Abraham Kuruvilla is an an engineer from the College of Engineering, Pune, and an MBA from IIM Bangalore. He has over 40 years of experience across various companies such as BEL and Eiko Computers in Bengaluru to Keonics Magnavision, Kuruvilla believes his MBA helped him gain deep insights and gave him the confidence to experiment.
How the MBA helped in corporate life...
Yes, it has helped. I went to IIM-B after seven years of techno-commercial work experience at BEL Bangalore. At IIM, I learned of the theory behind my experience and gained some deep insights that gave me the confidence to experiment, adapt and replay my successes and avoid those failure modes
The key learnings from the MBA …
Psychology and the subject of organisational behaviour that was taught to us by the late GK Valecha, one of the big dads of the subject, a great teacher and mentor
— Some micro economic fundas and some quantitative constructs
— Some marketing fundas, like segmentation and positioning
— The concept of concurrent engineering and co-creation
— Strategic thinking and tactical manoeuvering.
— Appreciation of commercial law
What could have been part of the MBA?
The basics of culture: Cultural and behavioural differences across nations and their historical significance
The chief ingredients of success…
Quick learning ability and the knack of getting to the root of any problem and thus being a good trouble shooter and a mentor.
Teamwork and the ability to bring people together
Best and worst moments?
Best: Being a part of the nascent computer industry in the 1980s
Worst: The realisation that the business ethics of the private sector is abjectly poor
Advice to young MBAs who are joining the corporate sector
— Stick with a company for at least three years before you think of switching
— Develop some core competence in one particular industry (minimum five years) before you start to spread your wings
Advice to young MBAs on what they should read
The daily newspaper, very thoroughly, and one good business magazine.
To read more from the My MBA Lessons section, click here .