Good day, Arvind Darshna. I'm Arjun. I've had a look through your background and your professional record. I'm interested in hearing more about your work and how you see yourself fitting in here with our faculty. Ready to start?

Please start by introducing your professional journey in academia.

Hello.

Am I audible?

Yes, Professor, you are audible. Please go ahead and share your professional journey in academia.

Sorry, can we start again because I was not able to hear the questions.

Of course, no problem, Professor. Please start by introducing your professional journey in academia.

Recently, I have submitted my PST uh that is uh, this is titled Understanding the Effect of Mindfulness on Consumption and Buying Behavior uh, to the Indian Institute of Management, both here. Prior to joining my Bodhgaya, I was working as a faculty at Central University of Haryana for almost 2 years. As per my education qualifications are concerned, I hold my MBA degree from Central University of Himachal Pradesh and also my Btech from Himach Technical University. From my thesis, I have published one paper that is in the Journal of Business Research.

OK. My name is Arvind Darshan.

And three papers are currently under review. As far as my professional journey is concerned, I have almost two years of experience and I'm totally interested in making my career in the field of academia.

Thank you for sharing that, Professor Darshan.

Thank you.

Let us start with marketing analytics. Can you explain how you would use Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to assess the impact of consumer mindfulness on sustainable consumption behavior?

Yes, I can do that. Simply whenever we're trying to talk about the structure equation modeling it, we are going to just try to identify the interrelationship between multiple variable that is more than two or three variables. When we are trying to talk about the certification of is structural equation modeling, especially in the context of the mindful mindfulness consumption behavior, we are going to identify the factors that are going to have an impact on the sustainable consumption behavior. For my thesis, I have taken into consideration the mind.

That is an independent independent variable. I have taken into consideration the self transcendence and self enhancement values as my mediators. Along with that I have taken into consideration self identity and their impact on the buying behavior. That is on the dependent aspect of mindfulness consumption, sustainable consumption part whereby these interrelationship between variables. I'm able to find out how these. Variables are interconnected with each other. Which variable is going to have going to increase or enhance?

Impact on the other part and which is going to moderate it and that's we are going to use it in this application modeling.

Thank you, Professor. You demonstrated a solid understanding of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and its application to researching mindfulness and sustainable consumption. Next, let us move to services operations management. Can you describe an approach to improve service quality in a retail setting, considering both operational efficiency and customer satisfaction?

They are going to provide us the data that what exactly they are facing the problems because there are two types of problem that are going to exist. Either it is going to be internal that is from the internal operation side and another one is the external aspect that they don't have a control of it. We can control many things. That's why it is important to take the feedback as well as survey from the customers that can clearly mention that what are the means, how the service flow is blocked, what can be done to enhance it and for that we are going to take the.

OK. Uh, to do this aspect, uh, when we are just trying to look into the services, uh, aspect, it is very much important to identify the problems. What exactly is the problem that we, we or a company is facing? Uh, for, for that we can take into consideration the data or the feedbacks from either the customers or from the means retail aspect, we are just going to take into consideration these sales manager or the branch manager or their store manager.

Take an example of Reliance Retail, They usually take the survey and they usually call the customers to get to know how they they had experience during their visit to their shopping or the shopping mall or the the store and based on the feedback they can improve and enhance it.

Or survey the feedback survey and in most of the stores like.

Understood. Gathering feedback from customers and internal stakeholders to identify operational and service-related challenges is a practical approach to improving service quality in retail. You've highlighted some effective strategies. Now let's turn to teaching. Imagine you are designing a laboratory course for students on marketing analytics. How would you structure the content to ensure both conceptual clarity and practical application?

Uh, to enhance the clarity among the students specifically related to the marketing analytics course, uh, it is very much important to design the, uh, experiments or the lab exposure, uh, with the theoretical aspects. For example, if we are required to talk about that, how we are just trying to do the sales, uh, sales pitching or sales analytics, therefore, we are required to talk or, you know, teach our students specifically. Of this particular topic in the classroom, that is in the theoretical aspect.

