Post-MBA Thoughts

Before the MBA launched, I set goals for myself. First, I would give my best in each and every class to grow as a business professional. Second, I wanted to learn from each culture and befriend as many classmates that I can. And the final goal was when I finished the program, I could look back and say it was worth it.

As the MBA came to an end, I’d like to revisit these goals and develop new ones moving forward. My academic career was very challenging, just as I anticipated. Each of the courses laid out solid foundations for me to build upon: basic business functions, strategy, and social responsibility. I came in with a blank slate and came out with a wealth of knowledge.

Second, was learning from my classmates. Hult provides a unique learning environment that exposes you to different nationalities and backgrounds. They also form teams that reflect the diversity of working in a Global business. Each team had its own difficulties, but at the end, I worked well and learned from over 30 different countries in a span of one year.

Finally, even as I begin my career search, I look back and say it’s worth it. In the end, I learned so much from the classroom, in the teams, and even in China. I’m confident I can use all that experience and knowledge in the next level. There has also been a change in me to challenge myself more, set higher ambitions, and become a better person. Lastly, I formed strong friendships with people around the world. It’s good to know others have made an impact on me, as well as I making an impact on them.

The program as a whole was a lot of ups and downs. There were times I didn’t know if I could handle everything, then when it came time to perform, I found I could do it well. This cycle kept me on my toes and continued to challenge me. As I leave, it’s time to prove myself in the professional world and make an impact.

Hult International Business School: Innovation Olympics Aftermath

Post-ALP Thoughts

After working with P&G Future Works, there are a few thoughts and takeaways that I want to document.

Thoughts

Working on this project with P&G has given me greater insight in the consumer packaged goods industry (CPG) and international business understanding with India. Coming from a healthcare background, there is a fundamental similarity between the two: time span of innovation. Each industry must innovate quickly and uniquely in order to differentiate itself.

When conducting research and brainstorming ideas, it was crucial to gather different perspectives from my team. Alone, I can come up with ideas and in my head, they are the greatest. But what I’ve come to realize is my team members have ideas along with different points of view. Through this chaos of sharing and challenging, occurs refining and building. What we end up with as our final proposal is a mix of our perspectives along cultivating ownership as a team.

Lastly, the journey from point A to B proved to be a great learning experience. My MBA curriculum was rigorous and fast paced. To be able to utilize this curriculum in a project with an actual company puts theory into practice.

Takeaways

Coming together as a group we all had different visions about the project. Each one of us had different motivations to reach a similar goal: finishing the ALP and graduating with an MBA. Seeing this opportunity, I wanted to align everyone’s expectations and set goals as a group and listen to their motivations. To me this was an important step to setting the tone of the group. We ended up creating a group goal and assigning roles to individuals. The most important part was that we all were headed the same direction and motivated to do so.

We discussed for an hour how to start the ALP. Someone wanted to start right away and provide ideas and another wanted to plan each step of the way. So the challenge was carefully getting everyone to buy into a general plan. With the goal in mind, we set milestones for ourselves and set up a schedule to meet and discuss. A general consensus was to have short meetings, so we agreed to delegate tasks accordingly after a meeting, which were to be completed by the next meeting. Honestly, this approach made us the most efficient team in the ALP.

Lastly, at the end, we bought into an idea and went full throttle in working on making it implementable and attractive to P&G. Based on feedback from our mentor and the client, we conducted additional research and made our proposal more concise and impacting. After our presentation, we were praised by our peers and mentor, but ultimately our proposal, though the most lucrative and unique ended up being too far from P&G’s core competencies and deemed too risky.

But after speaking with the client, they are taking parts of the idea to a partner to move forward with. He said that our path was the most challenging among all the other consultants, but we exceeded his expectations on the proposal we would lay out.

This is my learning experience and something I will take forward with me in my professional career.

Hult International Business School: Innovation Olympics

The capstone. The final project. The last hurdle before my career. The Innovation Olympics organizes random teams of MBA students at Hult to answer questions that “Keep CEOs up at night.” Our teams are hoping to provide insight or outright solve these problems using what we have learned the in the program.

P&G FutureWorks

My team and I are devoted to approaching Proctor & Gamble’s problem methodically to find new and compelling solutions. This will be a good learning experience that is practical. What we have to remember is that our solution is innovative, compelling, and implementable.

To be innovative is not thinking along conventional boundaries. To be compelling is backing our claims with careful research and analysis. To be implementable is laying out a strategy, identifying the risks or barriers, and providing plans on how to reach the objective.

Module D at Hult

Coming back from Shanghai, I had three full days to get adjusted before heading back to class at Hult. Not enough time to fully recover from Jet Lag, but good enough. Even today, I still wake up at 6AM, but that’s a good thing, because I have class at 8:30AM everyday.

