Diving Into a Changing World

 by Catherine Villarosa, Global MBA Ambassador 2020-2021 | Strategy & Digital Leadership Singapore Track 

As a class, the ESSEC GMBA Cohort of 2021 was faced with the difficult decision of pursuing our degrees during a time of great uncertainty. The entire world was put on pause until a cure was found for COVID-19, with the billions of people around the globe left uncertain even of what the next day would bring. Until then, we needed to make do with what we could. Yet, despite knowing the upcoming challenges, the seventeen of us still decided to go for it. Changes were happening left and right, and even though there were times we felt lost, we realised how much this reflected the world that was coming: a new, different, and constantly changing world that we were still preparing to dive into. 

To begin, the journey to Singapore was a long road; with over half of the class struggling to enter the country, the whole class adjusting to the new blended online-offline learning environment, and the entire community striving to make the most out of what was possible. And for the first time, the cohort’s team building and integration activity was held after the first term closed; when, normally, it is intended for the first week of classes to help us build a strong foundation for the upcoming twelve months. But after working together for three months, I have found that even though the physical and temporal differences made it difficult to build that foundation, it was the shared experience of going through the struggles and having the hopefulness in a better tomorrow that truly brought our class together--and our team building activity helped cement it.

On the 14th and 15th of December, we took part in a two-day programme that allowed us to experience teamwork through out-of-the box tasks, different perspectives through culinary delights, and a sense of community and appreciation of the MBA journey through alumni talks over dinner with a beautiful view of Singapore.

We began our activities on the first day with Focus Adventure with a light breakfast and brief introduction and expectation-setting session: with some key ones being to have fun, make great memories, and make sure everyone was safe. We had a quick, multi-round icebreaker which had us learn our friends’ favourite colour, food, and country to visit. This went on for one round, where we traded as many name tags as we could by passing on what we learnt onto the next person we met. The second round was us passing back the name tag to the owner by correctly naming all three favourites. The final round involved a heavy round of competition between two random teams, where a curtain was put up in the middle, and the first team to correctly identify all three favourites would win the set, and the winner would take the person from the other team onto their side. This went on until one team won.

Our next activity was to build a working raft that would keep us afloat to complete a series of tasks. However, we weren’t going to be spoon-fed for our materials; we had to earn our materials through a blind minesweeper game, where we had to collect a specific number coloured balls that would represent each item that we needed to build our raft. The catch was: our team could only lead us through the field by using only animal sounds!

After successfully collecting everything we needed, each team was challenged to come up with a workable design that would be able to hold two team members who would operate the craft on the water towards a defined point, and would take it back to shore after. We would need to do this three times, and in between, we had to complete three sub-tasks as well. The first was to complete seven rounds of team juggling, the second to do a coordinated jump rope effort for ten rounds, and finally, to disassemble the raft in the most efficient and organised way possible.

Following this, lunch was served, and we had another icebreaker to re-energise us for the next activity of the day, which was to build a bicycle. Teams were given parts, manuals, and guides to assemble, and needless to say, it was an effort that required communication, teamwork, as well as both precision and trial and error. Throughout the allotted time for assembly, all teams were forced to stop working, and would only be able to continue once we completed specific tasks.

Apart from this, teams were also challenged to creatively present their bicycles through a short five-minute presentation. It was here that we learnt that the bicycles were to be donated to children in need, and upon learning this, all teams began to put greater effort into ensuring that the assembly was correct. In parallel, the teams began to prepare the presentation content; which ranged from lighthearted, superhero stories to inspirational, but humorous stories about chasing after their dreams (and ending with a dance for successfully reaching them!).

The day ended with a wrap-up of going through our expectations, as well as a time for special recognition for and from our teammates. The day was certainly tiring, but very rewarding, as the entire class had learnt how important teamwork, communication, and respect for one another is in achieving a common goal. This was especially true for our cohort, which is a diverse group of individuals from different backgrounds and nationalities. While a small, close-knit group, we realised we had so much more to learn from one another, and that this was just really the beginning.

