What do we learn in our Strategy course?

By Jennifer Thomas, Global MBA Luxury Brand Management major, 2019-2020

Strategy without process is little more than a wish list – Robert Filek

As future managers learning how to identify critical issues in a situation, acknowledging the challenges, making best use of your organization’s resources and implementing a focused and concentrated course of action are some of the key expectations that any organization will have from us after we join them. Often, we tend to overlap what we want to achieve (goals) with what we need to do (strategy). But like Professor Maciej warns us, goals are NOT strategy. So, how and where do we learn these nuances?

Cracking Consulting Interviews | ESSEC Global MBA Strategy & Management major

By Visakh Ram, ESSEC Global MBA Strategy & Management major, 2019-2020

With many of us looking to switch careers into Consulting, the ESSEC Global MBA team has organized several workshops and activities to help us understand the industry on a deeper level. The most recent session was one on preparing for consulting interviews, led by expert facilitators who work in the consulting industry. 

There were 3 things on the agenda for the first of a series of intensive training sessions:

• Quick Math
• Case Interview Methodology
• Fit Interviews

Quick Math - Which matters more; the answer or the process?

We started with the quick math session. The facilitator went ahead and asked us a few questions, but he didn’t want the right answers. He was focused on breaking the myth that final answers matter more than the process to arrive at the solution. He explained to us that consultants are more concerned about hiring structured and result-oriented people rather than selecting candidates who are smart on paper and give final answers with no clear thought process. The process increases consistency in the quality of answers and helps when reasoning with the client.

Case Interviews - The importance of clarifying the problem

The quick math session set the base for the next session – Case interviews. This time, the questions started becoming slightly vague: For example, estimate the size of the second-hand phone market in France (A market sizing question). We immediately started creating processes or using frameworks to arrive at a solution but the facilitator interrupted – “Do you really understand the question? What does the second-hand phone market refer to – is it servicing or sales or insurance? What is it?” We didn’t have an answer. This enlightened us on the importance of clarifying questions. Our clients might come up with vague problems. The first and foremost step is to understand the context of the problem. For that, we need to ask the right questions and understand the topic as much as possible.

Fit Interviews

In many consulting firms, the fit interview comes early on in the interview process. How important is this? For the facilitator, this is one of the key elements of the interview. Every company has its own culture and looks for candidates who share the same values. It is important for us to be truthful. A seasoned interviewer can judge whether the candidate is faking or not in the first few minutes. We discussed in detail questions like “Where do you see yourself in 10 years?” and “Why do you want to do consulting?”. It was very interesting to see how the class perceived the answers to these questions.

The next series of intensive sessions are scheduled in a few weeks. We are all excited to see what we are going to explore and learn.

Get in touch with Visakh to find out more about the #ESSECGMBAExperience.

Mannheim Exchange Week

Nishtha Sharma, Global MBA 2014-2015, India

In the third term of Global MBA at ESSEC Business School, you have an option to select courses from a wide catalog. Along with all these elective courses, you also have an option to select one of the two courses offered by Mannheim Business School in the holiday week at the end of April. This year the courses offered by Mannheim Business School to ESSEC's Global MBA students were: International Marketing and Innovation & Creativity Management. Though, the seats in these courses are limited, I had the opportunity to take International Marketing, taught by Prof. Dr. Sabine Kuester.

It was an intense course, in which the classes were held at the Mannheim Baroque Palace. The class was a mix of students from Mannheim Business School (Germany), ESSEC Business School (France) and Warwick Business School (UK), and of course the various nationalities. If anybody had doubts about the intensity of the course, they didn’t after it ended. We had longer classes but the time went by and we hardly noticed. But when we had to work on two cases studies after class, then the time seemed too short. In the span of first 3 days we officially did 4 case studies and discussed numerous incidents from around the world.

During this course, two guest speakers also graced us with their experience. Mr.Wilfied

Bartz, Heat of Marketing, BASF who enlighten us about the various challenges of entering the different African Countries. Mr.Thomas Kipp, CEO, DHL eCommerce who share his experience of the demands in the eCommerce industry in the various emerging economies of the world. The course touched all the current edges of the marketing industries and also helped us understand that although there has been much globalization but still every region every segment has their own perspective of seeing things. The course was concluded by an 8 hours simulation game called Country Manager. In this game we learnt a lot about being in a herculean situation where you have too many options and there is not one correct way of doing your work.