Classes

Managerial Marketing Research

The next two electives I will be taking are Managerial Marketing Research and Services Management. My background is in the Marketing Research (MR), but this class is a little different. We are not covering “how to conduct” MR, but rather how to identify a marketing goal, then identify research objectives that help answer or support this goal. These objectives are then drawn out as a plan filled with research projects.

Through this, I am better able to connect my research experience with my client’s overall objective. This was a big question that lingered in my mind while managing research projects. Now I am seeing market research in a broader perspective, which is actually more difficult than I thought.

My mind sees research and I see an objective, but not anything past that. My focus always deviates back to what I am comfortable with: “Just do the research project right.” But I have to force myself back to thinking as a manager, not an analyst.

Services Management

Now my first choice was actually Strategic Valuation, but I switched once I learned the class emphasized heavily on finance while strategy was secondary. Services management drew me because the US is a heavy service industry. In marketing, services are one of the hardest areas to manage effectively. This is because, unlike a product, experiences vary dramatically with a service. So to become a better marketing professional, I need to understand services at a deeper level.

Here’s to Module D! Graduation is right around the corner!

Final Thoughts of Module C: Shanghai

This post is a little out dated, but nonetheless important. My six weeks in Shanghai were awesome from day one until I left. At Hult International Business School, I believe this to be one of my best experiences for my professional and personal growth.

China: The Unique Experience

The moment I got into Shanghai, I realized how different this experience was going to be. Not very many people spoke English. There are cultural differences I had to get accustomed to. The food was both a pleasure and sometimes not so pleasurable. Living in a hotel with other MBAs proved to be enjoyable and helped us become closer together. Traveling was truly an adventure.

If you were to ask me before I joined Hult, if I would like to go to China, my response would be, “Yes to see the Great Wall.” After this experience, I want to know more and experience more. China is large and still growing. To see how it is now and continue to develop is exciting. I can’t wait to see what else is in store.

MBA Courses

Hult has helped place students in a true international experience. An opportunity not many have the privilege to experience. The courses I took were exceptional. They will be ones I will carry with me going forward. The Leadership in the Global Village was a good intercultural experience to understand one’s self and others. This was a refreshing change to the analysis heavy courses I have taken and has helped me appreciate myself and others around me.

International Negotiations blew my mind. For two intense weeks, I focused on understanding the concept of negotiations while practicing with my peers. It was frustrating, stressful, exhilarating, and enjoyable. Then to apply negotiations in a graduating style, from simple to complex really helped create momentum for my understanding. At the end, the Foreign Investment Negotiation Simulation (FINS) was really the capstone to the course. You applied both MBA knowledge with the negotiation practices in a real-life simulation with your peers. The level of complexity seemed overwhelming, but the drive to achieve and finish motivated us to move forward.

These elective courses were very rewarding and engaging. Finishing them has motivated me further to finish my program strong.

Conclusion

If you are an aspiring MBA student looking for a true international experience, especially one from the United States, I fully recommend a Shanghai Rotation at Hult International Business School. My experience here is one which will be hard to forget. It has given me new perspectives of a truly “global” economy. Not only that, but I have also forged new relationships with others that I will move forward with in my personal and professional life.

Thank You China

International Negotiations: First Impression

Coming into this class, I had one concession: it is at the end of Module C, which leaves me studying until the end. But, this is a course I really wanted to take and from past students, I have only heard good things about the professor and the course.

The moment I stepped in until the class ended, I was fully engaged. It’s amazing how quickly time passed and how engaging the lecture was.

Coming out of the class I already have a few takeaways:

Anchoring

A common method of Distributive Bargaining. Anchoring is a position one can take. The parties involved have positions and between these positions come a zone of possible agreement. Though it can be a potentially hazardous trap on the receiving end because the choice of an anchor may be based on incomplete or faulty information.

Winner’s Curse

Post negotiation it is important to understand that “winning” based on your wants only makes you regret due to two reasons: 1. Winner overpays and is worse-off in absolute terms 2. The value of the winnings was less than anticipated, so net gain worse-off than than anticipated.

First Movers’ Advantage

Positioning in business is crucial. We know that being the first as a technological leader can preempt competitors and set bars for expectations. In negotiations, setting a position first sets the tone and flow of information. Also, usually the one with most power or most preparation will take the first position.

Finally, an Implementable Deal is both specific and detailed.

