The Monroe Street Journal

Issue date: 3/18/08 Section: Inside Ross

Philippe Prufer (MBA '88) remembers the many ups and downs of life as a Ross MBA. From group work to cases and interviewing, Prufer recalls his time at Ross as hectic yet rewarding. Prufer spoke to a room full of students at an Eli Lilly Lunch & Learn seminar last week about his time at Ross and the lessons he learned that helped him climb the corporate ladder at pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly. Prufer's talk was candid and entertaining and provided students a glimpse into Prufer's rise at Eli Lilly from a post-MBA job in marketing to his current position as Area Director of European Mid Size Countries.

Prufer's story began with a description of his pre-MBA life. Prufer related that despite being born into a family of physicians, medicine never attracted him. Instead, after college, Prufer took up positions with a Belgian brewery and then with L'Oreal. Through these entry-level positions, Prufer realized his interest in general management, which compelled him to come to Michigan and earn his MBA to jumpstart his career. Prufer spoke throughout his presentation of the importance of his MBA, the experience he gained from it, and the ability an MBA has to jumpstart a career. Though Prufer came to Michigan with a strong interest in consumer goods, he interviewed with consulting and pharmaceutical companies as well. Ultimately, Prufer accepted an offer from Eli Lilly to work in Brazil, and he has not looked back since.

Prufer described his various roles at Eli Lilly to the audience and stressed how a diversity of perspectives has helped him. In positions ranging from sales to turning around companies, Prufer accumulated over 20 positions of experience that he feels allowed him to gain the perspectives of having 20 different jobs. After starting at Eli Lilly Brazil in marketing and strategic planning, Prufer worked for a while as a sales representative. Prufer felt the experience was invaluable and provided him with a unique perspective at Eli Lilly's sales function later on when he entered management roles. A major point of Prufer's talk about general management was the importance of being able to alternate between knowing when to 'get your hands dirty with your troops' and when to step back and manage from above (hence the 'helicopter' approach to management that Prufer advocates).

Continued...

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