Ashok Balwani has a bachelor’s degree in engineering from The Birla Institute of Technology Science, Pilani (India) and an MBA from the Faculty of Management Studies (FMS), University of Delhi. He has undergone residential management development for senior managers at the Indian Institute of Management (Ahmadabad), IMD (Lausanne, Switzerland) and INSEAD (Fontainebleau, France). He is Director, Strategic Resources and advises companies on strategy, international business, organisational development, human resources and process development. He is an independent director on the Board of Directors of Hitachi Home Life Solutions (India) Ltd and a visiting faculty at BITS, Pilani.

 

He was formerly the President of Man Industries (India) Limited, a USD 500 million company serving the international oil and gas market and was instrumental in negotiating and overseeing the company’s entry to the US. Previously he held positions of increasing responsibility at Det Norske Veritas (DNV – a Norwegian Foundation) and Larsen Toubro Limited (L T – India’s leading engineering company). His assignments at DNV have included Vice President Director responsible for the business in the Middle East, South South-East Asia and Australia New Zeeland, Director of Human Resources at the head office in Oslo and Vice President Global Manager for the business with the information technology and communication technology industries.

 

He has senior management experience in an international setting covering knowledge based services (professional services and consulting), industrial projects and products and consumer products. His experience spans many functions including strategy, general management, operations, human resources, marketing, controllership, corporate planning and large projects.

 

He is an observer of the political economy and has excellent contacts in business and industry at senior levels. He was a guest faculty at XLRI, Jamshedpur from 1990 to 1994.