Networking is actually part of the job

Hello, this is me again. This time I am going to talk about networking in the office. Has been 5 weeks already of my internship, and as we have been advised in school, networking is very important at Citi, as at any other company.

The good thing is that Citi also knows this, so they foster networking among people in the organization. Even, for my first week, I ad already a mentor assigned. Every intern has one, so this mentor may help you to answer all the questions that you cannot ask to HR, and help you introduce to new people. She, my manager, and my teammates have been the main sources to be introduce to more people. And it started naturally, since in order to understand the projects or the landscape, it is important to meet with many people, and those people will refer you to other group, and so on an so for. Also, I reached out the people who interviewed me, and they also gave me more contacts. Now I have a list of people that I cannot find the time to schedule meetings with them. I would say that in this 5 weeks I have been successful at creating networks within the organization. Part of it has to do with my genuine interest of knowing more people and understand what they are doing. Which in the end will give me a better perspective to decide in case that a job offer comes. People have always different roles, backgrounds and experiences with the companies they work for, so networking for me is helpful for both understanding the organization and gaining future sponsors within it.  Since Citi foster this, as I said, it is relatively easy that you can meet with senior people, and in the end, those are the people who can give you a better advice. Another piece that has been critical, is come prepare to those networking meetings. It is like the process that OCD gave us for recruiting. First send a short e mail explaining who are you and you motives, schedule a meeting. And come prepare for it. Understanding your objectives and of course, have clear and smart questions. That is the way  they automatically will say. “You should meet x” so there you go, you have another contact. Ok, that’ it for now. I’ll keep you posted. 

A well-rounded work plan

HI Everyone, it has been a while since my last post. And time has gone pretty fast for my internship; I cannot believe I am halfway already. This is my 5 week out of 10. Currently, after having several discussions with my manager and teammates, I came up with a defined work plan. It was not surprising for me that some thing will be ambiguous, and that I would have to step up and starts my own work plan. By saying this I don’t mean that they didn’t know what I have to do, but I am saying that they were not 100% sure about what would my contribution look like. Which doesn’t surprise me, as in my previous work at P&G things were like this, but I can say that it is a much better way to learn things and develop different skills. It is like a consultant job, without the same pay but certainly without the same working hours. Well, to make the story short, I realized that I could match my personal objectives in terms of skills/experiences to gain, and what Citi needed. So I came with 3 different projects a) Develop a competitive analysis of different potential suppliers b) Develop the template/framework of the steps to follow in order to close a deal of a new business model, with the top retailers of US c) Asses the social media landscape and come up with a strategy that differentiates Citi (and its new business model) from other companies. It took me several meetings and talking with different people to gain sponsors for my projects. Citi, as any other big organization, works a lot with this corporate dynamic of aligning different stakeholders. However I am very satisfied with the outcome, as I will build experience in strategy, business development and social media. Now, in order to get things done, I built a timeline, develop and aligned different frameworks to approach each of the projects, and committed my deliverables, in a very specific way. For example, in the social media I will deliver an executive summary in a word document, and a deck with all the insights, next steps and success criteria. This may sound logic, but when it comes to people, everyone is different. I learned in my previous job that it is better to over communicate and set the right expectations, using measurable criteria. (Similar to the START concept we revised at MO 503). It happened some times before that if these things are not stated, there may be some miscommunications. The other thing is that in big companies, that work as matrix organizations, you never know when a person working close to you moves to a different role or simply leaves the company, so it is very important to have a clear work plan.

That’s it for know, but I’ll keep you posted.

The Worls Soccer Masters Tour

Hello everyone,

I just landed back in Michigan after a demanding weekend in Miami. As I wrote before, we had an event last weekend with several goals at the same time. We were inviting two groups of clients, who had to be managed separately, and also had to manage two mini-events outside of the stadium to reach the public. As I’m sure everybody knows, managing four things at the same time can become an impossible task and this was not the exception. Several problems appeared along the way and a lot of “on the spot” decisions were taken. It’s not really important to get into the details; the important thing is that the final outcome satisfied all the people involved. The worldwide CEO of the Aftermarket Division was present at the event, as well as the Director of the Aftermarket Division for Argentina and the Vice-President of the Aftermarket Division for the US. They all approached me on Sunday to express their satisfaction with the final outcome of the event. If I have to make any recommendation to everybody who is reading, that would be to make your team like you as a person and not just as a co-worker, you will be amazed of the results you will get from them when you achieve this. By the way, the soccer game was also amazing and I’m attaching two pictures, one of the press conference and another one of the match. Let’s see who recognizes the players at the press conference.