I personally had a great time with all my new classmates, learning from their personal experience and having the late night dinners after the hard day’s work. I also learnt so much about international Marketing from Prof. Kuester, which I hope to put into use as soon as possible. Oh, and when in Mannheim do try the German Doner and Apple juice with fizze and definitely visit Heidelberg.

Emerging Market Field Trip to Shanghai

Kristina Rallu, Global MBA 2014-2015, United States

Every year our Global MBA class has a one-week field trip where we learn about the

opportunities and challenges of doing business in an emerging market. This year our program visited Shanghai, China, where we participated in the one-week Link to Asia program designed by two Global MBA alumni, Matthew Werner and Christian Leos. During this week we attended courses and participated in company visits and networking events.

Our courses were taught by two professors from Fudan University, Professors Yu Yihong and Zhao Youzhen. In these courses we learned about the economic history of China and its transition from centrally planned to market based economy. We also looked at growth projections for China’s future and the country’s place in the global marketplace, with emphasis on the challenges and benefits for multinational corporations operating in China.

The bulk of our time in Shanghai was spent on company visits. Over the course of one week we visited Capgemini, Ernst & Young, the European Chamber of Commerce, Bayer, Michelin, Donfeng Peugeot-Citroën Automobile Limited, and Initiative, a division of Mediabrands Asia. A small group of students were also able to arrange in independent visit to Baosteel, the second largest steel producer in the world. These company visits covered a broad range of topics, such as the legal environment for businesses in China, modification of products for the Chinese market, distribution channels in China, the challenges of managing a multicultural workforce, and digital marketing in China. We also got valuable advice on applying for jobs in China.

During our week in China we also had the privilege of attending a networking event

organized by the Shanghai Chapter of the ESSEC Alumni Association. We were able to network with ESSEC Alumni who were working or studying in Shanghai.

Lastly, our class appreciated the “unofficial curriculum” of our Shanghai visit, including sightseeing, shopping, and enjoying Chinese cuisine (with a crash course in using chopsticks for some members of our class). This was greatly enhanced by our kind and patient Chinese classmates, who showed us around town, gave us advice on where to visit, and even gave instructions to taxi drivers for us.  Our class left China with plenty of souvenirs and photos, as well as a greater understanding of Chinese culture and business practices.

Specializing in a Global MBA

By Ingrid Cazalis, Global MBA 2013-2014, France

The Global MBA’s third term (T3) presents a new challenge for us students; we can choose our electives. After a global MBA covering topics from finance to marketing to leadership, now we have the chance to specialize for a trimester. The possibility of choosing our classes has been quite welcome, since it allows us to shape our coursework to our future personal and professional objectives.

Some students went to follow the finance core track, either to prepare for the CFA Level 2 or to prepare for the exchange program with Kellogg University. Others wanted to develop their personal competencies with classes such as Advanced Excel and Organizational Behavior. Other options include subjects like M&A, sales force management, or different investment classes, which we can pick and choose to help us reach our career objectives in business development, marketing, supply chain, real estate, and more…

Personally, I took a theater class to learn how to better adapt my behavior while performing “on stage,” which will help me better prepare for conferences or presentations. Every week is a concrete acting challenge.

While the Global MBA students have courses by themselves, or with students from other MBA programs, for the rest of the year, we could choose our electives from the full offering of the Grande Ecole course catalog. While this gives us a wide variety of classes to choose from, in some classes we also had to adapt to a different academic system based more on tests and quizzes, as well as working with students with less professional experience.

Finally, during our MBA, we covered a lot of information about emerging markets and entrepreneurship, but less about government organizations, NGOs, etc. The electives have permitted some of us to focus on these aspects and to pursue economic policy careers.

Why should an MBA student study history?

By Claudia Pumarejo, Global MBA 2013-2014, Mexico

What do Yemen, Vietnam and Germany have in common? They used to be two countries and then became only one. The opposite happened to North and South Korea, Czech Republic and Slovakia and Sudan and South Sudan. What is known today as the European Union was a cluster of countries with different languages, cultures and currencies. What was known as the Soviet Union back in the days is now over 15 independent nations. Now we are closely watching the development of the Crimea crisis in an era when no one thought that the borders of Europe would be changing once again.

