The Final Countdown at Harley-Davidson

Three more days to go, and then I’m done with my internship at Harley-Davidson! I cannot believe that 10 weeks passed by so fast, and I’ll be headed back to Ann-Arbor in less than a week. It has been an incredible experience and I’ve learned so much. To all of you interested in general management, I’d highly recommend applying to Harley-Davidson’s Leadership Development Program (LDP) during your internship recruitment. It is probably one of the best rotational programs I have come across, and to add to that, the company is a great place to work in.

Well, I’m sure that a small part of why I am gushing so much about my internship experience is due to my visit to Sturgis, the largest annual motorcycle rally in the US. I am immensely grateful to my project sponsor for giving me the opportunity to go to the rally. It was probably the most memorable experience of my internship – the sight of all the die-hard motorcycling fans, and especially Harley-Davidson fans was quite something!

Harley-Davidson had a custom bike ride-in show at Sturgis, where bikers who had customized their bikes could ride in on their bikes and display them at our booth. Employees of Harley-Davidson then award the best bikes in various categories such as model families etc. It was fascinating to watch how much everyone there had personalized their bikes – and this gave me some good insights for my project, whose focus is to develop a long-term personalization strategy for Harley-Davidson. The picture here shows one of the customized bikes at the ride-in show.



The area around Sturgis is very scenic and most of the bikers who go to Sturgis go for a ride along Spearfish Canyon or to Mt. Rushmore. My project sponsor was kind enough to take me on his Road Glide Ultra for the most memorable ride of my life (so far!) along Spearfish Canyon. The winding roads and sights of streams and lakes on the way amidst lush green trees make for a very delightful experience. The picture here will illustrate what I am talking about.



All in all, this has been a challenging and rewarding internship experience. I really hope that I get to come back, but if not, it was still worthwhile as I learned so much. Again, I highly recommended the program for everyone interested in general management and for all you Harley-Davidson enthusiasts out there. Ride safely!

My project strategy takes shape at Harley-Davidson

(The picture shows the oldest known Harley-Davidson motorcycle which can be viewed at the H-D museum in Milwaukee)

With 2 weeks to go, I am getting into fifth gear to shape my recommendations for my project on developing a long-term personalization strategy for Harley-Davidson. As I had indicated in an earlier post, this strategy is a holistic look at what the company can do over 3 horizons to personalize the entire customer experience. And believe me, the project is as interesting as it sounds!

The Leadership Development Program (LDP) has an annual conference where all the LDP interns, incumbents and alumni gather over sessions and dinner. This year we had a workshop on globalization and sustainability. We split up into groups and brainstormed over the two topics and then got back together to exchange our ideas. The sheer knowledge and creativity of the group impressed me a lot – I always find it amazing that companies do not use more of their brain power to generate innovative ideas everyday!

The workshop was followed by a panel discussion on our international efforts, which was again very candid and interesting. We ended the sessions with a town hall with our CEO, Keith Wandell, and COO, Matt Levatich on the topic of innovation. This was followed by a dinner where I got to meet with other LDP alumni and some of the most interesting people in the company.

Harley-Davidson has a plant in York, Pennsylvania, which is undergoing tremendous transformation right now. We visited the plant yesterday via Baltimore, MD. We hired 2 cabs from the Baltimore airport and drove down to the plant. The visit was extremely well-organized, and we had the opportunity to meet some very impressive people at the plant. The strength of Harley-Davidson is the passion of its employees for the product, and more so at the assembly plants. This was very evident when we heard the pride with which all employees spoke about their work. Being a consultant, I have worked with many companies over the last 8 years, and I cannot think of a single other company that even comes close with respect to both, customer and employee loyalty.

As you must have guessed by now, I have become a big fan of the company, and for a person who has never had anything to do with the manufacturing industry or motorcycles, that’s saying a lot! My final post will wrap up my time at Harley-Davidson, and also have incredible pictures of my trip to Sturgis. Till then, have fun riding!

Mid-point at Harley-Davidson

It’s been over 5 weeks at Harley-Davidson, and I can’t believe how fast the time’s gone by. I had a mid-term review this week, which went well (I think!), and I am now revving up for the last leg of my internship.

There are 2 companies in Milwaukee that everyone recognizes and wishes to be a part of – Harley-Davidson and The Miller Brewing Co. The Miller headquarters is just opposite the H-D headquarters, and that’s where we went for the ‘insider’ or ‘hard-hat’ tour of the Miller Brewery. We were taken to the plant, where we saw the bottling and packaging process. The best part of the tour was the free beer, of course, but what made this even better was that we got to go to the employee bar inside the corporate office! Imagine having a bar inside the office, where all employees get absolutely free beer everyday! Apparently even the conference rooms out there have taps! How people ever get any work done, I wonder!

Milwaukee is enclosed by Lake Michigan on one side, and that part of Milwaukee is very popular for its scenic beauty, beaches and jogging treks. The COO of H-D hosted an event for the LDPs (Leadership Development Program) last week at Bradford beach. The COO, Matt Levatich, is an LDP alumnus himself. The LDP program provides many such opportunities where the LDP interns and current incumbents (full-time employees currently undergoing the rotation) get to network with the leadership team. I met a lot of interesting people at the Bradford beach social, and tasted the famous Milwaukee custard.

The Harley-Davidson Foundation works with many non-profit organizations to support the communities in which the company has facilities. We met with Gail Lione, the President of the Foundation, who has been closely associated with the LDP program for many years. The work that the HD Foundation does is phenomenal, and what is especially impressive is how just 4 people manage to accomplish so much. In all companies that I work with, I always look for a strong community involvement, and opportunities for employees to volunteer. I followed up with Gail after the meeting, and volunteered at a local public school to read to young children. I was paired with a 6 year old girl by the name of Shakira, and we spent about 30 minutes reading a story book. She was absolutely adorable, and after the session, she drew a picture of me with lots of hearts around it, and wrote ‘I love you’ and gave me the picture. I now hang the picture proudly at my desk!

