Siddhartha Saxena
Assistant Professor
Why this course
Professor Saxena's course integrates theory and practice while weaving together an ambitious list of topics such as big data, AI, automation, climate migration, and biomimicry, through the lens of the health and well-being of low-wage workers in a globalized economy
The course excels in pairing the technical (introducing people analytics, network theory and social network analysis) and the deeply human; acknowledging at the outset the very human need for every individual to “find meaning and purpose in work and material compensation for it that allows him or her to become a full, independent and valued actor in society”
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Course Highlights
Learning Outcomes are to understand:
The changing factors which future millennial workforce will face
The threat that automation and data presents to people and managers
How societies will be affected by this technology and data-driven organisations
Example Exercise:
Dr. Saxena seeks to share ways we can design pedagogy to make it easily understandable yet full of learning. In one of the sessions, he teaches Network Analysis. Instead of plainly explaining the theory of nodes, edges, intensity, reciprocity, etc., the class was conducted outside the classroom with each student acting as a node and understanding their edges. They enjoyed identify stars, gatekeepers and other elements in the network. Through a simple exercise (pictured below), the understanding becomes so easy, and it stays with the student for a long time since it becomes an experience.
Dr. Saxena teaching his “Network Analysis” exercise
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Biography
Siddhartha Saxena has a passion for, and experience in the Organizational Behavior and Human Resources domain and field-based learning. He is the Program Chair of the BBA Program at Ahmedabad University. He teaches undergraduate and graduate core courses and electives in OB & HR. Professor Saxena is interested in studying Counter Workplace Behavior, People Analytics and succession planning in family businesses. He has completed his PhD on ‘Study of gender role congruity in family businesses’ in 2019. His teaching philosophy rests on encouragement of providing concrete information which stands true with reference to current scenarios of business. Particularly, emphasis is on the promotion of analyzing situations based on frameworks provided by the theory, and accordingly developing own out of the box solutions. He believes learning is done by exploring and not by limiting or restricting one’s options.