All these political changes have taken place over the course of history, but World War II was a real watershed moment. In our Geopolitics class, taken during our stay at ESSEC’s Singapore campus with Professor Cédomir Nestorovic, we reflected on the past and its current day implications. Is the Second World War completely over? How has the post-war period differed in Asia and Europe and what are the causes for such diverse reconciliation processes in these two continents?

Did you know that a Harvard scholar had foreseen 9/11 more than a decade before? In “The Clash of Civilizations,” Samuel Huntington names the Islamic world and the Sino Civilization as the biggest future threats to the West. We may or may not agree with his conclusions, but his theories have had an undeniable impact on US foreign policy.

Professor Nestorovic is a reputable expert in history and international relations. His main focus of research is Islamic Businesses, for instance, Halal Food and Islamic Banking. We were very amazed by Professor Nestorovic’s knowledge, sometimes he knew more about our own countries we did!

Being such a diverse class, we had the chance to learn about some of the laws and regulations of countries across the globe. He made us think over issues such as how one obtains or loses one’s nationality. Do you know if your country is secular, theocratic or somewhere in the middle? Leaning towards what end?

Some people may ask: why do you learn about history, politics and geography in business school? It’s not only to develop our personal knowledge and culture, it is also very important for understanding how the world in general, and the business world in particular, works.

It was very interesting to realize how contemporary some of these issues are. Since we were in Asia, some of us had the chance to visit one of the four communist countries on the continent: China, Vietnam, North Korea and Laos (there are only five communist countries in the world today; four of them are here in Asia, the other one is Cuba).

Personally, I had the chance to visit Malacca, Malaysia. This place is very distinct. We wanted to go for its lively ambiance and its particular colonial history that made it UNESCO World Heritage Site. What we didn’t know - and finally learned in class - is that it was also famous for its pirates and the fact that nearly 90% of the world’s gas supply travels through the narrow Malacca Strait.

5 weeks in Singapore

By Xavier de Susbielle, Global MBA student 2013-2014, France

We arrived in Singapore on February 13th, a beautiful, sunny day. It didn’t take much time for everyone to settle in at the Far East Plaza Residence in the heart of the city. It’s a shopper’s paradise, with luxury brand stores all around Orchard Road. Hats off to the Singaporean government for their efficiency! We went straight to the ICA building and obtained our student cards in just a few hours. It didn’t take long for us to start our mission of mastering the Asian market.

The Far-East Plaza Residence and its swimming pool

Classes in Asia

The lectures started with IT in Asia. We had one intense week to deal with this “delicate” topic. Some of us were still a bit jet lagged, but the view on the Marina Bay Sands Hotel kept our eyes open, while Professor Yan Li kept us going and motivated.

Are you jet lagged?

We hadn’t realized that we had already adapted quite to the Singaporean lifestyle. Philippe Bonnet, our HR professor (and also VP of Human Resources for Asia Pacific at Essilor), has been living in Singapore for almost 20 years. He briefed us on the challenges and opportunities of the expatriate life, which was quite interesting.

As a strategic business hub in Asia, Singapore is surrounded by many other countries and we didn’t miss the opportunity to take advantage of this. The weekends were the perfect moment for some students to relax in the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Thailand, while others who stayed in Singapore enjoying swimming, shopping, eating (Chinese, Indian, or even Japanese meals), taking photos, and exploring everything Singapore has to offer like the beach in Sentoza or the Botanical Garden. That’s the Global MBA spirit; we never stop! The immersion in Asian culture was of great value and we learned so much that we wouldn’t have in France.

On Friday, February 28th, we met Leonardo Banegas, an alumni from last year. Leonardo is now based in Singapore working for KMPG. He invited us to the 43th floor of a building next to the Marina Bay Sands, where he and his girlfriend prepared sushi for us and gave us some precious advice for our future and on how he managed to quickly get a job after graduation.

Tai Wei Chao and Cedomir Nesterovic, our Negotiation in China and Geopolitics professors respectively, gave us a lot of precious information about Asia, such as the “tricks” to doing business in China, the political context, business in emerging economies, etc. Learning about these topics should prepare us to work within the particularities of the Asian business environment.

An amazing Indian celebration took place on Sentoza Beach on Saturday, March 15th., for Holi. Some of us went there to enjoy the party! Everyone was colorful! It was quite a fun day, people were free to put colors on anyone else, even if they didn’t know them. We danced together with a real feeling of togetherness. It was a good break before beginning our last week in Singapore, which is dedicated to company visits.

