Final Review for 2015-2016 Fudan Global iLab – Wharton GCP and Fudan - MIT China Lab
Wharton GCP
Wharton Global Consulting Practicum:
Wharton Global Consulting Practicum is a cross functional course given within the curriculum of the Wharton MBA program. This year the client is one of the leading network security companies in the world, looking for a Chinese market entry to have their dominant presence and expand their market share. The client set the objective to identify the government regulations and its impact in terms of network security, the scope of industry verticals that the company can focus on and thereby come out with a go-to market plan based on our research. The definition of project scope was not a small engagement and the team was highly motivated to give out the best and come out with a strong proposal and final project delivery.
Research and Proposal Phase:
Over the period of seven months, the team of 10 conducted extensive research including studying 150+ analyst reports, interviewing 50+ industry experts, academia, client team, client customers and competitors and evaluating different industry verticals to understand the market situation, market potential and devise the final go-to market plan for the client.
The Wharton members visited Shanghai in the second week of January 2016 and the first proposal was presented to the client. The proposal being well drafted was signed and the project was kicked off successfully by the client. Over the course of period, the team had two review presentations with the client to set the direction of the project right and to update the work done.
Final Presentation:
The Final presentation for the GCP happened in Wharton West Campus, San Francisco on 26th April 2016. The Fudan members visited San Francisco to deliver the final go-to market plan along with the Wharton team to the client. Key people representing the client team both from their Asia Pacific and Global head office attended the meeting. The presentation lasted for two and half hours and the client team questioned in detail to understand about the research work mentioned and the strategies recommended in the presentation. Overall, the client was highly pleased with the quality of output the team has delivered. Even the project faculties mentioned that the team’s work was one of the best compared to previous year’s projects and they set a benchmark for the upcoming teams.
The team also arranged “Bring Alive” sessions to connect the client team with few experts, who they interviewed earlier, to engage and facilitate interactions thereby validating the proposed strategies. This was greatly appreciated by the client as it helped them to gain holistic insights.
As a mark of appreciation of team’s stupendous work, the client hosted them and the project faculties a dinner at one of the finest dine restaurants in the city with a personalized menu.
Client Remarks:
"There are lots of synergies with the approach the team has taken which is in line with what we do. There are quite a good number of eye openers from today's presentation which will give us the scope to do more."
"The amount of research work done and the consistent approach throughout the project is greatly appreciable."
Key Takeaways:
- Power of teamwork playing by each one’s strength
- Methodology to conduct research and device strategies
- Resourcefulness of effective client communication
- Ability to work successfully as a virtual team.
(By Wharton GCP team)
Dow Corning
Arranged by MIT Sloan Action Learning program, four teams of China Lab, which is jointly run by Fudan University and MIT Sloan, have completed the four-day visit in MIT from 25 to 28 April, 2016. The days spent at MIT is enjoyable and unforgettable, as various activities were planned for the students, including in-classroom lecture sections, interactive communication sessions, and other entertainment activities, so that Fudan students would be able to have courses together with other MIT students as well as to get a deeper understanding about the local lives.
Aside from these sessions planned by school, in order to proceed with the final report, team meetings were also scheduled, and the meeting with MIT mentor was also arranged for our Dow Corning project. To enhance the communication among different iLab projects and to improve our knowledge across various industries, the action learning poster session was held during which everyone could move around and have free discussions about the project he or she had interest.
The final report for the project of Dow Corning was successfully completed and closed on May 6, 2016, which was held at Dow Corning’s headquarter office with participants including Prof. Cheng-Hua Tzeng, faculty mentor from Fudan University; Renee Guo, officer from International Affairs, Fudan MBA Program; and all the 3 students from Fudan team, Jin Wu, Xie Wang and Xiaojing Wu.
During the final presentation, a few issues raised and concerned by Dow Corning during the mid-term review were addressed and analyzed for each of the three prioritized sub-industries, including geographic focus, customer purchasing criteria, stakeholder dynamics and customer unmet needs etc. The report has furnished Dow Corning with solid insights regarding the silicone investment opportunities in China’s infrastructure industry, followed by action oriented suggestions. At the end of the meeting, Simon, Senior Marketing Manager from Dow Corning, expressed his appreciation for all the work the team has done, which in turn marked a successful ending for the project.
Started from the first meeting during Spring Festival, much of time and endeavors have been poured into the China Lab project, and now team members could finally feel a kind of relived after receiving the satisfactory feedback. Looking back at the journey, in addition to the accumulated industry knowledge during the process, other important soft skills were sharpened as well, such as the problem-solving and inter-personal communication skills. It is a memorable practical learning experience and the project could not be finished without the help provided by school, teammates from MIT Sloan, and project coordinators from Dow Corning.
