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Essay Question:
What do you consider to be your greatest achievement and why?
My greatest achievement was establishing my own fine-dining restaurant. The joy I felt when I led my startup restaurant to an ongoing success, despite many obstacles and competitive pressures, proved to me that my sacrifice was well worth the effort. Starting with limited capital, I learned how to allocate resources. Instead of hiring professional agents, I designed the floor plan myself and dealt with county officials to obtain the necessary permits. It was like a miracle to me when I realized that the business I established is worth many times more today than the capital with which I started. In the beginning, our performance was less than ideal because competition was fierce. I implemented weekly team meeting with my employees to brainstorm ideas to promote the restaurant and to review past performance. I created a family-like relationship for my employees and they treated the restaurant as though it were their own. After two years of struggling, we became the most profitable restaurant in the area. The challenges I faced made me more mature both professionally and personally. Acting as the key solution-provider in my first business gave me greater confidence in my potential for developing a successful consulting enterprise after my MBA graduation. Describe your most challenging experience while working in a group The most challenge when in a group relationship is to convince others to work toward a common goal. When I inherited my fathers business in China, I tried to change the worker's slacking behavior by switching the pay-by-the-hour system to the pay-by-the-unit system. When I announced the change, more than 50 workers protested and refused to work. To convince them that the new system would benefit them was the best solution to the dilemma. I decided to let the protesting workers debate with the supportive ones, with no intervention from management. Through the debate, workers who were previously against the new system finally understood the advantages that they would gain from it: Their daily working hours would be shorter while their compensation would stay at least the same as long as they worked efficiently, which would be something they could control. After only a three-hour debate, both sides were satisfied and the company was back to business immediately. With the new system, productivity and efficiency increased, while everyone was happier because they could now control their working hours without affecting their salaries. That experience made me realized that collaboration is the most challenging to achieve, and motivation is the key to making it happen in leading a group to reach a common goal. Of what skill or talent are you especially proud? I am especially proud of my skill to see a person's true value and to help him or her recognize it. My thirteen-year-old-housemate was an absolute reticent introvert. He hardly ever spoke. Nobody at home ever paid attention to him, or noticed his very existence. I let him know that I would listen to him. I observed him carefully and tried to start conversations based on topics in which he had an interest. After a year of my efforts, he finally began to speak up and share his school life with me. I noticed he had exceptional talent in drawing and writing. However, his works were extremely sad, even destructive: Ships were always destroyed and no one could ever survive. I did research and learned that his family's ignorance made him an extremely negative and destructive person. I decided to bring him along with me to the community service center every week. Gradually, he changed from a silent boy to a talkative artist. That talent makes me proud because it allows me to create hopes for others. People sometimes abandon themselves when they cannot recognize their own values. I will use that talent to save such people by helping them find their true worth.
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Essay Question:
What is the most significant change or improvement you have made to any organization with which you have recently been or are currently affiliated? Describe the process that you went through to identify the need or the change or improvement to the organization, how you managed the process of implementing the change, and describe the results.
