KFBS Research & Innovation Centres
Kuril Founders B-School (KFBS) | Version: December 2025 (for 2026 rollout)Executive Summary
This document refreshes the KFBS Research Center note for the 2026 operating year. It retains KFBS’s established research-centre portfolio while upgrading the model to reflect 2026 priorities: AI-enabled research workflows, industry translation, policy relevance, measurable impact, and globally benchmarked research quality.
1. Mandate and 2026 North Star
Mandate: Position KFBS as a practitioner-relevant, research-intensive entrepreneurship and family-business school by producing rigorous knowledge, actionable tools, and decision-ready insights for founders, boards, investors, policymakers, and educators.
2026 North Star: Deliver globally credible research and India-grounded cases that convert into curriculum assets, industry solutions, and policy briefs—with clear impact metrics and strong governance.
2. Research Centre Portfolio (2026)
KFBS operates a portfolio of centres of excellence (CoEs). Each centre owns a domain agenda, maintains an annual research pipeline, and publishes outputs that directly feed teaching, executive education, consulting, and public discourse.
Centre / CoE
Core Mandate
2026 Priority Deliverables
Kuril Game Lab
Simulation-based learning, decision games, strategy labs
2 flagship simulations; 6 cases; 1 annual game-jam
Centre for Supply Chain & Logistics
Resilience, cost-to-serve, network strategy, last-mile and warehousing
3 industry studies; 8 cases; quarterly insights
Entrepreneur Mind & Leadership Centre
Founder psychology, leadership, culture, high-performance routines
1 founder indices report; 6 cases; 12 masterclasses
Centre for the Future of Company
Operating models, organization design, governance, future-of-work
1 annual 'Future of Company' report; 10 tools/templates
Centre for Business & Management
General management, strategy execution, performance systems
12 teaching notes; 8 cases; 2 conferences
Centre for Global Family Business
Succession, professionalization, governance, family-office strategy
Family Business Playbook (v1); 6 cases; 3 closed-door roundtables
Centre for Behavioral Economics
Decision biases, consumer behavior, nudges, financial behavior
2 field pilots; 1 working paper series; 6 cases
Centre for Governance and Sustainability
ESG, climate-risk governance, compliance, ethics, stewardship
ESG governance toolkit; 4 policy notes; 6 cases
Centre for Innovation, Marketing & Strategy
Innovation systems, GTM, brand strategy, competitive dynamics
2 sector deep-dives; 8 cases; founder GTM clinic
Centre for Globalization
Cross-border strategy, geopolitics, India’s global competitiveness
1 quarterly geo-economics brief; 4 cases; 2 dialogues
Centre for Social Entrepreneurship
Inclusive business models, impact measurement, blended finance
Impact measurement framework; 6 cases; 1 showcase
Centre for Future Readiness
Foresight, scenario planning, risk intelligence, future-of-industry
Scenario playbook; 2 foresight reports; 6 cases
Centre of Coaching
Executive coaching, board coaching, leadership diagnostics
Coaching standards & ethics guide; 4 practitioner papers
Centre for AI at KFBS
AI for business, analytics, responsible AI, AI-enabled productivity
AI curriculum modules; 2 applied research projects; 1 annual AI forum
3. 2026 Capability Upgrades
- AI-enabled research workflow: literature mapping, coding assistance, survey design, and analysis support—with academic integrity safeguards.
- Case-writing factory: standardized pipeline from field study to publishable case + teaching note + exhibits.
- Research quality system: pre-registration options, methods review, plagiarism and citation checks, and reproducibility protocols for datasets and code.
- Industry translation model: each centre runs at least one paid/partnered project per year and converts insights into tools and executive modules.
- Policy and public discourse channel: policy briefs, op-eds, and evidence summaries aligned to India’s entrepreneurship and governance agenda.
- Digital knowledge hub: a curated repository of working papers, cases, tools, recordings, and dashboards for members and partners.
4. Objectives of a KFBS Research Centre (2026)
The objectives remain anchored in rigorous knowledge creation and practical impact, with 2026 emphasis on measurable outcomes and faster translation.
- Conduct high-quality, publishable research: Produce rigorous, relevant research in entrepreneurship and business management; prioritize journals, high-quality working papers, and replicable methods.
- Promote thought leadership: Shape managerial and policy discourse through distinctive frameworks, indices, and research-led point of view.
- Foster interdisciplinary collaboration: Enable cross-centre projects combining finance, strategy, operations, behavioral science, sustainability, and technology.
- Support faculty and student research: Provide methods support, access to datasets, research assistants, funding pathways, and publication coaching.
- Enhance business education: Convert research into curriculum assets: cases, simulations, experiential labs, and executive education modules.
- Engage industry and practitioners: Co-create research with founders, family businesses, corporates, and public institutions; maintain advisory boards and practitioner networks.
- Disseminate findings: Run seminars, publish briefs and reports, host conferences, and maintain a digital repository for wider reach.
- Attract funding and grants: Develop grant capability (CSR, foundations, government, industry chairs) and build long-term research partnerships.
5. Governance and Operating Model
Each centre follows a common governance model to ensure quality, accountability, and transparency.
- Centre Director (faculty/industry leader): owns strategy, pipeline, and partner relationships.
- Advisory Council (5–9 members): industry + academia; meets twice per year to review relevance and impact.
- Methods & Ethics Review: light-touch review for research involving human participants, sensitive data, or AI-assisted analysis.
- Annual Plan and Budget: themes, projects, partners, events, and output targets approved by the KFBS Research Council.
- Quality gates: (1) proposal review, (2) mid-point methods check, (3) output review (case/report/paper) before release.
6. Output Targets and KPIs (Recommended for 2026)
KPIs should balance academic quality, teaching value, and external impact. Targets below are indicative and can be scaled per centre maturity.
Dimension
Metrics
2026 Target Range (per centre)
Research
Working papers / peer-reviewed papers; methods robustness; citations
2–4 working papers; 0–2 journal submissions
Teaching assets
Cases + teaching notes; simulations; toolkits
4–10 cases; 1 toolkit or simulation
Industry engagement
Partnered projects; roundtables; executive modules
1–3 partner projects; 2 roundtables
Public impact
Policy briefs; media/industry articles; downloads
2–6 briefs/articles; repository downloads tracked
Capability building
Workshops; RA hours; dataset creation
2 methods workshops; at least 1 curated dataset
- C