(By Dow Corning team)
Fulaan
With great expectations and enthusiasm, all 12 Fudan-MIT China lab team members flew to MIT, Boston.
No time to adapt to the jet lag, all members participated in the full schedule, they were shocked not only by MIT students’ creative minds and various activities, but also by the history of MIT. What’s more, MIT’s preparation was very considerate and all related information is included: map, travel information and cases for the upcoming class.
The way in which professor gave his lectures was the most impressive. The class called “management in adversities” was given by Prof. Peter Kurzina, Senior Lecturer in MIT. He didn't use old or out-date cases but fresh new ones, and didn't talk a lot but gave the students a lot of spaces to express their ideas. He didn't give the analysis but invited CEO of the company that case mentioned to give a speech, which could really help the students understand what the business is like in the real world. He didn't ask questions a lot but required all the students to ask tough questions. The students’ performance was also impressive. Interactions and high quality questions are strong power to push the students to think deeply.
During the 4-day visit, the team didn’t only learn more about what the business education should be like in top business school, but also determined the objects and structure of the final report.
On May 12th, the final report was delivered to Fulaan and received positive feedback.
Though the team was facing some problems, they still showed good performance in milestone management. They caught all key milestones and fulfilled the project in time. Through the project, team members learned that besides working hard, improving the ability to manage client’s expectation was also very important.
(By Fulaan Team)
Shui On
On April 25th, Fudan-MIT China Lab team flew to MIT in Boston to attend the action learning activities and at the same time discuss the final presentation for the projects. During the 4-day intense training courses, team members have learnt MIT’s purpose on designing the China Lab projects and had good discussion with MIT teammates and professors.
On May 10th, Fudan team gave the final presentation to the client, InnoSpace. After the 3 months’ preparation, three teammates were quite confident that the presentation will give tangible advises to client. The final presentation consists of three parts, first is the review of mid-term report and some amendments, then is the high level recommendation for client’s strategic positioning, and finally, detailed action plans were listed for them to implement. Though the management team raised many questions, the project team changed their ideas with the executives in the hot debate, and the result finally got approved. Every teammate has learnt a lot from the China Lab project and it’s been a wonderful 3 month learning experience.
(By Shui On team)
INTSIG
The action learning program for Fudan-MIT China Lab was held during 24th April and 29th April 2016. INTSIG project team had a great time in MIT campus, the students were impressed by the MIT academic atmosphere and architectures with modern technology and innovation.
It was not surprised that MIT was genuinely the top tier university all over the world. In the case study session, MIT even invited the senior management and the author of case that students discussed in the class. The real business environment, the logical and structured teaching and exciting interactive were MIT’s cutting edge and secret of success. Faculty Mentor, Prof. John Grant offered students great insight for their iLab project.
The most interesting event was the iLab projects road show. China Lab and India Lab - all the projects were shown as colorful and well-organized posts. It exhibited all the projects from other universities and offered chances to exchange conversations with other student. More ideas and innovative sparks generated during the session.
After the memorable farewell party, the students went on the departure journey. Time flied and the emotion gestated during the short time and friendship between the two majestic countries would exist forever. Thank you, MIT!
The final presentation for Fudan-MIT China Lab INTSIG project was held on May 12, 2016, right in the head office of INTSIG. Fudan team members, Li Rongchen, Hong Sha, Ge Kaiwen, together with Faculty Mentor, Prof. Tzeng Cheng-Hua and Renee Guo from International Affairs Office attended the meeting.
INTSIG’s Vice President Shaobo Liu and Kay Liu from marketing department attended this meeting. INTSIG has been seeking the future opportunities in the field of marketing automation and predictive marketing in China. The company launched this new business plan and took the thoughts into practice. They would like to know more details about pricing and marketing positioning after the mid-term report. The team did several industry interviews and surveys in order to capture the market trend and first-hand information. The structure and sessions in the report have been discussed for many times. The version of report has been modified again and again and finally took the present shape.
Since the business had already well developed in America and still remained unexplored in local market, the project team clearly outlined the market strategy and drew the prospective map for INTSIG’s five-year plan in the near future. The potential opportunity, the market prediction model, the reference pricing method and the development and competitive strategy were covered comprehensively.
Mr. Liu raised several questions and talked about the feeling and his new thoughts. Both sides involved in the mutual discussion and finally reached the agreement of the report. It brought the whole team a sense of accomplishment that the client company was satisfied with the work.
(By INTSIG team)