Now is Monday and the event is over so we need to look forward towards the next challenges. The strategy for commercial cooperation in Mexico has to be outlined and that’s why I will be flying shortly to Ciudad de Mexico to start the initial meetings with our colleagues over there. I’ll let you guys know how that journey ends; I hope that with a good ending as well.

My first two weeks in New York Citi- Part 2 of "from CPG to Banking"

Hello everyone,
Has been a while since I posted my first blog. You may think that the title of this  second one is a miss spelling, however it is not. I just didn't want to be one more person talking about Citibank, as I just saw that my intern classmates have been very active.
The ver first week went by very quickly. We had a trainning during the whole week, along with some networking events and an speech of the CEO of Citibank consumer banking division, Manuel Medina Mora, who happens to be a mexican that has a long career in the banking industry. This conference, was just the cherry on the cake that confirmed the things that I am enjoying at Citibank. First. Diversity of backgrounds, and second,  approachable senior management. As I consider both relevant elements when it comes to build a strong organizational culture. Also, they come very useful when evaluating whether I see myself  working for Citi in the future, because, from an international student perspective, I would not like to be working in a place in which thediversity in background is not appreciated. Another thing that I have enjoyed from the program so far, is the caliber of the interns. I can tell that I've had interactions with people from all of the  top 15 business schools. Which has been a great opportunity not only to expand my network, but also to realize that The University of Michigan, Ross Business School, is very well positioned in the MBA market. Now, starting my second week, I have to confess that  going back to work after eleven months, is like working out, you need to keep up with your condition! It is not a big deal, but it is something that needs to be practiced again. Additionally, as it has been for other classmates, when  defining deliverables, it is not as easy as I had thought. I realized that my project is more ambiguous than I though, as it has to do with launching a new business model, which deals with increasing revenues, strategy and marketing. As a result, there are some roles that are still unclear in my team, but, the upside of this is that I am having the opportunity to work in something entrepreneurial, something very rare in a big organization like Citi. (You may have seen that also Citi just turned 200 years, and it is just  starting the 3th century of life ). The project has been great to leverage on my previous MAP experience as a team-member and on my Strategy classes. So far, I can tell that the project has exceeded my expectations, even though I still have to figure things out and develop many frameworks to deal with the unknown of a new business model.
I will keep you posted.
Miguel

Dearborn, here I come!

Sabrina here again. It's been a while since I talked about my search for my internship, but I've been swamped doing everything that needs to be done to prep for an internships in addition to actually making sure that I can pursue my internship (meaning, making sure I get work authorization to stay in the US for the internship).

In case you were waiting in anticipation, I got my dream job for the summer. Although I was somewhat industry agnostic, I wasn't role agnostic. I wanted a strategy role with a sustainability focus, and I got it. I'll be a Sustainability Intern at Ford, specifically focused on social sustainability. I know that doesn't give you many clues to what my role will actually entail, but picture, working on scorecards for how everything plant and facility will measure itself against water sustainability and human rights objectives, working on a special pilot with the US State Department in Chennai India, and looking at Urban Mobility Futures to help define what potential strategic futures Ford must anticipate and shape their strategy around.

Not only is my opportunity exciting, but I get some incredible exposure to Senior Executives. Not only do I work for the head of Social Sustainability at Ford (who he, himself, was hand selected by Bill Ford for the role), but his boss, the Research and Development function and Ford of India. The projects I am working on are high-profile and game changers for both Ford, the industry and business in general. I'm excited to find my way into Bill Ford's office one day over the summer to share some of my ideas - and this is not even a lofty goal, it is something that seems to be quite realistic.

Lastly, my internship truly represents what I believe work-life balance is. My boss knows the benefits of flexible work arrangements. Even though I am sure that I'll be working lots, mostly on my own accord from my passion for this role, I get the opportunity to work from Ann Arbor two days a week when I don't have meetings at Ford World Headquarters. This way, I get the opportunity to cut down on my carbon footprint and having some time to sit, read, think and ponder some great ideas and solutions to the challenges Ford has put in front of my for the summer.

This is an incredibly exciting opportunity for me - one that I wouldn't have had available if I hadn't come down to the U of M and pursued my dual degree through the Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise.

