Ken (right) at the NUS Asian MBA Stock Pitch Competition 2011
Why did you choose Japan as the country for doing your MBA?
Japan is one of the most dynamic economics in the world and is playing a leading role in Asia’s emergence as economic powerhouse. Many of Anglo-Saxon management concepts based on Individualism or shareholder capitalism are not completely applicable in Asian countries such as Japan and its important to study such different perspectives of Management. Also, for anyone with an ambition to build a career in Asia, Tokyo offers plenty of opportunities as Japanese companies are shifting gears to aggressively expand in Asia.
I was considering top US universities for MBA till I came to know about Hitotsubashi ICS. But after taking into account various factors such as reputation of Hitotsubashi University, award winning world-class curriculum, 3:1 Student to faculty ratio – there was no second thought about doing MBA in ICS.
What is your previous education/work background?
I am a first generation Japanese Indian – born and brought up in India. I am a Computer Engineer by training and completed my under graduation from University of Pune, India. I worked for 4 years in Information Technology sector and was IT Consultant for Tata Consultancy Services, Japan prior to joining ICS for MBA.
What has been the most memorable event so far at ICS?
Now, this is a tough one. It’s difficult to come up with only one event, but visiting Singapore to represent ICS in a competition organized by National University of Singapore was a memorable event. We got support and guidance from our finance Professors, who helped our team to prepare for competition. Competing against Asia’s best business schools was a thrilling experience and we could network with top-notch professional and brightest MBA students.
What is the most memorable class you have taken?
Out of many exciting courses in ICS, “Problem solving” course was the most memorable. Our professors were ex-partners from BCG and McKinsey with two decades of experience. Students were taught about step-by-step approach of problem solving and for us, it was learning by doing. Rather than teaching a solution, professors made us think and think more. We could learn about actual consulting work from their past experience and problem solving is a required skill for any managers, not just consultants. This subject is something that we cannot study from book, it can only be learned under guidance of top consultants and ICS students were lucky to have 2 of best consultants as our faculty.
Have you or are you planning to do an internship or an exchange program?
I am doing both. I will be doing summer internships in Boston Consulting Group and A.T. Kearney before attending fall term in University of California, Los Angeles.
The internship provides an excellent opportunity to apply what I have learned in the classroom, prove my capabilities, gather knowledge about a company or industry, and decide about future career. Being part of small business school, we can get personal guidance about internship or job search and our Professors helped me a lot during internship search process.
ICS exchange program provides us an opportunity to study for one or two terms in best business schools around the world. It’s another chance to broaden our horizons and network with brightest minds in other part of the planet.
Could you tell us one thing that you think ICS should change or improve?
I feel that ICS should increase their student intake. ICS has loyal list of companies that are sending their future business leaders for training. As more and more students from other Asian countries are applying, soon there will be a tough competition for small number of seats. Also, I feel that ICS can slightly increase their student intake without affecting quality, which can be overall good for the society
