Dr. Akriti Jain is an Assistant Professor in Strategy & General Management at IMI Delhi, specializing in Intellectual Property (IP) strategy and innovation management. She holds a Ph.D. from IIT Delhi and and was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. She brings over a decade of research and teaching experience spanning IIT Delhi, IISc Bangalore, and IMI Delhi.

Her research sits at the intersection of IP strategy, open innovation, sustainability, and digital business strategy - areas of growing strategic importance for businesses navigating the green & digital economy. She has published in high-impact journals including Business Strategy and the Environment, Global Environmental Change, World Patent Information, Technology Analysis & Startegic Management, and Journal of Cleaner Production. She has led and contributed to funded research projects from ICSSR, the British Council, and the Belmont Forum. She maintains active research collaborations with the University of Cambridge, University of Exeter, HTW Berlin, and other international institutions. 

Research Interests

• Innovation Strategy
• Intellectual Property (IP) Strategy
• Sustainability Transitions
• Open Innovation & IP Openness
• Digital Business Strategy
• Technology & Innovation Management
• AI and Large Language Models (LLMs) in IP & Innovation Research
• Innovation Ecosystems & Startups

Teaching Interests

• Strategic Management
• Digital Business Strategy
• Technology & Innovation Management
• IP Strategy & Value Capture
• Research Methods in Management
• Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Peer-Reviewed Publications

1. Transformations to Sustainability: Processes, Practices, and Pathways — Global Environmental Change (2025) | ABDC: A* [Link]
2. Global Dominance and Local Innovation: Unraveling Nonlinear Ties in India's Pharma Sector — Vision: The Journal of Business Perspective (2024) | IF: 3 [Link]
3. Exploring the Interplay between Intellectual Property Models and Sustainability Transitions: A Multi-Level Analysis — Business Strategy and the Environment (2024) | ABDC: A | IF: 12.5 [Link]
4. The Nexus between Labor Mobility and Innovation: An Empirical Analysis — Journal of Industrial and Business Economics (2024) | ABS: 1 [Link]
5. Responsible Intellectual Property Strategy for Transition towards Sustainable Development ? Editors' Top-Choice Article of 2023 — World Patent Information (2023) [Link]
6. To Patent or Not? Factors and Motivation Affecting Indian Academic Patenting — Economic and Political Weekly (2023) | ABDC: B | ABS: 2 [Link]
7. IP Strategies for Green Innovations – An Analysis of European Inventor Awards — Journal of Cleaner Production (2022) | ABDC: A | IF: 9.3 [Link]
8. Can the Restrictive Boundaries of Intellectual Property Create a Larger Social Impact? — Current Science (2021) | SCI Indexed [Link]
9. Sustainability Transitions in Manufacturing – The Role of Intellectual Property — Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability (2021) | IF: 6.98 | Scopus Q1 [Link]
10. The Business Model in Sustainability Transitions: A Conceptualization — Sustainability (2021) | IF: 3.25 | Scopus Q1 [Link]
11. Public Funds and Outputs in Higher Academic Technical Institutions: Insights from India — Technology Analysis and Strategic Management (2020) | ABDC: B | ABS: 2 [Link]
12. Measuring Research Efficiency of Higher Academic Technical Institutions of India: A Malmquist Productivity Index Approach — International Journal of Intellectual Property Management (2020) | ABDC: C [Link]
13. Whether Social Media Use Differs across Different Personality Types? Insights for Managing Human Resources — International Journal of Work Organisation and Emotion (2016) | ABDC: B [Link]
14. Research and Patenting in Indian Universities and Technical Institutes: An Exploratory Study — World Patent Information (2014) | SCI Indexed [Link]

