ASB PGDM Commences- Importance of Management Edu'n

Thiruvananthapuram, August 18 - Working and co-evolving with customers is a major attribute that employers look for in employees, said Mr R Narayanan, former Vice President (Education & Training), TCS, during the commencement ceremony of the 2012-14 batch of Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) at Asian School of Business (ASB), welcoming new students into the world of management.

In his presentation on the topic ‘Value of a Management Education,' Mr Narayanan, citing a Gartner research that 7 out of 10 jobs in IT do not need great technical skills said, "Versatility will fetch greater votes than specialist skills."

Mr Roy George, former General Manager, ITC Agro Tech spoke about the importance of emotional intelligence for a leader and asked students to be rid of fears - "fear of the unknown and fear of failure." He told students that responsible corporates are increasingly looking at a triple bottom line: profit, people and planet.

Mr P Krishna Kumar, Centre Director, T.I.M.E., Trivandrum said that when companies recruit, they look for candidates who demonstrate the eagerness to handle greater responsibilities and the potential to learn, unlearn, and re-learn as a lifetime practice. "It is not grades, but there is an X factor that makes a person successful."

Mr. Gautam Shankar, CEO, GES Infotek, Technopark, spoke about his experiences as an entrepreneur, including his eleven years in Japan. "Culture is an important issue; there are different perceptions about time and space in different cultures, and you need to be sensitive to these," he said.

Mr. Oscar Dekkers, Managing Director, Faes Packaging Solutions Pvt. Ltd., Technopark, discussed how his mid-sized Dutch firm had succeeded against its competitors by re-thinking how to engage users in creating customized products for themselves. In addition, he said, "My CEO did not even finish 10th grade, but now he is pursuing his MBA because he realizes the value of a formal management education."

Mr. George M Thomas, Patron, ASB noted that the PGDM programme of ASB will be transformational in nature and exhorted the incoming students to imbibe the institution's core value - passion for excellence. "The competitive world of today warrants nothing less," he said.

Mr V S Madhavan Nair of ASB said that these are exciting times for the institution. "ASB's pace is quickening; we are fostering international alliances, designing unique management development programmes for executives and have begun publishing treatises on issues that touch the concerns of society at large. The first one on public policy released last month by the Kerala Chief Minister will be followed by two more monographs before the end of the year."

Prof. S Rajeev, Director, ASB, in his welcome address earlier, identified the major attributes of a manager. "Communication and interpersonal skills become very important as one moves up the organisational ladder. Managers should also have situational skills for making strategic long-term decisions and diagnostic skills for problem solving."

Spelling out the plans for ASB he added, "ASB is striving to do things that will benefit the community, including the rural community. We aspire to be among top 20 B-schools in India and become a pan-Asian entity soon." Students of Trivandrum International School, sister-organisation of ASB, rendered the prayer song.