Director and Professor
“INTERNATIONAL BEST RESEARCHER AWARD”, “FEMALE CONSUMER INSIGHTS ON GREEN COSMETICS: EVALUATING ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT, SAFETY, INGREDIENTS, MARKETING, SATISFACTION, AND ETHICAL STANDARDS”
Dr. Neha Patel, PhD Dr. Neha Patel is the Director of Som-Lalit Institute of Management Studies (MBA), Ahmedabad, and an accomplished academic leader with over three decades of experience spanning academia, industry, research, consultancy, and institutional leadership. She is recognized for integrating academic excellence with industry relevance, fostering experiential learning, innovation, and future-ready management education. As the institutional lead for the NBA accreditation process, Dr. Patel spearheaded the initiatives that enabled the institute to secure the prestigious three-year NBA Accreditation in 2023, making it the only Gujarat Technological University-affiliated management institute in Ahmedabad to achieve this distinction. Her leadership has strengthened outcome-based education, research culture, faculty development, academic quality, and industry engagement. Committed to enhancing student employability, she has introduced several value-added initiatives beyond the prescribed curriculum, including Campus to Corporate, Python for Finance Students, AI for Marketing, and AI for Finance. She has also institutionalized faculty-student mentoring, social outreach initiatives, alumni engagement programs, and 160 hours of structured student training, contributing to consistently high placement outcomes and a strong alumni network of over 4,300 graduates. A prolific researcher and mentor, Dr. Patel has published extensively in Scopus-indexed, ABDC, UGC CARE, Web of Science, and other peer-reviewed journals, while serving as a reviewer for academic journals and conferences. She has successfully guided eight doctoral scholars—six as Co-guide and two as Research Guide—and currently mentors three PhD scholars in Management. She also serves as a PhD evaluator across universities. Her GTU Research Promotion Scheme (RPS-MRP Cycle 4) project has been approved, and she holds a patent to her credit. Dr. Patel has been instrumental in advancing case-based learning through the institute’s annual Case Book Series, now in its fourth edition, with recent volumes featuring national and international academic collaborators. Under her guidance, the institute has undertaken consultancy and executive training assignments exceeding ₹25 lakhs across finance, banking, branding, communication strategy, retail mapping, and marketing. She actively collaborates with organizations such as Pandit Deendayal Energy University’s Innovation and Incubation Council and the Consumer Education and Research Centre, promoting entrepreneurship, innovation, and industry-academia partnerships. She has recently served as a mentor for the National-level Techstars Startup Weekend and as a jury member for the Nirman 2.0 National Business Plan Competition. The institute has also been recognized by the Indian Red Cross Society, Ahmedabad, for its sustained community engagement over the past four years. Before entering academia, Dr. Patel built a successful corporate career with Mudra Communications (DDB Needham India), Triton Communications, and an IT startup focused on South-East Asian markets. Her academic interests include Advertising, Strategic Branding, Consumer Behaviour, Sustainability, Green Marketing, and Environmental Consciousness.