The one question asked in almost every interview to a candidate aiming for a seat at an IIM is “Why do you want to be a manager” or “Why MBA”. To answer this question one must have a clear idea of what a manager is supposed to do at an organization.
Every business starts with the investors bringing in the money used to procure the resources from the suppliers, which is converted into products/services by the employees, and which is finally bought by the customers. Central to all this are the “competitors”, who are doing the similar set of activities and for the same reason – to earn profits.
In many B-schools, it is taught that the role of a manager is to increase the profits. We at IIM Raipur deviate from this opinion and for us the role of a manager is not just to increase profits.
We believe that the role of a manager is to increase the value for everyone in the business framework better than the competitors.
A financial manager aims to maximize the value for the investors, a production manager aims to increase the value of the product/service in the production process, a marketing manager aims to increase the value for its customers, a human resource manager aims to increase the value for the employees and a strategy manager ensures that all the value generated are better than the competitors and ensures the growth of the organization.
Therefore, for us being a good manager is to stop looking through our eyes and to start looking from the eyes of our stakeholders. For example, a marketing manager from IIM Raipur will not aim to increase the profits by increasing the sales only but will instead look through the customer’s eyes, understand what creates value to him and deliver him the corresponding product/service so as to create value for the business as a whole.
The article has been contributed by Mehul Bardia PGP 2011-13. He can be reached at pgp11024.mehul@iimraipur.ac.in.
