Ronald Reagan, 40th President of the US, once said, “The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one who gets the people to do the greatest things”. Accomplishing this kind of excellence can’t happen overnight for any leader, but after years of hard work, perseverance and commitment. The journey of Dr. Debapratim Purkayastha (Dean, IBS Case Research Center) is greatly synonymous with the aforementioned quote. With a strong belief that the contribution of a leader is measured by the leaders he develops, Dr. Debapratim is seamlessly creating multiple team leaders who have been supporting him in running IBS Case Research Center(CRC). Today, he is recognized internationally as an academic leader with achievements par versatility!

Wondering how Dr. Debapratim managed to become one of the most celebrated leaders in the world? Having worked five years in the grass-root levels of the industry and later as a manager (both in line & staff positions), he transformed not only into an adept leader, but also into a better person. Dr. Debapratim adds, “While making a successful transition from industry to academia, I garnered a spectrum of skills and insights that greatly help me in my current role at IBS CRC”. This major transition happened when he joined ICFAI. Taking this decision to not just switch a job, but also an industry was really crucial, while he just got hitched to Somali. He eventually went by his wife’s instincts to join ICFAI in 2006 and never regretted it.

A Truly Inspiring Journey
At ICFAI, where case development is a mission-critical activity, Dr. Debapratim is an acclaimed writer who writes excellent case studies that educators across the world would love to take into their classroom. Leveraging his experiences from industry and training people with cases in his previous companies, he developed cases that became extensively popular. He always invested requisite time and efforts to research and understand the topic of case study, thereby making it easier for the teacher to teach as well as the student to learn. Some of the topics he chose for the case studies were the Big Data strategy of Netflix, Amazon and P&G, besides ethics & sustainability in companies like Nestle, Body Shop and Apple. No wonder, he was crowned as the No.1 Bestselling Case Author by UK-based ‘The Case Centre’ for four consecutive years since 2016. He attributes this achievement to his case studies that were used at 1,000+ B-Schools in 90+ countries to teach nearly half a million students during the past decade. “What motivates me and keeps me going is the impact I am able to make in shaping so many young minds and contribute towards

making them future ready,” Dr. Debapratim adds.

In just a span of one year at ICFAI, Dr. Debapratim evolved from just a case writer to a team lead who also provided training support for faculty members, to a Business Strategy teacher in the MBA program. It indeed took him extensive perseverance and hard work to mould himself into a noticeably better teacher and also a better administrator/ academic leader. Dr. Debapratim adds, “I’m thankful that the management of ICFAI also supports me in capacity building of faculty members of other institutions in India & abroad through my service in editorial boards of superior journals and as resource person of case method workshops”.

Dr. Debapratim invests requisite time & efforts to research and understand the topic of case study, thereby making it easier for the teacher to teach, as well as the student to learn

A Giant Leap!
Despite facing tough phases in life like being forced to quit a managerial position in 2003 after he was diagnosed with a medical condition and later being passed-over for promotion in his institute in 2011, Dr. Debapratim soared high with grit & determination and eventually grew into a better person and inspiring leader. In 2015, ICFAI’s management made him the Associate Dean, and after two years, the Dean of IBS CRC, which held its own excellence even against Harvard, INSEAD, IMD and other institutions. At IBS CRC, Dr. Debapratim and his team bring-in realworld issues and topics for classroom discussion much before they get featured in a standard textbook along with cases in graphic novel format ‘Turbulence on the Tarmac’, ‘Firing a Hero?’ and ‘It’s Bank Policy’. They have also successfully realized the vision of Late Prof. N.J.Yasaswy (Founder, ICFAI) of setting-up India’s first case development center on the lines of the one in Harvard Business School.

Since the cases developed at IBS CRC are deployed in 800+ B-Schools in 75+ countries each year, all cases are ensured to be internationally-bench marked and at times, created as multimedia cases, interactive content and cases in the American comic book format. Dr. Debapratim concludes, “Our current focus is on unveiling new cases with an eye on closing all gaps in syllabus and more short cases as well as cases in diverse formats. In the coming decade, my aim is to firmly position IBS CRC as an able challenger to Harvard”.

Key Management:
Dr. Debapratim Purkayastha, Dean, IBS Case Research Center
With over 20 years of teaching, research and industry experience, Dr. Debapratim outclasses as an internationally renowned case method expert who has achieved numerous case method awards.

Strengths: Good at writing, reasonable people management skills, considerable design skills, ability to look at things holistically, and design practical solutions to complex problems!

Weaknesses:Inability to negotiate organizational politics and being loyal & humble to a fault!

Favourites:
•Hobbies: Reading(Fiction & Non-Fiction)& Travelling
•Travel Destinations:Paris & Diu
•Cuisines: Likes trying-out local cuisines & flavours, but home made Bengali dishes made by his mother are his favourite.

For the Budding Leaders:
“Always set a good example; show others how seemingly impossible things can be possible, and inspire others to follow you. Surround yourself with talented people, delegate work, and groom them to work in way that the institution’s goals are achieved. Set high standards and communicate clearly regarding processes to be followed and performance expectations. Seek-out opportunities to learn from others and leverage their unique skills to foster innovation. Inspire them to be self-motivated, so that your physical presence is not required to get the work done. Also as a leader, invest in yourself and prepare yourself consciously for higher responsibilities. It is also critical to manage your own image and position yourself in line with your career ambition”