How do you think your MBA has helped you grow in your corporate career, if at all?
The MBA, as a course, provides students the broader view needed to better understand how businesses are run in the 21st century. At WeSchool, I had the opportunity to do an MBA in e-commerce and finance, which helped me immensely, as today my role as an IT Operations manager requires me to not just understand IT systems, but also appreciate the business impact they have.
These impacts could range from a change in brand perception to a monetary loss. The MBA at WeSchool opened up my vision to better grasp these perspectives, and thus ensure that each situation is handled in the most efficient manner possible.
Do you think there was something missing when you did your MBA that you feel should have been included/taught?
The MBA curriculum, though comprehensive, cannot teach students how to have a healthy competition with your peers, having a good work-life balance, managing stress, etc.
Students need to learn these through the experiences they have during the course and thus build their personality. This is something many students miss out on which, later, often leads to their being frustrated. A more structured manner of dealing with these deeper questions would definitely make the MBA course more rounded and impactful.
At WeSchool, there is a focused approach to the holistic development of students. Not only did we have opportunities to be individually mentored by the faculty, we also participated in outbound programmes, weekly sessions of yoga, a module on ‘How to Manage the Self’ by Vedanta Academy, and other such initiatives that contributed to the development of both the emotional and intelligence quotients.
The ‘Design Innovation Workshop 2014 ’ presented by WeSchool and Camera Culture Group, MIT Media Lab — a weeklong workshop where 380 innovators from across India collaborated and shared ideas to design and implement prototypes with MIT Media Lab experts and local mentors — was a tremendous experience for me, personally. The experience was nothing short of magical, culminating into sustainable innovations by the youth of India! For me, the most important takeaway was the fact that any problem is solvable if one looks at it with an open, creative and playful mind.
What would you like to say to students looking to pursue an MBA?
Anyone looking to pursue an MBA should not look at the course only from the perspective of gaining knowledge because it is experience that matters. Through the course, they should look for opportunities to add to these experiences. From internships to participating in corporate events as student attendees, such experiences broaden one’s view and help to better grasp the concepts they learn in the classroom.