consulting-abroad-program – Page 6 – Global & Experiential Education

Seal The Deal, My Bru! – CAP South Africa 2018

marielbaloJune 12, 2018May 13, 2024

Blog post written by Sean Soni

Prior to leaving the beautiful country of South Africa, each and every student who had the good fortune to attend this CAP destination discovered something new about themselves and about their enhanced global consulting abilities. The entire CAP South Africa class can agree that after visiting such a remarkable, warm and flourishing country, something within themselves changed forever.

A picture taken by Jannik Milberg (GW MBA 2019) near Hout Bay, South Africa.

It was through the site visitation in Johannesburg and the emotional journey through the Soweto township that our class learned about humanity and social justice within South Africa and the world as a whole. Apartheid was abolished in 1994, however South Africans can still feel the last breath of this oppressive history in everyday life. We walked through the gates of the famous Apartheid Museum in Soweto while unwillingly following the historic signs which stated ‘Whites Entrance and ‘Non-Whites Entrance’. Through the journey to Johannesburg and Soweto Township, the classmates of CAP South Africa realized just how lucky and privileged we were to be studying at the graduate-level in another country.

Through the visits to nature-made masterpieces like the world famous Table Mountain and Camps Bay, the classmates of CAP South Africa discovered that beauty surrounds the massive continent of Africa. Beauty in every step of our journey was so abundant and so breathtaking that it was often hard to imagine leaving certain places, like Cape Point.

A picture taken during a CAP site visit and presentation with Executive Leadership Team of The ATNS (Air Traffic and Navigation Services SOC Limited). ATNS provides air traffic, navigation, training and associated services within South Africa and a large part of the Southern Indian and Atlantic Ocean, comprising approximately 10% of the world’s airspace.

Finally, it was through the site visits with real-world companies where we discovered the marvels of South African entrepreneurship and business culture. Our class discovered such awe in the operational innovations of ATNS, impressive utilization of global networks with Aksa Power Generation, and the remarkable sustainable manufacturing process utilized by Sealand Gear. Our class was able to determine that although South Africa has substantial income inequality, the possibilities to create fruitful employment opportunities and chances to innovate are endless within this country and we found that the locals are determined to improve the deteriorating condition of their country.

At this point you must be wondering how our CAP Final Presentations went? Well I am proud to report to you that each separate team “sealed the deal” and dazzled the clients in South Africa. What we all shared in the learning experience of the Consulting Abroad Project in South Africa was that the service to international clients can sometimes create unexpected demands, but it is critical to react with poise and utter professionalism. I can soundly say that each of our classmates did so in remarkable fashion. Furthermore, our class thoroughly enjoyed the entire process of consulting for an international client, from start to finish. Global & Experiential Education, please sign us up for 18 tickets to Cape Town/Johannesburg (no return ticket needed).

That’s A Wrap CAP Australia!

marielbaloJune 11, 2018March 4, 2020

Blog post written by Jessica Goodman

Final presentation day was a success! Our semester-long efforts culminated in a day when we visited each of our clients, presented our findings, and engaged in a discussion with them about our recommendations. It was such a rewarding experience to make an impact and deliver our product to a group of senior leaders in each of our clients’ organizations.

Photo by Sam Hoffman: CAP Australia enjoys a celebratory dinner after finishing our client presentations.

To get an idea of the level of experience in the room to hear our presentations throughout the day, check out this list of everyone’s titles: General Manager, Co-Founder & Chairman Emeritus, Finance Director, Director of People & Organization, Research & Development Director, Director of Marketing, and Director of E-Commerce.

My project team and another team got to share our deliverables with the General Manager and several other department heads. We received very positive feedback! At the end of both of our presentations, the General Manager told us, in front of his team, that he was committed to implementing some of our ideas. Our client even gave us a hug after our presentation!

Students from other teams shared some comments about the client feedback they received on their presentations:

“Our client’s founder liked how we articulated the strategic growth potential from our staffing recommendations.” – Ben Hannibal
“Our client appreciated us for our powerful presentation and told us that our financial model would be used to further build on our ideas. Our client was also impressed that so many questions came up from staff as a result of our presentation; they were hopeful it meant that they would get internal buy-in to fund future solar energy projects.” – Girish Balakrishnan

Getting positive feedback from our clients was certainly a highlight of our time in Australia. But what left the biggest impression on me was what each of us learned this semester. We all sat down with Dr. Messerli after our final presentations to debrief on our experiences in Australia. My classmates disclosed a range of discoveries – from the more serious insights, such as finding a new career path to explore or making a connection with a new mentor – to the less serious, such as learning the rules of Australian footie and the sleeping habits of a koala. I think it is fair to say that this was an experience that none of us will forget! Now, each of us are heading off to our internships and respective summer plans. And so, with that, I’ll say – that’s a wrap CAP Australia!

CAP Vietnam: Pho for Thought

marielbaloJune 11, 2018March 4, 2020

Blog post written by Jennifer Swartz

Packing. That seems to be all we are doing these days. I am currently packing up our room in Vietnam, and I cannot believe that we are leaving this beautiful country in just a few short hours. Moreover, I cannot believe that CAP is over. These past few months seemed to go by at a glacial pace, but the past couple of weeks in country flew by. So what now?

