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Press Release - 2nd October 2004 Knowledge is a profession of faith in future, an admission that progress is possible. It should not be a repository to be visited, but it should be something that has a "life of its own", which grows and can be accessed any time, anywhere. This is what formed the basis of talk by Mr. Aditya Sapru, Director in charge of Frost & Sullivan's operations in South Asia and Mr. Anand Rangachary, Director of Frost & Sullivan's business in India. The talk was held last week at Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar. Mr. Sapru talked of the changing global scenario where firms are focusing on their core competence. Non-core functions are known to negatively impact the shareholder value by reducing average return on the resources employed. The focus points towards specialization and expansion of periphery of the firms. To excel in such an environment, firms need to have a global strategy. Emphasizing that the present time is interesting and challenging, he urged students to plan their career well and specialize. Specialization involves working towards an area, which would give them the breadth of coverage and depth of knowledge.
The mantra of knowledge lies in: -
Acquiring the sources of knowledge.
Interpreting it i.e. being conducive to learning and tolerant to dissent.
Applying the knowledge by work exposure.
Talking about Ireland, which has transformed from an agrarian economy to a knowledge powerhouse and Finland, the country that is now a technological hub far away from its earlier image, Mr. Sapru focused on innovation. Thus, he suggested that apart from choosing an area of their interest, students should imbibe the ability to learn from other areas, as this is essential for value creation. He then discussed the avenues that consulting as a career offers. He talked about top-line and bottom-line consulting and about the growth-consulting matrix. Advice, which is at the top of information continuum, followed by information and data, is the basis of consulting. Globalization and increasing competition has helped consultancy firms as businesses feel an increasing need for a second opinion, that of an expert. Thus, it is a recession proof industry and provides a synergy of knowledge and application. It not just enables one to go for horizontal/vertical specialization but also provides an opportunity to be a thought leader. Thus, he urged students to think well ahead of time so that they can preempt the market needs and act accordingly. After all, "if you’re not a lead dog, the view is never different". Contributed by - |
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