 Stay tuned!

Livin’ la Vida Local

By Claudia Pumarejo, Global MBA 2013-2014, Mexico

After reading about our first week in Singapore, you must be wondering if it’s possible to top that experience. Well, I can assure that – now that the jetlag’s finally gone – it’s only getting better.

This week we learned about Human Resources in Asia from Monsieur Philippe Bonnet, Vice-President of Human Resources for Asia Pacific at Essilor, a world-wide leader in the corrective lenses market. Originally French, Essilor has been able to position in the Asian market itself thanks to its strategic bilateral partnerships and its top of the line technologies. Among other interesting topics, we discussed the shift in leadership style required for Asian managers and the challenges of being or dealing with expatriates. With Bonnet as our professor we had the unique chance of interacting face to face with someone who figures as a character in a business case study used by the most prestigious business schools. He told us firsthand about that particular case and gave us more off-the-record details about the situation, which was a privilege to hear.

On Monday after class, Ingrid, Richard, Naoki and I – the Shanghai Hult Team – had a work meeting to polish our project presentation. Next week we will be presenting it to our class to get some more feedback from our dear classmates. We are sure their bright minds and contributions will be very helpful for making us as well-prepared as possible for the real competition. We have made it a challenge: we will pay for the drinks of whoever raises the most relevant questions.

On Tuesday afternoon we were taken to the Asian Civilizations Museum. I generally enjoy visiting museums, but this time I must confess that I was not very enthusiastic at first. To my pleasant surprise, these exhibits are absolutely on par with those in Paris. The museum is world class, with extensive arts and crafts from the whole region. We first went to South Asia, where we focused mainly on India. It was great to refresh our memories about Indian deities such as Brahma, the creator of the world; Shiva, the destroyer; Vishnu, preserver of the status quo, and Ganesha, remover of obstacles. We also covered some of the story of the Buddha. Then, we went to the China section, where the guide gave us an introduction to its traditional philosophies of Daoism and Confucianism, as well as Mazu, the goddess of the sea, worshiped in southern coastal regions of China and in Taiwan.

We continued our journey to South East Asia and by the end of the visit we were able to tell apart the Buddha figures from Thailand, Myanmar and Vietnam.

The next day we welcomed Nicolas Morineaux, Vice President of Finance for the Fashion Division of LVMH in Asia-Pacific. You have probably heard about this company, a huge French conglomerate of Luxury brands. Monsieur Morineaux was amazingly sharp in his talk. He could discuss about operations, distribution, contract law, sales, marketing or any other business topic with great knowledge and understanding. Apart from having a remarkable mind, he was the perfect image of elegance. We could have not asked for a better representative of LVMH.

On Thursday, we had another guest speaker, Olivier Hui-Bon Hua, the GM for Asia of a leading recruitment firm called BeThe1. He told us about his professional path and we got details about some of his projects. He manages three offices with very different profiles: Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore, but he knows his market very well and it was very interesting to have this interactive session with him.

Overnight, the working week was over and it was time for us to relax. We had the perfect occasion to do so when Leonardo Banegas, an ESSEC Global MBA graduate from last batch, kindly invited us to join him for a cocktail. We went to Marina Towers to meet him and we could enjoy the nicest views of the city from one of its top floors.

Leonardo is currently working here in Singapore, he landed a job at one of the big four world-wide consulting firms, KPMG. We were very happy to see him and his insights about the post-MBA life were truly useful. We had the very nice surprise of also seeing again Maryam Mohamed, another alumnus from the last batch, who went back home to Qatar and is now working for the National Financial Regulatory Body. She was on her way to a well-deserved vacation in Bali, when she decided to make a quick stop in Singapore to say hi!

Today, after a day of hard work preparing for what’s coming up next week, I decided to go stroll around the Arab Quarter during some free time. In this very lively place I saw a beautiful Mosque, tried delicious food and, in typical fashion for this very diverse and international city, I found a Mexican restaurant in the middle of the Arab Quarter! Welcome to Singapore!

Our First Week in Singapore

By Claudia Pumarejo, Global MBA 2013-2014, Mexico

How time flies! It’s been more than a week since we arrived in Singapore. Here’s an update on our latest and hottest (literally) happenings!