And we are going to demonstrate every aspect of it based on the laboratory experiment. The data should be from the retail aspect from where they can take the data-driven decision making also. So it is very much important to interrelate the theoretical concept with the practical concept. So my my exposure and my things are going to be very simple. First of all, take the standard, standard books that is having the standard data and as well as there are many datas come datasets come into the into those books also.

And using these datas into the implementation to get to know about what are the data inside that can derived out also.

OK. The student should be evaluated specifically on the basis of the solution that they are going to provide it Also because not every problem can be solved through the only one single lens you are required. You can you know, look into different aspect of this because whenever we teach students, we just try to tell them that how they are going to analyze the situation and how they are going to identify the problem that after that problem is identified, what are the key aspect or key problem they would like to solve it.

Thank you, Professor Darshna. Your approach shows a clear integration of theoretical and practical elements, with the intention to use real-world datasets for hands-on learning, which is crucial for a laboratory course in marketing analytics. Next, let's focus on student evaluation. Could you provide an example of how you would fairly assess student performance in such a course, including both theoretical understanding and practical application?

And based on that, there can be multiple, numerous solutions that can come out of it. When we are just trying to evaluate, we must evaluate student based on how they are able to think properly, whether they are able to think outside the box or not. Because day-to-day we are we are seeing this AI is coming into the picture as well as there is a cutthroat competition that is going on. That's why innovation or creativity should be acknowledged also. And that's why when we are just trying to talk about the solution specifically the case based or the.

Waste. They should be integrated on how they have approached the solution and what are the benefits they are means whether they are able to look into the picture beyond that or not. And as far as theoretical or the conceptual aspect is concerned, we have to make sure that they are using the current theory and even they can move beyond the theory. They should be making every logical decision making through it.

That’s a comprehensive approach, Professor Darshna. Evaluating students on their ability to identify problems, creatively propose multiple solutions, and apply current theoretical frameworks effectively ensures a balanced and fair assessment of their overall capabilities. Let us now discuss guiding student projects and research. How would you mentor students during their research projects to ensure both academic rigor and meaningful outcomes?

Uh, to ensure that, uh, academic rigor is there and the students engagement is there. First of all, it is very much important to understand, uh, what is the topic that interests the students because, uh, there are multiple dimensions that we can look into it like, so let's take an example, social media marketing or the digital marketing. If some student is looking into this aspect and they're very much into it using social media. So such type of projects which are related to it, like social media consumption or the digital media consumption. We can integrated such type of project into this aspect and when we are going to mentor it, it is very much you know interested and it should be noted or jotted down that we have to think about the inquisitive nature of the students that which topics they are liking it and based on that we are going to mentor it. And that inquisitiveness or that research question or research aptitude can be built upon that. There are research interests for example, if someone is interested in that how social media is looking into the aspect of.

Those impulsive buying or the compulsive buying or the digital media consumption, we are required to nudge students to read such papers which are related to it and based on that we can give them the proper feedback what they are learning and nudge them that what what should be the next step also. So my mentoring should be in this manner only. First of all, identify the research interests that student has. Second, what is the inquisitive questions or research question they would like to explore also. Third is providing them the direction with reading research papers reading.

Reports or market reports, what exactly is happening and the fourth one is continuously taking, what are their take on and what how can I contribute towards it and providing the right direction? That should be my approach for the mentoring students specifically for the projects.

Communication is not clear and there is a lack of means clarity. There exist a boredomness among the UH student also. So it is very much required to take the feedback from the students whenever you feel that something is off and you are not able to connect with the class. So my approach is very simple and very direct. It is going to be very direct if I'm in the classroom. So my first 2, two to three lectures are going to be like uh. Lectures only where I can, uh, teach according to my style and we'll look into aspect that whether the students are.

Thank you, Professor Darshna. Your mentorship approach, focusing on aligning projects with student interests, encouraging inquisitiveness, and providing continuous support, reflects a thoughtful and structured method for guiding student research. Now, how do you ensure a good communication and structured teaching approach in your classes to foster engagement and clarity for students?

Uh, see when uh.

Responding according to it or not, what is their means feedback about the classroom or whether should I change the content also or not? Because it is very much important for a teacher to be a student centric and make sure that whatever the teaching they are doing it, it should be effective in nature and outcome based learning should be promoted. And that's why I'm going to provide the communication properly that whatever I'm just saying it, I'm just trying to try to take the feedback also because teaching is a two way process, not a one way process.