Beijing Trip: 693 Pictures Later

Lots of Pictures = Lots of Memories

From the Forbidden Temple on Tiananmen Square and the Great Wall of China to Wal-Mart, a few friends and I had an adventure across China’s Capital. The Temple was very large and each section housed a large structure with fascinating history. To imagine how life was like during these ancient times when Emperors ruled and regular citizens could not enter the palace grounds is captivating. Though the temple was large, it is also filled with many visitors. Still, there are parts off the beaten path where you can appreciate the magnitude of this landmark.

Of course after that, we had to visit the Great Wall. We chose to take a lift to the top and scale the steps afterwards. To think that the wall is so large it can be seen from outer space is mind boggling. The section we walked was but a small fragment of the entire wall, most of which is closed off. The day was nice and sunny, though a lingering mist laid low enough to cloud far away parts of the wall. Still, from a distance you can see the wall extend over mountains. Amazing.

The Olympic grounds were clear signs of development in Beijing. The structures were enormous and beautiful. After scaling the Great Wall, we didn’t have enough energy to enter these stadiums and experience what they hold within.

These two landmarks were breath-taking and until you visit, it’s hard to appreciate and understand.

Lots of Walls for a Large City

The most telling aspect of this part of China is the sheer size of the city. In Shanghai, you can get everywhere on a train and it will take less than a minute per stop. While in Beijing, the train rides are significantly longer, though the price for the Metro is a flat 2 Yuan.

And within the city are more walls. Walls that show two tales. One that signifies progress, while the other representing the poverty and cost of progress. At one point in my journey, I thought we had gone through a war-torn country. One of my friends had compared it to a Favela in Brazil. Yet outside those walls there is a busy city full of people, buildings, and vehicles. It’s very telling.

Let’s Come Back

In my short time there, I know we didn’t explore the whole city. For some of my companions, it was enough, but for me, I feel I only scratched the surface. There are other cities nearby I’d like to visit, such as the Stone Warriors in Xi’an (pronounced She-an). Also, there is an opera house for theater shows and opportunities to enter into the Olympic stadiums (even swim in the Water Cube). There are Pandas in the Beijing Zoo. And there are probably more sites to take in. All for another time when I come back.

Though with 693 pictures… I’ll have to filter and post them to share with others.

Mark

First Impressions of Beijing

Coming into Beijing, right away you notice that there are less English speaking people here. Another interesting fact is that there are walls everywhere that barricade undeveloped areas. Beijing is two faced in that way. One, it is very pretty, but at the same time, it has poverty.

Also, the traffic is prominent. Taxis are harder to find than in Shanghai. And interestingly, traffic is more… polite, haha. More to update when I get back and upload pictures.

Let’s continue the journey.

Adventures in Suzhou

First off, Suzhou is pronounced “sue-jo” and pretty close to my friend Sujoy. Planning this trip was a little spontaneous, we got the tickets a few days before, then found out a lot of people from Hult were also going. This adventure featured lots of turning points, but ended safe and sound.

Getting There

We started the trip at 7:50AM waiting on a cab to take us to the train station. After a long cab drive, finally got into the station and waited on our train. If you ever travel around China, I would say to at least try the train, because it travels around 300 km/h and is relatively cheap (less than $8).

It took us about 20 minutes to arrive at Suzhou and so started our adventure.

Use a Cab

Reading a map is difficult if you do not know the surroundings, nor if you know the direction of north. Personally, I have trouble reading Google Maps on my iPhone, so thankfully I wasn’t navigating. But when in a foreign environment, the best bet is to use a cab.

I say this because we didn’t use one at first. Our travels took us to even more unfamiliar territory and finally we backtracked to get a cab. You would think a cab could be found on the road, but they were always occupied. In hindsight, we concluded that these cabs all came from one place: the train station.

First Stop: The Suzhou Garden

Previously, I had been in the Yuan Garden in Shanghai, but this was a larger and more expensive version. There were lots of pretty rock formations, architecture, plants, and ponds. On a better day, the Garden would have been very beautiful, but there was a heavy overcast.

Suzhou Lunch

I am guilty. My hunger often makes me agitated and sustenance is needed to get me back on track. After stopping by the tourist information booth and meeting other Hult students, we found a place that served dumplings and steamed buns. Eating there was an adventure in and of itself. No English speaking servers or menus were available, but a man was kind enough to assist us.

I cannot speak for everyone, but I enjoyed good steamed pork buns. And for $1 or 6 RMB (Yuan) it was delicious.

Suzhou, the Venice of China

Around Suzhou, there is a canal around the city where you can buy tickets to see around. After a lunch, it was a very relaxing activity. With rain starting to come down, the rooftop was welcomed. At the end, our navigator sang a traditional Chinese song, which definitely put an exclamation mark on our experience.

