MBA Student Profile: Bikramjit S. Chopra, LSBF

Bikramjit S. Chopra believes that an MBA at LSBF will be the next big step to achieving his career goals. He shares his reasons for choosing this particular course and school with us here.

1. What were you doing before your MBA?

I was the Director of a Financial Services Private Ltd. Company in New Delhi, India.      

2. What were your main reasons to attend Business School?

I wanted to enhance my professional prospects as well as achieve some personal goals that I had set before myself and complement my work experience as a Business Head. I realised the importance of having a Masters in Business Administration to be able to adapt and keep pace with the ever changing global business environment.      

3. What research did you undertake in selecting your school?

I started my search for a cutting edge business school that was more than academic in approach first through AMBA, EQUIS and AACSB accreditation associations (systems).

I also consulted various literatures for an accredited institution and went through the Financial Times Rankings for a conclusive decision. After one month of thorough search and skilful analysis, I settled on London School of Business & Finance (LSBF) in London.

4. What were the main criteria in your selection?

Having managed a company for a good number of years, I was fully aware of the broad perspective of working in the real life scenario and perhaps put the emphasis on the curriculum and faculty as the main basis of my selection.

Accreditation of the Business School bore substantial weight and location was very important. A multicultural environment in a city like London was an additional advantage that I definitely considered. LSBF is based in historic Belgravia, just five minutes from Hyde Park.

Another factor was the availability of an internship at an international company at the end of my course.

My main concern as a mature student was that I would study with young students. The average MBA student at LSBF is 33 with 8.5 years of work experience. My fellow students have excellent experience and background in various areas like business, finance, consultancy, accounting, financial analysis and marketing. I study with a vice-president of one of the top investment banks, the vice-president of a telecommunication company and a number of senior executives of blue chip multinational companies. My younger student fellows are just as dynamic and ambitious, so there is a good mix that creates a great  learning process where we challenge each other.

International exposure nowadays is always crucial. I study with students from all over the world and there are no more then two students from the same country. The prestigious reputation of LSBF is shown by the diversity of its students and learning about different cultures gives me a cutting edge in business management.      

5. Why did you decide to study in either your own country or overseas?

The decision of studying in London was to have an international flavour of the business environment. On top, London is the financial city of the world.      

6. How well do you think the MBA is regarded in your country?

The importance of MBA is being recognised by multinational companies that are coming by droves and setting up base in India and cashing in on the booming economy. The average salaries being offered are comparable to any country in the world and this trend is continually uplifting the importance of a good MBA degree to a considerable level.      

7. How are you financing your studies?

I am financing my MBA studies by myself. I have been working hard to save money for MBA studies.      

8. Have you been or intend to become an entrepreneur?

I am an entrepreneur and have my own business in India. I always wanted to own and run a successful business and this qualification will help me reach my goals.

9. What do you expect to do on graduation and where do you expect to be based?

I expect to do an internship for a few months in an International Operational Financial Institution and then go back to India to manage my business.  

10. Where do you see yourself in ten years time?

Hopefully, I will be sitting at the helm of affairs of a large corporate Public Limited Company owning a major stake in the holdings.

11. How easy or difficult do you expect it to be to achieve theses objectives?

I want to take the approach step by step and don't really expect it to be easy but I will relentlessly pursue my goal. One of the steps to achieve my goal is a good MBA degree, which I am studying for at LSBF.