We got here on a Thursday afternoon. We were really tired after the long flight with a middle-of-the-night stop in Dubai. Dubai airport is a world class place, with all the facilities we might have asked for and even within our short two-hours stay, we were able to get a glance of Arabic traditions by the clothes some people wore, the indoor mosques (for male and female) and the great food!

When we finally got settled in Singapore, some of us went for a taste of its world famous food courts to try out local specialties, while some of our classmates went to meet their friends, former colleagues or contacts in this city.

The Far Plaza Residencies we’re staying at are in the heart of the city. The building is located within a short walking distance to the bus and the MRT stations and a lot of options for shopping and dining in the famous Orchard Road. We share a three bedrooms apartment with our closest classmates, or those we thought would have a similar lifestyle. Check out the views – Singapore sunset!

The next day, it was administration day. We headed to the immigration office to get our student passes sorted out. Even if it’s a rather long procedure, we witnessed the award-winning efficiency of the Singapore government.

Saturday was Valentine’s Day. Instead of being weepy about our dear ones, we decided to take the chance to explore the night life and headed out to a rooftop bar.

The last day of our long weekend to enjoy Singapore before starting classes was Sunday. On that day, some people still full of energy went to Sentosa Island to finish their reading of “The Adventures of an IT Leader,” a mandatory book for our Managing IT in a Networked World class, which was starting the next day.

On Monday we went back to reality and started classes in the Odeon Building, close to the National Library Building (actually, everything here is pretty close!). We met Professor Yan Li, an expert on the latest trends in IT, including cloud computing, big data, social networks, and media and mobility. We formed teams to present the different topics of the book (CIO leadership, IT cost and value, IT project management, IT priorities and budgeting, Managing IT crisis, Managing Emerging IT challenges and Managing Risk), and to act as a jury challenging the presentations of other groups. The discussions in class were very interesting, enriching and intense.

On Tuesday afternoon we stayed on campus to listen to a Paypal Manager talking about “The Asia Digital Payment Landscape.” We joined the audience, which was composed mainly of Executive MBA participants, who also came to Singapore and now are on their way to India. When we came back home, my Hult team (myself, Naoki Kitabayashi, Richard Huynh and Ingrid Cazalis) gathered for a couple of hours to work on our project for the Hult Prize Competition. We will be leaving for Shanghai very soon!

On Wednesday after classes, we had a talk with Mr. Laurent Pinna, a French headhunter focused on Singapore and Southeast Asia. His insights about the job market in this region were interesting and helpful. Later on we had one-on-one appointments with him to discuss our particular career paths and expectations.

On Thursday we had another career event. We welcomed people from Singapore Connect, who came to tell us more about moving to Singapore as an expat and some of the administrative implications in terms of permits and regulations.

After a long week, here comes the weekend again! Time for us to explore the city – beaches, cultures, gastronomy, night life, you name it!

The Term That Was!

By Dhriti Chandrashekar, Global MBA 2013-2014, India

As we embark on a new term, I want to look back at our first. A week after integration at ESSEC, we found ourselves participating in a leadership camp at Saint-Cyr. It took a lot of sweat, determination and hard work to get through. In hindsight, I feel this was a very important moment, as it not only taught us about teamwork and leadership, but also brought us closer together. Since my friends have already written about the St Cyr experience in this blog, I won’t go into detail, but if you haven’t read their posts you should scroll down and read them NOW. There couldn’t have been a better start to the term than this!

Who would have thought that pursuing an MBA would land you in a class on “Decisions & Negotiations”? This one week, intensive class involved live negotiations in many formats, such as one-on-one, multi-party, etc. Picture this: a bunch of MBA students battling each other out, negotiating to get the best deals, keeping both parties’ interests involved. Pure fun!

Group work is a huge part of an MBA. After all, we aspire to be business leaders and group work teaches us to manage people and projects. This term also witnessed a great deal of group work. What we didn’t see coming were the long nights, the multiple group meetings, the never-ending Google hangouts, and the numerous email exchanges leading up to presentations. We also collaborated with students from the MBA in International Luxury Brand Management in a few courses; that just meant more group work! Soon we’re going to have to start scheduling meetings to schedule meetings to make sure there are no conflicts…

When I enrolled in an MBA, I never thought I would write an entire case by myself, which I ended up doing for a strategy course. A business game was an engaging way to learn accounting from a new perspective. Finally, what if I were to give you the two following statements and asked you to find the confidence interval to reject the null hypothesis in favour of the alternate hypothesis?