Well, in an attempt to keep CAP going as long as possible, I want to reflect on the trip and provide three key takeaways, or pho for thought, that future first years can hopefully benefit from.

First, it is essential to set up regular meetings with your client from the get-go. The format of these meetings can vary from Skype to phone calls to another form altogether. However, setting up regular meetings throughout the semester provides structure and deadlines for both parties, paving the way for everyone to be on the same page when it comes to overall expectations. Additionally, it allows you to better develop a meaningful relationship with your client. Because of the time and effort we exerted up front, we had a great working relationship with our client by the time we got to Vietnam. In fact, our client took every opportunity to express how much they appreciated our regular meetings and communications.

Secondly, make sure your repeatedly ask your client if there is anyone else at the company you should be talking to other than your point of contact throughout the semester. We asked a couple of times towards the beginning of our project, but then dropped the matter altogether. When we got to Vietnam, our point of contact changed, and the colleagues we were working with had a wealth of knowledge we would have benefited from much earlier on in the semester. In retrospect, we should have asked if there were any other contacts to connect with once our project was a bit further along, as that would have been the best time to touch base. But alas, hindsight is 20/20.

Lastly, carve out time to get to know your teammates. We started doing this back in January, scheduling out one team event a month in addition to our team meetings. Team events varied from happy hours at Circa to lunches at local Vietnamese restaurants. These team events enabled us to get to know each other on a more personal level and ultimately work better together throughout the semester. It even resulted in our amazing team of four seizing every chance to spend time together in Vietnam, whether it was hanging out in the pool, learning how to salsa (THANK YOU BORJA :) ), or exploring trendy speakeasys. Overall, these team events helped make us a true team. And my team – the Pho-tastic Pho-r as we jokingly called ourselves – they made my CAP experience one that I will treasure pho-ever.

CAP China 2018: Preparing for the Final Client Presentations

marielbaloJune 11, 2018March 4, 2020

Blog post written by Alyssa Passarelli

The three JD.com CAP teams checked in at company headquarters in Beijing just before initial in-person meetings with our points of contact. Here, students stand around the company’s mascot, “Joy.”
Image source: Bisman Preet Singh, GMBA Class of 2019

Before arriving in Beijing, the four CAP China teams researched industry best practices, brainstormed and whiteboarded ideas in Duquès Hall, and used feedback from client site visits to improve PowerPoints in the JW Marriott. These efforts all led up to the pinnacle of CAP: the final in-person presentation to our clients. Even for the three JD.com teams, each presentation required preparation that was as unique as their individual projects.

Cheng, Erez, Kapoor, and Shahi needed to conduct multiple on-site interviews with key stakeholders as well as observe the logistics and processes within the client’s warehouse to analyze aspects of the supply chain. They also had various translation

From left to right: Mark (JD Finance), Kathleen (GWSB), Flora and Boer (JD Finance) Professor Larry Yu, Mohnish, Kellen, and Alyssa (GWSB) after wrapping the final presentation at company headquarters.
Image source: Kathleen Harrington, GMBA Class of 2019

requests for their PowerPoint and final report that influenced how they managed their time and efforts for their final presentation.

In contrast, Baid, Curry, Harrington, and myself were only able to spend a single afternoon interviewing four employees of JD Finance (the startup arm of JD.com). The meeting was informal, taking place on couches at the end of one the hallways of company headquarters. This conversation afforded our team the opportunity to better understand the current priorities of the expansion of JD Finance’s work and confirm that our recommendations reflected what was most important for the client in both the present and longer term. Additionally, the abundant feedback that our team received the previous month from the external panel of judges helped us revamp our PowerPoint’s content and aesthetics.

Kalec, Khashogji, Preet, and Yuan went to great lengths (figuratively and literally) to deliver their final presentation, mainly because their points of contact were based in Shanghai. For our group’s weekend outing to this new city, none of us expected that we would spend what ended up being twelve hours in the airport before making our departure. Despite the travel

From left to right: Abdulmohsen, Katherine, and Di (GWSB), Tom (JD.com), Bisman and Professor Larry Yu (GWSB) in Shanghai delivering their final recommendations to their client in an engaging discussion over breakfast in Shanghai.
Image Source: Katherine Kalec, GMBA Class of 2019

challenges, this JD.com team made it to Shanghai to give their final presentation over a breakfast meeting with their points of contact, which was an ideal environment to engage with the client on their recommendations.

Dimes, Miller, Ou, and Russell worked with Shenzhen Energy, a client whose relationship-building style made for an intensive experience for the team in country to prepare for their final presentation. As Russell put it, “Our contract was quite guarded before our visit (so didn’t tell us much), but it seemed that he [their point of contact] really wanted to have a meal and rice wine with us to get to know us, and he was very generous after that (but it did mean we had to do plenty of work in China.)” Dimes shared that the team divided up ownership of additional research needed from the new information the client provided in country based on the project areas where each team member had built the most expertise. The final result was a presentation that more closely resembled an internal company discussion.

No two teams had the same experience preparing for these final moments of our CAP projects, but there is something important to learn from each one. What we all shared in this experience was gaining practical experience preparing for when working with your client does not go as planned, how to shift gears with composure, and above all, how to serve your clients.