On the second day, we kick-started our whole-day culinary adventure with Hello! Singapore’s signature food tours. The trip began in the East Coast at Soon Soon Huat’s famous curry puff, which instantly became one of the group’s favourite delights. There, we tried and learnt about the differences among local kopi and teh drinks and how to order them according to our taste preferences. 

Our next stop was at Kim Choo Kueh Chang, which is a Peranakan heritage shop specialising in nyonya (rice) dumplings, nyonya kueh (traditional cakes), and other snacks. Apart from this, the shop also has several souvenirs available such as batik and other handicrafts, and even has a special archive on the second floor featuring Peranakan articles and artifacts celebrating its unique cultural heritage and value. The archive contains items like traditional ceramics, textiles, shoes, jewellery, clothing, art, and furnishings, and we were also treated to a brief tour from the family who has been running the business for two generations.

After this, we were off to try Katong Laksa at Roxy Centre, which I was unfortunately unable to try due to allergies, but according to the others, the taste was different from the other laksa they had tried in the past. Laksa is a traditional Peranakan spicy-sour soup dish with rice, wheat, or vermicelli noodles in a base of coconut milk, curry, or both in the soup.  As we were told, there are several versions of this “original laksa”, but that this one is the most famous one. 

Next, we headed over to the Bugis area and went to Albert Food Centre, which was filled with plenty of choices for lunch time. Our group was full by this time, but that didn’t stop us from trying out a variety of dishes and drinks, as well as some ice-based desserts that were perfect for the hot afternoon that day.

To walk off the morning’s calories, we explored a little more around the area in Bugis by briefly looking around in the open markets, as well as observing the temples from the outside. After this, we continued on with our tour and stopped by the Kampong Glam area, and explored a little of both the Malay Heritage Centre and Haji Lane’s colourful street before trying out some mubarak and prata for a quick break before our final stop in Little India, where we had our last dish of the day, which was dosa.

Even though it was just one day, I was very happy to have been able to explore some of Singapore’s rich cultural diversity, and it was great to have been able to do this through food. I believe there is so much to be learnt and appreciated through food, as there is so much depth behind what one can see on one’s plate. I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to understand the history, appreciate the culture, and experience everything through the various flavours, textures, and aromas on this day.

Finally, we were treated to a wonderful evening with a gorgeous view of Singapore for a special dinner with some of our alumni, who offered stories about their experiences after getting their degree, and advice to our questions about life after the programme. 

Despite only being here for three months, I can say that it has definitely been a valuable period of learning, not just for me, but also for the entire cohort. Our first term was not what we expected when we decided to embark on our MBA journey, but we are all moving forward nonetheless. Our paths are all different, but at the same time, we are going through similar challenges. What these past days have taught me is that while the journey may be difficult, what matters is knowing what motivates you, understanding what you can do to make things happen, and learning to work with others through extending your understanding of them with empathy and respect so that you can achieve your common goals.

2020 has certainly been a year unlike any other. Amidst all the challenges and significant changes brought about, we have seen how just one event can have such a profound impact on our lives. We have understood for ourselves how change must take place through both thoughts and actions. And we have experienced how valuable, and wonderful it is for people to come together and work tirelessly towards healing the world. With everything that has happened so far, I am grateful for the opportunity to be with this group, and I am personally very excited as to how our own stories, experiences, skills, dreams, and passions will shape our journey and transformation towards becoming our best selves.

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Enjoy the short video clip here: 

Authentically Disney, Distinctly Chinese

Delphine Lau, Global MBA 2014-2016, France

A big and unique opportunity during the Shanghai field trip was to visit the almost opened Shanghai Disneyland Park, the biggest investment for the Disney Company (at leat 5,5 billions US$ sharing with Shanghi Shendi Group Joint Venture).

During several hours all the batch was emerged with the Walt Disney Shanghai team who shared with us their  way of thinking business and their big challenges to integrate Chinese culture so far away from Western culture !

