Previous Occupation:Franchise Director, Singapore Regional Marketing Manager, Novartis
Senior Consultant, Arthur Andersen (CA)

Present Occupation: Marketing Director, Lifescan ASEAN, Johnson and Johnson Medical.
Sector: Health care
Work Experience: Thirteen years
Interests – Professional/Personal: Professional: I enjoy working in the health care industry. It gives me a great sense of purpose and satisfaction that in some way I am involved in saving the lives of patients.
Personal: Traveling, swimming and spending time with family

Can you tell us a little about your family background/history?
I spent the formative years of my life within a multicultural expatriate setting in Zambia, where my father, an engineer moved for his professional pursuits. My mother was a teacher.

For better educational exposure, I moved to a residential school in Mussoorie in my 7th grade.

My father eventually moved to Muscat, Oman, while my brother and I continued our education in Delhi. Muscat was our summer home.

Tell us about your profile pre-ISB, and recap your professional life after ISB including your career progression
I graduated with top honors from the Delhi University in Economics (Honours) after which I joined Arthur Andersen in the Assurance and Business Advisory division. Not really knowing what I was signing up for, I completed my Chartered Accountancy as was required.

I realised that my calling was not in accounting and I decided to pursue an MBA from ISB.

I chose ISB, amongst other offers that I received from reputable American universities. While at that time, the decision was driven largely due to financial reasons, I can now say that it was a great decision.

I was fortunate to have some good offers during placements season including one in investment banking. After considerable deliberation, I decided to join Novartis, as a part of their Global Management Programme in Basel, Switzerland. I took rotations in different functions and also moved to the UK for several stints in sales and marketing.

After my marriage in 2006 I moved to Singapore in Regional Marketing role for Asia Pacific. At the time, my husband Abhishek Pandey (a fellow ISBian) relocated from Hong Kong to Singapore too.

As we decided to have a family, Singapore was our preferred location. I subsequently moved to Johnson and Johnson Medical to head their LifeScan Franchise for Singapore.

Once I was able to get back to work after having two children, I returned to the semi-regional role and am now the Regional Marketing Director for LifeScan in ASEAN.

Describe your fondest memory at ISB:
Placement season was great for me. I was able to convert almost all companies that I had applied to.

In your personal life, how have you changed post-ISB? Do you see yourself doing something differently because you went to ISB? What has left a lasting impression?ISB opened a world of opportunity for me. Right from the diverse group of very intelligent batch mates to the variety of job opportunities that I was offered on campus – everything has contributed to who I am today.

I changed industry (consulting to marketing), function (finance to health care) as well as geography (India to Switzerland) post ISB – these are some the most important changes that impact one’s life!

An everlasting impression from ISB has been my co-batch mate and now husband Abhishek Pandey.

How do you think ISB has contributed to your career growth?
ISB was the stepping stone to my global career in the health care industry. It is the basis of where I am today.

If you have to sum up ISB in one word:
Worth it (I know it’s two words but it best sums up ISB for me!)

What was the main highlight of your programme at the ISB?
It was the most fun I have had while doing an academic course.

Word of advice for the current class?
It’s not only the academics but the relationships and the network you build that are an important take-away from the course.

What was your favourite course/class at ISB and why?
Marketing Strategy by Professor Jagmohan Raju was my favourite because I loved the case study simulations based on real business situations.

Was there anyone during your time at ISB who acted as a mentor for you? Tell us a little about this relationship and why it was valuable.
I cannot pin point a single person but I was fortunate to have a good set of friends whose advice was very valuable to me during my year at ISB.

What are the areas that you can contribute in to ISB?
I would love to volunteer for:

orientation sessions for the new class
Placement season coaching on how to approach interviews etc.
marketing via road-shows etc in Singapore
any other support that the school needs

What do you enjoy most about your current career position?
I feel like I am in the right place at the right time! Today the world’s focus is on Asia. Not only that but also the health care reforms in this part of the world are changing fast, hence offering new steady opportunities for growth.

It is good to be able contribute to this growth/ change by being in a leadership position in the largest healthcare company in the world.

What is the next new thing in the industry or vertical you are working in? Any trends that you can foresee?
As the global focus shifts eastward, many market-appropriate healthcare products and services will be available to the patients. Tighter reforms will ensure that only high quality products are available, hence the overall quality of life will improve.

From a marketing stand point, as digital marketing unfolds, this cost-effective viral marketing will gradually start replacing traditional marketing media even within the health care space.

© 2012 Indian School of Business, Disclaimer.