May 14th can't come soon enough!!

OCD - An International Student's Best Friend

OCD...Let's be honest, not exactly the greatest acronym, but definitely one of the best and key resources to finding an internship, particularly if you are an International student. (OCD = Office of Career Development) Not only do they offer up customized services for International students to allow them to, for example, get comfortable with networking scenarios typical of the US, or partner with embassies that provide guidance on employment authorization (and the general immigration strategies / futures of that particular country), but, they also involve the students. I have the pleasure of sitting in as the Canadian representative on the OCD International Student Committee. On this committee, we have the opportunity to provide feedback to OCD on the challenges and needs of our peers from our home country, work with OCD to address these issues, but also serve as a conduit for information back out the students. As a Canadian, I am particularly excited about working with fellow International students as many of them are looking to potentially locate, full-time, in Canada (particularly because of the differing immigration policies to that of the US).

That's not all! Do you want to learn how to make your LinkedIn profile sizzle? How about participating in a couple group mock interviews before the big interview? Ever thought of how you would pitch an internship to your dream employer? Just need an extra set of eyes on your resume? Well, you've come to the right place. OCD offers all of that. And, let's be honest, some people do not take as much advantage of these resources as they should. They are really your best advocate, support and partner in your internship search!

AND, she'll probably blush for me mentioning her name, but Leslie Mulder is a god-send. Not only is she fully dedicated to a large group of international students like myself, but is also all about helping non-traditional students like myself develop a vision for our internship search and clearly articulate what we bring to the table (whether we're an on-campus or off-campus "explorer").

I *heart* OCD......the Office of Career Development that is.

Getting Off the Ground

Taking longer than normal. Work authorization required. "Some" on-campus opportunities. Worried?

It is important that these expectations are set with International students. No, you won't have all of the same options as a US citizen, but that doesn't mean all is lost. Just check out the OCD Intl Student Career Resources to begin to see the vast list of companies that hired international students for US positions. Although, there are some work authorization hurdles to jump through when it comes to full-time positions, International students do bring different perspectives to any position, which consulting and finance companies (e.g., investment banks) recognize and respect. (That is probably why they hire the most International students of all the on-campus industries that visit our campus.)

However, what if you are not looking to rely on on-campus recruiting? Or, looking for more non-traditional internships and careers, like those in the field of sustainability (my personal interest)? Here are some helpful hints that seem to have worked out. Yes, it may have taken a bit more time than simply reacting to on-campus postings, the world seemed to open with just a bit of soul-searching and relatinoship building.

1. Informational Interviews: The role of "student" is like magic when you want to find something our about a company or position. Use it! I spoke to companies and people who would have passed over my e-mail or phone call when I was working.
2. Club Involvement: From Net Impact, to Revitalization & Business, to Design & Business, all of these clubs not only focused on my areas of interest but allowed me the opportunity to directly liaise with companies that were interested in connecting with students that were looking to find a career in areas like sustainabiltiy and design thinking. Find a club that aligns with your interests and helps build your skills to be marketable in the industry / position you want to work in, and the doors may quickly open!
3. Faculty relationships: Many think of professors and instructors as simply academics, but they know and work a lot with industry. Flex your academic muscle enough, take opportunities to participate and suppor their work / research, and you never know who the faculty might connect you with. My internship came directly from a faculty connection!
4. Support others and they'll support you: There is an incredible network among your fellow students. Understand your peers' goals / career aspirations, let them know yours, and you can work together in your job search that best aligns with your passions and values.
5. Capitalize on your resources: From the Office of Career Development's online website, their staff, and student counselors, these resources are there for you. Utilize these assets! They are free and the more you use them, the better off you are.

It is important that you focus on the positive as you kick-off and persist through your full-time / intern search. I have and am incredibly excited about the summer ahead!

Introducing Sabrina - The Canadian, Non-Traditional Career Pather

My name is Sabrina Sullivan. I am a recovering strategy consultant from Canada that has returned to the world of academic to challenge my thinking, spend time absorbing the thoughts and perspectives of faculty and fellow students, learning from great thought leaders and fellow students, but also finding a job that merges my interests in business, sustainability, design thinking and innovation. Being all about new ideas and striving to have "polymath" on my business card one day, I am all about innovation & ideas, design thinking, foresight (can't get enough of scenario planning and futurism), and a sustainable world and future for us and generations to come. Currently, I am pursuing a dual degree (MBA / MS) in Global Sustainable Enterprise and Complex Systems at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and hope to either stay in the US or return to Canada to kick off my post-graduate career.

