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Pawan Tomkoria
Vice President/General Manager
Cardiac Surgery Systems Edwards Lifesciences Employee Since 1987 |
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Pawan Tomkoria is passionate about the open culture here. It's the area in which he feels he's tried to make the greatest contribution. |
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"One of the unique things about Edwards Lifesciences is that it is an organization where you have the freedom to really act like an owner." |
"I would like to think I've helped contribute to making this a culture where everyone can have a voice, everyone has the ability to influence, and everyone has the freedom to act like an owner," he says. "I try to tell people that I don't care about the politics or hierarchy. I just care about the issue we are talking about and what is the best thing for this company to do. There is a formal organizational structure, but your ideas on how we should do things do not have to go through that structure -- they can come through one-on-one to anybody, anywhere at anytime."
Tomkoria has had just such an influence during his 15 years here via his various positions from financial planning to cost accounting, assistant controller for various divisions, then controller for the entire corporation. It was his interaction with international operations that led him to accept his overseas position in Japan, where he was directly responsible for sales, marketing and logistics for two of our divisions in Japan.
"I have always enjoyed working with people from around the world. What I found working with Edwards is that I started developing very strong relationships with people in Asia, Europe, Japan and the Caribbean. So the idea of working overseas was attractive to me, because I assumed actually working there would be just as enjoyable as working with them in Irvine."
For Tomkoria, the best part about working here is the combination of the people and the culture. "You need very competent people, and you want to work with those who will challenge you intellectually, but the company has to provide a culture where that challenge and intellect can be utilized. That's why we are one of the best for teams that offer cross-functional opportunities.
I want to stay here because the company has given me lots of opportunities. It has allowed me to challenge and improve myself. I don't feel I would get the same level of support in most companies. It's nice to come into the office and know that everything we are doing in some way, directly or indirectly, is either going save or improve someone's life. There are not a lot of industries where you can say that."