Dr. Shameen Prashantham

Meet Dr. Shameen Prashantham

Dr. Shameen Prashantham is Professor of International Business & Strategy at China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) in Shanghai, China. His research focuses on how startups and large multinational corporations partner with each other as a means to improve their prospects of innovation and growth, corporate entrepreneurship, new venture growth and global strategy in and from emerging markets.

Acclaimed Thought Leader and Author

Prof. Prashantham is best known for his work on partnering between large corporations and startups – which he refers to as “dancing with gorillas” (from the perspective of startups) or “gorillas can dance” (from the perspective of large corporations). Shameen is the author of the widely acclaimed book on corporate-startup partnering titled Gorillas Can Dance: Lessons from Microsoft and Other Corporations on Partnering with Startups which was endorsed by former Unilever CEO Paul Polman, among others. As Ivey Business School Dean, Julian Birkinshaw comments, “Shameen Prashantham picked up on the corporate-startup collaboration trend very early, and he has tracked its evolution across industries and across continents for more than a decade. Combining thoughtful analysis with practical application, his insights into the why, how, and where of corporate-startup partnering will be valuable to companies that wish to be more agile and resilient in the digital era.”

A distinctive aspect of his work is the global perspective he provides, through studying contexts in both the West and non-Western settings in Asia (notably China and India) as well as Africa. Spanning a decade-and-a-half, this work has involved conducting fieldwork, teaching executives or giving talks around the world, including in Accra, Bangalore, Beijing, Berlin, Edinburgh, Johannesburg, Lagos, London, Mexico City, Munich, Nairobi, New Delhi, Shanghai, Silicon Valley, Tel Aviv, and Zurich. His current focus is on partnerships that contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Academic and Research Contributions

Over the past couple of decades, Dr Prashantham has built up a portfolio of writings for both academic and managerial audiences. According to Professor George S. Yip, a Thinkers50 Hall of Famer and Emeritus Professor of Imperial College Business School, “Shameen Prashantham is one of those rare academics who can combine theoretical rigor with in-depth company examples to yield highly practical insights and frameworks. Gorillas Can Dance is a great example of this combination and is essential reading for both large companies and their startup partners.”

Shameen is Professor of International Business & Strategy at China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) in Shanghai, China. Prior to joining CEIBS, he taught at Nottingham University Business School (NUBS) China and the University of Glasgow. He pursued doctoral and post-doctoral research at Strathclyde University in Glasgow, Scotland. His latest book, Gorillas Can Dance: Lessons from Microsoft and Other Corporations on Partnering with Startups, offers managers in large corporations a proven guide to partnering and collaborating with startups to improve innovation by delivering the “where,” “why,” and “how” of corporation-startup partnerships. His academic research has also been published in journals such as Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice, Journal of Business Venturing, Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of Management Studies and Organization Studies.