GD AT URPERCENTILE : CASE STUDY - EDUCATION QUALIFICATION VS WORK EXPERIENCE

Orianengineers: Hi, I am Ritesh from Bangalore with 2.5yrs exp

Rajni : Hello all , Rajni Kukkar , BCA  from SGNR, Rajasthan.

Ahamed Zubair: I am a B.E. Civil Engineering Grad, having 2.5 yrs exp. and at present in Saudi Arabia

D.NAG: Debabrata Nag, Chemical Engineering, Kolkata

Rashi: Hey everyone. This is Rashi, B.A.(hons.) mathematics, LSR, Delhi University

Navneet Kumar: Hi, This is Navneet Kumar, 1 yr exp.

Shekhar Tripathi : Hi, I am Shekhar , s/W engineer 3 yrs exp,

www.UrPercentile.com: We will have a case study today :
There is a MNC with operations in China, France, Germany, Australia, USA and  Japan. The company  is into Architecture consulting services.  In India they have offices in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkotta , and  Chennai. The senior most  position of the Indian Operation ( President – Operations )  is vacant and 4 candidates have been short listed for the position . The 4 candidates are :
A : Is a MBA from the best institute in India. Earlier he graduated  in Physics and has 8 years of  work experience and has worked with company for 6 years.
B: Is an Architect  from the best institute in India and has  9 years of experience and has been with the company for 6 years.
C : Is a science graduate and has 15 years of work experience and has been with the company for 10 years. His work experience also include  4 years relevant work experience in Europe.
D:  He joined the company as draftsman 25 years back when he completed his High school .  4 years back he did his graduation by correspondence while still working for the company. Besides English he can speak, Chinese, French, Japanese and many Indian Languages.  He has performed well in all the tasks assigned to him till now and has worked at managerial level for last 4 years.
Who should be selected for the post ?

K k:  I think that MBA “A” should be selected because he is a student of top business school and  must have been selected on merit. Young people  today are up-to-date and more  flexible ,they are techno- savvy and they can adjust better to any new situation.

Rajni: Since the firm is into architecture, Somebody at that high post must have a knowledge of the same.  So, person B is the most suitable for the job. Moreover, this person has been with the company for many years, so that makes him suited for the post.

Ahamed Zubair: I prefer to select candidate B, as he is having experience in same field, apart from that he is an alumnus of best school in India. An ideal person should have the experience in the same field with education qualification on that field.

Orianengineers: First of all lets decide on what is the profile of the candidate the company is looking for. As a Head of operations, the person should have sound knowledge on what the nuances of operations are. He should have exhibited competencies in managing people & achieving the targets which have been set for him. Besides this, he also needs to have good operational knowledge on what the company is producing.

D.NAG: (President--operations), This being the highest post in the company must be held by someone who has all the qualities. The qualities we require here are
1) Knowledge of architecture ,  2) Managerial Skills , 3) Should be representative in other countries, thus knowledge of other languages , 4) Flexibility throughout the country, thus knowledge of Indian languages, 5) Degree of high respect . Thus now we need to take a decision matching those qualities that which candidate suits the best, he should be selected..

Rashi: First of all, candidate B is not fit for the position because even though he has done architecture and that too from a good institute, that doesn't make him, qualified enough for a presidential post. For the required post, the candidate should have more of all round knowledge, his knowledge in the specific field acting as icing on the cake. So since candidate B has confined knowledge, he is not as such suitable for the post.
 
Gansh Kamat: According to me , D is perfect Candidate as he fits  all attributes, he has relevant experience has worked in the managerial position. Also in multilingual gives him a added advantage.

Rajni: Experience is a great tool, somebody into architecture at a lower level has a kno

Ahamed Zubair: Rash Taneja , How can we say he is having confined knowledge? An ideal operation head having 5 years experience on that field is enough. As i'm a civil Engineer, i can very well say that with in 5 years he will get to know the possible problems he may get, and ways to solve.