Indeed, the Disney stories hold a special place in the heart of millions people in Western culture. For more  than  90 years, the Disney unique characters have inspired generations of adults. I, personally, grew up with Disney which let a strong print in my imagination. I always became really excited when visiting the Paris Disneyland park and each year I looked forward to watching the new happy end Disney movie.

So when you know that Chinese people did not grow up with Disney characters and that the Chinese popular stories should end up sadly, how do you think that Disney Company would be able to integrate a traditional Disney theme park  in the heart of China?

Through important and deep market research, Disney understood that Chinese people wanted the traditional Disney experience even though they did not bear in them the Disney culture. But Disney had also this certitude that they would fully enjoy if they felt comfortable with Chinese culture reference. Thus Disney company created and built  all its Shanghai Disneyland park following that short motto « Authentically Disney, Distincly Chinese ». In other words, enjoy a full disney experience with the Chinese way of life and Disney stories knowledge.

Disney company decided to build the park in a style similar to Disney’s other magic Kingdom style parks. But in order to make the Chinese people more familiar with the park, Disney Company adapted the Park to Chinese culture specificity through powerful details which combined Disney stories and characters to attractions specifically designed for Chinese guests.  For example, Main Street, which is the first themed land inside the main entrance of the Disneyland park and represents a early-20th-century small-town America, has been replaced by Mickey Avenue. By visiting Mickey Avenue, Chinese guests are invited to discover the past of Mickey and Disneyland roots.

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But integrating China culture is not only the biggest challenge facing by Disney. Another one is to achieve performance according to Disney traditional high expectations and requirements. Disney will have to develop and maintain an innovative and efficient supply chain, as vendors and human capital. As most of the employees would be hired locally, Disney would also have to face with training people to reach the best international practice.

In conclusion, I really enjoyed that company visit because we had that opportunity to enter in the Disney atmosphere and get the global pictures of the business. To sell a product that is not an item but an experience is very challenging and requires the best practices at each level of the project.

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Singapore Term 2016

The ESSEC campus in Singapore is strategically located in what is referred to as the “Silicon Valley” of Singapore. The Buona Vista neighborhood is home to a dense concentration of Singapore’s 1,000 plus start-ups that innovate in a range of spaces including fintech, adtech, big data, social marketing, enterprise solutions, and biotech. ESSEC is nestled near a few major landmarks including Fusionopolis, Biopolis, Mediapolis, which are part of the ecosystem that house many start-up incubators and shared workspaces.

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With a population of under 6 million people, Singapore may seem to be an unlikely location for start-ups aiming for worldwide market share, however, Singapore has positioned its self as a hub of innovation and a point of access into Asia, particularly in growing markets like Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia. Singapore has been used as a launch pad for American and European enterprises for years, and the roster of companies with major Singapore offices include top names like IBM, Apple, Google, Cisco, Microsoft, SAP, Amazon, Facebook, and many others.

Of course all this did not happen by accident, the Singaporean government has engineered some of the world’s most proactive polices, which have led to Singapore being the easiest place to do business on Earth, according to the World Bank’s Doing Business rankings. Impressive, especially when compared to ESSEC’s home country, France, which rates 27th in the world. 

The ESSEC Global MBA had the opportunity to learn firsthand about the policies and strategies that have enabled Singapore to emerge as one of the world’s most competitive economies.

The Economic Development Board (EDB) is the main government agency tasked with making Singapore an international “home of business” and conduit through which business is conducted throughout Asia. The EDB, is the first connection a company has with Singapore when looking to set up offices, they offer all the informational resources to enable the process.

Mr. Goh Chee Kiong, Executive Director of Cleantech and Cities, Infrastructure & Industrial Solutions in at the EDB, presented on the policies, incentives, and methods that Singapore uses that make it the most business-friendly in the world. He sees Singapore as a “living laboratory” and described the innovations that have been made toward achieving water independence, increasing the use of renewable energies, and implementing “smart-city” infrastructure.

