Sunil Alagh, MD, SKA Advisors, and former MD and CEO, Britannia
Alma mater: IIMC
I have a long association with IIMs as I have also served on the board of IIMB and IIM Indore. When you pass out from any IIM, you have an edge and an education which disciplines your mind for management. You deal with problems and situations with enough examples which the professors give you.
Prof Jagdish Seth taught me marketing and consumer behaviour. We learnt a lot about the psychology of the consumer and why a consumer buys. We were taught that it was of prime importance to satisfy the consumer. This remains critical even today, but now there is a focus on anticipating what your consumer wants.
After b-school, you will have only a one or two year advantage over someone who has not attended b-school. You need to maintain that difference as they will catch up as they gain experience. To do so, you have to keep learning—read and keep abreast with new concepts.
But, never clutter your mind with unnecessary details.
Always simplify, never complicate issues. The launch of the successful Tiger biscuits is an example of this. We (Britannia) had tried everything against Parle-G, but had failed time and again. With Tiger, the simple idea of not calling it a glucose biscuit helped.
When I was MD of Britannia, I had read a Harvard Business Review article about making your people employable. [It said] the way to retain them was making them more employable. Many felt that if you make your employees more employable, they would leave you and seek greener pastures. Yet, at Britannia, we had the lowest managerial attrition, despite the fact that we never paid the highest salaries. My aim was to retain the team, not just give them salaries.
My advice to the young is to disrupt constructively. Follow your heart, realise what you are good at and enjoy your work. Never go into what is likely to impress others. When I was young, we had few options, whereas today there are many. In fact, one IIM graduate has become a cricket commentator and he is not only good, but also enjoys what he is doing. This is the formula for success.
—As told to Abhinav Singh