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Brief Profile
Prof. Smitu Malhotra brings over two decades of experience spanning both industry and academia, with deep expertise in Marketing and Retail. Her teaching is distinguished by a strong practical orientation, enriched by continuous engagement with industry professionals that informs her research, consulting, and pedagogy.
Her core area of specialization lies in Retail and E-Commerce Business Development, and her current research interests focus on the interface between Retail and Technology.
. She has undertaken consulting assignments for several Indian retail organizations and contributed to the academic community by serving on faculty boards, where she played a key role in curriculum design and program development for Marketing and Retail Management.
She has presented her research at national and international conferences, and her recent paper “Revolutionising Retail” explores the transformative impact of technology on retail and its broader implications for the sector.
Currently, Prof. Malhotra serves as the Area Chairperson of the Marketing Area at XLRI – Xavier School of Management, Jamshedpur. Prof. Malhotra holds a Master’s in Business Economics from Delhi University and a Ph.D. from IIT Kharagpur
Achievements and Research Interest/Area of Research Interests
Academic Distinction (Awards and Scholarships)
Administrative Distinction
- 2025 - present Area Chairperson Marketing Area
- 2024- present Convenor of the Curricullum Review Committee - BM Program
- 2019 - 2023 - Associate Dean Student Affairs
- Former Chairperson of Committee Against Sexual Harassment (CASH) at the workplace. Have been instrumental in implementation of the policy in the institute and have successfully handled the few instances that emerged.
- Core team member of the committee working for AACSB accreditation -contributing towards developing learning goals and their respective measurement rubrics.
Other Achievements
- On the Faculty Board of School of Business Studies, Sarda University, Greater Noida , Dec 2014.
- Invited as Retail Expert and nominated as member of the Mentor Council for Organized retail sector by Ministry of Labour and Employment , GOI Jan 2014
- Member -of an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) to inquire into the complaints of sexual harassment of female employees and female students of NIT Jamshedpur.
Faculty Development Programs Attended
- Participated in conference as a delegate on Unleashing India`s consumption potential organized by Retailers Association of India , Mumbai 2011
- Attended Case writing workshop of Professors Toby Canto and Professor Francisco L. Roman, Asian Institute of Management, Manila, organized by Xavier School of Management , Jamshedpur in 2010
- Participated in Marketing and Retail Conclave organized by KSA Technopak, in 2007
- Attended the Case Teaching Workshop organized by Prof N Ravichandran, IIM Ahemdabad in 2006
Courses Taught
Retail management which has been my primary course was introduced as an elective course for the first time in XLRI in 2006 by me, when organized retail industry, was in the nascent stages of development in India. This course has been running very well with almost 80% of the business management students opting for this course as an elective. The course involves a strong industry interaction and practical inputs.
Main areas of interest and Teaching
Retailing and Technology , E-commerce , Omnichannel Retail , Core Marketing
Intellectual Contributions (Publications)
Journal Articles-Refereed
- Kohli, T. P., Malhotra, S., & Pingali, V. (2025). Revolutionising retail: A review of Intelligent Unmanned Convenience Stores and their market implications. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 219, 124273. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2025.124273. 28 July 2025
- Malhotra, S., & Pingali, V. (2019). Rural immersion program in India: integrating management education with community. Development and Learning in Organizations: An International Journal. https://doi.org/10.1108/dlo-08-2019-0200
- "E.Schrodinger and the first store In India"Rajkumar and Malhotra Smitu with XLRI Case Development Centre (XLCDC) along with the Teaching Note with the Registration No: XLRI101625, January 2016
- Marketing A Sensitive Issue - Malhotra, Smitu and Anita Sarkar XLRI Case Development Centre (XLCDC) along with the Teaching Note. Registration no [ XLRI101406] 2014
- Green Retailing -Malhotra, Smitu , in Business Markets Plus - April 2012 -vol 1 No.1 - Journal of Bimtech Institute.
