Dr. Neha Lakhotia is a highly accomplished academician and retail banking specialist currently serving as an Assistant Professor (Selection Grade) at the Shri Madhwa Vadiraja Institute of Technology and Management (SMVITM) in Udupi, Karnataka. With a rich professional footprint spanning over eleven years across higher education and the banking industry, Dr. Lakhotia brings a unique real-world perspective to business management pedagogy. Her corporate career is highlighted by her tenure as a Relationship Manager at Axis Bank, during which she earned her Junior Associate of the Indian Institute of Bankers (JAIIB) certification. Her academic foundation is equally rigorous, comprising a Bachelor of Commerce from Barkatullah University, an MBA in Marketing where she graduated with a stellar 89.16% from the Institute of International Professional Studies (IIPS), DAVV, Indore, and a Ph.D. in Management from the same institution, complemented by qualifying the UGC-National Eligibility Test (NET). Throughout her career, she has managed critical institutional portfolios, including serving as Conference Secretary for prominent national symposia, BBA Course Coordinator, and a designated Subject Expert for live multicast national lectures on the UGC-CEC Vyas Channel.Dr. Lakhotia’s extensive research portfolio lies at the innovative intersection of predictive economic modeling, sustainable growth indicators, and financial market volatility. She is widely recognized for her pioneering work applying the Log-Periodic Power Law (LPPL) and quantitative chart structures to predict systemic crashes across Indian stock, foreign exchange, commodities, and real estate markets. Her scholarly output features high-impact, peer-reviewed papers in elite international and national databases, including ABDC-listed and Scopus-indexed journals such as Finance India, Vision: The Journal of Business Perspective, and Applied Economics Journal (Kasetsart University, Bangkok). Beyond her individual authorship, which includes an upcoming textbook on communication with Himalaya Publishing House, she contributes actively to the broader academic ecosystem. Dr. Lakhotia serves on the editorial board of PACE (the national journal of PIM Dewas), has edited the journal Shodh, and has conceptualized comprehensive academic books on corporate risk and organizational excellence.