Money Time

Hi All

Getting to the last three weeks of my internship and I am starting to see the end. On Friday we were taken, all interns, to the Craftsman Experience and the Kenmore Studios in downtown Chicago. The Craftsman Experience was very impressive, and it is a great marketing tool. I think the Kenmore Studios could be better in presenting our products, but I was still very pleased to see the different products and to tell what stands behind each one. This week suppose to be the busiest week when we host the face to face negotiation with all the major home appliances vendors in the world to provide the next Kenmore products in the next five years. I can't even disclose how much money is on stack but I'm sure there countries in the world with GDP lower than that.

I have many things to learn from this process which I'll be able to take forward for the rest of my career, form the professional aspect, as well as from the personal aspect. I see how different people handle in different ways with such a stressful process and I should remember and learn from it. Personally I learned that it is never enough to question my numbers. In such a complex modeling there isn't enough verification, there always can be more.

Although the excitement of this process, I must admit that I'm looking over the horizon over my fast approaching vacation. I can't miss Ann Arbor more than I already miss it and I hope the three more weeks I have will fly by.

Yoav.

Hi!

I finished already seven weeks of my internship, which means that less than half to go. I didn't understand how much time I am working at my Business Unit until the second group of SLP interns joined the program three weeks ago and I saw how much I can help them or at least point them to the right person. It makes me feel good about how much I integrated with my team. The project is on the fast track and we are on schedule, which is impressive as this is the biggest competitive strategic sourcing the company has done. I also started meeting both my Business Unit President and my Senior Vice President on a weekly basis, so I get better understanding about the strategy behind the process. Last week I even participated at the board meeting of my Business Unit and learned the future growth strategy of Kenmore, Craftsman and DieHard.

Another exiting event that happened this Friday was going to a Hot Road race in Route 66, where I was a guest of DieHard which is the main sponsor of one of the teams that competed. I never imagined I would be in such an event.

One last thing I would share in this post is how much Chicago is amazing in summer. I tour the city, going to its museums and walking a lot in downtown where I live. Right now I came back from the movie Transformers 3 which was almost entirely filmed at the block I live in and where the teater is located. For the first time in my life I stepped out of a movie and felt I am part of this movie, a feeling which was much more exiting than the real movie...

Week 5

Hi,

Until now I told you how much I like my fellow interns, Chicago and how much I like to come back in some of the weekends to Ann Arbor, I didn't tell you about my project.

Well it is about time I'll do so. Sears Holdings is divided to approximately 32 Business Units which each acts as a company with its own P&L. I am a proud member of the Brands business unit which is called KCD after the top three brands Sears Holdings holds- Kenmore, Craftsman and DieHard. I joined the Strategic Sourcing Group and I am working on one of the largest sourcing in the world - choosing the vendors that will manufacture the Kenmore home appliances for the next five years. Kenmore is the leading brand in terms of market share in the U.S but the manufactures who build it are Whirlpool, Frigidaire, Samsung, LG, etc. In total the result of this initiative will be almost $10B contracts, so I see many zeroes and trying not to make any errors while modeling their bids.

Although I am part of a very professional and experienced team I also have my own responsibilities that sometimes I am amazed that I own them. My team and I prepared the Request For Proposals (RFPs) for the different segments (refrigerators, laundry, cooking and dishwashers), evaluating the returning bids, meet the vendors who demonstrate the features and modeling the financial aspects of the bids in order that in the end of the process we will choose together with the buyers and the product managers which vendor will manufacture what. Because this process is very fast and occurring during the summer, I am very fortunate to be part of it.

I think it is enough information for one post, but I will keep you updated how it is evolving in the future.

Yoav.

Hi

This week I ended my third week of my internship which means that I already finished 25% of it, time flies by… I also just moved to downtown Chicago after seeing what the suburbs have to offer (which is not much…).

I know it is about time I will share more about what I am really being paid for during my internship, however in this post I would like to share with you what I am doing in the weekends and I will explain why. My wife is staying in Ann Arbor because she works as a Research Specialist at the Physiology Department which is part of the Medical School, Therefore until now every weekend I found myself driving eastward towards our beloved Ann Arbor. This is the reason I would like to share with you the amazing experience of Ann Arbor in the summer. Many people might come with their partner to Ann Arbor and the partner might find himself or herself during the summer in Ann Arbor, thinking there is nothing to do in a college town during the summer vacation. Well, they can’t be more wrong- Ann Arbor is amazing during the summer! Unfortunately people don’t know how many things are there to do here. Last week there was Taste of Ann Arbor where Main Street was closed down to traffic and all the restaurants from down town opened booths and sold small plates that represented their menu. All the samples where very cheap and where paid for with coupons the people bought. After spending coupons that cost us $15, we couldn’t eat any more. Another event was the Peony Festival at the Nicholas Arboretum that attracted nature lovers who wanted to see the rare one week bloom of those amazing flowers. During the summer nights there are also public screen of movies at the diag and in general there is a great student atmosphere thanks to many students who are doing summer semester and can be seen in their front yards playing beer pong inside big inflatable pools. As much as Ann Arbor has a feeling of an easy going place, the summer enhance this feeling much more and I am enjoying every weekend I am here.

Therefore if anyone is scared from the fact that he or his partner will have to do the summer in Ann Arbor, he should not have any worries, rather he should open the calendar and start planning an amazing summer time.

Yoav.

Chicago, week one

Hi all,

Last week I started my internship at Sears Holdings which is located at Hoffman Estates, a suburb north west of Chicago. I must say that most of the time I am embittered why Sears is not located anymore at Sears Tower in Chicago. I can't imagine a nicer place to work than the tallest building in America, however that's life and in 1992 the company moved to the suburbs due to amazing tax break they received from Illinois. Therefore right now I live in Extended Stay America in Schaumburg which is next to Hoffman Estates, and I am waiting that my downtown apartment will be ready in two weeks. Hence I don't have any Chicago's experiences to share other than realization that the suburbs of Chicago is a never ending "Desperate Housewives" neighborhood. At least my morning commute is short...

During the first three days of the internship we had a really nice orientation. We learned about the company and learned about each other which is what I enjoyed the most. The power of the Senior Leadership Program is the communication among its participates and the mutual help. In order to achieve it we must be friends with each other and the program director tried really hard to make it happen, and very successfully I should say. I became to know fellow MBAs from all the top 10 programs and I must say that after hearing about their experiences in school, both academically and socially, I became a much bigger advocate of Ross. The combination of the experiences we are getting in Ann Arbor and how much we are enjoying it all is unparalleled to any other top program. In the end of the day we are all working together, getting the same compensation, therefore I can't find any reason not to attend Ross. I'm sure next year I'll be a much better Student Ambassador...

As for the internship, well, it just started this week and after the great time we had in the orientation I worked only one day at my department so I will be much more knowledgable to speak about what I really do in my next post of the blog...

Have a successful Memorial Day shopping,

Yoav.