When it Rains, the Museum is Not a Bad Choice

Our next stop was the Suzhou Museum. My first impressions were that the museum mixed contemporary design with traditional Chinese styles. The exhibits showcased a lot of Chinese art ranging from calligraphy, statues, carvings, and dresses. At the end of the museum trip my friend, Fabiola, said a very interesting point, “Much of the Chinese art focused on nature and less on religion as compared to Western art.”

When You Don’t Know, Ask

Again, as much as I like to get lost and confused, there are times when it can be detrimental. After stopping by No. 85 Bakery (Taiwanese) we met a Chinese Canadian named Jennifer. Our meeting was casual and we thought nothing of it at first.

Some of us had trains at 7:30PM back to Shanghai and we were cutting it close. No cabs were picking us up because they were full and walking was not an option. Backtracking to the bakery, I asked Jennifer if there were other ways to get to the train station. She asked some people around the bakery and they suggested the bus. Instructing us what numbers to take, we not only made it in time to the bus station, but also got a taste of local transportation. Thank you Jennifer!

Next, we were waiting at the train station and suddenly our train is cancelled, but we didn’t know because it was in Chinese. Thankfully an old man, in the same situation, helped us get tickets. Even better, he spoke English! Without his help, I think we would have been stuck in Suzhou.

The Morale of the Story is…

Have fun, be safe, travel in groups, and don’t be afraid to ask for help. If all else fails, at least you are lost together, haha.

Mark

The Real Chinatown

If you’ve ever been to a Chinatown in San Francisco, New York, or even Boston, you know that you can get things of near or equal quality for a great discount. Today, we traveled from the 9 train (light blue) from Lujiabang Road to Century Park, then switched to the 2 train (green) Science Technology Park. Once you travel up it becomes a black market full of fascinating goods.

Bargaining Chip

It should be no surprise that if you’re a tourist be prepared to be taken advantage of. Everyone you meet wants to sell you everything they own. At one point, I had just mentioned sunglasses and all of a sudden a sales lady came to solicit me: sharp ears for the sale.

So if you want to get the best bang for your buck, it’s time to give yourself as much bargaining power as possible. Being new to the game, I observed by Latin classmates in action.

Set the Floor Price

Right away, the seller will offer you a price, then ask for what you had in mind. This is the first step in the bargaining process. What you set you can never go below. Interesting enough, how far you go is always unclear. Some say 33% below offering price, others say 25%, while a few even say cut it in half or more!

What you say dictates what you’ll be fighting for the rest of the bartering. But no matter what you say, you’ll still be bartering.

Bundle Up and Demand Greater Discounts

So you set a floor price, but you believe you can go further. Maybe it’s time to bundle up your purchases. The more you want to buy, the more you can use that as leverage for discounts.

Not only that, but you also can confuse your seller. But beware; you may also confuse yourself.

Bring a Few (or Many) Friends

First off, you should always have someone with you no matter what. It’s more a safety concern than anything else. Second, you can use your friends to bargain.

Not only is this a “bundling” discount strategy, but it can also give you an advantage by making the conversation more complex.

Good Cop, Bad Cop

Having a friend who can play the bad cop well increases your ability to bargain. You, being the Good Cop, wants to buy whatever item. You listen to the price, then you have your friend, the Bad Cop, who is trying to convince you not to buy. The seller now has to appease both the Bad Cop and the Good Cop.

The Bad Cop can set literally any price, make any criticism, and basically make the seller’s position very difficult. If played well, you may end up getting a great discount.

Be Prepared to Walk

Don’t like what you hear, then walk away. This is the ultimate tool for forcing your seller’s hand. Nine times out of Ten your seller will follow you and give you a “better” price.

My Experience

Our first objective was to buy a suit. We ended up going to a nice and large shop to buy some Cashmere Wool. Being five of us, we bargained continually for about an hour, yes for the long haul. At the end of it, we thought we lost our position when the tailor started to get angry and yell.

We had just asked to lower the price to 450RMB and claimed other stores gave us that price. The tailor started yelling about us comparing his clothes to theirs. What we misunderstood as “Police” was really “Polyester”. He pulled out a lighter and started to burn some fabric. I was very surprised and thought he was going mad, but he was “aggressively” demonstrating how Polyester when burned, smells like burnt hair. Then he did it again with another material, the Cashmere Wool, and it didn’t smell like anything.

At that point, he said he’ll lower his price to 550RMB ($85). All five of us discussed and took the price. This was not that bad and we will be picking up our tailored suits on Monday.

It’s stressful. It’s long. It can be fun. All in all, it’s an experience. By the end of the day, we were all satisfied, yet strangely eager to buy more. Maybe that’s the real strategy to these markets.