Teacher teaches the student even in that particular aspect, students also make some good questions in the classroom in the form of feedbacks or in the form of raising their questions or concerns. Teachers also learn. So that's why it is very much important for me to get into these two means two way process and get the feedback properly and analyze it and do implement it accordingly.

Yes, I can do that. My uh, thesis title was understanding the effect of mindfulness on consumption and buying behavior. And when we are going to talk about how it is related to the marketing, we have seen that marketers are always into the aspect of learning more about the compulsive buying or the impulsive buying. Even the new companies are looking into the aspect of and promoting it, mindful buying as well as social conscious buying also. So these topics, these my research topic was very much relevant into the marketing.

That is an insightful approach, Professor Darshna. Emphasizing a two-way interaction and being adaptive to student feedback ensures engagement, clarity, and effective learning outcomes in your teaching approach. Next, let us discuss your academic background. Could you elaborate on the focus of your PhD research and how it connects to the field of marketing?

And as, uh, they are already talking about what consumer values means, what, how the consumers, uh, values are changing over the time, uh, from, uh, from previous generation. If we are going to see that, uh, this generation, uh, consumes a lot because based on the impulsive buying also as well compulsive buying that has been promoted by the marketers. But recently the marketers are also just trying to, uh, make aware, uh, consumers that they are required to do less of the consumption. Like take an example of Patagonia in 2000.

They simply mentioned and advertised that you're not required to buy our jacket if you already have one and that and that resonated with the most of the consumers and they started associating them with their with this particular Patagonia band. That's why I firmly believe that my research topic is directly into the marketing research that how the marketers are looking into the aspect of the changing consumer values, how to promote the mindful consumption and even how to integrate the mindfulness in their brand also so.

They can be seen as a mindful friends also. So I firmly believe, and I I'm into this part also, that my topic is directly related to the marketing research aspect which is aligning with the business consumer or business interest.

Yes, I can do that. Recently one of my paper has been published in Journal of Business Research which is the part of ABDC ecategory journal and which tries to talk about the mapping the mindfulness in the management, what other trends and the ways forward. It simply talks about that how mindfulness has been implemented as well as Cron in the field of business management. And apart from that I have also published previously 1 research paper that is related to the circular economy because somehow I was into the.

Thank you, Professor Darshna. Your work on mindfulness and its implications for consumption behavior connects meaningfully to contemporary marketing challenges and evolving consumer trends. It’s clear how your research contributes to the broader discourse on ethical and mindful marketing practices. Now, can you share about your research publications? Specifically, where your work has been featured, and the impact of these publications within the academic or industry community?

Mental, uh, savings part also where I was, uh, looking into how we can into integrate our, uh, integrate mindful consumption or the sustainable consumption part. Also, uh, out of my thesis work, I have uh, three papers that are currently under review and I'm going to get the publication, umm, needs, umm, aspect of the response from the Journal of Editors in next two to three months. I'm expecting the publication in these and they are already in the ABDCA A as well as one is in ABDC B actually.

I appreciate the overview, Professor Darshna. Publishing in the *Journal of Business Research* and focusing on high-impact topics like mindfulness in management and circular economy demonstrates your academic rigor and relevance. Your ongoing review process in ABDC A and B-level journals further reflects your dedication to impactful research. Next, let us discuss your experience with industry projects or consultancy. Can you share any relevant experiences and how they have informed your teaching or research?

Yes, I can do that. During my PhD program, I was, you know, given the opportunity to work under the three projects that came from the two projects for from the Bihar Tourism and one was from the government of Bihar. The first two projects that were from the Bihar Tourism just try to had, you know, they wanted to have a survey specifically on understanding the effectiveness and the financial effectiveness of this Sonpur Mela as well as Malmas Mela that how these Milas are going to have an impact.

On the livelihood of the peoples who are either means earning very low income specifically the small merchants as well as small shopkeepers and how it is having an impact on the cultural aspect also. So there I have found that many of the peoples livelihood are based on these mailers only because these maila can go from you know 30 days to you know 45 or 60 days also and based on that they can sell their artisans or sell their items to.

