GAOP conference and field trip

Last week, I joined the GAOP conference which is an event designed for information sharing across the colleagues. As an intern working on a project regarding the parts business under the engine business unit, I was invited to this conference to get more involved in the business development discussion and to know more people.

I was able to talk to my sponsor again as he is also the sponsor for this event. I was able to understand his perspective on a global business basis. More than that, I realized that China is a heavily weighted factor for this company in a triditional industrial sector.

Given it is a global event, I met up with couple of colleagues from China. It was good that I was able to communicate with them in Chinese. Moreover, I got to understand the dynamics in China for this US company in China. The established JV partnership did bring this company a valuable asset that enables it to generate sizeable revenue and profit in China. But it also generates some problems that is hard to be predicted 20 years ago. Growing as fast as China now, the company will have to think through the opportunities as well as risks when handling those problems.

I also completed a field work to a distributor branch last week. Talking with the people working directly with customers, I captured first hand market information as well as insightful knowledge on customer behavior, which would eventually support my solutions on the problem that we are facing now.

My internship has 5 more weeks to go and my hypothesis has been formed. I would like to use those 5 weeks to size the opportunity that we can capture with a work plan.

Hanging out in Chicago

It was a long weekend last week for the independence day. All of the interns left this small town to enjoy the long weekend. I decided to go to Chicago to hang out with my friends.

On Friday, I watched a firework show sponsored by the company that I interned with. It was not a big show if compared to the government organized firework show in China. But is was great to sit outside and watch it with friends around.

After some shopping on Saturday afternoon, I hung out with couple of Chinese MBA folks in Chicago. We had some great and cheap Cantonese food in China tonw and headed over to the bar area. Unfortunately, a friend of us locked his car key at the trunk. We felt very sorry for him as he was so worried about it. We stayed with the friend and waited until he figured out how to get the key out.

Then, I had a big day on Monday. I want boating! It was my first time in US or let me say, it was my first time boating with my friends only. We had great weather that we prepared enough foods for this event. After one hour sailing on the lake michigan and enjoying the sky line of Chincago, we anchored somewhere in the lake. I jumped into the lake and swam. But the water is still very cold. It was a great Monday and I was glad that I spent time with my friends. I am pretty sure that I will come back to Chicago again this summer.

I am almost half way on my intern. Wish myself good luck.

Fun Seeking

It is a little akward for me to live in a very small town in mid-west US as I was born and raised up in a city with 10 million people. In order to be not so boring after work or during weekends, fun seeking became a very important factor to keep live sustainable.

The good thing in summer is that a lot of interns around the same age do live in the town, you can either organize event or join event to know the people, thus enlarge your social circle. Last week, a birthday party was hosted at my place, although it was not my birthday. More than 15 people showed up and we definitely had a great time. Chinese food was prepared by a friend's parents and drinks were plenty. I love the sweet and sour rib. BE CAREFUL, this is not the sweet and sour thing at Chinese restaurant in US, this is REAL Shanghai family style sweet and sour rib. For the desert, I like the "OREO meatball". It was prepared by an undergraduate intern and he had to smash the OREO biscuit by hand. I wondered if his hand was clean enough to make it. But it tasted good!

Besides those events, I joined some sports game just to keep myself healthy, especially when I noticed that I am in my 30s. Playing basketball with younger folks is not a easy job, considering I am a non-atheletic Chinese. During weekend, I drove to Indy for hanging out with folks who are smarter as they decided to live in a real city. There are definitely plenty of restaurants and bars on the massachusette avenue in Indy. Being socially inactive for the first year of my MBA program, I certainly should know more people so that I can know a little more about everything.

Getting to know the company and the people

I have spent 2 weeks with this engine maker in the very center of USA. At this point of time, I really want to say that it is a great company. 2 speeches by the CEO and president of the company really impressed me by their honesty and open mind.
First, I never believe that any single company is perfect while many of company leaders would say the good things about the company and minimize the part that should be taken care of. This time, it is not the same, the good part of the company is backed by solid facts. The hard time it experienced is reinforced and recorded for future reference.
Second, it is a US company. I did not see many US companies that believe in foreign leaders. I think I can understand it. I probably do the same if I were a leader of a Chinese company operating in China. It is different again. Talents from any counties are appreciated here simply because they are equally treated. Shortcomings and advantages are both recognized.

Out of the work, I hung out with the interns here. Most of the people are great while I can see some biased attitude towards individuals. I hope this internship experienced can change people's mind and attitude.
Although it is a little boring in such a small town/village, the interns are trying their best to have a good summer. Yesterday, we planned to go bawling, but it closed at 9:00PM. We then decided to go to the most popular place for hanging out, Walmart.................. Although it was pretty interesting an experience, I do not want any of my friends in Shanghai know that I did spend my leisure time in Walmart. I hope that I can find something good to do this weekend. Probably I will check out Indy. At least, it is a city.

My First Entry

I am a MBA student from University of Michigan. Starting on June 6th, I will have my summer intern at Cummins, headquartered in Columbus, Indiana. I am part of hte corporate strategy team and I will play as a project leader on my individual project and as a team member on a group project. My individual projet is about the parts business of Cummins and I will drive the process to find hte potential business growth opportunity. For my group project, I am with the other 2 team members to find solid profit potential in South Amercia. I am expecting a lot of challenge from such an experience this summer. Because this is the first time for me to work in US and also this is the first time for me to drive a large strategic challenge myslef alone. I also believe that my work will bring real impact to a fortune 500 company. I am nervous about this challenge and also excited about it. I hope things will work in the coming weeks.