| Vijay Govindarajan | |
| Birth Date: | 1949 11, df=yes |
| Birth Place: | Chennai, Tamilnadu, India |
| Nationality: | American |
| Alma Mater: | Harvard Business School (MBA, DBA) The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India |
| Occupation: | Professor and consultant |
| Known For: | Three Box Solution Reverse Innovation |
| Spouse: | Kirthi (m. 1980) |
| Children: | 2 |
| Awards: | Fellow at the Strategic Management Society Two-time winner of the McKinsey award for the best article published in Harvard Business Review |
| Website: | |
Vijay Govindarajan (born 18 November 1949), is the Coxe Distinguished Professor (a Dartmouth-wide chair) at Dartmouth College's Tuck School of Business and Marvin Bower Fellow, 2015–16 at Harvard Business School.
In 1974, Govindarajan received his chartered accountancy degree, where he was awarded the President's gold medal by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, the award is given to the first-ranked student of chartered accountancy in India.[1] [2] Govindarajan went on to earn his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School in 1976 where he graduated with distinction. Two years later, he earned his D.B.A. from Harvard Business School where he was awarded the Robert Bowne Prize For Best Thesis Proposal.[1]
Govindarajan started his career as a professor at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad where he served as an associate professor from 1978 to 1980. From 1980 to 1985, Govindarajan served as a visiting associate professor at Harvard University and as an associate professor at Ohio State University.[2] In 1985, he joined the Tuck School of Business as a professor, where he has taught ever since. During his time at Tuck, Govindarajan has also served as a visiting professor at INSEAD's Fontainebleau campus and the International University of Japan.[2]
Govindarajan served as General Electric's first Chief Innovation Consultant and Professor in Residence from 2008 to 2010. While working at General Electric, Govindarajan co-authored a paper entitled "How GE Is Disrupting Itself" with Chris Trimble and GE's CEO Jeffrey Immelt. "How GE Is Disrupting Itself," which introduced the idea of reverse innovation.
Govindarajan is the author of fourteen books and has published articles in academic journals such as the Academy of Management Journal, the Academy of Management Review and the Strategic Management Journal.[3] [4] In 2010, Govindarajan's article "Stop The Innovation Wars" received the second place prize for that year's McKinsey Awards.[5] His article "Engineering Reverse Innovations" won the McKinsey Award for the Best Article published in HBR in 2015.