“Education impacts everybody and I am proud to be in this field”

says Ajay Pratap Singh, business head – Academic Publishing, Cambridge University Press India Pvt Ltd. Ajay Pratap Singh is a sales & marketing professional with 17 years of industry experience in Science Technology & Medicine market and in Higher Education with special focus on health care market comprising Medical Colleges, Medical Universities, Hospitals and Pharmaceutical companies.

He is a keen planner with proven abilities in devising strategies to augment business & promote products for business excellence.

Leaders not only do the right thing, they help others do the right things by directing them, setting up a vision and mapping out the plan to achieve it. They help to attain team goals by inspiring and encouraging the people involved. How do leaders achieve it, finds All About Book Publishing, in conversation with Ajay Pratap Singh, business head – Academic Publishing, Cambridge University Press India Pvt Ltd. His responsibilities include handling end-to-end sales operations, strategic planning and execution of robust publishing program in line with the organization’s global objectives and goals.

AABP: What do you like most about your work?

Ajay: The one major factor that excites me and makes me feel proud about my work is that we are in the business of education which impacts each and every human being in this world. Education plays a very important role in the personal, social and economic development of the nation. Working in Indian market makes it all the more important as with 799 Universities, India is the world’s largest higher education market in the world. Against the world’s average of 83% in India we have a 73% literacy rate which indicates the huge potential in this market. Nelson Mandela rightly said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”

AABP: What is the aim of marketing?

Ajay: Communicating the value of the product and services to our customers through a story and keeping them constantly engaged in the process.

AABP: As a leader you believe in…?

Ajay: Empowering people to take timely decisions without worrying too much about risks. Because I strongly believe, nothing can be riskier than not taking decisions on time.

AABP: How do you motivate your team?

Ajay: Challenging them against the best in the industry and many a times against themselves. Giving feedback on their strength is another important factor to keep the team motivated.

AABP: What are the challenges you face?

Ajay: The biggest challenge is the pace with which publishing industry is changing. Publishing industry is going through tremendous changes especially because of technology so much so that almost all the publishing companies like to be summoned as Information, technology, solution or Data Company. It is very important that in order to keep pace with the changes in the market merely changing the nomenclature of the company will not work and also replacing people is not the solution as we tend to lose on the rich experience of the people in this industry. Best thing that can be rather must be done is to drive the change management by the leaders and make people believe in those changes with lot of agility.

AABP: Who is your target audience?

Ajay: All the higher education and research institutions across streams which includes students, faculties, researchers ranging from Humanities & Social Sciences to Science, Technology & Medicine.

AABP: Your favourite movie/ book / hobby?

Ajay: My favourite book is The Extraordinary Leader by Jack Zenger and Joe Folkman; favourite movie is Golmal starring Amol Palekar and Bindiya Goswami and a very recent movie Hacksaw Ridge based on a real life story of an American soldier Desmond Doss in World War II; while my hobby is spending time with my dogs and going to dog shows.