Coming into the program as a Canadian student, and one that is looking to pursue a more non-traditional career path, I recognized that there would be to securing an internship in the US. However, I believe that a more challenging search can often be more rewarding. It requires one to truly uncover what they’re passionate about and find the company that fits their values, wants and desires. As such, I wanted to share the ups and downs of my search, and how, even amidst the trials as an non-traditional International student, I have found a fulfilling and challenging internship. For now, I won’t reveal what I will pursue for the summer, but stay tuned…

Company Culture at Thomson Reuters

I'd have to say one of the biggest contributors to my rewarding experience this summer has been the culture at Thomson Reuters. In a way the culture is very paradoxical: competitive but friendly, independent but unified, fun but serious, laid back but intense. This may be difficult to grasp--I'll drill down further.

The people at Thomson Reuters have been nothing but welcoming, helpful, and warm from the outset. Whether approaching managers with questions, scheduling meetings with executives, or working in teams, everyone has been nothing but kind and approachable without exception. It seems like everyone is genuinely happy to be there, and treats eachother as such. I scheduled informational interviews with 2 senior level executives this month, both of whom made time in their schedule for me, gave well over a half hour to converse, and offered to help find an opportunity for me when I graduate. That's hospitality.

Thomson Reuters competes in a very crowded and cut-throat business where many players share an enormous market. Needless to say there is a very competitive mindset at the company, especially towards the big competitors (Bloomberg, etc.). However, Thomson Reuters also does business and partners with many of these very same competitors, creating an ironic, mutual love-hate relationship for employees.

Everyone on the strategy team is a lot of fun. Whether at after-work events, meetings, birthdays, or conference calls, everyone seems to joke around and have fun a good amount. But just as fast as the funny switch is turned on, it can be turned off. When an important project or assignment arises, the intensity immediately picks up and everyone works hard to make sure everything is perfect to the last detail. It's the perfect blend of intensity and laid-back attitude.

Overall, everyone really seems to buy into the company's goals, missions, and claims. No matter who you speak to within Thomson Reuters, they will tell you it is an incredibly exciting time to be an employee, filled with new product launches, industry chaning dynamics, and unprecedented growth. That kind of rhetoric is absolutely contagious, and everyone feeds off of senior management's optimism on a daily basis. That's a culture that I feel comfortable in. One where I can be myself and contribute in a unique way, but also share a common goal to be the best in the business.

Alex Weiss (BBA 2011)

Final weeks…

Hello!

How are you doing? So far I'm doing well, but I'm approaching the end of my internship… well I still have a good 3 weeks or so. This last weeks are going to be very busy because I need to wrap up my projects, speed up the networking and prepare for moving back to Ann Arbor!.

The most urgent thing for me right now is to finish my final presentation of my core project. I want to finish it as soon as possible so I can concentrate my last days into networking in order to leave a fresh image of me into the organization. Actually I think that today I'll share a couple of recommendations that I believe are working well for me:

1. For your final presentation "Tell everybody what you are going to tell to them". Usually I like to share my thoughts on the project to my manager and other stakeholders, actually this is something most people do, but I like to take it one step further. I like to present and discuss the final presentation structure, drafts, etc. with each one of the stakeholders I'll have to present at the end of the project. I know that this kills the surprise and a lot of the wow factor of all the work you have done because by the final presentation they already know all the story… but well, you know what people says: Nobody likes surprises!. And certainly you don't want surprises in your final presentations, so is better to talk to all your audience before the real final presentation in order to get their feedback and have it covered in the final product.
   

   
   

2. As important as the work is… is not everything!. Delivering a great output from your internship work is just half of the battle. You need to create relationships within the company, meet all the people you can and try to know better the company. If you only focus on getting your job done, no matter how good it is, people is going to see it and say "yes that was done by that intern that used to sit in the cubicle at the back" and certainly you don't want that. You would want people to remember your name, have some stories to tell about you and consider you for a full time offer. So one of this days dropping the Excel and going to have lunch with your manager or the guy next cubicle can be a good idea.
   