Tourist also and even the support from the Bihar tourism has enhanced the reach of the people. Many people would like to come there and based on that their livelihood also increases and that's why we were able to find out that these mailers are able to handle the society and upliftment of the societies they are doing it. The third project that is from the government of Bihar, just try try to talk about the midday meal that how the effectiveness of midday meal is there still whether the operations are good or not.

And we have, we have, you know, gone through the primary field survey where we just try to talk from the many people who are, uh, from the operation side, who are making the food for the children and what are the means, ingredient, ingredients or components they are using it, whether it is nutritious or not. And whether this particular nutritious meal is reached to the end students or not specifically from the government schools or government schools.

So recently government of Bihar has done one simple thing, they have made a one kitchen and that is known as one mess or one centered kitchen. From that kitchen only the food will be made and it will be delivered and distributed to other schools. And we have found some of the discrepancies like many of the students.

So my learning from these projects was, you know, directly, first of all, from the primary survey, that is from the during the data collection, I was able to see it is very much important to ask the right question from the people because asking without right question you, the data may not be able to give you the right amount of insights that you're looking into. The second aspect is it is very much important to understand the root cause problem that that is existing in the society. And if you are going to use it, you are required to take the help of the management.

Were in school whenever they are absent the food gets wasted also. And such type of food can be, you know, given to the and is was, you know, getting wasted also.

And using these, uh, insights specifically that are coming from these, uh, three projects, I was able to connect that, uh, specifically in the part of Business Research or the business survey research methodology that how students must ask the questions specifically in the qualitative research methodology and what type of insights they must try to get whenever they're just trying to, uh, uh, they are in, in the field by this, they can, uh, enhance their knowledge what exactly is happening in the society.

And that can help them to grow ahead.

Thank you, Professor Darshna. Your experience with these government and tourism-related projects clearly illustrates your ability to bridge research with practical, societal challenges. Your insights on designing effective surveys and identifying root causes are not only valuable for research but also enrich your teaching methodology in business and research courses. With that, the targeted skills verification is now complete. Thank you for your detailed and thoughtful responses.

Thank you very much.

Uh, for me, uh, I can go through the, with the consumer behavior because I was very much interested, uh, during my MBA also that how consumer consumes and why they behave like they behave in a manner. So I found that, uh, consumer behavior is a evolving subject and many models, many, uh, things that are coming into the picture every, even marketers would like to change the consumption behavior of a consumers.

Professor, to begin, can you tell me about a specific foundational marketing course that you find particularly rewarding to teach? What about it resonates with you as an educator?

So I resonate with the consumer behavior and the second will be marketing analytics.

And, uh, taking steps to make sure they are into the right direction. It is very much important to use the data and the analytics aspect also. That's why these two courses are very, are literally very close to me. And I'm also learning some of the new skills specifically in the R as well as Python, uh, including the SQL also, uh, to strengthen my marketing analytics skills.

Reasoning, marketing or customer analytics. Reason being changing the consumer behavior based on the data.

Professor Arvind, I see you have conducted research on "Mindfulness and Sustainable Consumption," focusing on self-control and impulsive purchasing behaviors. Could you briefly summarize the key findings of this research?

Uh, yes, umm, I, I can do that. Umm, I have, you know, uh, use the self-control as a approach, uh, where I, I just, I was able to find that that self-control acted as a muscle. With the help of mindfulness, we can enhance the self-control and that can eventually have an impact on the positive aspects of the buying that is social conscious buying as well as frugal buying. Whereas if the self-control is very less.

Buying aspect or the promotion that is being run by the marketers and they can indulge in the impulsive buying and the compulsive buying which is detrimental in nature. So my finding was very simple and very straightforward. The mindfulness can enhance the self-control and which can impact the positive outcomes of the buying specifically social conscious buying as well as frugal buying where in case of when mindfulness is very less that means destruction is there and the self-control is very weak, there are high chances that individual can indulge into the.

The, uh, that is going to, uh, allow an individual to give in to the uh.

Impulsive and then the compulsive buying part also and we have taken into consideration one of the aspect of the consumer values that is spiritual values are also, we have taken into consideration along with that self transcendence and self enhancement values also there. So values do play a part in enhancing the self-control.

