Vibhu Natarajan is Director, Grotech Landscape Developers Pvt. Ltd, one of India’s leading landscape contracting companies. A B.Com graduate from Loyola College, he has an MBA from Temple University, Philadelphia.
Has an MBA helped you in corporate life?
Looking back at my 30 years of working, not really. I guess an MBA would have been more effective in a larger company or as a professional working for someone. Most of the situations I have faced or have had to resolve required more common sense or out-of-the-box thinking and solutions.
On what an MBA can and can’t teach …
Classrooms tend to be very simple compared to the dynamics of the real world. It’s important to build a 360-degree view when you are given a problem to manage. As a manager, one has to navigate through a maze. The MBA beautifully presents a structure of a situation via exercises such as solving case studies, but the thinking should be developed on your own. In summary, the MBA is only a foundation for you to build on.
If you had to re-visit your MBA what would you have liked to see as part of the course?
Lateral thinking and communication
The skills that helped you get to the top of your field…
First, I don’t think that I have been wildly successful or at the top. Perseverance, quick absorption of basic science and the willingness to learn have been the chief ingredients of my success.
The best and worst moments …
My worst moment has been losing acres and acres of orchids which were sitting on tables in my farm in 1998 to flash floods. I think we must have lost about 300,000 initially and many more to disease after that. Another bad phase was in 2008, when I lost money in the financial markets. Eventually, I was proved right in my investment decision but I could not sustain my conviction for the lack of staying power.
Advice to young MBAs joining the corporate sector
Go to a good school which has outstanding faculty and good placements. An MBA is not a ticket to riches. It’s just a platform from which you can build. Read and widen your horizons – one should have depth in the related business and should also be able to bring in learnings from other disciplines.
Be decisive. MBA aspirants should find a mentor, much like the guru, who can guide you through the programme and career. In fact, in business a mentor always helps in moulding a person.
Should the MBA be re-structured or redefined?
Honestly, I am far removed from corporate life. I would guess that MBA programmes still do not incorporate clear thinking and communication as a part of the base courses. It’s important for everyone to be good at both these skills, MBA or not.
On what young MBAs should be reading …
Read anything (not fiction) which interests you. One would be surprised at how much cross-learning can happen. Also read about your subject. Both depth and width are critical for success. I see in today’s world the emphasis is on depth. For managers, width is as important as depth, and that can come only from reading and having diverse interests.
To read more from the My MBA Lessons section, click here .