Pranav Murari

Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad

“A persistent individual, I leave no stone unturned to get a job done.”

Hometown: Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand

Fun Fact About Yourself: I love running and have completed more than 15 full marathons.

Undergraduate School and Major: UK Technical University, B.Tech in Computer Science

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Indian Navy (Lieutenant Commander)

Aside from your classmates, what was the key part of IIM Ahmedabad’s MBA programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? Well, IIM A is the best b school in the country. Thus, not much of a decision to make. Secondly, the school follows a cased-based pedagogy, which enables critical thinking and puts the reader in the shoes of the protagonist. The methodology acts as a simulation of the real situation and thus helps students to develop the thought process.

What has been your favorite course or extracurricular activity at IIM Ahmedabad? What has been the most important lesson that you have learned from it? Although every course of IIM A is best in its own way, my personal favorite has been microeconomics, taught by PGPX chairperson Prof. Pingali.

The most important lesson that I learned from the course is that we will always include opportunity cost and ignore sunk cost in decision-making.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: On the evening of 14 Feb 19, while being at sea, the following message was received on board my ship: “Terrorist attack at Pulwama. First responder for border patrol. Authorized for war action”. A clear message, sanctioning the usage of any force necessary to protect the nation’s border. The condition being wartime filled the ship with confusion and restlessness. Therefore, I immediately met officers and some seasoned men for strategy formulation. The agenda was to divide the ship into 3 parts with each part being capable of operating independently.  Post plan formulation, I informed the entire crew of the situation, the ship’s strategy, and their responsibilities. The briefing gave the men sense of purpose and they began functioning without supervision. The streamlined planning led to a motivated team that intercepted several hostile targets and thereby averted several threats to the nation’s security and is, therefore, the biggest achievement of my career to date.

Describe your biggest accomplishment as an MBA student so far: IIM Ahmedabad has an infinite number of activities going on at any point in time and each of these activities has some learning quotient associated with it. With these many equally enticing opportunities prioritizing one over the other is extremely important. Thus, I believe developing skills for efficient time management has been my biggest accomplishment as a student.

What is your class’s favorite hangout away from school? Why do you gather there? My favorite hangout place outside of class is the Sabarmati riverfront. The riverfront poses as a sanctuary after the hectic schedule and the relaxed environment at the river front functions as a stress buster to me.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point and what do you hope to do after graduation? I had decided to join corporate field after retiring from the Navy and I believe that filling the gap between the military and the corporate culture was essential for organic growth. Thus, an MBA falls into the picture to bridge the gap.

Post-MBA I want to take up roles in operations management. I wish to couple my experiences from the Navy with the learnings of the MBA to become successful in the corporate field.

What advice would you give to help potential applicants gain admission into IIM Ahmedabad? Primarily, a good GMAT score is necessary to increase the chances of receiving an invite for the interview. Secondly, and more importantly, it is having clarity on why one wants to pursue an MBA and the roles one seeks to take up post-MBA. Thus, I would say work hard for your GMAT and harder for your application but all of this is futile if you don’t have a clarity on your future plans.

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