Rajashree Patankar shares her team ICP experience, working with team members Thibault Acolas (French), Mohammed Allam (Egyptian/Canadian resident) and Jana Valkovicova (Slovak) and supported by Professor Nuno Fernandes.
“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much”- Helen Keller. It is indeed true that many a great idea are conceptualized, built and then launched by teams achieving a greater purpose. While we came together as a class of 90 with 44 nationalities, we have always been surprised by the experience and skills pooled in by each one of us. The “International Consulting Project” (ICP) has been the true test of bringing to life not only our experience but also our learnings throughout this eventful year.
Our group of four got the opportunity to work in one of the most talked about and pivotal medical equipment industries which plays a huge role in improving the quality of life for people with certain chronic conditions. The journey began with a sneak peek into the business and understanding the products and the organization better. This was a reiteration of the fact that one ought to know the business well to make any strategic decisions. While none of us had a background in the healthcare or related industries, it was interesting to have an onboarding session for the products, their applications and have a real-time view of how the products are presented before potential customers.
The nuances of B2B marketing were insightful as we went about exploring the markets with field trips and customer interactions. After the last few months of theoretical and practical studies it was yet again time to step into the customer’s shoes and look at products from their perspective. While digitalization of marketing efforts is gaining pace across industries, it was remarkable to note how every aspect of healthcare marketing too has been touched by the revolution. Customer engagement which was perceived to be based on a clinical approach formerly has now gained a more collaborative view, particularly where the consumer wants to be perceived as just another person rather than a patient.
While we have completed four weeks on this project, it already seems like we have so much more to do and so little time to accomplish what we want to! It is true indeed that the moment we step into a task, albeit momentarily, it still consumes our thoughts and we don the thinking hat of a strategist, a business person and a decision maker. I am just glad that while we are at this we haven’t forgotten to have fun as a team and forged our bonds which is long way from our day one at IMD while we sat across each other in the class not knowing that we were making friends for life J .
So here we go,
The MBA learnings now unfold,
Impacting the world lo and behold!!
Cheers
Raji
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajashree-r-1543b0140/