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FROM IMD Admissions Blog: Back to it! |
It's fantastic to be back in Switzerland. We've kicked off the new part of the year with an intensive refresher course of lectures on marketing, finance and accounting with some really impressive guests lecturers, and this week coming we've got further tuition around finance, career planning and also some presentations from companies looking to recruit IMD students. I'm really enjoying the term so far, and as the whole class realizes that we have just four short months until graduation, we are all making the most of our time in this beautiful city. We had a social gathering on Wednesday, and a really fun drinks party last night. I'm so excited about the next few months, and particularly since I am looking forward so much to my discovery trip (like Stephanie, I'm off to China and Japan), and then the International Consulting Project that I've got, where I'll be off to Norway and the Baltics. I'm also really enthused about the prospect of searching intensively for a job - it's really only just struck me that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to make a change to my career path, and to ensure that I harness all of the skills that I've learnt here at IMD. One thing is for sure, as much as I've learnt from the faculty here, I've learnt far more from my fantastic colleagues. Bring on the challenges ahead! Nick |
FROM IMD Admissions Blog: Photo blog: unwinding in the mountains |
To finish off term before the summer "break" (if you count going back to working roughly 9-5 at a company, on a project, etc. as a break) the school took us to the mountains for a couple of days to relax and unwind in the Porte de Soleil resort town of Morzine in France.![]() We climbed the mountain ![]() Some of us were mad enough to try running up it, marshalled by our programme director, Ralf... ![]() ...although most of us stuck with working ![]() At the top an endless supply of raclette was waiting for us on a mountain meadow... ![]() ...with spectacular alpine views ![]() We brought our flag and conquered the mountain for the class of 2015! |
FROM IMD Admissions Blog: The excitement is building! |
The excitement is building - there is so much to look forward to over the next month! But - let's start with a few things from this week... A large minority of the class went go-karting after school on Wednesday - this really got the competitive juices flowing, and I'm glad to say that I was the fastest Brit on the track (sounds impressive - but it's all about providing selective statistics!!!). We had numerous companies coming to campus to recruit this week - just the initial presentation phase at this moment, with formal interviews to come in a month or so. It was great to see that the number of recruiting companies is strongly up on last year, and mindblowing to see the range of depth of different available careers. I found myself drawn to some companies I wouldn't even have thought about prior to their presentations- a cause for some reflection... On Monday we had the head of finance for Bayer giving us a full day training on his role, and how to manage such a complex company with such frequent M&A activity. Really fascinating, and a great insight into the possible roles within finance in such a complex corporate. And now - the future is beckoning. The most exciting prospect are the looming discovery trips. All of the blog team are going to Shanghai and Japan - the schedule is so exciting, and I'm thrilled to be going to Japan - I've always wanted to go there (particularly since I'm a big fan of sushi...). I've been to Shanghai in the past - but I'm realiably informed by my Shanghai native classmates that since it was 8 years ago, I won't recognise the city. I find big cities fascinating, and I can't wait to see what's new, and we are foreseeing a similarly fun trip as that to Turkey. 30 of us are going to Shanghai and Japan, with another third going to San Francisco and Mexico, and the final cohort exploring Dubai and Singapore. After the discovery trip comes further on-campus recruitment, so those who have applied to consulting firms are currently polishing up their 'case' interviews. As for me, I'm narrowing down even further the career that I'm looking for, so that my search will be as focused as possible. And after that - comes the International Consulting Project - for my team, the Baltics beckon! Until next time, Nick. |
FROM IMD Admissions Blog: Photo blog: Superheroes and other characters |
For the beginning of this term, Ralf gave us shock therapy. 6 days of lectures, Monday to Saturday on the first week back. In order to make our Saturday of lectures a little more fun, we turned into superheroes (and other characters) for the day.![]() We had Disney characters... ![]() ...including fellow blogger Stephanie as Edna Mode. ![]() We changed the lecturer's seating plan, so he'd have no trouble finding... ![]() ...the stars of the Matrix... ![]() ...and a crazy Scotsman (me, in front of the camera for once!) |
FROM IMD Admissions Blog: The Clock is ticking |
As Nick mentioned in the previous post, we are leaving for our discovery trips this Friday. Coincidentally all the 3 bloggers are going to the same destination: China and Japan! I am sure that we will have some good stories to tell and great photos to show later on. Before leaving, we have quite a lot of things to do. As part of the networking experience, an alumni event is organized in both Shanghai and Tokyo. Our MBA group will do a presentation on country and trend analysis during the two events, and I will be doing the introduction for both presentations. This means lots of practice before leaving. Even though I was just in China for my company engagement project, I am still very excited to go again. When I was there in summer, I did not have much time to see the country besides spending time in the office the whole day. I was 3 days in Shanghai, and literally didn't get to see the city at all besides the views outside the windows during my taxi drives from one office to another. This time we will have enough time to explore the city as well as meeting local business people. We will keep you updated about our discovery trips, as well as giving news of our colleagues from other destinations such as Dubai, Singapore, the US, and Mexico. Stephanie |
