental attitude and a strong drive to succeed. With strong analytical and planning skills, Prof. Khyati is capable of coordinating efforts to meet organizational goals in a productive and efficient manner without supervision. Prof. Khyati has experience working as a lecturer at Somlalit Institute of Computer since 2015 where she has conducted lectures for B.C.A and P.G.D.C.A courses. She has also worked as a software developer at PRL (Physical Research Laboratory) and was responsible for developing software and handling queries related to software.

Prof Khyati has excellent technical skills in programming languages such as C & C++, PL/SQL, Assembly, Cobol, SHELL Programming, Core Java, Parallel Processing, UNIX Programming, and ASP.NET with C#. She also has expertise in database systems such as Oracle (PL/SQL), MS-Access, SQL Server, and web technologies such as HTML, DHTML, and JavaScript. In addition, Prof Khyati has completed several academic projects such as the PRL Annual Report, Store Management System, Hotel Management System, and Tourism Management System.

MCA, BCA, UGC-NET
Area: Computer Science & Engineering
Experience: 10 years

MCA, MSc IT, and B.Voc (Software Development) Mr. Sheth has also cleared UGC - NET. He has also been the paper setter and Practical Examiner for Kachchh University (KSKVKU –BHUJ) for B.C.A, B.Voc and M.Sc. IT. He is proficient in JAVA Technologies like AWT, Eclipse , Java , Java RMI , JSP , Servlets and Database Management systems like MS SQL, Oracle 10g/11g , MySQL , MS Access. He is also proficient in Mobile and Web Development.

Education: BA, B.ED. Diploma in BA, MBA
Area: General Management
Experience  10 years

An MBA from OPJS University, Rachana is skilled in managing the students. She also has a B.ED degree under her belt and has worked in academics earlier. Her quick decision making and problem solving skills make her take up the assigned courses and connect with the students. Her prior experience of conducting events is invaluable.

B.COM, MBA (FB & E), M.Phil (Management), Ph.D – Pursuing
Area: General Management
Experience: 9 years

Prof Khushboo Vachhani Talati is an experienced Assistant Professor at Som-Lalit Institute of Business Management (SLIBM) with 8 years of teaching and industry experience. She holds an M. Phil and MBA degree and teaches a range of subjects at the postgraduate level, including Managerial Communication, Entrepreneurship, Business Ethics, and Corporate Governance. Prof. Khushboo has also co-designed a course called Campus to Corporate, which aims to equip postgraduate students with soft skills training.

Prof Khushboo's research interests focus on Managerial Communication, Entrepreneurship, and Startups, with a specific interest in studying the startup ecosystem in Gujarat. She has published several research papers in reputable journals indexed in the UGC Care list, and she has also presented numerous papers at national and international conferences. Prof Khushboo has participated in faculty development programs and workshops on teaching effectiveness, research methodology, and data analysis.

Prof Khushboo is actively involved in guiding post-graduate students in various projects, such as Multidisciplinary action projects, Comprehensive projects, and Summer Internship Projects. She has also served as a paper setter, evaluator, and observer for MBA programs under Gujarat Technological University. Additionally, Prof. Khushboo coordinates cultural and movie clubs at SLIBM and encourages her students to participate in various cultural activities. She strongly believes in the power of teamwork and fosters a collaborative learning environment for her students.

Ph.d., MBA (Finance), M.com
Area: Finance
Experience: 8years

Dr. Nili Shah is faculty of finance with rich experience of 8 years in academics and 1 year in corporate. She is teaching subjects of finance, accountancy, insurance, banking and taxation and production and operations management. In past she has been part of various prestigous universities naming Nirma University, IIM Ahmedabad, BK school of business management and Amity university.

Throughout the journey she has got hold and expertise in various subjects and its linkage with practical world.

B. Com, PGDM
Area: Management
Experience: 5 years

Ms. Kothari’s practical exposure to developing and managing financial planning processes, including budgeting, forecasting, preparation of timely financial reports and ensuring compliance with accounting standards and regulations helps her deliver the classes with an indepth understanding .Besides being a Management graduate, she has also completed a course on NSE’s Financial Markets and an Advance course in Foreign Trade Policy from IMC.

B. Com, MBA(HR)
Area: Human Resource
Experience: 2 years

Ms. Bhoomi Shukla is an unconventional and unique faculty. She hold the distinction of having two master’s degree. One in Management and the other in Performing Arts. Bhoomi teaches in the general management domain.

MBA (Finance)
Area: Finance & Accounting
Experience: 4.5 years

A college alumni turned Assistant Professor at Som-Lalit Institute of Management Studies with 1.5 years of academic experience.
He possesses 3 years of corporate experience as a Debt Market Investment Advisor and Accounts Executive in a multinational corporation. This experience has equipped him with a deep understanding of financial markets, investment strategies, and accounting principles. He effectively integrates these insights in teaching, offering students real-world perspectives and case studies.
Additionally, his corporate background fosters valuable industry connections, providing opportunities for guest lectures, internships, and mentorship. His areas of expertise include Financial & Management Accounting and Investment Analysis. He holds first class with distinction in MBA majoring in Finance.