Orianengineers: Candidate D:
1) Low on qualification, High on experience. Good grassroots level experience.
2) Good language skills - can speak all languages & network well with other units of the company.
3) Good managerial abilities & has delivered in the past.

Gansh Kamat: also he has 25 many years of experience which is more than the sum  of the rest three so he is a standout.

Rashi: Candidate D should also be eliminated as he is not qualified in the architectural field. Even if he has related experience, specific expertise is required for this post, which he lacks. Being a multi-lingual won't be very helpful to him if he doesn't have in-depth knowledge in his field.

D.NAG: Candidate A, has the highest degree of respect, has managerial qualities, also should have possessed knowledge in architecture according to his experience in the company for 6 years, his knowledge in physics is additional so we can give him 3.25/5

Ahamed Zubair: Only Experience is not sufficient, Good Educational background is also important.

Rashi: Candidate B has confined knowledge in the sense that he is only well-versed with the architectural field. But being at such a high post often requires you to step out of your field of knowledge and explore into other fields, which often he may not succeed in doing.

Gansh Kamat: D: he is a learner as he is steadily rising through the hierarchy and reached a managerial position

Orianengineers: Candidate C:  Good experience & reasonably well qualified. some onsite exposure but has not shown any great managerial abilities or has not been very different from the rest.

K k: All such thing as knowledge of languages can be compensated but decision making quality can’t. One can hire architect or advise on that matter but manager has to have something more than that. Young people are being hired more because they are less prejudiced with traditional management practices. Today we need some out of box thinking and also the taste of young people matters more in our country because we have more young population, therefore we need someone who can naturally think that way. Therefore, A is the best choice.

Orianengineers: Candidate A has a physics background, but has not done much which can be talked about. Being from a good management institute, would be a good candidate fro the post

D.NAG: Candidate B: Knowledge in architecture mostly, should have acquired managerial skills in his experience with company to a extent, Degree of high prestige in that particular field of MNC so....2.25/5

Gunjan Rawat: According to me D is the appropriate candidate for the post: 1)  He has 25 years of experience which is very well relevant with field of work    2) He started from the position of a draftsman the lowermost one can say it means he is well known with all the duties and responcibilities of the lower posts than his    3) He is multilingual this is a very good plus point he has as a president is required to interact with people of other countries as well

Orianengineers: Candidate B has good in-depth knowledge but not suitable for the post of Head of operations.

Ahamed Zubair: Let us start with Scope of President (Operations) for architectural consultancy, He has to know the job. He has to understand what customer wants. By hiring a person will not solve the purpose.

Rashi: Now, comparing candidates A and C, we see that even though candidate A is an MBA, candidate C has more relevant work experience. A is a physics graduate whereas C is a science graduate. So C has more all round knowledge, as i said earlier that for a post as the president, more all-round knowledge is required than knowledge in a particular field. Also, C has an added experience of working in another country. So summing up all these qualities, I think C is best suited for this post.

K k: You don’t need to be a milkman to sell milk, you can always hire people to do that but you need to have skill to manage them. Similarly, you don’t need an Architect for this post .

D.NAG: Candidate C: Only work experience to acquire managerial skills, also work experience with the MNC to have some Architectural experience, Europe experience of no use as this MNC has no branch in EUROPE. So---1.25/5

Ahamed Zubair: So knowing the job is having most priority. Let’s get into Educational qualification . Education in the same field is having more advantage over others.

Orianengineers: Positives of selecting A:
Come from a good college with pretty good knowledge on Operations. Trained & groomed to lead a company at some point of time. Knowledge at a Birdseye level is enough for a head of operations , hence Candidate A is very suitable.

Ganesh Kamat: Based on the parameters experience, knowledge , skills, performance and education I would rate  as follows on a rating of 10 A:6 B:5 C:3 D:8

Rashi: Even though this MNC has no branch in Europe, what is of more significance is the fact that candidate C has the potential of working in an atmosphere unknown to him. And that will help him elsewhere too

Orianengineers: Positives of selecting  D:
1).. Good grassroots level experience.
2) Good language skills - can speak all languages & network well with other units of the company.
3) good managerial abilities  & has delivered in the past . Proven Performer !