FROM IMD Admissions Blog: We're back |
Stephanie, Nick A and I are back from our fantastic trip to China and Japan. It was incredible to learn more about these fantastic, vibrant, unforgettable countries. The trips were mainly work-oriented, but this didn't dampen the fun for a second, as it was genuinely fascinating to learn more about the business environments in these two countries, and to connect with our fantastic alumni. Before the trip, I questioned the academic value of such an expedition; now, I don't doubt it for a second. The alumni network was inspiring - from one of Asia's foremost Private Equity individuals, to a go-getting and passionate entrepreneur, it was so refreshing to see what our alumni had done with the skills they learnt at IMD. I was particularly inspired by the 'can-do' approach of our alumni in China, who are taking every opportunity possible to harness the exceptional growth in the country. In Japan, the alumni team were equally interesting - but given the Japanese culture, very modest about their fantastic achievements! This Saturday, we spent a full day in Tokyo doing a joint workshop with some senior executives from Japan's largest corporates. This was combined with some keynote speeches from a prominent Japanese economist, two partners from McKinsey, and a Taiwanese executive sharing her experiences as a foreign CEO of a listed Japanese conglomerate. The speeches were inspiring and thought provoking, but the interaction with the executives was really fascinating - and a fantastic opportunity to dig a little into the mindset of Japanese workers. What I found (as a generalisation) was an unyielding passion for precision and excellence. It really was so interesting to find that many Japanese workers really do take accuracy as such a high priority, and reflecting how this might affect the flexibility of the economy. Despite the strong focus on work and business discovery on the trip, there was nevertheless some time for sightseeing, which we grabbed to the greatest of our abilities. It was amazing to explore Shanghai - such a vibrant city, with a Gucci store seemingly on every corner. The energy in Tokyo was palpable, whilst Kyoto brought a sense of calm and spiritual balance to our trip. I'm sure I've forgotten some of the best bits of the trip - so I'l write an update soon. Stephanie will be giving her impressions, and Nick A will be providing photos in due course. And for those of you interested to know about our counterparts' experience in Singapore & Dubai and Mexico & California, I've been promised some guest contributions soon. Until next time, Nick. |
FROM IMD Admissions Blog: Time to get a job! |
We're now fully over our jetlag from the discovery trips, and it's back to a hectic schedule at IMD! This weekend, we had another of the mythical IMD leadership experiential sessions - which pushed us hard to hone our leadership skills even further. As usual, I can't reveal the details to avoid spoiling the experience for next year - but let's say that it was tough but really insightful! The final leadership session is in November, and I can't wait to find out how this session wraps up the year. This week and next week, the focus is firmly on getting a job. The range of companies coming to the IMD campus is incredible, it's amazing to see the range of opportunities available. The tough part is to choose which job to apply for - I'm currently working hard to narrow down the options. I was helped in this by two alumni that I spoke to to present the project that I did over the summer; they were invaluable in helping me to guide my thoughts to a greater focus. The insights from the alumni assessing our project and guiding us around our career paths were phenomenal - amongst the alumni participating were partners of consulting firms, and internationally recognised venture capitalists, and it's fair to say that all of my colleagues were really inspired by the stories they had to share. It's going to be a busy week - more updates soon! Nick. |
FROM IMD Admissions Blog: Discovery trip - Dubai and Singapore |
My classmate Stephanie Escher participated in the group which travelled to Dubai and Singapore, and would like to share her story. The reason why she chose the destination was because she had never been to Dubai nor any other region in the Middle East before. She also targeted company visits in Dubai and Singapore for networking purposes. There were mainly three focus points during the trip. First, the group had meetings with the Economic Development Board of each country (UAE and Singapore). During these meetings, Stephanie could see how the UAE was trying to benchmark with Singapore. Secondly, the group visited various companies. These meetings brought the unique way of doing business in these countries closer to her. Thirdly, cultural events were organized so that IMD students could experience the local customs, like snowboarding down the sand dunes of the Dubai desert. What impressed Stephanie about the UAE was the foresight in developing the economy’s diversification and anticipating future challenges. In Singapore, she was amazed about the changes of the city, coming back after 20 years. She could especially feel the vibe and energy which a typical Asian metropole offers. During the interaction with expats, Stephanie could explore what living abroad in these regions can look like. She felt that Singapore could eventually be a country for her to work and live in. Besides interesting business opportunities, it offers a high quality of life and the population is very diverse. She appreciated that she was travelling with a smaller group of 28 people, where she could continue bonding with the other classmates. For the future MBA students to choose their discovery destination, Stephanie suggested that you first understand what you want to get out of the trip, for example in terms of experiencing a new culture or exploring potential job opportunities. Then the trip will be highly rewarding. Stephanie (Lin) ![]() Dubai boat travelling ![]() IMD in Singapore ![]() Stephanie Escher trying local clothes |
