Pursue MBA after minimum work experience

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It is always beneficial for MBA aspirants to pursue the course after gaining a minimum work experience, Suresh Krishna, Chief Operating Officer of Sleep Number, told students of National Institute of Technology - Tiruchi recently.

Giving tips and technical guidance to students on a range of management topics, Mr. Suresh Krishna, an alumnus, who delivered a guest lecture on ‘Innovation Management,’ urged MBA aspirants to introspect before choosing between India and abroad for pursuing the course. MBAs abroad are expensive and the scholarship for international students is very limited.

India has an untapped consumer market among which healthcare, automotive and IT have a perception abroad as being innovative thanks to which a management career in India would ensure fast growth, he said.

A 1991 alumnus of NITT, Suresh Krishna, who holds an MBA from the Kellogg’s Business School, where he serves in the advisory board, said three categories of research - process, product and consumer - were needed for successful innovation while describing how some successful companies had addressed innovation.

Citing the instance of the company he works for, he said Sleep Number innovates on revolutionizing sleep by using IoT (Internet of Things) to track sleep patterns and collect a sleep data bank. Consumer research was needed for successful innovation focussing on process, product and consumer. Consumer research was important for good commercialisation and profits.

On the roadmap for success in innovation, he said leadership and execution were important while introducing new products. Talent and cordial partnership with suppliers and the market were necessary elements of success. Describing what ‘stage gate process’ means, he said companies need to have multi-year strategies by which small innovations and updates are regularly introduced. Mr. Suresh Krishna also interacted with the Director of NITT Mini Shaji Thomas. Sankara Raman Sankaranarayanan, Dean (Institutional Development and Alumni Relations) also addressed the students.