MBA

Profiles

Abhay Saboo, MBA 2009

Attending business school has long been one of Abhay Saboo's ambitions. With his interest in technology, however, he wanted to use his undergraduate education to build a credible foundation for the future. "I did engineering to develop an analytical skill set," says Abhay. "I never wanted to be afraid to lead engineers and technical people."

To complement his technical skills, he looked for employment "where I could learn how to work with good people to deliver great results." As a participant in the General Electric Management Leadership Program, Abhay had a number of high-impact roles including monitoring the quality of 6,000 suppliers and overseeing the transfer of CT scanner production from Japan to China. "It wasn't just about technical issues," Abhay notes, "but how culture plays a role in business."

HBS fosters propensity to act

When Abhay felt ready for his MBA, HBS topped his list of choices. "The HBS mystique drew me here, but it's the quality of the people that motivated me to apply," he says. "HBS is an open forum where you can safely talk about sensitive issues. You can express your own honest opinions, then absorb what others have to say from a variety of perspectives. Most of the time, by the end of class, I've changed my way of thinking."

Effective communication is a key part of the MBA experience. "The hard part is conveying my ideas to others," Abhay says. "That's one of the things the case study method has already helped me improve." But it's not just talk. "It's one thing to want to lead, but another to be able to lead," says Abhay. "The case study enforces a propensity to act, rather than just think. The first thing our professors ask us is, 'What would you do?'" In one vivid instance at the beginning of the semester, Abhay was cold called to lead a discussion about Starbucks. "I started to rattle off numbers," Abhay recalls. "When the professor pushed back and insisted on action, I had to regain my composure and come back with an answer in front of the entire class. That's leadership in practice."

Looking east

As one of a small group of businesspeople who speak both Mandarin and Hindi, Abhay is well positioned for what he would like to do most with his career. "I want to do something that brings together India, China, Indonesia and the US," he says. Immediately after graduation, that may mean management roles with leading Indian companies such as Tata or Reliance. Later, Abhay hopes to create his own business and has "already started making plans for a fashion retail business in India."