Dr. C Krishnakumar is the Director and Professor of Marketing at the Asian School of Business. He holds a B.Tech. from NIT Calicut and a PGDM from IIM A. Thereafter, he received his Doctorate in Business Administration from the University of Liverpool, U.K. He has over 28 years of corporate experience in India, the Middle East, and Africa. He has handled assignments in sales, marketing, retailing, exports, and sourcing. He is passionate about teaching, sharing his industry experience with budding managers, and demonstrating how theories of marketing are applied to real-life situations in the field. His research interest is in the area of Consumer Behaviour.

Asian School of Business Trivandrum

As you have been to various countries and have worked there, what do you see as the trend difference from the foreign industry and the Indian industry?

I have worked in most of the Indian states. I have also worked in the Middle East and in Africa. Consumers are, by and large, not very different from country to country. Their demands are the same. They expect good products and good service. They expect good prices at good quality. So, students who get into these markets should be able to understand the consumer, understand the requirements of the market, and offer them solutions that satisfy their needs. If they're able to do that, they'll be able to succeed. They should not desire to start their jobs in academic offices, sitting and only strategizing. They need to work hands-on, in the markets, understand the consumers, and then they'll be able to perform well and formulate good strategies.

Having too many educational institutions already in India, what is the uniqueness that the Asian School of Business, Trivandrum, is bringing up to the student communities?

I'll talk about Kerala rather than compare the whole of India. Kerala has about 100+ schools that offer MBA programs, but we can differentiate ourselves because of two or three factors. One is that we have one of the best infrastructures in the state. We have a very modern building with all the modern equipment required to make learning effective. We also have excellent faculty, and most of our faculty have industry experience, which makes a huge difference because an MBA is a program that should be taught by practitioners and academicians so that they'll understand how to put the theory into practice, which is something we are able to offer because of our faculty with very wide industries. The third thing is that, we are able to successfully place the students. Most of our students are placed in good companies with good packages, so, this is what makes us stand apart.

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Could you provide us some insights regarding the placement statistics and recruiters?

We get a large number of recruiters for our students, like ICICI Prudential, ICICI Securities, ICICI Bank, HDFC, KPMG, PwC, Ernst & Young, TCS, Shriram Life Insurance, Wipro, and Tata Elxsi. The list is quite large, but what is more heartening is that the recruiters who have come to us again for recruiting are happy with our students. The list of recruiters is expanding because our reputation is gradually spreading. Our recruitment percentages have been very close to 100 per cent, which shows our dedication to the process. For this, we teach our students well so that they are knowledgeable and give them aptitude training so that they're able to cross the first hurdle of most of the interviews. Thereafter, we also give them training on group discussions and interviews because many of our faculty are from the industry, so they know what companies look for in students.

What are some other aspects which the students will be building in ASB, Trivandrum so that recruiters will be willing to recruit students from here?

We do a few things that are not normally done by every college. One is that an MBA graduate needs to be aware of what is happening around him. They should know what's happening in the business world and what's happening in the economy. We inculcate a reading habit in students when they come. Every student gets a copy of the Hindu newspaper, and they are expected to read it for at least half an hour in the morning and write a small summary of interesting things that they have noticed. When they get into semesters two, three, and four, we change The Hindu to The Business Standard or The Economic Times.

We bring in experts from industries, and senior people from the industry and have regular talks that give the students a chance to interact with the senior people in the industry and hear from them about what they expect from MBA students. We are also hoping that we will be able to form ties with foreign universities and have exchange programs where maybe we can send our students overseas or get overseas students to come here and study.

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What seed do you like to plant in the mindset of the readers of this interview?

We try to take pride in ourselves as an institution that is able to provide high-quality education and adequate training so that students get placed, so we want the students to come to ASB, Trivandrum. Students go through a rigorous process that changes their personalities, their communication skills, and finally makes them capable of getting a good job and a good profit. If someone out there wants to get the experience, then come and join us on this wonderful journey.