prof. dr. Aneel Karnani

About Aneel Karnani

Professor Aneel Karnani is faculty member of the Strategy group at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business, University of Michigan. He received the Teaching Excellence Award in 1991, 2001, 2006, 2007 and 2009. He has held visiting appointments to teach in the MBA and executive development programs at many universities including the Northwestern University, London Business School, INSEAD (France), HEC (France), CEIBS (China), Indian Business School, Chulalongkorn University (Thailand), and INCAE (Costa Rica). In addition, he has lectured in several other countries in Latin America, Middle East, Europe and Asia.

Prior to joining the University of Michigan's faculty in 1980, he obtained his doctoral degree from the Harvard Business School. He also holds an MBA and B.Tech. (Electrical Engineering), both from India. His work experience includes two years in various managerial positions with TELCO, an integrated manufacturer of trucks and earth moving machinery in India.

Professor Karnani’s interests are focused on three topics: strategies for growth, global competition, and the role of business in society. He studies how firms can leverage existing competitive advantages and create new ones to achieve rapid growth. He is interested in global competition, particularly in the context of emerging economies. He studies both how local companies can compete against large multinational firms, and how multinational firms can succeed in these unfamiliar markets. Karnani researches poverty reduction and the appropriate roles for the private sector, the state and civil society. He is interested in how society can strike the appropriate balance between private profits and public welfare in tackling major societal problems. He has published in and is a member of the editorial boards of several professional journals, such as Management Science, Strategic Management Journal, and California Management Review. He is the author of the book Fighting Poverty Together: Rethinking Strategies for Business, Governments, and Civil Society to Reduce Poverty, published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2011.

In addition to these University activities, Professor Karnani is actively involved in executive development programs both in companies and through the University of Michigan. He consults with firms on strategic planning systems, and strategy analysis and formulation. He is currently on the board of trustees of GreenPath. He has served a number of organizations as consultant or management educator, including GE, IBM, Singapore Airlines, Singapore Technologies, Temasek, Acer, Whirlpool, Masco, Total, Holcim, Neopost, Abbott Laboratories, and Dow Corning.