About a year ago, my client and I sat down to our monthly status meeting to discuss the upcoming launch of Nestli Pure Life in Saudi Arabia. I remember this meeting precisely for what we did not accomplish. After having spent a fruitless two weeks trying to contact our Riyadh office to determine when and how they were planning to communicate this new brand, I was hoping that my client had at least managed to determine a bit more via her local Nestli contacts. Unfortunately, she too, had been unable to gather any information on the market's plans. As an Associate International Brand Director on Nestli Pure Life, a bottled drinking water sold throughout the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America, one of my greatest challenges has been to establish relationships with our markets in the Middle Eastern region. Because Pure Life is the first Nestli branded water, image is of utmost importance and communication is controlled centrally. It is my responsibility to ensure that our markets adaptations adhere to guidelines, that their local developments follow strategy, and that they create effective communications. While our team had very positive working relationships with most of our markets, we barely managed to communicate with the Middle Eastern countries, let alone influence their work. Phone calls were rarely returned, emails were ignored, and the little information we did receive was sent sporadically and too late. I knew this problem would one day escalate into a larger issue, but I could not find the cause. In February 2003, I had the fortune to be sent to a visibility marketing seminar in Egypt. The workshops purpose was to improve in-store marketing for our brand within the Middle East; yet it also allowed me to meet each of my colleagues from the markets in this region. Over drinks and at dinner, we had the opportunity to truly get to know each other and I was finally able to identify the problem. I quickly learned that our team's method of communication was ineffective in this part of the world and had blocked our ability to create a relationship. Our western habit of ensuring everything was in writing actually ran contrary to their work customs. Relationships in the Middle East are based on trust, and they are built up over time. Our efforts to be precise and to ensure all parties were privilege to the same information had actually alienated our colleagues. Once I returned to Paris, I immediately changed my work methods. I began to call my colleagues frequently, especially those who had not been present at the seminar. I gained their confidence by making it clear that I was their ally; that I wished to help them, rather than hinder their efforts. I showed them how I could help by giving them an international perspective. The actual information and support I provided remained the same, but my method of communicating it differed. I recently completed the last step in solidifying our relationships. I convinced the Client to finance a photo shoot to develop a lifestyle image bank specific to the region as a service to the markets. As Nestli Pure Life is fairly new and therefore not yet profitable in most countries, the individual markets have neither the budget nor the resources to undertake a large-scale initiative. I knew this project would provide a service to the markets and at the same time appeal to the Client as a way to create efficiencies and control the brand image. To ensure the work had local appeal, we developed the images in conjunction with our Dubai agency and held the actual photography shoot in Beirut. I gave the local agencies a sense of ownership and control by asking their opinion each step of the way. Spending a week on-site at the shoot, I had the opportunity to become more ingrained in the nuances of the individual countries. I began to understand how truly different each market is: in terms of lifestyle, in terms of attitude towards religion, and in terms of the woman's role in society and the family. This has allowed me to develop an even deeper bond with the markets. As I have learned more about the region, I have gained a better sense of how to help them. Overall, the results have been positive. Not only do my colleagues frequently call to update me on their progress, but they also ask for my advice and help. In particular, I have developed a close relationship with my Saudi colleague. We now communicate often, and he includes me in all decisions as if I were a local team member.
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Essay Question:
Discuss your career goals. What skills do you expect to gain from studying for an MBA and how will they contribute to your professional career? (major essay). This was written for an MBA program.
I plan to develop a career in international brand management within consumer product companies. Working in advertising has provided me with a first-hand view into life on the Client side. L'Orial especially included their agencies in many of the processes not traditionally considered 'advertising,' sharing their marketing plans and consulting with us on new product concepts. Communications is an important building block for brand development, and my experience to-date will no doubt provide me an advantage. Since working on the Nestli Central Team, I have been exposed to the heart of strategic communications. Because we are removed from day-to-day market issues and short-term profit considerations, we focus on the big picture. Working with top-level clients and Publicis managers, I have learned how to develop a durable brand positioning, how to connect with the consumer, and how to develop a total communications plan. However, I wish to be a part of the larger picture. I am currently working on a project to improve in-store communication for bottled water. Although my input pertains to the medium and the message, the work is to a certain extent incomplete. Without understanding key account negotiations and the functioning of the sales force, I am unable to propose a realistic implementation plan. While we are hired as communications experts, I am interested in managing a brand in its entirety. I also wish to work in a more analytical field. While I initially chose advertising for the creative aspect, my strength lies in business, and I would like utilize more 'hard' skills. Communication is highly strategic, but based on creative intuition. While I appreciate creativity, and will certainly need to understand it as a brand manager, I am a businesswoman at heart. Working internationally and on global projects is important to me. I took the position in Paris in order to realize my dream of working in France for a few years and to gain some international experience before pursuing my MBA. Instead, my career direction changed. I have learned the importance of understanding the global marketplace. A sound business plan is ineffective if it does not take into account how the local consumer thinks; likewise, the executive must comprehend how a company functions in another culture. To operate in the international arena, it is vital to arrive at a balance between international necessities and local realities. This is the ideal school for me because it provides a global management education. While other top programs can provide the marketing skills, the general management focus, and the access to high-level faculty and business people, only this MBA program provides a true international education. Furthermore, the graduates land internationally focused positions worldwide, not only at conglomerates such as LOrial, but also expanding companies such as Nars Cosmetics. Globalism has become a catchword, and international opportunities are becoming more and more prevalent at MBA programs today. While I think these have merit and would certainly take advantage of all offerings at another school, only this MBA program truly infuses globalism throughout the curriculum. I recently had the opportunity to visit the school and sit in on a class, and felt the same vibe as at an international seminar for Nestli. No one culture is prevalent; nobody is providing the international viewpoint. The education was truly global.
