Despite all the traveling, cultural visits, and other extracurricular activities, we never lost sight of our true goal in Argentina: serving our client.
On Friday, June 2nd, 2017 our team presented the final recommendations to our client. As an outsider it can feel almost irreverent to explain how to do things better to a co-founder of a company. Our client’s company was his and his partner’s brainchild. But, as all good leaders learn do, our client wasn’t afraid to ask for help when he saw parts of the organization lagging.
My talented and diverse team was able to conduct numerous interviews and observe the day-to-day workings of the organization throughout our time in Buenos Aires. We saw things that the firm’s leadership may have missed or been too busy to notice on a daily basis.
We were not burdened with the responsibilities of actually managing the firm and we were therefore perfectly positioned to objectively observe the good, the bad, the ugly, and the inspiring. Additionally, employees were able to speak candidly with our team and identify points of tension that they may have been reluctant to share with the firm’s leadership. The human element is an often overlooked part in an organization’s success or failure and I was surprised to discover the impact of some of the deep-rooted relationships within the firm. It is these relationships that are hard to understand a thousand miles away on a video teleconference.
Our recommendation was supported by our own experience, business theory we studied at GW, and the guidance of both our professor and graduate assistant. We crafted a process improvement and efficiency roadmap for the firm to enable stable long-term growth in an unpredictable developing market. It won’t be an easy path, but we are confident in the firm’s leadership to implement either our recommendation or a similar plan to achieve both sustained growth and personal satisfaction.
Our professor lauded our work as “billable” which is probably the highest praise we could expect. We were professional and our recommendation was technically and tactically sound. I learned first-hand both the joys and frustrations of consulting abroad. By the time the two weeks were over I felt I was a part of the organization and had real connections with the leadership and employees. I am thankful for the opportunity to travel to Argentina and serve such a welcoming and hospitable client. What I learned from my short stay will certainly aid me in my summer consulting internship and throughout my future career.
Written by Global MBA student: George Chewning