Null Hypothesis H0: “GMBA students hardly worked this term”.
Alternate Hypothesis H1: “GMBA students worked very hard this term”.

Got it? If not, not to worry. After a Statistics course with Professor Vinzi, you should be able to answer, “I reject the null hypothesis in favour of the alternate hypothesis with 95% confidence,” unless you have someone like Ting Ting in your class saying, “Your sample size is too small to draw a conclusion.” :-)

The last two weeks of the term turned out to be the most exhausting. During these two weeks, every single one of us burnt the midnight oil working on case studies, presentations, assignments, and prepping for final exams. NTT Europe Ltd, a subsidiary of NTT Communications, visited us in the final week. “Cloud Computing,” “Big Data,” etc.; these terms are no longer meaningless jargon for me, thanks to NTT’s presentation.

If you think that all this hard work left us with no time for fun, think again. Ever heard of the phrase “work hard, play harder”? From in-class birthday celebrations with cakes and pies baked by Arnaud, impromptu get-togethers at Cergy Le Haut, long poker nights at du Port, an all-MBA holiday party, barbecue at Ingrid’s, potlucks at ESSEC, la Nuit Blanche in Paris, and many visits to Foy’s, these were some of the good times that we enjoyed as MBA students!

A selection of Global MBA baked goods and good times...

 

The Adventures of a non-IT Person

By Reita Hutagalung, Global MBA student 2013-2013, Indonesia

IT has not been my playing field, even since I was little, as a teenager, even up to now, unfortunately. So when there was an elective of IT Management, I embraced the opportunity to get to know more of the field. In my mind, in my roles further down the line, I have to at least have an understanding of how IT could be beneficial to support the organization.

So it was announced that the Professor, Yan Li, needed us to finish an IT book before the course started. I was pessimistic that I would enjoy the book, until I saw the book when I dragged myself to the Learning Center:

Ok, as a comic fan, I was kind of intrigued by the cover; at least it looked inviting to read. And then I started to read – and hey, it was not bad at all! It was designed as a story instead of the usual course book, telling of a person with no IT background who had to suddenly be a CIO. While the book was very informative and presented the IT management dilemmas and problems in a case situated way, the book was – how should I say it – very “user friendly” for those with no IT background. The course itself was also enriching. We discussed the problems from the book and once did a role play of the board of directors.

It was also interesting for me to understand at least the surface of IT development and systems and the strategic uses that could be perused further. We touched on Big Data, very important these days, and used Microsoft SQL to do the data analysis firsthand; discussed mobile and online shopping opportunities and trends; and the virus and social media threats vs. opportunities. I’m glad I took this course. I’m no IT expert now, but hey, I guess if I ever were faced with the same situation of suddenly being appointed a CIO (which, of course, having a probability of 0.01 – hopefully), I could live and give it a try. IT management is about management.

Global Logistics and Supply Chain - Global indeed!

By Reita Hutagalung, Global MBA student 2012-2013, Indonesia

Being a person with a Finance background, I found logistics and supply chainto be completely different ball game. Having had an Operations Class in Term 2, I found it was mind opening to see how the supply chain strategies could highly impact a company’s financials. Moreover, this Global Logistics and Supply Chain course was taught by a visiting professor from University of Tennessee, Prof. Matthew Myers. So I made up my mind and chose this elective, with a target to gain a holistic view of running a business.

Now, I have never thought that a singer could have an impact on a company’s strategy. However, I found out that there is such thing as the "Madonna Effect" in supply chain. This is a strategy related to product categorization or coding when a company is engaged in export or import transactions. The key is to understand your trade law and trade organization laws; and seek the benefits that your company can obtain from the law. Again, as my previous experience was from finance industry, this is new information that is enriching. Another thing that was interesting for me was the Beer Simulation Game. This simulation showed how in reality the bullwhip effect could take place, and therefore, the importance of information and data at point of sales to avoid too much inventory at stock companies along the supply chain. We also did an activity to see and get information of supply in retail stores and the effect of 'out of stock:' going to supermarkets or hypermarkets to look for several specific items. This activity was quite funny when at debriefing time we shared information: some teams could get answers from the employees while others were looked at suspiciously.

