MBAUNIVERSE.COM EXCLUSIVE: INTERVIEW WITH DR. P VENUGOPAL, DEAN, XLRI JAMSHEDPUR
MBAUniverse.com News Bureau
03 Feb, 2010 0920 hrs IST
Dr. Pingali Venugopal is the Dean (Academics) and Professor (Marketing)
of XLRI, Jamshedpur. Dr. Venugopal is an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad. He
has been a Marketing faculty in XLRI since 1994. He has also been the
visiting faculty at top MBA schools like IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Calcutta
and IIM Lucknow and the American University of Armenia.
Before joining XLRI, Dr. Venugopal had held managerial positions in
the marketing divisions of two agribusiness companies.
Dr. Venugopal has authored the books ‘Marketing Channel Management:
A Customer Centric Approach’ and ‘The State of the Indian Farmer:
A Millennium study’.
In this exclusive interview with MBAUniverse.com, Dr. Venugopal talks
about XLRI, how to choose the right career and gives his suggestions
to MBA aspirants on how to carve out a career in management.
Excerpts from the interview:
Q: What are the qualities that you look for in a candidate while
selecting them for XLRI?
Dr. Venugopal: We check whether the candidates have proper knowledge,
interest and depth of the subject or not. We also test whether the
candidate is genuinely interested in doing MBA or is just following
the common trend. XLRI also looks for certain personality traits in the
candidates. We look for all those qualities which a manager must have,
such as communication skills, leadership qualities, and awareness,
to name a few.
Q: How is XLRI unique from the other top MBA schools?
Dr. Venugopal: XLRI is always helping students choose the right path.
Our vision and mission leads us to fulfill social responsibilities. We
stimulate students to understand themselves and their potential.
Overall, we enrich the students with social, political and
environmental responsibilities.
Q: What has been your experience in the Marketing sector?
Dr. Venugopal: Marketing is a very stable area. Unlike Finance and IT
sector, it does not fluctuate much. Being in this sector is a learning
experience, as it involves visiting various markets, meeting different
people. It gives a different kind of satisfaction for those who are
keen to learn new things and interact with people.
Q: What would you like to suggest the MBA students who are on the
verge of choosing their career?
Dr. Venugopal: You have to choose your career very carefully. You
should select the right path on the basis of your interest and
instincts and not on the basis of peer pressure or high salary.
Students who have mechanical ability, who prefer to work with objects,
machinery and tools should choose Production and Operations. Students
who love to observe, learn, investigate, analyze, evaluate or solve
problems, interact with people and have a good communication skill
should go for Marketing.
Students who have artistic, innovating or institutional abilities and
like to work in unstructured environment using their imagination and
creativity should work for the Strategy sector.
Students who like to work with people to enlighten, inform, help,
train, or are skilled with words should join HR and those students,
who like to work with data, have numerical ability, carry out tasks in
detail or follow through on others’ instructions should go for Finance.
Q: What is your advice to MBA aspirants?
Dr. Venugopal: Firstly you should be able to ensure yourself that you
really want to be an MBA for a purpose of your own and not blindly
follow the latest trend or succumb to parental or peer pressure. Be
cool while writing the MBA entrance exam. Don’t let tension hamper your
performance. During the Personal Interview stage, be truthful and be
yourself. Don’t be artificial as that kind of attitude doesn’t help
you. Choose a good MBA School and a suitable career for yourself. A
bright future won’t be far away.
Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more interviews with Deans and
Directors!
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