FROM IMD Admissions Blog: Discovery trip - Mexico and California |
Hello Everyone. This is your guest blogger Vivek who will take you through the discovery trip to Mexico and California that I and my thirty amazing friends went to. Discovery Trips are essential part of the curriculum at IMD and extensive preparations go on from early on in the year. These range from selection of places, companies to visit, alumni network to contact etc. Thankfully, our super-efficient MBA office takes care of all the administrative stuff and we students focus on the academic work and company presentations for our visit. The theme this year was that we would visit one developing and one developed country. Mexico and California was an easy choice for me since I was interested in technology sector, start up clustered around Silicon Valley, plus I had never been to US before and the idea of visiting it with a large group friends really excited me. Our first stop was Monterrey in Mexico. Monterrey is the third largest metropolitan area in Mexico and an industrial hub having couple of large corporations headquartered there. We visited a Walmart distribution center and understood the complexity of running such large scale operations. It was fascinating to see how a fruit grown half the way across the globe reaches the shelves of our local supermarket. After Walmart, the next company visit made us all go in memory lane and we became kids again. The reason: Lego factory visit. At IMD, we have studied turnaround of Lego in mid 2000s in a couple of case studies, and it was a fascinating account of putting strategy, operations and marketing into practice and putting the company back on the growth track. Looking at the highly automated factory and advance robotics in action was a different experience and made me appreciate Lego even more. Plus, each of us received a Lego set as a gift at the end of the visit. That reminds me I have to build my set soon. Besides these two events, we visited CPA, Cemex, BCG and Alfa group where we got to interact with senior business executives from these companies. Before flying out of Mexico, there was an Alumni networking event in which group of students made a presentation on the economic situation of Mexico. Our MBA director Ralf Boscheck also facilitated a session with participants giving an overview from an ecnomics standpoint. ![]() San Francisco was our next stop. If Monterrey was all about manufacturing and industrial goods, San Francisco was the polar opposite with its venture capitalists and start-ups. Our schedule here was jam packed with visits from Salesforce, Twitter and Google. Visiting google headquarter in mountain-view was the highlight of the trip. Fun fact 1: Do you know that you can have free lunches at Google? ![]() SF chamber of commerce held a session on the innovation economy and economic development of San Francisco followed by a session from VCs explaining us about the entrepreneurial culture in the valley. Fun fact 2: If you are 20 years old and studying at Stanford University and you haven’t started your company, you are in a very tiny minority. And before we knew it, the discovery trip had come to an end. However, we got two full days to recover from our intense sessions and explore San Francisco. Our group had great fun with activities such as taking a biking tour of golden gate bridge to eating in china town to partying in San Francisco. Special thanks to my American colleagues and friends Courtney Galligan and Tom Cohen who organized the trips and made sure that each of us had great time. With this I leave you with a few picture to give a glimpse of our discovery trip. Cheers. |
FROM IMD Admissions Blog: Get ready! |
The class has been spending the last two weeks focussing on their career search. For me, it's been a fantastic experience - meeting with companies at our career fairs on campus has been a great way to understand exactly what it is that I'm looking for in a job, and the search that I'm making outside of IMD's contacts has really inspired me - there are so many interesting jobs out there! The IMD success rate during the on-campus recruiting has been fantastic - there have been a huge number of offers made, and the outlook is looking really good for the class. For my side, I've decided to focus on a couple of niche areas that mean that I'm engaging with some key contacts in London rather than applying for the on-campus jobs- watch this space for updates! Meantime, tomorrow heralds a really exciting new phase of the IMD experience. The International Consulting Project (or ICP) is beginning - and it's a chance for the whole class to put their skills to test on a real life business case over the next 7 weeks. We have all be placed into groups of 5 people, and I'll be hitting the ground running, spending this week developing a project strategy, and then heading off to Latvia and Estonia on Saturday to start putting the theory into practice. It's amazing the responsibility that the companies engaging us for this activity are entrusting us with, and we are all really motivated to demonstrate that this trust isn't misplaced. The class will be whizzing all over the world - I've got classmates who are currently off to the States, Brazil, London to name just a few locations - and that's just the list for this week! It really is such an exciting time - but also quite a shock to think how imminent the end of the course is - this thought really made me appreciate my run alongside Lake Geneva today. Until next time, Nick. |