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Essay Question:
What past decisions have you made that contribute to your current decision to pursue an MBA? How will joining the MBA program at our school at this time in your career further your short and long-term career goals?
My past decisions to pursue an undergraduate Finance degree, accept a Management Trainee position with XXX Corporation, and then transfer into the Audit & Advisory Services department have led me towards the decision to earn an MBA. From preparing draft expenditure approvals as a Management Trainee to analyzing expenditure justifications as an auditor, I broadened my experience in analyzing investment options and furthered my interest in financial analysis and strategic investments. Therefore, after graduating from the MBA program, I want to work as a financial analyst for a multinational firm with a strategic planning group. In the long term, my objective is to secure a management position in that strategic planning group so that I can analyze current and future investments. Since strategic planning departments are often small groups with employees experienced in the company and industry, I want to first build my experience as a financial analyst. To that role, I will bring my internal audit experience in identifying financial anomalies and proposing management solutions. For example, during a recent audit in the Netherlands I identified an inconsistency in the financial consolidation process which skewed the revenue and expenses reported to the parent company. Additionally, my BBA in Finance and technical audit knowledge provide me with strong analytical skills to build upon. An MBA program will allow me to broaden my Finance knowledge as I study specialized, complex financial topics like currency hedging and global financial policy. A functional knowledge of such topics will be valuable as I evaluate international investment and financing options in my future career. Specifically, this school offers an ideal location in which to study Finance, a strong Finance curriculum, and the flexibility to tailor my areas of specialization to meet my short and long term goals. Sterns global curriculum, including its Global Business and International Finance specializations, will also enhance my international business perspective. I have been fortunate to study and work abroad throughout Asia, Europe, and South America. While overseas, I have enjoyed learning about local business environments, including the impact of social benefit requirements, political structure, and labor laws on terminal investments. Based on these interests, I want to strengthen my knowledge of global markets and their implications to worldwide business practices, supporting my goal of a multinational career. In order to meet my long-term career objective in strategic management, I want to pursue strategy and negotiation courses. Courses such as Game Theory & Business Strategy relate to the aspects of my professional experience that interest me most, but in which I lack a powerful analytical toolkit and formalized training. Taking strategy courses and relating these concepts back to core fundamentals and advanced Finance courses will allow me to develop a sophisticated skill set with which I can evaluate existing and potential alliances as well as other investment opportunities. Concurrently, I will enjoy sharing my strategic planning experiences from the maritime shipping and terminal management perspective with classmates and professors. For example, I assisted the International Strategic Planning Director with due diligence related to a container terminal in Poland. I evaluated the due diligence team's findings and pointed out potential problem areas with the investment, affording me with invaluable insight into due diligence procedures. Moreover, I will bring my audit experience in identifying investment risks and achieving management buy-in of my conclusions and recommendations. In addition, a primary reason for me to pursue an MBA degree now is to formally educate myself in management skills. I joined XXX Corporation's Management Trainee Program out of college and then moved into Audit & Advisory Services. My decisions to accept these positions were, in large, due to their high profile natures, the ability to provide recommendations to management, and the opportunities to gain a unique breadth of company knowledge while working with employees worldwide. I was promoted earlier than the standard timeframe allots, progressing from Trainee to Senior Auditor in less than two years and quickly finding myself in a leadership role. Although I will continue to grow as a leader with my upcoming promotion to Project Supervisor, a management education will increase my effectiveness as a supervisor and, eventually, as a manager. In conclusion, my past academic and career decisions have allowed me to develop my interests and experience in the financial and strategic analysis of global investment opportunities. An MBA will provide me with the advanced analytical toolkit, formal management education, and strategy courses that I currently lack, but which are necessary to meet my long term goal and will make me a more competitive candidate for my short-term goal.
