Top Honeywell Career A Result Of Grenoble MBA Experience

Since graduating with a Grenoble MBA in 2012, Anand Bakshi has achieved his long-time goal of working in strategy and business development. Bakshi works in India as an assistant manager at Honeywell International, a Fortune 100 technology giant with more than 170,000 employees worldwide and revenue of about $36 billion.

 

Bakshi tells the story of how his background in technology led him to Grenoble and ultimately to a Certificate of Excellence at Honeywell!

 

Grenoble has its strong foundations in technology, management and innovation and it’s no wonder because it is located in the “Silicon Valley of the Alps” with technology giants such as Schneider, HP and Xerox having a big presence in the city. Because I hail from an innovation management domain, the school was an ideal choice to pursue me to pursue my management program. 

 

Although, Grenoble has strong focus on curriculum, the program’s strength lies in its diversity of students and business-relevant specializations. As far as diversity, the MBA class comprised of more than 28 nationalities which presented a unique opportunity to develop a sophisticated understanding about various cultures, languages and behaviors. As most candidates opt to work in multi-national companies, the program was a unique simulation of a multi-cultured business environment. I was privileged to be elected as the class representative of this diverse group of students and represented the class in the student councils. 

 

In regards to Grenoble’s business-relevant specializations, unlike other major business schools that have strong focus on traditional areas of business, the Grenoble MBA provides students the option of specialization. The specializations are designed to understand today’s business problems and solutions in specific areas of interest. I chose the ‘Management Consulting’ specialization, which was one of the highlights of my program. The program was conducted by a team of ex-consultants and professors including a social media strategist from the US, a management consultant from Canada, an innovation consultant from Italy and a couple of owners of management consulting firms in the UK.  The elective was designed to be totally hands-on with simulation of real world business cases previously encountered by the team.

 

A major highlight of program was the International Week in which all the students and alumni from all off-site locations of the school came to Grenoble. Apart from various personal development sessions, it was a great experience to interact with the entire community of students across all off-site locations. Particularly, the ski trip to the Alps was an amazing experience – my first skiing experience!

 

I used to work as an intellectual property consultant for Fortune 500 technology companies. My work was more related to technical analysis of technological inventions. Having spent a few years in the industry, I felt I was ready to make a transition into a more business centric role. This transition required me to have knowledge and experience of various aspects of business such as macroeconomics, finance, supply chain management and organizational behavior.

 

For a career as a strategy consultant, a degree from a leading business school like Grenoble is very important. Grenoble with its triple accreditation (AMBA, EQUIS, AASCB) and ranking among the top 20 business schools in Europe does provide the leverage one needs to stand out from the crowd.    

 

My role as a strategy consultant involves collaborating with counterparts of all functions of business (such as finance, procurement, sales, engineering) of high-growth countries including BRIC countries and presenting the analysis to C-suite executives. Without the sound business fundamentals and intercultural management I learned at Grenoble, I wouldn’t be able to deliver results in my role. 

 

Armed with extensive experience in technology management and an MBA, I was keen on joining a strategy consulting role. In my current role at Honeywell, I work as strategy consultant in the president’s office working on growth initiatives for a $700 million business in India across the domains of aerospace, automation and control solutions, transportation systems and performance material and technology. 

 

I was awarded a Certificate of Excellence by the president of Honeywell India within six months of joining the organization for exceling at output and ownership of projects. I have gained a rare rating of 1 out of 9 in my first year evaluation.