Well, as you can see, an internship at Harley-Davidson is a fantastic opportunity to be part of a prominent program, along with the challenges and perks that come with it. I don’t remember the last time I’ve enjoyed working so much, and it promises to get better with a trip to Sturgis planned soon! More details about that, and my attempt at learning to ride in my next blog. Have fun riding!

Life at Harley-Davidson gains momentum

Having completed 3 weeks out of my 10 weeks of internship, I now feel that my project is taking shape. The LDP program here is quite an intense experience, and you are evaluated not only on your project deliverables, but also on how much you have networked within the organization, and on how many H-D events you have attended. This is true even for the internship, and so my days are packed with work and lunch & dinner events!

I had a fantastic trip to our Kansas City plant recently where I saw first-hand how the fuel tanks were fabricated, then were customized with H-D’s famous paint options, and then how the motorcycles were assembled. The Harley culture seems to be prevalent even in the plants where all employees there were very warm and helpful. And of course, I did not miss out on the famous barbeques of Kansas City at Smokehouse!

Summerfest saw millions of visitors flocking to Milwaukee as usual. As I had mentioned earlier, Harley-Davidson has its own stage, and I got VIP treatment as an employee – I got to watch the shows from the H-D deck. In the picture, you can see Counting Crows performing at the H-D stage.

Part of getting to know the American culture is getting to know the two most popular games in the country – American football and baseball. I got to know the first game at Ann Arbor itself, in the largest university stadium in the US. I watched my first baseball game ever in Milwaukee last week, with their local team ‘Brewers’ playing against the San Francisco ‘Giants’. The game’s quite slow, but people go mostly to hang out with friends and drink beer and eat hot dogs! I did all of that during the last game, and although the Brewers lost, it was a very memorable experience!

My next blog will have details about my ‘insider’ tour of the Miller Brewery, a company-hosted Bradford beach social, my dealer visits, and a volunteer opportunity I am participating in with the Harley-Davidson Foundation. Till then, keep riding as always!

Week 1 at Harley-Davidson in Milwaukee

My first day at Harley-Davidson began with a bike night. How very fitting! H-D has a bike night every Thursday outside the H-D museum during summer. Bikers from all over Milwaukee, and not just H-D owners, congregate outside the museum to show off their bikes and enjoy some good food and drinks. It is quite an amazing site!

Besides bike night, there’s another reason that summertime in Milwaukee is the best time of the year. It’s also summerfest time! Check out the website at www.summerfest.com. Harley-Davidson sponsors a stage, and on the first day, I got to watch the show from the HD deck, with free food and drinks flowing through the evening. This privilege continues during the 2 weeks of summerfest late in the evening, and it’s a great opportunity to meet other HD enthusiasts.

My project is turning out to be very interesting as well. For a complete motorcycle novice like me, getting to know every part & accessory that H-D sells on its various models is quite a daunting task, but I am learning so much! The sheer passion of the H-D customers and employees is very infectious, which is probably what makes the work culture here so very easy-going and open.

I am especially looking forward to the plant visit to Kansas City next week, where I get to see how HD manufacturers its legendary bikes. In addition, I will be visiting the dealers to understand the sales process. But the most awaited portion of my on-the-ground research is a currently tentative trip to Sturgis for the largest annual motorcycle rally in the US. There’s no better way to get to know HD customers.

Milwaukee is a very beautiful city, and is very European in its building architecture. The German influence is still very visible in the city’s construction, people and culture. And of course, it is known as the ‘drunkest’ city in the US. Policemen cruise around in their special ‘Police’ edition Harley-Davidson bikes, and also on really large horses! Apparently, the easiest way to get a drunk crowd under control is to show up on either of these 2 beasts.

I am learning so many new things not just from a project perspective, but also about the local people, and the American culture. My next update will have more details about my Kansas City visit, and my discussions with H-D dealers. Till then, keep riding!

Introduction: Summer Internship at Harley-Davidson

I am a first year MBA at the Ross School of Business, originally from Goa, India. I will be interning at Harley-Davidson Motor Company this summer in their Leadership Development Program (LDP). The internship acts as a feeder into their full-time LDP program, which is a rotational program that hones management graduates into general managers. During the LDP, you can choose the functions and assignments you would like to work in, and also the duration of the total LDP. At the end of the LDP, you emerge as Director of the function of your choosing.

My internship assignment is to create a go-forward strategy for HD's Next Generation Personalization (NGP) initiative. NGP is a means for HD to build stronger one-to-one relationships with their customers by enabling them to create a one-to-one motorcycle, thereby deepening their emotional connection to their bikes. My role is to help HD develop a formal strategic approach that optimizes the balance of customer service, minimized waste, individualized product offerings, and complexity concerns for the organization.

I am excited not only about the project, which is a huge jump for HD in their customer marketing strategy, but also about working at HD. The company has a great working culture, where everyone I've met has been friendly, intelligent and humble. I am most excited about the free HD riding lessons and gear that all interns are provided during the internship.

I fully expect this summer internship to be a roller-coaster ride, mainly because of how different it is from my previous experiences. I have worked for 8 years before joining Ross, primarily as a Consultant. I have never worked in ‘industry’ before, as the consultants call any work outside of consulting! I am completely new to the manufacturing industry, and what’s more have never ridden a bike in my life! So I am trying to re-invent myself with this internship.

Watch out for more details about my sojourn at HD in Milwaukee, Wisconsin this summer.