You may be wondering if I actually follow my own advice… and I can say… more or less, yes, hehe. This week I have a dry run of my final presentation with most of my stakeholders (3 weeks before final presentation) and certainly once I have figured out the final structure I'll go more aggressive in the networking side of the equation. So I'll keep you all posted of hows everything going once I get closer to my last day, for now I think I need to go back to PowerPoint. See you later!

Traditional industry… more dynamic than it looks

Hello everyone!

How's the summer going? Hope everyone is enjoying these days and making good use of them. In my case I'm more than half way through my summer internship at Cummins. It is time to start wrapping up my projects and put everything in order in order to prevent rushing in the last weeks here.

By now I feel like I've learn a lot about the diesel engine industry… well actually about more things because Cummins not only does diesel engines but also power generators, exhaust solutions, components and other things. But most of them gravitate around diesel engines. It is really interesting to see how all this businesses, although with the same core components, differ one from the rest. For example, the product characteristics requested for one type of power generator used at a hospital could be radically different from one (of the same size) to be used in a power generation plan.

One thing that surprises me the most is the fact that diesel engine-centric products have a lot of way to go in terms of growth. Probably you, as me in the beginning, could think that the oil-feed engines would have their days counted, but actually, that's apparently not true. In the short term there are no hybrids and other "greener products" that actually could cover, at reasonable cost, the space that diesel engines cover in trucks and industrial applications. Additionally, the new environmental regulations and continuous improvement of companies like Cummins are making the old Diesel Engine a way efficient and clean power source, even comparable to some of the most recent alternatives. And don't get me wrong, Cummins is working hard to provide alternative power sources and greener alternatives; actually they are one of the world leaders in emissions control equipment.

Additionally, there are still a lot of opportunities to grow geographically especially in emerging markets like the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) were an ever increasing economy demands more power and equipment. So we should not disregard the potential of companies working into the "traditional" industries. That would be one of my key learning from my internship. I feel that sometimes, as MBAs, we feel that the only way to work in a dynamic environment with high growth potential (personal and professional) would be in the high tech, green or CPG industries. Now, after my internship at Cummins, I think that some "traditional and established" industries could also offer exciting experiences and we need to be open to understand and consider them as a place to develop as professionals.

It's been a week and I'm still alive : )

First of all, I need to clarify my blog topic switch. My internship journey for social venture capital didn't work out well, so I decided to work for Samsung Electronics. Currently, I'm a part of a strategy team in a semiconductor division. I'm really sorry for the late notice.

Well, it's been a week since my internship got started. Time does fly by~ First three-day of internship was orientation, and I want to share what I have been learning so far.

1. Samsung's super tight security; worse than U.S. airport

I have never been in a place where I have to seal up my MP-3 player in a plastic bag, cover my cellphone camera lense with a small sticker, get a security tag on my bags, and double check my enterance permit. It was worse than U.S. airport. All these are for preventing information leak against Samsung product/strategy. Do I have to do this every morning during next 8 weeks??!! Sigh...

2. MBA interns from all over the world

There are about 30 MBA interns from Spain, Italy, Romania, England, China, India, and U.S.A. And thay are all crazy about the World Cup!!! I just realized how English is not patient only in soccer. Especially, when US tied with England, you should have seen the face of my colleague from England.

3. Cultural norms in Korea according to orientation.

I want to share some of Korean norms, which were written in a orientation material. I think these are funny.
-'One of the ways of developing mutual trust and cementing a personnel relationship is the practice of getting closer through sharing alcohol...'
-'How to get out of the drink-to-get-drunk-as-fast-as-possible: Keep your glass half full - never let it be seen to be empty or someone will feel obligated to refill it.'
-'There is no such thing as Dutch treat in Korea. Only one person will pay the bill when two or more people go out.'
-'Try to be aware of subtleties in communication, observing non-verbal and indirect cues that often suggest the true sense of what is being communicated.'
Tough, aren't they? If you want to visit Korea, never forget these norms : )

Next time, I'll share about my internship life.

See ya!!

Socializing in Columbus

Hello fellow readers,

So this is it, my third posting on this blog. So far I have told you about the work, the city (town?, community?) where I live and so other interesting topics… but what's about with the social life when you are an intern?.

