Skip to main content

MBA helps !!

I must make a confession! Throughout my NITIE life I was of the opinion that MBA was merely an exercise to segregate the smart ones from the lot and B-schools are merely providing placement services to students and selection services to companies. But I WAS WRONG !
As much as MBA studies seem useless and hot air while you are in the institute - their impact is visible only after you join the industry. I always felt that engineering had a more 'learning' content but MBA too has a lot of content. I have been spending time doing information audits and helping the financial audit team at KPMG as an IRM expert (?? IRM? Expert?) since the past 3-4 days. The reason why I could solve their issues, more than my knowledge of systems, was my knowledge of business. It is the business knowledge acquired during MBA that helped my relate which IT system could and in what manner and to what extent affect the financial statement of the company. Terms like BOM (Bill Of Materials) which the Audit team did not understand were clear to me. My knowledge of accounts helped me talk to the auditors in their language - General ledger, journal entry etc etc.
NITIE especially is known for the process knowledge that it imparts to its students. To many, this is just the knowledge of Operations management but in reality this knowledge pertains to how the businesses operate in totality - the concept of holistic education and cross functional pedagogy is becoming clearer. My perception that all this are mere jargons has undergone a 180 degree shift in the past 5 days. If you know how the industry operates as a whole you can better appreciate the role of one function or just a small process in the complete matrix. You can also take a bird's eye view and run your vision miles ahead envisaging the effect that the performance of the process in question will have on macro business environment.

The bottomline is MBA helps !! MBA is really a useful qualification . . . . Cheers to NITIE!!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

How will travel industry transform post-Covid

Unlike philosophers, journalists and teenagers, the world of entrepreneurship does not permit the luxury of gazing into a crystal ball to predict the future. An entrepreneur’s world is instead made of MVPs (Minimum Viable Product), A/B Tests, launching products, features or services and gauging / measuring their reception in the market to arrive at verifiable truths which can drive the business forward. Which is why I have never written about my musings or hypothesis about travel industry – we usually either seek customer feedback or launch an MVPised version and gather market feedback. However, with Covid-19 travel bans across the globe, the industry is currently stuck – while a lot of industry reports and journalistic conjectures are out, there’s no definitive answer to the way forward. Besides there is no way to test your hypothesis since even the traveller does not know what they will do when skies open. So, I decided to don my blogger hat and take the luxury of crystal gazing...

A Guide to Privacy on Social Media [apps]

The recent announcement by WhatsApp to update its privacy terms - and 'accept or leave the app' stance - led to an exodus of users from Whastapp to competing, privacy-conscious apps such as Telegram or Signal. A week after the exodus began, Whatsapp clarified its stance - and WhatsApp's CEO went about providing a long Twitter clarification . And then, many returned, many who considered moving stayed put on Whatsapp. This post is meant for those who are still sitting on the fence - it clarifies questions like: What is this all about? What do I do? Is Whatsapp safe? I've heard Telegram is Russian - so how is it safer than Whatsapp? I can't move because my business contacts are on Whastapp - how do I secure myself? PS: I've modeled this post based on several conversations I've had with friends and family on this subject, dealing with the chain of questions they ask, then objections they raise, then clarifications they seek - and finally the change resistance ...

Learning from 11 years in KPMG

It is only when we give up what we have is when we can embrace the new! I quit my job at KPMG one year ago - 22 January 2016 was my last day with the firm. As I reflect back on that day, it felt more like a graduation day! The eerie mix of nostalgia, excitement, anxiety and blues of missing your friends. KPMG was not just my first job but also a place where I learnt everything that I represent professionally. KPMG is one of the institutions I deeply respect and love – and relationships I have built here will stay with me for my lifetime. In my entrepreneurial career as well, I am often reminded more of all the great things I have learnt over my 11 years in KPMG. An year gone by, I realize these learnings have stayed with me and apply equally to the world outside KPMG. Almost all would apply to those working in role of (internal or external) consultants but several are generic and can be applied across professions. I have tried to change the text so that the learnings sound ...