Gansh Kamat: My vote goes  to D

K k: Besides, people have made crores in 25years, what was our candidate no 4 doing then, I think that this man needs to be ordered about instead of making decisions, what we need here is vanguard. Person of such experience can easily go for entrepreneurship and not for a job only. Therefore all other candidates don’t stand much in run with A.

Gunjan Rawat: Why others are not as good as D. Let me start with A: He is MBA and has worked for 6 yrs with the company this is good but he is not well aware with the work of lower levels as D is. As the president operations one must be well equipped with all the plus and minus points , all the drawbacks and loopholes at each level of the company

Rashi: And C has  worked in the related field in Europe, which means it has added on to his experience in this field, apart from enabling him to work in an environment different from the familiar environment that he has always worked in

Orianengineers: It depends on the company's view to select the candidate, the candidate A is relatively younger & can serve a longer term as the Head, whereas D may be around for only some years. It is well proven that Learning capabilities reduce with age & hence the Candidate A can learn the things given his aptitude & his thirst for knowledge where as for candidate D will have a hard time to learn a new thing at his age.

D.NAG: Candidate D: Has good managerial skills, a draftsman thus knowledge of architecture present, knowledge of different languages is necessary as in CHINA, JAPAN, France ...English language is not so popular, does not posses degree of high respect which is required when one represents his MNC abroad, his determination to graduate after discontinuing studies is his plus point......3.5/5

K k: People too much acquaint with lower level Are not that confident in making out of box decisions, because they are not in the habit of doing that .

Ahamed Zubair: Now let’s come to the experience part, Candidate D is having more experience in the field, but only past 4 years in managerial cadre. Big companies will hire Graduates at level of Engineers & with in 3 to 4 years he might get promotion and will be provided with 3 to 4 draftsmen to handle, So having a 9 years experience is actually equivalent to a 4 to 5 years of managerial experience. So when compared to D, C, A candidate B is my choice.

D.NAG: Thus the highest scorers are D(3.5/5) and  A(3.25/5). Thus we need to choose between them

Gunjan Rawat: coming to B : He is an architect who is there with the company with 6 years in the company . he is not the right choice as he doesn’t have the managerial experience required for the post of president.

Orianengineers: In this globalize world, people from all countries are learning a common language so as to communicate & increase volumes of their business. As the years go by the language skills gained by candidate D will be less relevant.

Ahamed Zubair: As i already said candidate B is having managerial experience as he used to manage 3 to 4 draftsman all the time, and he has to show the results to his boss.

Orianengineers: sorry this is not mentioned , about candidate B

K k: I agree that only two candidates are left –A and D

Gunjan Rawat: Coming to C : Been with the company for 10 yrs and 4yrs working experience in Europe which is good but yet again comparing with D he is a bit short

www.UrPercentile.com: Thanks everyone, request everyone to give a concluding statement .

Rashi: Another point to be brought into consideration is the age factor. As one of my co-participants pointed out, candidate D has worked for over 25 years, which shows he is of a much older age than the rest of them. Comparing the rest of the three, C's age seems to be the most suited for a post of such high order. Experience, not only work-related, but overall experience comes with age but age should be suitable to handle the many pressures that come along with such high posts.

D.NAG: Now the most requirement is that the person to hold the president's post would require to mainly do the managerial tasks, with a little bit of architectural knowledge and to represent his MNC abroad with highest qualification degree. Thus  CANDIDATE  "A"     fits best for the position. The factor of language knowledge is highly required but   "A"  can definitely take along "D" with him to represent the MNC abroad, in depth architectural knowledge is not required for president's post. Thus "A" is the best choice.

Kapil Sachdeva: plz tell me when its over "Doing an MBA in Operations shall add my thoughts.

www.UrPercentile.com: Thanks to Kapil Sachdeva who has been member of urpercentile for many years and currently is pursuing his Management course from SP Jain .  We hope that all MBA aspirants will gain from his comments.

