Ever wondered why the first year of an MBA or a PDGM course teaches you about all the departments of an organization. Why do they delve into finance, marketing, HR, operations, Law, etc.? The answer lies in the fact that a business or a company is not about one area of specialization. A company does well only when all these functions can collaborate efficiently and contribute to the common goal – to accelerate business growth and to enhance operational efficiency. 

We enlist five key tips that can help you to translate your learning from MBA or PGDM into corporate success: – 

1. Understand the business model of the company – “I am an HR professional; I don’t need to sell. I am a finance person, I needn’t pay attention to marketing activities”, these statements are often heard in companies. A siloed approach, especially at the entry or middle level, is commonplace. An MBA or a PGDM comes with a basic understanding of all functions and specialization in one or two aspects of business. The first thing an MBA or PGDM student must do is to understand how their company generates revenue and makes a profit. Everything from income and revenues, to cost and expenses, as well as operating profits and margins must be understood. Any MBA or PGDM student who understands the above will be better placed for success than any of his counterparts. 
2. Know about the TAM, SAM, and SOM of the company – A PGDM or MBA student would ideally have a few days to himself/ herself from being offered a job to joining the company. They must use this time to find more about the Total Addressable Market (TAM), Serviceable Addressable Market (SAM) and the Serviceable Obtainable Market (SOM) of the company. A deep dive into this will enable them to know more about the market share that the company can obtain and its runway for growth. If they are joining a listed company, reading annual reports of the last few years could be a great exercise to understand the company in-depth and be well prepared on day one of the job.
3. Unbox and unleash yourself – It is very common for an MBA or PGDM student to think that they must stick to their area of expertise and not venture into other business areas of the company. A great way to ensure corporate success is to gain exposure to as many areas and aspects of the company and its business as possible. Never think of it as extra work. You will find use of all the work and hours that you put in later in professional life so its better to get early exposure to all areas. Breaking out of the imaginary siloes that one creates in their head can go a long way in enabling PGDM or MBA students to march ahead in their corporate careers.
4. Enhance Connections and be Curious – Networking within the organization is as important as building a professional network outside. Request the heads of departments and all key personnel in the company to spend some time with you. You will gain immensely from interactions with them. Their perspectives, ideas, and outlook will enable you to garner rich insights into the business and help you to accelerate your own growth in the company. A PGDM or MBA student must also be curious to understand how various aspects of the business works in tandem. It doesn’t cost to think like a CEO, but it will immensely help when one seeks to understand the business of a company better.
5. Be a part of community of like-minded professionals – If you are a PGDM Finance student, you must identify communities and groups (online as well as physical) wherein finance professionals collaborate. The same is true for marketing and HR MBA/PGDM students. It is important to know about the latest trends in the industry and be ahead in terms of your knowledge curve. It can help to accelerate your growth in an organization and will also ensure that you are aware of the opportunities in the industry that align with your career aspirations. 

Is this all you need to transform yourself from a bright PGDM or MBA student into a successful corporate professional? Definitely not. However, ticking the above five points could put most of your competition at bay and you will become an invaluable asset to your company as well as the industry.