We had the pleasure of learning about “10 principles for liveable high density cities” from Director, Dr. Hee Limin, of the Centre for Liveable Cities (CLC). The motto of the CLC is “to distil, create and share knowledge on liveable and sustainable cities.” Given Singapore’s small geography, population, and lack of natural resources, the Singaporean government has focused on sustainability and innovation since its inception. This philosophy has guided their urban planners to build a green city that countries around the world look to as a model. Focusing on water, housing, planning, transport, foresight and pragmatism, industrial infrastructure, and sustainable environment, the CLC works to document and innovate the science of urban systems.

A*STAR, Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology, and Research works to “bridge the gap between science and technology.” They develop talent and infrastructure to drive new technology and scientific discovery. They focus on 6 main domains including: computing science, electronics and photonics, fluid dynamics, engineering mechanics, materials science and engineering, and social and cognitive computing. A*STAR has some 1,500 industry projects, 290 patents, and has published 2,770 papers.

We heard from several researchers working on a range of projects associated with A*STAR’s Institute of High Performance Computing. Dr. IIya Farber from the Psychometrics and Decision Science Group (PDS), gave us of “tour” of MoCHA (Monitoring Cognitive Health for Alzheimer’s), a game designed to monitor the cognitive health of the elderly through a series of memory games. Dr. Yang Yinping of the Social Intelligence Group presented on insights that she and her team have derived from advanced analytics and social media intelligence. She noted parallels between social media migration and geographic migration patterns and discussed the social media contribution to global disease surveillance.

Of course our learning would not be complete without actually visiting some start-ups and shared workspaces. Crayon Data particularly stands out in my mind. As one of the fastest growing big data companies in Asia, it is a pioneer in pattern recognition and helping companies and individuals enable decision making through the use of data. We had the chance to have a long discussion with the founder, Suresh Shankar, as well as tour the Singapore office. We also “toured” Maya, Crayon Data’s recommendations app, which is based on a choice and taste algorithm that aims to simplify the process of making choices surrounding leisure and dining.

In all, our trip to Singapore was nothing short of inspiring and I felt that the city was buzzing with energy and new ideas. I was impressed and motivated by all the ESSEC alums we met doing amazing work across a gamut of industries. We’re all sad to leave but for many of us, this won’t be our last trip to Singapore.

Now we’re in Shanghai for a week of company visits!

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Seeking Careers in Asia

By Claudia Pumarejo, Global MBA 2013-2014, Mexico

After taking several interesting courses focused on Asia, while also welcoming a number of guest speakers after class, we devoted our last week in Singapore fully to career events. This was particularly useful for those of us who want to make a career in Asia. For the rest, it is always good to meet new people, learn new things, and network. You never know how the dots will connect.

We opened grandly with a visit to Louis Vuitton Island, the largest Louis Vuitton store in South East Asia. We marveled by this very high-end venue and top quality products. This French Maison, whose DNA lies in the travel experience, has a wide range of offers, from watches to books, from purses to suitcases, all crafted for the most discerning clients.

In the afternoon, we went back to our National Library Building classroom to listen to a lecture on "Sustainable Development in the Construction Industry" by a representative of French conglomerate Bouygues. Unlike our French classmates, who are very familiar with this company, I thought their biggest business was in telecommunications. During the talk I found out that it is actually construction and that they have carried out huge projects in many countries, such as the new stadium in Singapore.

On Tuesday, we spent the whole day in a workshop lead by Alex Lanjri from Timeo Performance. Mr. Lanjri is a certified experienced recruiter, a personal coach and a professional trainer who gave us some valuable tips on how to manage the recruitment process and prepare for interviews.

The next day was a long one. It started out with a visit to KPMG Singapore, led by Leonardo Banegas, a Global MBA alumnus from last year and consultant at KPMG Singapore. As you may know, this is one of the big four auditing firms, along with Deloitte, Ernst and Young and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Leo gave us a tour around the KPMG offices, meeting rooms and work stations. He divided his presentation in two parts. He first discussed about the ever-changing nature of his job, which allows him the chance to apply his skills, while also learning new things. In the second half of his talk, he shared his first-hand experience looking for a job. Job seeking is actually a job in itself, involving a lot of research and even daily job applications, in his case.