Orianengineers: My Winner : Candidate A , Reason :-
1) Groomed to lead a team by virtue of his MBA ,
2) Good experience with the company.
3) Relatively young & hence can have a shorter learning curve.
4) Suits the profile if you consider the position over a longer period of time.

K k: Well,of all we have discussed - A  and  D .And out of them,  considering everything “A” holds the highest vote

Ahamed Zubair: Candidate A is not  knowing any thing about Architecture, he may be taken as vice president level &  asked to have exp. .Candidate C is not having even education & Experience. “C and D” are not having good education, My choice is Candidate B.

Gunjan Rawat: Concluding , D is the best candidate for the president as 1)  He has 25 years of experience which is very well relevant with field of work    2) He started from the position of a draftsman the lowermost one can say it means he is well known with all the duties and responsibilities of the lower posts than his    3) He is multilingual this is a very good plus point he has as a president is required to interact with people of other countries as well

Gansh Kamat: My view D is the perfect candidate as he has all the qualities required for the post of president Operations as he has experience, proven performer, dedication and commitment towards the company.

D.NAG: We can conclude that Candidate "A"  is the best choice for the post of "President---Operations"  due to all his positives.

Rashi: Concluding the discussion, I would say that candidate C is most capable in terms of qualification, managerial skills, experience  in working in different work environments. He has good knowledge in science, a field that broadens your thinking to a great angle.

Comments by Urpercentile Members :

www.UrPercentile.com: We thanks KAPIL SACHDEVA , who has been member of urpercentile for many years and currently is pursuing his Management course from SP Jain . He has volunteered to be an observer of this GD . We hope that all MBA aspirants will gain from his comments.

Kapil Sachdeva: Let me add something now.
The session will be of 15 mins shall give u an insight.  First of all looking at the nature of business they are into architecture  consulting,  how come u neglect the candidate B, he is already an architecture, looking at the president role,  what are the qualities required,  relevant Experience, Cross cultural to add on to it, someone told abt the learning curve " Candidate D is at the peak of learning curve apart from that where as other are quite young, when u look at the industry as a whole Operations are always handled my experience guys where the experience counts more than the qualification. Apart for the guy has risen from bottom to top & more over he has desire to learn that’s why he just completed his graduation recently, so that supports that ground,  Operation is a critical area when u study about the operation risk management such kind of issues are very nicely covered.  Apart from that since the company is multinational required lot of multilingual interaction with people from various countries , so that would any day be an advantage, plus there can be negative aspect to it , but that can't be ascertained right now with the information, quoting you the example of Japanese work culture, they are master in this apart from that senior positions are there handled by people who once operated on shop floor, thats it , from that I would add that the nature of discussion was today much better,  some good points were raise ,  Especially I would like to appreciate one or two persons, Gunjan, others were also good, but at the end nothing is right or wrong it all depends what supporting argument you give with it.

Kapil Sachdeva: if there is anyone who has doubt can clarify

Gunjan Rawat: thanks for the valuable tips...were good

Rashi : you said that having multi-lingual abilities may have a negative aspect to it. What negative aspect could that have?

Kapil Sachdeva: not multilingual, it was in general because personality people management has also to be looked at.  Operation management deals in all these aspects also since he is experienced & season so I presume he would have such capabilities.

K K: I hear that today people like to hire young people isn't that true

Kapil Sachdeva: yaa they hire but not for all positions. It all depends on Enterprise risk management how much geared is the company willing to take that risk

Rashi : Ok thanks Kapil. And thanks urpercentile.

Ahamed Zubair: Thanks to URPERCENTILE & KAPIL

Amiyesh Verma : My preference would be candidate A as MBA from permiere institute imbibe most of the qualities for running an organization and looking into profile of other candidates. Candidate B is can surely be considered after A,But he can also be utilized to look after technical intricacies and challenges of the operation and to manage it efficiently and On the other hand Candidate C and D can give their contribution for relationship establishment and macro management due to their vast experience and skills in Language.