How to qualify as a global citizen
Born in India, Sandeep graduated from Mines Nantes, one of the graduate schools of Institut Mines Télécom in 2004. Supply Chain Manager for L’Oreal Asia Pacific, located in Japan, Sandeep is a global manager. He describes how things are changing in his industry and how he has been prepared for that.
I describe myself as curious, open-minded and flexible. I have always hoped to qualify myself as a global citizen. To attain this goal, I had to find a multicultural program that not only provides me with technical skills but also where one has to adjust and adapt quickly. So I decided to study abroad and to join Mines Nantes, whose Master of Science in Industrial Management let me get international exposure and gave me the opportunity to learn more about supply chain management, a discipline relatively new at that time in Engineering Schools. In my plan to succeed as an international manager, the school was mere instrumental.
There is a real added value of an engineering training for a FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) supply chain manager. If you have only a commercial or business background, you will miss the industrial/technical side of things. So in order to be more complete, more successful, you need to have a deep understanding of industrial and technical issues. Even more, many noticeable changes are constantly occuring within this field. One could mention RFID, the concept of using drones for delivering goods, but we also speak now a lot about multi-channel supply chain management: it’s becoming more and more Technology/IT oriented/Digital. Thus a technical background will always help you navigate the
To face these major changes happening in the industry, what I have been taught at Mines Nantes is seminal. Most of the lecturers/speakers we had were professionals with field experience and they used real life cases.
“Many changes are occurring in this rapidly evolving field. To face them, what I have been taught there is seminal”
Once I was part of MLPS, it was also easier to find an internship and eventually to join a French business champion like L’Oreal, thanks for being an alumnus from a French “grande école”.
Born and raised in India, graduated in France, I had my last assignment in Singapore and nowadays I am working in Japan, I truly feel global. If I had to give any advice to some fellow indian students, I would advise them to be patient, open-minded and curious and look at world from a glocal context, and to be more long-term focused rather than concentrating on short term benefits.
