Dr. Omkar is an Assistant Professor in the Graduate Business School (Top 250, QS World University Rankings 2023) at UCSI University (Top 1% Worldwide, QS World University Rankings 2023), Malaysia. His prior academic appointment was as Head of the Centre for Postgraduate Studies (academic, administrative, strategic, and business development leadership) at one of the reputable private higher education institutions (HEI / IPTS) offering UK franchisee programs (bachelors and masters) in Malaysia & Singapore. Before joining academia, he was an Assistant Manager (Operations) in India’s largest private-sector commercial bank. Dr. Omkar is also actively engaged in commercial research, industry consultancy, and research coaching.

Dr. Omkar Dastane obtained his Ph.D. (Business) from Curtin Business School (AACSB, EQUIS & EFMD accredited) of Curtin University (Top 1% worldwide, QS World University Rankings, 2023 & Shanghai Ranking – 2021 Academic Ranking of World Universities) with an MBA (Marketing) and MBA (Operations) from the University of Pune, India (Ranked second in India by THE, NAAC A+). He graduated with Distinction in his bachelor’s in engineering (Industrial Engineering) from VIT, India, and passed the University Grants Commission (UGC, India)’s - National Eligibility Test (NET) for Lectureship with distinction. He is a certified trainer approved by the Human Resource Development Corporation, Malaysia. Dr. Omkar also holds several professional certifications, including a six-sigma green belt.

Dr. Omkar’s research mainly emphasizes digital consumers and the technological impact on businesses. His extensive research interests are contemporary consumer behavior, customer value, shared value (aligned with UN Sustainable Development Goal 10), consumer perception, and green consumption (aligned with UN Sustainable Development Goals 12,13) in the context of in-store, online, and mobile commerce. Dr. Omkar’s publications appear in SSCI / Scopus index journals including A-ranked journals by the Australian Business Deans Council (ABDC) 2019 Journal Quality List such as the Journal of Retailing & Consumer Services (Elsevier, SSCI). He has attained a total Google Scholar Citations of 851, Google Scholar H-Index: 17, and Scopus H-Index: 5. Dr. Omkar has also published research-based book chapters in a wide range of academic and research handbooks published by reputed publishers such as Routledge (Taylors & Francis), IGI Global, etc.

Described in ‘The Times of India’ as ‘fuelled with innovation’ and ‘YouthTalk’ as ‘Catalyst of Change’, Dr. Omkar has won several best paper awards including the Best Paper Award in ASCENT 2017 and 2018 International Conferences, supported by the Ministry of Tourism, Malaysia and jointly hosted with University of East London, UK.

Dr. Omkar is actively involved in editorial and review activities. He is Co-Editor of a Handbook of Research on Digital Natives as a Disruptive Force in Asian Businesses and Societies to be published by IGI Global. He is also appointed as a Guest-Editor-in-Chief of a special issue on Post-Pandemic Learning Through EdTech Apps: Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives to be hosted by the International Journal of Mobile and Blended Learning (IGI Global, Scopus, ESCI). Dr. Omkar is a member of the International Review Board of the Journal of Strategic Digital Transformation in Society and Review Editor for Frontiers in Communication (Frontiers Media, Scopus, ESCI). He is also an active Reviewer for several SSCI/ SCIE / ESCI, and Scopus indexed journals including Society & Business Review (Emerald, Scopus, ABDC), Connection Science (Taylor & Francis, Scopus, SCIE/SSCI), International Journal of Asian Business and Information Management (IGI Global, Scopus, ESCI), International Journal of E-Business Research (IGI Global, Scopus, ESCI), Vision: The Journal of Business Perspectives (Sage, Scopus, ESCI), Frontiers in Psychology (Frontiers Media, Scopus, SSCI).

Dr. Omkar is an accomplished and performance-driven academic with an outstanding ability to link theoretical frameworks with real-life business contexts. He is a multitasking academic as well as a seasoned administrator and proven business development leader with expertise in defining and executing strategy, new market development, and driving growth. In his previous roles, he has worked extensively with UK partner universities for the franchise and dual award degree programs which resulted in multifold growth in university partners, program portfolio, and business expansion in the ASEAN region. This resulted in a 45% increase in the institution’s revenue in one single year (2016).  He has been recognized as an outstanding Head of Department (HOD) for three consecutive years (2016-2019) during his previous employment. In addition, Dr. Omkar has worked as an internal auditor for various quality management audits such as Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA) program accreditation, MyQuest, gaining Multimedia State Corridor (MSC) status, and ISO 9001 / 2008 quality management certification. Dr. Omkar highlights business management and marketing pathways in his teachings, delivering and coordinating postgraduate, and higher degree through research and executive programs.  His educational visits include several institutes in the ASEAN region, such as Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia, the Philippines, Indonesia, and India.

Dr. Omkar holds several professional memberships. He is a member of Australia & New Zealand Marketing Academy (ANZMAC), Australia & New Zealand; Responsible Research and Innovation Networked Globally (RRING), European Union; and Curtin Connect, Curtin University, Australia. He is also a life member of the International Association for Mobile Learning (IamLearn), New Zealand.

(Last Updated: 07 July 2022)