FROM IMD Admissions Blog: Don't apologize - Women and Leadership |
The IMD Women's Alumni Club organized a special workshop for women leaders. All female alumni were invited as well the femal students in class 2015. The main purpose was to address some issues and challenges women faced at work. Topics included leadership, diversity, gender bias and discrimination. Conincidentally the timing was perfectly fitting to the period when we had on-campus recruiting and were undergoing different job interviews and discussions. First we had two faculty members: Martha and Denise presenting the current situation women had, including lack of presentation at the board level, miniroty in senior management, unequal wages, etc. The theme of the workshop "Don't Apologize" reflected the fact that women tended to have apologetic attitudes toward the others. Secondly we had different World cafe sessions to talk about specific topics. It was very interesting to hear different points of view from alumni of different years and industries. I learned a lot from reflecting on the topic as well as the discussion. It was especially an exciting event to talk to people and hear amazing stories from not only the point of views as women leaders, but also mothers and wives. Stephanie ![]() Participants from class 2015: (from left to right) Jasmine, Vas, Silvia, and Sophie ![]() Event Brochure ![]() Lively discussion among the alumni |
FROM IMD Admissions Blog: Greetings from Latvia |
My international consulting project team is in Latvia, working on a project for a client who is interested in making further investments in the Baltic states. We are spending three days doing research here in Riga, before moving on to Tallinn where we'll also be investigating the social, political and economic trends that are affecting investors in these respective countries at present. This is a fascinating exercise, using a mixture of quantiative and qualitative data to get under the skin of what makes these countries tick, and trying to work out the prognosis for investors going forward. In our international consulting project, we're fusing the skills that we've learnt on all of our various different courses, plus the soft skills we've been thinking about in our leadership electives to make a real impact on behalf of our clients. Let's hope they appreciate our efforts; we really appreciate the trust that they have in us, giving us such a high-level and impactful exercise to do on their behalf. So far, it's been a fantastic trip, packed full of incredibly interesting meetings with some key members of Latvian business and politics - another diverse day awaits tomorrow. On a personal side, I'm talking to a variety of companies about some really interesting jobs, so I'm excited what the future holds on that side of things also! So I'm off to sleep in Riga, excited by what tomorrow will bring. Until next time, Nick. |
FROM IMD Admissions Blog: ICP phase 1 |
Like the other teams, my team has kicked off the ICP project two weeks ago. We are splitting the ICP project into 3 phases: the first is industry analysis, the second is company analysis, and the third is client recommendation. To complete the industry analysis, we travelled to France and Holland to visit the client's locations. It was very interesting to understand from the manufacturing value chain and see how the products were produced, until the distribution channel and see how the products were sold and shipped. By visiting the locations, we could consolidate better what we researched with how the real industry player worked. We had some nice discussion with the managers from the locations to understand what their challenges and opportunities were. It was also part of the international experience to see how things are done in another country and culture. It was a short but fruitful trip. We collected lots of useful info and data to be used in our first phase presentation, which takes place this week. I am looking forward to seeing the first result of the project! Stephanie My team (from left to right): myself, Nacho, Sophie, Alfredo |
FROM IMD Admissions Blog: Gathering steam! |
My team and I had a fantastic and very productive trip to Latvia and Estonia last week - and lots of fun too - it was so inspiring to visit a region full of energy (and handily, great restaurants!). This week we are intensively synthesising the information that we gathered during our desk research and our trip in the field. It's great to see how IMD's education has led us to approach this task completely differently from the way that we would have before our courses at the beginning of the year - the depth of the analysis has become significantly greater. As our deadline to provide a first formal update to our client nears, the workload and pressure is increasing - so our leadership and team building skills are being employed also, in order that we manage the tension! Altogether, so far, the individual consulting project is an ideal way in which to practice the plethora of skills acquired at IMD. For me, it's a great opportunity to get experience in a new sector, and to leverage this in my career search. Otherwise, the networking opportunities at IMD continue to be invaluable - this week, we've had the most senior managers of one of Europe's largest banks on campus - which provided me with a great opportunity to network with some critical contacts associated with my preferred career path. It's always amazing to find out who's just round the corner here in Lausanne. Tomorrow, a much needed break - a party organised by our social committee to welcome autumn! Until next time, Nick. |
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