Conference Proceedings

1. Women Leadership and Patenting: Evidence from Indian HealthTech Startups — 85th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, Copenhagen (2025) [Link]
2. IP Openness and Social Sustainability: Evidence from Indian Health-Tech Startups — 85th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, Copenhagen (2025)
3. IP Strategy for Sustainability-Oriented Innovations – An Exploratory Analysis of New Entrants — International Confluence Conference on Startups and Innovation, IIT Madras (2023)
4. Intellectual Property Strategies for Sustainability Transitions — European Policy for Intellectual Property (EPIP) Conference, Krakow (2023)
5. Sustainability Transition Spectrum and Intellectual Property Dynamics – Firm Level Exploration — EPIP Conference, University of Cambridge (2022)
6. Intellectual Property Strategies for Social Sustainability: Evidence from Mission Driven Firms — R&D Management Conference, University of Trento, Italy (2022)
7. IP Usage and Sharing Models for Sustainability Transitions – Firm-Level Case Analysis — 7th Biennial INDAM Conference, IIM Rohtak (2022)
8. Responsible Intellectual Property Strategies: Insights from Case Studies of Sustainable Companies — R&D Management Conference (2021)
9. An Empirical Investigation of Intellectual Property for Sustainability and Its Relevance to IPR Policy — Eu-SPRI Annual Conference, Oslo (2021)
10. Intellectual Property and Sustainability Transitions: Co-Evolution and Continuous Innovation Perspectives — 21st International CINet Conference, Politecnico di Milano (2020)
11. A Conceptualization of Firm Activities toward Sustainability Transitions — 80th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, Vancouver (2020) [Link]
12. Sustainability Transition in Established Corporations: Role of Technological Innovation — 6th Biennial INDAM Conference, IIM Tiruchirappalli (2020) [Link]
13. IP Strategies for Green Innovations – An Analysis of European Inventor Awards — 20th EURAM Conference, Dublin (2020)
14. Technology Start-ups and IP Protection in India — 10th Asia Pacific Innovation Conference, Peking University, Beijing (2019)
15. E-Waste and Sustainability: Impact Assessment Indicators — International Conference on Transformational Strategies for Business Sustainability, Christ University, Bangalore (2019)
16. Factors and Motivation of Academic Patenting Behaviour: An Empirical Study of India — 9th Asia Pacific Innovation Conference, Delhi School of Economics (2018)
17. Measuring Research Efficiency of Higher Academic Premier Technical Institutions of India ? Best Paper Award — 3rd International Conference on Management of IP Rights and Strategy (MIPS), NIEM Mumbai (2016)
18. Whether Personality Type Determines the Nature of Social Media Use? — ICROSMOS, Jaipuria Institute of Management, Noida (2016)
19. Out-of-Cycle Review of India's Intellectual Property Rights by US: A Review — 4th Biennial IAM Conference, IIM Lucknow (2015)
20. TRIPS and Free Trade — National Conference on the Evolving Regime in Intellectual Property Protection, JNU Delhi (2015)
21. Measuring Innovation by Universities & Higher Academic Technical Institutions in India — GLOGIFT 15, Symbiosis International University, Pune (2015)
22. An Analysis of Current Research Profile of Indian Universities and Their IPRs Policies — 6th Annual Conference, Academy of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Oxford University, UK (2013)

Editorial & Review Roles

• Guest Co-Editor, Global Environmental Change, Elsevier - one of the field's highest-ranked journals (ABDC: A*)
• Reviewer, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management; Technology in Society; Bulletin of Science, Technology and Society
• Conference Reviewer, Academy of Management (AOM); European Academy of Management (EURAM)

Institutional Service - IMI Delhi

• Member, Research & FPM Committee (2025–present)
• Member, PGDM & FPM Admissions Interview Panels (2022–2025)
• Lead Author, internal strategy report - "Strategy Note for Enhancing Research Environment at IMI Delhi" - benchmarking leading management institutes; submitted to the Research & FPM Committee
• Co-Lead, Review of the Faculty Development Fund (FDF) Framework — proposed revisions on transparency, qualifiers, and justification criteria
• Chair (3 months), International Exposure Working Group under Project Elevate 
• Organising Committee Member, 40th Euro-Asia Management Studies Association (EAMSA) Conference, IMI Delhi (November 2024)

Invited Talks & Keynotes

• Basics of Sustainability, Sustainable Technologies & Sustainability Impact Assessment - British Council Going Global Partnership Pilot Course, IISc Bangalore (December 2022)
• Intellectual Property Rights – Policy and Practice - PGDM students, ABES Business School, Ghaziabad (June 2022)
• The Space Between Theory, Research, Practice and Policy for Transformation to Sustainability - Sustainability Research Congress, International Science Council (June 2022)
• Intellectual Property for Sustainability in the New Normal Era - First Japan-India Joint Seminar, Osaka University (January 2022)
• IP Strategies and Sustainability Transition: Role of University-Industry Technology Transfer - International Webinar on Industry-Academia Innovation, Govt. Mahaveer College Petlawad (January 2021)
• Critical Social Science Perspectives on Transformations to Sustainability - Sustainability Research Congress, International Science Council (June 2021)
• Text Analysis – Qualitative Content Analysis - Workshop for Directorate of Urban Land Transport, Govt. of Karnataka, IISc Bangalore (May 2022)

Workshops & Management Development Programmes

• Resource Person, ITEC Certificate Course on Strategic Management and Sustainable Development for Emerging Markets, IMI Delhi (January–February 2023) - delivered 4 sessions on IP strategies for sustainability and resource-based competitive advantage to 29 international participants
• Co-Facilitator, Workshop on Diffusion of Sustainable Innovation - IP Models for Increasing Technology Transfer, Sustainability Research Congress, International Science Council (June 2022)
• Coordinator & Instructor, Workshop on Data Analysis for Directorate of Urban Land Transport, Govt. of Karnataka, IISc Bangalore (August–September 2021)
• Organiser, 4th Winter School on Economics of Competition Law, CUTS Institute for Regulation & Competition (December 2018) — 20 participants from law firms, corporates, and academia

Media, Blogs & Practitioner Writing

• From Protection to Diffusion: Intellectual Property as a Tool for Transitioning to a Low-Carbon Economy — Chemical Industry Digest, June 2024
• Intellectual Property Challenges in the Digital Era: Case Studies and Emerging Issues — IMI Insights Blog, September 2024
• Promoting Sustainable Technology Transition through Innovative IP Strategies — IMI Insights Blog, August 2023
• Patenting by Universities: Weighing Costs and Benefits — Times of India Blog
• Critical Social Science Perspectives on Transformations to Sustainability — International Science Council, June 2021
• GST and Income Inequality in India — IMI Insights Blog, January 2023