As the electives term takes the form of one week courses, this course was done after one week. It was great to have Prof. Myers here at ESSEC, who made learning supply chain to be fun, and we know there is still much to be learned that could not be done in a week. Well, the week did not go in vain; those catchy terms and main points are in our heads for good!

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Corporate Finance Journey

By Reita Hutagalung, Global MBA student 2012-2013, Indonesia

It was the week when the rest of France actually had two days off (Fete de la Victoire and Ascension Day) but the brave and spirited Global MBA squadron continued the journey. Those of us taking the Corporate Finance elective came to ESSEC's campus to conquer Corporate Finance taught by Professor Sridhar Arcot. It was quite strange to see the campus so quiet-- it felt like we were free to do anything. The canteen unfortunately was closed as well due to the public holiday, but not to worry; Cezam, the kebab place across from ESSEC stayed open.

When you think of Corporate Finance, many hard things may come into mind. However, Prof. Arcot changed all presumptions. He made Corporate Finance fun for us, though still challenging. In between Miller Modigliani, agency cost, valuations of discounted cash flow, and costs of debt vs. equities, we enjoyed trying to look at matters from the manager’s and shareholders’ point of view and debating the relevant impacts. A very interesting case that we worked on was Iridium; the way the company failed to took off was our debate related to Project Management Financing. Despite the advanced vision and technology that the company tried to achieve, the Iridium case showed how overly optimistic projections and choosing the wrong financing method led to a disastrous bankruptcy filing. Project management financing is intended for long lead projects, high levered, but certain demand at the end of the project, which usually leads to industrial customers.

Well, having done the finance lessons, we didn’t part ways as usual. We headed to Le Colombia, a cafe between ESSEC's campus and the Cergy Préfecture. After an intensive week full of corporate finance, we enjoyed France's spring weather in the good company of friends. Thanks Prof. Arcot, for an enriching yet fun finance week!

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A Week in Mannheim

By Reita Hutagalung, Global MBA student 2013-2013, Indonesia

We had exchange students in terms 1 and 2 from our partner school, Mannheim Business School. Now finally, we also had the chance to do a very short term exchange to Mannheim in end of April! There were two class options for us to choose from: Strategic Leadership and International Marketing.  Following advice from our previous exchange friends, I chose Strategic Leadership, taught by Prof. Andrew Kakabadse co-lectured by Prof. Nada Kakabadse and Mr. Andy Logan.

The Strategic Leadership Course was opened by Prof. Andrew Kakabadse with interesting questions in leadership related to challenges due to clash of political interests and ambiguous moral calls. He meant the course to be an opportunity for people taking the course to experience a journey of personal development of  his or her leadership. After half an hour of introduction, we were set off to work on the case. The cases we discussed in the whole week were challenging. We talked about leadership failures  from several companies at times of expansion, merge and acquisitions and entering international markets. One of the failures that happened was due to the lack of engagement of people. The strategy was in place, the alignment was set, however there was no engagement due to lack of faith and weak leadership. This important point led to the  notion that leadership is how to make a strategy that could combine alignment and engagement in such a way that you get your people to have a sense ownership. Another interesting point that I took away is  the need for the ability to model context and work through agendas. This characteristic is even more important than hard skill capabilities. Someone with the ability to see what the real problem in a tangled situation and know how to work through it to get the desired target is the likely person to move forward to a senior position. Having known those points, the course was continued with MBTI session to see one’s strength and weaknesses and his/ her tendency to react in several situations. Having had an MBTI session previously, I thought this part would be quite boring. In fact, it was enriching as the MBTI result was connected with the leadership characteristics and areas to improve where the professor spent private time with each team to discuss the results in details. That session was very practical and therefore helpful.

On top of the interesting course, the city of Mannheim was very beautiful and tidy. It’s structured in numbered and lettered blocks in the city center therefore it was very easy to go around. As a student city, Mannheim also has many shops and entertainment that students may seek. I also enjoyed the advantage of having more friends from Mannheim MBA students. The students were very diverse as they came from 24 nationalities and therefore it was interesting to see the dynamics of the group. All in all, the week went so fast we felt there were many things left unexplored with our new friends. But it’s ok, now we’re waiting for them to visit us again – this time, it’s fun purposes only =)

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