Gray Matters

About Us

Our Proposition | Our Team | Panel of Advisors

Our Associates / Advisors

Dr. Arup Verma,

Arup Varma, (Ph.D., Rutgers University) is Professor at the Institute of Human Resources and Industrial Relations (School of Business Administration) at Loyola University Chicago. From 2002-2007, Arup was Director of the Institute, and Chair of the HRM department at the School of Business Administration, and from 2007-2008, he was Indo-U.S Professor of Management Studies. He holds an M.S. in Personnel Management & Industrial Relations (with honors) from Xavier Labor Relations Institute, Jamshedpur (India); and a B.S. in Economics (with honors) from St. Xavier’s College, Calcutta (India).

Among the courses he has taught are Analytical Problem Solving, Strategic Financial Analysis, Staffing, Organizational Theory & Behavior, Organizational Development & Change, Strategic Human Resource Management, Managing People Internationally, and an Integrative Research Seminar.

In addition, he has conducted several hundred workshops and seminars, covering topics such as Leadership, Motivation, Communication Skills, Conflict Resolution, Problem Solving, Business Strategy, etc. In 2003, he was honored with the Graduate School of Business Faculty of the Year award, and in 2004, he was honored with School of Business Administration Researcher of the Year award, and in 2008, he was honored with the School of Business Administration/IHRER Award for Professional Achievements and Service. He has been a visiting professor at Beijing International MBA (Peking University, China), Great Lakes Institute of Management (India), XLRI – School of Business and Human Resources (India), Tulane University (USA), and Rutgers University (USA and China).

Dr. Varma’s research interests include high performance work systems, performance appraisal, and expatriate issues. His research has been published in several leading journals including Academy of Management Journal, Personnel Psychology, Journal of Applied Psychology, Human Resource Management Review, Human Resource Planning, Journal of World Business, International Journal of Human Resource Management, Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation, Dispute Resolution Journal, and Organization Development Journal.

In addition, he has presented his research at national and international conferences, such as the Academy of Management, the Society for Industrial/ Organizational Psychology, the American Psychological Association, the American Compensation Association, the Southern Management Association, the International Conference on Advances in Management, the National Academy of Arbitrators, and the Society of Professionals in Dispute Resolution. From 2001 to 2004, he served as the Book Review Editor for the Human Resource Management Journal. In addition to his teaching and research, Prof. Varma has consulted with several leading organizations on strategic HR issues. Prior to returning to graduate school for his doctorate, he worked for over six years with two of India’s leading corporations in the HRIR area

Adhir Ghosh, Principal Consultant, Gray Matters

Experience: Formerly Director HR with the Galana Refineries, Madagascar. Has been associated with Arthur D. Little for organizational restructuring. Over 30 years of experience with Bharat Petroleum, Holman Climax and Shriram Group.

Academic background: One of the few professionally trained ‘executive coaches’ in India – having been trained by Sir John Whitmore on the GROW model of coaching. He has also been trained by Innovation Associates of Dr Peter Senge in facilitating ‘organizational transformation.

Consulting exposure: India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, South East Asia and the Middle East.

Consulting areas: Organization Effectiveness, Change Management, Leadership Development, Executive Coaching , Mentoring &Counselling, Performance Management System, Balanced Scorecard, Competency Profiling & Assessment Centres, Training, Strategic HR and Marketing

Jayashree Mohanka, Advisor, Marketing & Strategy

Formerly Vice President Marketing with Eveready Industries India Ltd. Responsible for Marketing Strategy, New Product launches, Advertising and Promotion, Merchandising, Pricing, Packaging, Rural and Urban initiatives. She has handled Distribution, tied up a JV for a new product line in lighting, and set up and ran the Eveready Academy of Sales Training. She was part of the start up team at Titan, as Regional Manager; and as Product Manager at Reckitt Benckiser and Assistant Manager with Citibank. Over 25 years experience, with 14 years in senior management in Marketing, and heading an SBU. Jayashree is PGDM from IIM Calcutta (Glaxo Gold Medal in Marketing); M.Sc. From Madras Christian College (First in University), Chennai (National Science Talent Scholar of NCERT) She is also a Guest lecturer at XLRI, MICA, IISWBM, IIMC, CMA, St.Xaviers’and Ad.Club Advertising Course.

Partho P. Mukhopadhyay, Head HR, CGPL (Tata Power)

Partho completed his Post Graduate diploma in Business Management from XLRI, Jamshedpur He is currently heading the human resource function of CGPL, which is a Rs 17,000 crore first Ultra Mega Power Project in India. He has worked in various capacities in Tinplate Company of India, South Asia Tyres (Goodyear), Infar, Magma Leasing and SREI Infrastructure. During his stint in the Senior Management capacity in Human Resources for various organizations, he has Facilitated articulation of Vision, Mission and Strategy for the company, formulated and implemented Executive Committee for management of the company, designed manpower model to ensure productivity gains and measure performance, facilitated development of the Company Scorecard on Balanced Scorecard Methodology and redesigned PMS on the Balanced Scorecard Methodology.

Vinay Mishra, Director HR Asia Pacific, IXIA Technologies

Vinay is currently Director –HR /Asia Pacific) with IXIA with about 24 years of experience in HR at middle / senior level with PSU / MNC at multi-location offices within India / Overseas of which 14 years he has handled independently the function successfully. He has also been in organizations wherein his exposure to Mergers & Acquisitions with due diligence has been immense. He is trained on SAP / HR Process and have Implemented Processes & Practices from scratch to a desired level in 4 organizations. He has been instrumental in organizing various Signature events for professional bodies like AMCHAM and NIPM. He represents various professional bodies as Executive member in their sub-committees. Vinay has earlier worked in organizations like NTPC, Optel Telecommunications, Koshika Telecom, Atos Origin before IXIA Technologies.