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Essay Question:
Describe a significant professional achievement.
Although I have a number of professional achievements that I consider significant, I recall a recent event with my company, Vision Venture Fund, in which I use my problem solving and leadership skills to initiate a change in process and an eventual improved outcome. Medical Logics, one of the venture fund's portfolio companies, was close to completing development of a new consumer product, but it required further effort for a successful market launch. The product market launch was a critical step for the success of Medical Logics and many of the venture fund members got involved in the product's pre-launch planning. Although good sense implies that many intelligent people working towards a goal should prove constructive, a common saying comes to mind: 'too many cooks spoil the broth.' During our first product planning meeting, too many divergent ideas were presented and a conclusion seemed virtually unattainable. To move the project forward, I launched a 'two team' approach that required the identification of the product problems and the classification of each problem as either a business planning or product development issue. Contrary to our first meeting that created much confusion, our second meeting called to identify and classify problems proved successful, with all team members working together quite efficiently, quickly identifying numerous issues and generally agreeing on each ones category. The next step was to identify the specific skills of the team members. The senior partner and I analyzed each individual, accounting for their past successes and failures, and assigning him or her either to the business team or to the development team. Each team then received the appropriate task list of issues generated from the previous brainstorming session. Through our analysis, we realized that given one's specific skill set, he or she would be more efficient and productive in one area more so than the other. The key element to the 'two team' solution did not depend on whether everyone agreed on each issue's solution; rather, it was that every issue was solved by those best suited to do so. Knowing that the venture fund members were responsible for numerous unrelated responsibilities, I realized that the possibility of neglect existed. To ensure this did not become an issue, I made sure each team was on target by periodically reviewing its task list and verifying that the necessary issues were solved or appropriately attended to. I used this system of review not only as a timeline check, but also as a tool to spur competition between the teams. As simple as this method may seem, it actually created a strong sense of initiative toward achieving goals. The problems surrounding completing the product for consumer use while advantageously launching the product to market had been solved by the deadline. Medical Logics developed a product that has high value to the end user, and was successfully launched to the cardiology and ophthalmology markets through a combination of structured sales teams, marketing at regional conferences, and a support line at the company's headquarters. Playing an integral part in the triumph of this project, I learned that not only is leadership essential to the collaboration of a group, but also that every individual contributing his or her own talents, when done constructively, is critical to the overall success of every project. In no way do I take full credit for the success of the product. However, I believe that although I was one of the youngest members of the team, my quick and critical insight into the inefficient approach initially employed helped yield a more beneficial result.
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Essay Question:
Describe your future career goals.
My career goal in the near-term is to work with a buyout & turnaround group, and my long-term goal is to be a successful entrepreneur. Since my college days, I have wanted to start my own business. Although this sounds simple, in reality being a successful entrepreneur has proven quite difficult. With this goal in mind, I began a career path to provide me with the necessary industry experience and the opportunity to refine my business savvy. I started my career as an investment banker with McDonald Investments, where I learned how to critically analyze companies and interact with high-level executives. As a person with high entrepreneurial spirit, I wanted to learn more about ventures and how companies were formulated and built. I moved on to Vision Venture Fund, a company that provides startup capital to and plays a strong management role in its portfolio companies. At Vision Venture, I have had the opportunity to further develop my analytical skills while acquiring invaluable insight into building a successful business. Additionally, I have the opportunity to influence companies on a day-to-day and long-term basis, and manage employees of different backgrounds with differing perspectives. These experiences have led me to solidify my short-term goal of pursuing an MBA to seek a position with a buyout & turnaround company. For many buyout firms, the hiring requirement is an MBA combined with several years of investment banking or venture capital experience. A Georgetown MBA will further help me tailor my background to achieve this short term goal. My goal of working for a buyout firm is linked directly to my long-term goal of starting my own business. Working with such a firm will allow me to continue to improve my understanding of the intricacies of business and to build the necessary network of colleagues and fellow entrepreneurs to proceed with my own venture. My desire to start my own business stems from wanting personal fulfillment by seeing my own creation succeed, and also so that I have the opportunity to return to society the opportunities it has given me by providing jobs and supporting positive social programs. Although I believe that having an MBA is crucial for career advancement, attending Georgetown will be more than just a stepping stone on my career path. The McDonough School of Business is an excellent setting to continue to develop my entrepreneurial skills. I believe that continued education will increase my technical knowledge of business while polishing the many skills that I already possess. However, the MBA experience does not take place only in the classroom. I look forward to interacting with my classmates and creating the valuable contacts that are increasingly important in today's dynamic business world. Just as the associates built through professional relationships will be crucial in successfully pursuing my own venture, so will the lifelong friends I will make at Georgetown. In addition, because of my entrepreneurialism, my involvement in my personal ventures will continue. This gives me the opportunity to bring valuable real-world knowledge and experience back into the classroom, where I hope to share my lessons from both successes and failures with my colleagues. I truly believe that my real-world experience from the past and what I am continuing to learn, combined with a Georgetown MBA, will create an optimal balance of education and practical knowledge. These highly valued qualities will allow me to fulfill both my short-term goal and eventually my long-term goal of becoming a successful entrepreneur. In pursuing these goals, I keep in mind that 'success is a journey, not a destination.'