Let me say that probably mine is not the most interesting experience in this field, but I'll give it a try. As you may recall I'm doing my internship in a city called Columbus, Indiana. Is a small city (village?) with little to do. Thanks to that, managing your social life become extremely important, you need to organize things with the other interns, do some networking to meet people you can hang out with, etc. Something that has been really useful is that Arjun (another intern from Ross) took the role of a Social Coordinator and frequently organizes card nights, happy hours, trips to watch World Cup games at our local BW3 and things like that. Leveraging this "Social Coordinator" role has proven very successful as slowly (but steady) we have been increasing the number of people participating in all this activities thus relying less on what the city have to offer to the individual.

So probably you are wondering how a typical day looks like? Well I arrive to the office at 8am, check my e-mail, go to a couple of meetings, have lunch, do some slides and around 4 or 5 I'll receive a mail from our Social Coordinator, or someone else, proposing to do something in the evening. So around 5:30 or 6:00pm I would leave the office and go to play badminton, bowling, watch a movie or do something else. In the weekend we have organized events like paintball, trip to Indy 500, going to a food festival at Bloomington an things like that. Thanks to all this organization effort and willingness to proactively look for other people and activity ideas have made my summer internship an interesting experience filled with a lot of activities that I usually wouldn't do while living in a bigger city.

So let's see what happen in the following weeks, we are planning on going to a County Fair (which would be a first time for me), play more badminton, and I'll probably will take my car to the track for a good day of racing (which I haven't done in several years). I'll let you know how this is going.

Job flexibility

Howdy readers!,

Hope you are doing great, last time I wrote here I talked you a little bit about Columbus and what is my work. Today I'm going to update a little bit on that. After a couple more weeks in the job I found that this is an interesting job with nice people. Everyone is very relaxed and there is not much rush around… at least is what I feel. Probably this will sound weird, but this is new for me. Given my previous experience as management consultant I feel this urge to "run" with all the work I have to do and to "react" immediately to every new fact or meeting, regardless the time of the day. Apparently, here people take it a little more relaxed. Don't get me wrong, everybody works a lot, but no 12 – 15hrs a day. That's a good thing, but I have to get used to it, let's see how it works in the next weeks.

Something interesting about how the work is done here in Corporate Strategy is the fact that at the beginning of the summer I just got my project, a deadline and a pat on my shoulder. I have little or no supervision, unless I asked for it via peer reviews or meetings with the Director I'm working with.

This is something I like a lot, because it gives me a lot of flexibility to work at my own pace and to do other things (but don't tell my boss, hehe). The only drawback with this kind of jobs is that you need to be really responsible for what you are doing, I doesn't matter if you work a little everyday or you procrastinate from Monday to Thursday and work like crazy on Friday… you need to deliver sooner or later and you better do it because people is trusting you to do a quality work and have high expectations. Fortunately I think I can do it and I'm pretty sure I'm in the way to do it.

In order to keep myself on track I like chatting informally with my boss in a regular basis and give small updates of how I'm doing and probably ask some questions I could have (like who to talk with to solve an issue or get guidance on an idea). In addition to that, this Friday I want to present the work I have ready into something we call "peer review" were all the people in the strategy group get together to watch presentations of on-going projects and provide feedback and ideas that can be helpful for the owner of the project. I hope that presenting this Friday will help me boost the speed and insight of my project. I'll let you know later how it went.

Well, I think that's all I have to tell you this week… this was a really short and non-insightful post right?. To compensate I'll leave you all a photo of a bunny with a pancake over his head. See you later!

If doors don't open...

then you break through the window, even if that means taking part of the wall down. This is the rule by which most startups compete. Can't believe it has just been a week into my internship, I learnt more about advanced batteries during this week than would have in a term course. These days when I see an iPhone the first thought is no longer the cool user interface or the marketing genius of Steve Jobs, but why on earth does it have such a lousy battery. Sorry, iPhone fans...

And still the task I have been given doesn't seem any less challenging. The task is essentially to get a product (that i know little about) into a market (that I know something about...I think). And whatever "brilliant" ideas I come up with, better work in 3-4 months, as that is the time frame for implementation. Can't just wax eloquent on some vague ideas and leave the gory details of implementation to some poor soul. However, I’m looking forward to the prospect of seeing how my proposals work in real time. And a small company might be the best platform to measure the impact as the number of variables affecting the outcomes is much less.

It is a totally different environment than a big company there are no well defined silos which generally one doesn't get out of. In the first week itself I have already dabbled in engineering, company strategy, competitive intelligence and operations apart from my assigned project. In fact, I spent almost the same amount of time on all these as my assigned project.