We then continued to the iconic Marina Bay Sands Hotel, which is a landmark of the Singapore skyline. We got a tour around this breathtaking property, entered its very exclusive suites and casinos and even got the chance to speak to the Marketing Manager. We clarified a lot of doubts about the business and were very pleased to learn about the operations of such a renowned hospitality leader. Time was running out, so some of us rushed back to the National Library Building to listen to Vallourec’s Asia Pacific Corp representative, Mr. Eric Atton.

That day ended up with a birthday party for Arnault, Sangwon, Rene and Ingy – all those people having birthdays in March! – which doubled as goodbye party for our pal Dingqian, double degree student from prestigious Peking University.

Finally, on Thursday some of us had the chance to attend the “All Industries Get Together” for careers in Asia, organized by the Career Services on the Singapore campus.

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.

On Top of the World at the Marina Bay Sands

By Saurabh Sakhuja, Global MBA student 2013-2014, India

The Marina Bay Sands Hotel in Singapore is neither a hotel, nor a casino, but the world’s most expensive integrated resort/casino property built on Indonesian soil. Yes, you read that right, it was constructed on Indonesian soil that was dumped in Singapore bay to reclaim the land for development.

The property is unique; it features 2561 rooms, 121,600 m2 of MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) space, a collection of fancy celebrity restaurants, a huge shopping mall, and most importantly the Casino, which brings in the most revenue and contributes the most to the MBS’ profit. It employs over 9,700 permanent staff, as well as additional temporary staff when required.

We started our tour in the Convention center, where we were briefed on the tremendous space it encompasses. Where else in Singapore can one have a roundtable banquet facility seating 6,000 people in a single pillar-less banquet hall? Next up was the Casino. To say it was massive is an understatement and it glitters like gold. We looked down from the floor above at the countless slot machines, casino tables, and more than 30 private gaming rooms reserved for high-flyers. Paiza, a special VIP members-only club, is also located there, with a dedicated entry from the hotel to the casino via the Dragon/Paiza Bridge. Getting into Paiza isn’t easy; only players who meet the average bet and length of play criteria for their respective rooms are invited. We were surprised to learn about the role of “gaming ambassadors,” of which there are 127 at the MBS Casino. Gaming Ambassadors are there to help casino patrons who express dismay at losing too much or being unable to stop. These ambassadors will direct them to resources on gambling addiction like the National Council on Problem Gambling’s website and help line, or organizations such as the National Addictions Management Service. We were briefed on the Council of Problem Gaming and on schemes such as “self-exclusion,” “family exclusion,” and “third party exclusion,” which allow individuals with gambling problems to be excluded from the Casino.

The personalized service and care provided by MBS is seamless. For example, they even have their own herbs garden, managed by the Executive Chef himself. MBA also has the advantage of being quite eco-friendly by participating in rain water harvesting or food recycling to make compost. These small steps make a big difference for the environment.

We next visited the observation deck on the 57th floor, which can hold 900 people and from which you have a perfect view of Singapore city.



Then came the brilliant Presidential Suite, which commands 509 m2, including 3 bedrooms with balconies, two living rooms, a grand piano, a media room, a study, a massage room, and a mini gymnasium. The view from the room would make anyone feel like the king of the world. But all of this comes for a price… S$16,000 per night. I’m sure once we get jobs after our MBA, we’ll love to back to Singapore especially to stay in the Marina Bay Sands Presidential Suite. ;-)

Mr. NK, the Human Resource Development Manager who gave us the tour of the property, informed us that the MBS changes their furniture regularly and that the old furniture is sold to the staff at a concessional price, with the proceeds going towards charity.

We finished the visit with a Q&A session with Mr. Maunik, the Senior Vice President of Marketing. He was the image of a true hotelier, smiling and sharp, and answered all our questions regarding marketing the brand, revenue generation, competition, KPIs, etc.

All in all it was a great experience for those of us who had not had much exposure to the casino and hotel world, particularly with an integrated property as huge as the Marina Bay Sands.

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!