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Essay Question:
Why will you be an asset to our program?
I decided to write this essay to highlight my entrepreneurial spirit and my undertaking of several business ventures that make me not only extremely unique but also a valuable asset to the McDonough School of Business. In regard to professional ventures, my employment with the Vision Venture Fund has immersed me into the world of start-up businesses. Through VVF, I work very intimately with the operations and strategic planning of these portfolio start-ups. The experience that I have learned through these companies is invaluable, as I now know how to raise capital for a start-up, and how to plan the initial operations and strategy for such a venture. In addition to the start-up companies that I work with professionally, I am involved with a few ventures of my own. Either through being invited to join or starting the venture myself, I now am working with three new companies: a healthcare consulting firm, a firm that provides outsourcing of financial and analytical needs, and a clothing fashion & design company. Working on new ventures is rewarding not only due to the potential for high financial return, but also because of the great deal of practical knowledge that I have acquired. Through these ventures, I have learned the importance of strategic marketing, managed international networks, setup a national symposium of industry experts, and have immersed myself into graphic design projects (which I have been told I am quite talented at). My background of entrepreneurship will serve as a wonderful enhancement to the MBA program and my fellow students. I feel that the entrepreneurial spirit is an American tradition. I hope to be able to inspire other students to consider an entrepreneurial venture at some point either through learning about my past experiences or through my enthusiasm about this subject. Additionally, I intend to continue working with my present ventures to a certain extent while earning my MBA. I anticipate bringing this real-world experience to Georgetown, enhancing the classroom experience while keeping my peers aware of current business trends.
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Essay Question:
Describe a memorable experience.
My time as freshman class president in college is not only one of the most memorable, but also a very significant experience that taught me a number of important lessons. One particular experience taught me the importance of understanding another's position and perspective. This, in turn, taught me to find a way to always search for a compromise between divergent groups. At the end of freshman year, a conflict arose as to the allocation of the class year-end funding. Groups lobbied me for a donation to a charitable organization, while a majority of the students wanted a class-sponsored social event. In making a decision, I spoke to a number of people from both sides of the issue. From these discussions, I learned exactly what each side was trying to accomplish by analyzing the problem from each side's point of view. The party-supporters wanted an event, but not necessarily a free one. The philanthropy-supporters wanted a donation to a charity, but had not considered an event to raise additional funds. From negotiations, the executive committee and I decided to have a semi-sponsored social event that would generate funds through an admission fee and raffle. Ultimately the event was successful, as many students attended the event and enjoyed themselves; at the same time, a large donation was raised for a selected charity. This may be a simple undergraduate experience, but it shaped my personality in a way which has had considerable impact on my everyday life. Now, in professional matters or otherwise, I attempt to uncover a motive or a need that drives an individual to take a position on an issue. Not only does such insight allow me to be a better negotiator, but it allows me to solve complex problems creatively. Often a compromise is required in order resolve a problem between two parties. Whether this problem be a social conflict between friends or a hesitation that an individual may have regarding investing with the venture capital company I work for, I am able to use my skill of 'looking into' a problem to insightfully resolve such issues.
