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V Rajeev [email protected]
Statement of Purpose
Till mid 2004, if anyone had asked me, would you do an MBA? My answers would have been in negative. I would have said, Business Management Degree!, and would have fired a question back, why do I require it? In 2004 August, when I joined Auto Graphics Digital as an Area Sales Manager, I had a chance to observe closely a different career path, which I had never dreamt before in my life.
Throughout my life I have followed my father’s footsteps. My father completed his bachelor’s degree and joined government service in India, which he continues to hold till today. My grandfather was a small farmer and he and my father know, with what financial difficulty, my father could complete his graduation, and how he managed to get in to a Government job. Though my father was in government job, not only he had to educate and support, three children but also had to support my grandparents back in the village, we had a tough time paying for my college fees. In between, we had to sell the plot purchased to build our house, to pay for my fees. This always was pinning me and could never concentrate on the academics, in my engineering. After my engineering course completed, I still had some subjects left to clear, before getting the graduation degree. I just jumped and took up the job in order to support the family, in a small ancillary unit of a watch factory. All, my father wanted me to do was, to get a job and work hard.
Things changed as I changed my jobs and landed in Praxair India, and MNC and world’s No.2, in the field of Industrial gases. I was transferred to Pune, where I was alone and away from my family for the first time in life. To get away with the boredom, I spent most of the leisure time in the office, going through loads of training material available. Here was the first I was exposed to the Management concepts. In my first two years with Praxair, I worked on a wide variety of assignments, which not only polished my analytical and problem solving skills but also taught me how large businesses managed their, sourcing, distribution, manufacturing and sales functions. I was promoted to handle the sales function in the unit under a Sales Manager. At this juncture, the company planned to implement JD Edwards, ERP software and I was selected as the Power user for the location. This further gave me an insight on how the Large Corporations managed their businesses through the controls in the ERP.
Because of the family pressure to stay together, and also to look after my ailing mother, I had quit my productive and educating career at Praxair. Thus, after reaching Bangalore, joined Bhuruka Gases limited, a leader in South India, in Industrial gases. I was given the charge of stabilizing and growing their new venture in to Medical grade gases. This was like a cakewalk as I had a similar industry background and also exposure in handling a business of Rs. 6 m / Month. And here I was handling a tenth of that budget so could easily handle the job, without any difficulty. Somewhere inside, my mind was not accepting a stable state was asking me to take up bigger and a different role, which I have not done till now.
This was when; the retail industry was just beginning to boom in India. I was really gaining interest and started following the Industry closely. I observed that, their key areas of concern were Supply chain management, the Merchandising and the Advertising prints more than anything else. It really took me time to convince the interviewer on how my existing skills would benefit their organization in Advertisement prints and Merchandising. In the beginning, it was a tough job as, I had to learn ways of a new industry and at the same time to manage a team. Things’ started falling in line and new Brands rather than customer’s started to embrace the company. My learning process, which had stopped when I left Praxair, had restarted.
Here I came across, Mr. Vijay Mane, Director (sales and Marketing) and Mr. Bangara Managing director of the company. The more I discovered more I was learning something new from them. They were examples of, who had been there and done that, category leaders. Mr. Mane was selected as for Indian Police service (IPS), undergone training at the National Police academy,
V Rajeev [email protected]
and was posted as Asst. Commissioner of Police. Instead of taking up the job, he had decided to be an entrepreneur and had started his own venture. Mr. Bangara was a simple humble sales guy like me working for a Mumbai based company, which sold decals for automobile industry. The company had closed suddenly due to some labor unrest, and Mr. Bangara started a company and started manufacturing the decals in Bangalore, only because he did not wanted to let his customers down. Looking at both their lives my idea of, to get a job and work hard, got shattered. How could anyone take risk of leave an IPS job!, and how can anyone start his own company, just to support his customers. These were unthinkable to me.
I met with a road accident in Feb 2005, and was bedridden for almost 8 months. I spent the time in Reading, Yoga, Meditation and Introspecting. I was just thinking of all the events that had changed my life from time to time and figured out, meeting Mr. Mane and Mr. Bangara was the best part to have happened to me, as it really gave me an new version of life. Evaluating their experiences helped me understand what I wanted from my life and created a ‘master plan’ for my career.
During my tenure at Praxair, I have had encountered challenges that had made me think of a management education. For example, we had conducted a feasibility study of launching new concept of retail sales, which was unheard of in the gases sector from a manufacturer. Though we were clear of the market needs, since none of us possessed the necessary skills, we had to hire MBA graduates who were in lookout for their summer internship. The way they conducted their study, the clarity of their reports, the suggestion they made, their approach to strategic, operational, logistic and finance issues was an eye opener to me. As I saw, these interns working, I had realized that in order to achieve my long-term professional goals, I needed to return to school someday to expand my understanding of the fundamentals of corporate and industry analysis.
I also believe that management education can help me develop other vital skills essential to my standing as a professional. For example, I will benefit from the opportunity to further polish my public speaking ability and hone my skills as a negotiator. Also, I have had no experience working outside India, and I feel that an international education will equip me with the skills necessary to deal with foreign suppliers and customers.
By studying along with the diverse group at LEEDS, I am sure to form lifelong friendships with fellow students, and also give me exposure to top consulting firms and successful entrepreneurs in the UK. After graduating from LEEDS University, I will seek a position in a strategy consulting firm in its business building / growth practice. In addition to providing me with an opportunity to apply what I have learned, a position in the ‘growth practice’ will expose me to the practical issues of new business creation. Five to eight years after earning an MBA, I would expect to establish my own business venture.
After more than 10 years of business experience, I believe that I am ready to take the next step toward being an entrepreneur. I also am confident that I am ready to participate actively as a member of the incoming diverse LEEDS class. At this point I am looking to gain the requisite skills and relationships to grow as a professional; I know that LEEDS is the right place for me to accomplish this objective.