Thank you for that explanation, Professor. It seems that the link between mindfulness, self-control, and consumer behavior is central to this work. Could you elaborate on how you might introduce these concepts in a classroom setting? How would you make such complex ideas relatable and engaging for students?

OK, so whenever we are going, let's take an example if given a chance to teach me about the consumer behavior. So in consumer behavior we can talk about the different type of buying behavior that exists that includes about the compulsive buying, impulsive buying, frugal buying, social conscious buying and even the mindful buying part also. So for that we are also going to define the self-control aspect. So self-control is a very. Center central topic for all the consumer behavior related aspects and we have seen that many of the.

Our

Publication specifically from the Journal of Consumer Research general of consumer behavior they have, you know published lots, lots of paper in and around it. So when we are going to talk about the mindfulness to such type of introducing the mindfulness, we are required to teach them that how these different means constructs are interrelated with each other and how they are going to have an impact on the outcomes also means we are going to teach them like A cause and effect that in a very simple term that how mindfulness is going to.

Analysis self-control and whether the self-control is going to have an impact on the buying behavior aspect or not. And we can have a discussion in and around it with the students that what they think about it that how to reduce the compulsive consumption or impulsive buying. Also because we have seen the detrimental impact of these buying behavior specific in the aspect of financial well-being.

So I would like to do do this means presentation or the interrelation based on the cause and effect and then we can have a discussion around it that how we can minimize it, how we can enhance the mindful buying of the social conscious plan.

Thank you, Professor. Your approach demonstrates a deep understanding of crafting a cause-and-effect narrative and facilitating discussions. A thoughtful strategy. One follow-up question: How would you assess whether students are effectively grasping these interrelations in your class?

So it is always better whenever we are in the classroom, we should allow students to participate and make sure that they are engaging with the discussion that is going on. And the best way to do is to put the intriguing questions towards them and would like to get the feedback from them. Because when they are engaging in the classroom and giving their point of view as well as their aspect that how they are looking into these topics that gives us immense idea that whether they are able to understand these concepts.

And if they are not able to do it, we are required to either restructure the whole discussion or provide alternative example to make them understand. Because at the end we should be student centric to make them learn about this concept in a very easy manner and based on practical exposure specifically from the industry and how the industry is growing and what are the relevant example from the business world. By that we can incorporate the.

Means if there is any miscommunication, we can get to know about that.

Understood, Professor. It's clear you value active engagement and adaptability in catering to your students' needs while connecting theoretical concepts with real-world examples. A commendable approach indeed. Thank you for sharing your insights.

Uh, see, I have already previously mentioned, uh, that, uh, I have three papers that are, uh, going that are going to be published very soon. They're currently under review. And from my thesis, I have collected the data during my survey time. And based on, based on those data, I'm looking into publishing 3 to 4 papers specifically in the either F-250 or the ABDCA General. So my next three years are going to be like this. I'm going to publish my research in the top tier journals.

Professor, could you outline your 3-year research roadmap, focusing particularly on how your work could align with VIT's mission and generate impactful academic contributions?

Specifically in the ABDCA as well as F-350 journals. And along with that, I'm also just trying to do the collaboration aspect specifically related to the mindfulness is let's take an example. I have already started in the that is your work in the pipeline mindfulness and buying now pay later because that is also one of the emerging topic in the picture. And that's why I'm looking approximately in the easiest first year I'm looking that one or two papers will be published soon.

And three or four papers that are going to be in the pipeline, they will be published in next, uh, two to three years also and how they are going to align the VIT because I firmly believe the VIT looks for the research LED teaching.

And I'm already into the research and I'm also looking for the publication also. So I firmly believe that my research output is going to align with the VIT mission and they are going to get the credit for that because if they are going to allow mistake me and allow me to work for them means these contributions will be shared with the VIT.

Thank you, Professor. Your emphasis on research-led teaching and high-impact publications is indeed commendable. Building upon this, how do you plan to scale your research efforts through mentoring junior students and developing a pipeline of ongoing, high-quality publications at VIT?

Time is up! Ending the interview now.