And finally, the absolute stress on intellectual property secrecy gives a new meaning to the word paranoid. However, If you are a small company looking to break through windows into the territory of industry leaders, you better do that with as little noise as possible.
(312 words)

Old Ice Cream Parlors, Projects and Bananas!

Hello again!, as you may remember in my last post I told you all that I was coming to Columbus Indiana to start my internship at Cummins, a leading diesel engine manufacturing company. But well I'm here, actually I been here for a little more than a week. My first week at Columbus (and Cummins) has been interesting. I moved from Ann Arbor without more complication than missing an exit at the highway and making an extra 30 min drive. But when I arrived I discovered that I had neither TV nor Internet at my summer house!. So I decided to go out an know a little more of the city. There I found some nice restaurants, a couple of interesting buildings and an Ice Cream Parlor call Zaharakos that date from the early 1900's.

But well, let's leave the city stories for later and go into what is more interesting, my summer internship. As I told you in my first posting I'm intering at Corporate Strategy at Cummins. My first day wasn't very interesting, just a lot of HR stuff; policies of the company, paperwork, receive laptop, learn how to use e-mail (really… they gave us training on that). But later, at the second day, I finally came to the area were I'm working and I meet a lot of the people that I'll be working with during the summer. They all seem to be nice. That same day I also learned about the project… or more precisely, projects, I'll be working this summer.

I cannot tell what are they about, but they look interesting and a little challenging. What I can tell you all is that they are intented to analyze the potential entry to some new businesses. I don't know if any of you are used to work in a strategy project based environment, but this type of projects are usually very abstract and require that one can be comfortable with huge amounts of ambiguity, because usually nobody really knows what the project should be about. Imagine a conversation like this one:

• You: Hello
  


• Manager: Hello (put your name here), you know, we want to know what the opportunity is for the company in the banana business. Wanna do that project?
  


• You: Yes, I like bananas, what kind of bananas are we talking about?
  


• Manager: There are different kinds?! Well… I think we want to explore what bananas are interesting for the company...




• You: Great, any idea where do we want to sell bananas?




• Manager: That's also a good question... and I don't know if we want to sell bananas probably there are other options...




• You: Ok, I'll figure it out

After this conversation you go to your desktop, work for a couple of hours to figure out what "bananas", "participate" and "options" possibly mean and then you are ready to start working on an initial approach to your project… obviously the definitions will change as long as you develop the project and talk to more people… but well, that is the fun part, right?

Personally, I like working in this kind of environment because it has endless possibilities of what you can do and also usually have a very flexible scheme; you manage your time, resources, etc. So as you can imagine I'm happy with my summer assignments and I hope to deliver a quality result for Cummins and probably read about the fruits of my work it in the newspapers in the near future.

Well I think I should go back to work, those… "bananas" are not going to analyze themselves! Haha. See you soon!

Indiana... here I come!

Hello everyone, I'm Edgar, and MBA 1 from Ross... well I guess now is MBA 2 as I already finished my first year at Ross and I'm heading towards my summer internship. To give you some background let me say that: I come from Mexico, I have an undergraduate degree in Mechatronic Engineering (sounds cool, huh) and 3 years experience as management consultant at the BCG.

But, ok, what I am doing this summer? Well, I'm going to intern at Cummins Inc. as Corporate Strategy intern. Cummins is a company with almost 100 years of historty; they are one of the leading diesel engine manufatures in the world. But that's not all; they are also leaders in design and innovation. I wish I could tell you more about the work I'll be doing during the summer, but the true is that I have no idea!, haha. I guess we both should wait till May 10th (my start date) to know. I'll keep you informed.

This summer internship is a great opportunity, because I will be working with a Fortune 500 company at a position that usually is reserved for people with more experience and therefore you don't see at an MBA 1... err... MBA2 resume that often. I'm sure that I'll do a great job, I'm looking forward to start so I can leverage all this experience to continue my professional and personal development.

As speaking of the personal side, the only thing that worries me a little is the town I'm moving to for the summer, Columbus, IN. This is the hometown for Cummins there they have their Corporate Offices. Nevertheless, Columbus is a very small town with little to do... but well, let's see what happens, good thing is that I'll live across the street from a golf course and that Indianapolis is just a short 40 min away ;)

Well, I have to go for now, time to start packing and to take the little MX-5 for an oil change before leaving for Indiana!