Photo courtesy of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu

'Nothing too big to tackle'

Subhasakdi Krishnamra '89

By Kari Richardson

As one of the youngest members of the Kellogg School's Class of 1989, 23-year-old Subhasakdi Krishnamra was ready to take on the world — literally.

Since his graduation 20 years ago, Krishnamra has worked for the same firm — Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu — but his career path has spanned from Canada to the United States, and finally, back to Thailand, where he spent the first nine years of his life.

Thailand's growing economy, it turns out, was the perfect place to put his business skills to the test. "I always thought I should come home when I finished my education," Krishnamra says. "I thought I should apply the things I learned abroad back in Thailand."

As managing partner of Thailand's Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Jaiyos, Krishnamra now oversees the implementation of the firm's strategies, operations and client services. "One of the most important things I learned during my time at Kellogg was a can-do, positive attitude," he says. "There is nothing too big to tackle. If you need to do it, if you think it's necessary to do it, you shouldn't put barriers in the way. You should just get to it."

That can-do attitude will no doubt come in handy as Krishnamra leads his firm through challenging times. Thailand's two main industries, consumer goods manufacturing and rice exporting, have both been crippled by the global recession.

"The global pandemic of this business crisis is affecting everybody," he says. "The problem is we don't know where the bottom is. But we are doing our best to manage through it by staying close to our clients and helping them to identify business issues they can control." His firm can help clients, for example, manage costs, enhance revenue and make predictions about future business as they navigate an uncertain environment, he says.

Another looming challenge for the 44-year-old Krishnamra, albeit one of a smaller scale, is succession planning. Since many of his firm's key managers are set to retire in the next few years, he must ready a new generation of leaders to step into their places.

Helping him navigate these challenges are the fundamental lessons learned at the Kellogg School two decades ago, when his global journey began. "I had never even been to the United States until I enrolled at Kellogg," he recalls. "But the surrounding area, friends and faculty made me immediately glad I chose it."