- SEWA: Creating Women Entrepreneurs -Smitu Malhotra and Madhukar Shukla ,- chapter published in a book Women Technology and Entrepreneurship,"- 2009 ,published by Reference Publishers, New Delhi.
Scholarly Books
- Firm level competitive practices Smitu Malhotra, Lambert Publications, Germany, 2010
Chapters in Scholarly Books
- Contributed Book Chapter on “ Retail Marketing “ in Textbook titled Marketing : A New age Perspective , authored by Chaturvedi and Shukla, Vikas Publications, 2024
Conference Proceedings-Refereed
- “Exploring the Future of Intelligent Unmanned Convenience Stores in India: Opportunities and Challenges”, INFORMS International Meeting: July20-23 ,2025, Singapore
- The concept of Jugaad: Evidence from innovations at the bottom of the pyramid in India 3rd Academy of business and Emerging Markets (ABEM) Conference Aug 1 – 3 .2017 Carribean Sea
Paper Presentations-Refereed
International
- Marketing A Sensitive Issue 4th Asian Management Research and Case Conference (AMRC) 2015. At Pusat Pengajian Siswazah Perniagaan Graduate School of Business ,Universiti Sains Malaysia ,11800 USM ,Pulau Pinang
- Retail Trade Area Analysis Using Huffs Model ,A Study in the Indian Context has been accepted for presentation at the Academy of Business Research Conference in San Antonio, TX USA September 18-20, 2013.
- Influencing FMOT for FMCG Brands: The role of an in-store promoter (An Indian Experience) CIBMPs Annual Conference on Innovations in Management & Doctoral Symposium, University of London ,February 27, 2012
- Green Retail Responding To Growing Concern For The Environment. Presented at :- WEAI`s 9th Biennial Pacific Rim Conference , April 26-29, 2011, Hosted by Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane
Conferences- National
- Practices for Competitiveness of Indian firms : special reference to globalization, co-authored this paper was presented at the National Seminar on Corporate Reincarnations: reaching New Horizons, RIMS, Orissa 24- 25 Feb 2006
- Firm Level Competitive Practices In Indian Industry: With Special Reference To Globalization this paper presented in the 3rd International Conference on Globalization and Competitiveness, IIT Kharagpur, Jan 2005
- Multinational Corporations: Compilation of Facts and Views Prepared this monograph for the conference on Creating the Indian MNCs, XLRI, Jamshedpur,1995
Published Articles in Newspapers/Magazines
· Kirana Stores are embracing digital retail tools – The Policy Circle, 23rd July 2025
Dilemma of Modern Retail – published in Financial Express , 30th March 2019
- Time Right For Retail To Go Green In India , published in the Financial Express ,6th May 2013
Cases Developed for Teaching Purpose
- A case to highlight the layout and visual merchandising techniques not published but using in class ( developed in ) 2009
Work under Progress
Other Professional Activities
Contribution Towards Institution Building/ Development/ Services such as Chairperson (Placement) Etc.
- 2025 - present Area Chairperson Marketing Area
- 2024- present Convenor of the Curricullum Review Committee - BM Program
- 2019 - 2023 - Associate Dean Student Affairs
- Former Chairperson of Committee Against Sexual Harassment (CASH) at the workplace. Have been instrumental in implementation of the policy in the institute and have successfully handled the few instances that emerged.
- Core team member of the committee working for AACSB accreditation -contributing towards developing learning goals and their respective measurement rubrics.
Guide/Evaluator/ Examiner at Doctoral Research Level
· On the thesis advisory committee of one Full time FPM and one EFPM Scholar at XLRI from 2024/2025 onwards
- External Examiner - 2022 – PhD Thesis - Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines) Dhanbad, Dhanbad 826004, INDIA
- External Examiner - 2021 – PhD Thesis - Thapar Institute of Engineering & Technology (Deemed University),Patiala (Punjab) 147004, INDIA
Invited to Deliver Keynote Addresses/ Speeches
- Invited as a Special Guest on opening of the first all women post- office in Jamshedpur Jharkand in August 2013 - and delivered a speech on women empowerment.