Experiential Learning at its Finest...

One Monday afternoon, I along with 39 other lucky individuals boarded a bus in high spirits despite the grim rainy weather. Our destination: Asia Pacific Breweries where the legendary Tiger Beer is manufactured.

After a quick journey to Jurong where the brewery is located, we quickly went through the registration procedure before meeting Keen, our tour guide for the afternoon, at the main lobby. Stepping into the main lobby was an experience unto itself – you could tell right off the bat that this company takes its brewing heritage very seriously and is also quite proud of it. The lobby was a monument to Tiger Beer and its parent company, with murals showing its history and evolution through the years. Displays of old advertisements and beer packaging also adorned the walls. And off to one side was the doorway leading to any beer lover’s idea of paradise – a beer tavern serving ice cold beers from the tap.

But as with all good things in life, a little patience was required from all of us thirsty individuals. Keen led us out of the lobby and onto an outdoor walkway that led to the manufacturing area located in a separate section of the compound. He enthusiastically took us through a tour of the brewing and packaging facilities where we got to see the mechanized and automated processes that transformed disparate elements such as malt, hops, and yeast into the beverage celebrated worldwide called beer. The pièce de résistance of the whole procedure, in my opinion, was seeing beer being bottled and canned. The packaging area was deafeningly loud, but the view was awe-inspiring as we literally saw hundreds of bottles and cans being filled with beer and then sealed in just a matter of seconds. The machines could process up to 10,000 bottles and 6,000 cans of beer per minute!

Before we knew it, the tour was almost done. We left the processing facilities and went back to the lobby where we began our tour, and we were shown the various beer brands that Asia Pacific Breweries manufactures and/or distributes aside from Tiger Beer (e.g., Heineken, Barons and Anchor). After a quick group photo, it was then a mad dash to the tavern where we were treated to an hour of free-flowing beer sampling!

The Tiger Beer experience at the tavern was certainly the best that anyone had ever had. It was served the way beer ought to be served – ice cold, fresh and crisp. The taste was incredible that I could almost imagine that there are pipes leading straight from the factory and into the tap at the tavern, ready to dish out beer to eager consumers!

Apart from Tiger Beer, we were also treated to other well-known brands such as Kilkenny and Heineken. Everyone had a great time sampling the different types of beer and discussing the merits of each one. However, everything must come to an end and so it was for the brewery tour as well. Sixty minutes passed seemingly like the blink of an eye, and soon we found ourselves boarding the bus to head back to NUS, our minds full of newfound knowledge and our stomachs sloshing with the litres of beer that we had consumed.

-Jennifer Non
Class of 2011

My NUS MBA

Srikanth from the class of 2008, talks about how his MBA helps him in his every day work

First up, let me welcome you all to one of the most exciting MBA programs around the world. You have indeed made a wise choice and I wish you all the very best as you begin your roller-coaster ride in this truly dynamic environment – Singapore.

To introduce myself, I hold an under-graduate degree in engineering and I used to work for Infosys before I came in for my Full-time MBA in August 2006. Subsequently, I landed an internship at IBM Singapore in Summer 2007. I converted this opportunity into a full-time offer later. Since graduating in May 2008, I have been working as a Senior Consultant in the Strategy & Change team at IBM Global Business Services.

If someone asks me “What role does a student closely imitate most of the time during his MBA?” my answer would be quick and straight – Consultant. That I am actually performing this role now is just one of the reasons. There are many more that I hope to elaborate by the end of this article.

1. I know that! >> Right from the day I began my MBA, I had to work on things that I did not have any idea about. For our Corporate Strategy class, we had to analyse the business strategy of Starbucks and subsequently had to use Porter’s Five Forces analysis to substantiate our opinions. If that sounds manageable, think about analyzing the logging industry supply chain and coming up with a pricing strategy for a legal-logging certification service provider – we did that as our Channels and Pricing project. These are industries that none of us had any practical experience in. That did not matter – work had to be done. As a consultant, you would have to work with clients from varying industries. Within the short time available, you need to put in all the effort to understand the client’s business and their operating context. This needs to happen in the background. Needless to say, you need to interact, communicate and understand the client’s specific needs. For that to happen effectively, what happens behind the scenes is critical. If you can see the similarity, you need to know the difference as well. In the industry, stakes are high and real. What you perceive, perform and propose to the client will impact the client’s business. You need to be aware of it all the time.


2. Face the heat >> You might have experienced this already. In our case, we had an accounting workshop and a follow-up test within two weeks of joining the program. With no background in accounting whatsoever, it was a struggle for me (and many others) to get to grips with what was happening around. During the second semester, the course overload was taking its toll on one side. There were presentations and case studies to be completed all the time. On top of that, we participated in three business plan competitions and those came in with their own deadlines. It was pressure situation with high levels of stress constantly. A consultant’s life is no different from that. There could be cases when you are involved in multiple client engagements. Your quantum of work would usually kick off many other offshoot initiatives and projects. Due to that reason, you will always work with tight and short deadlines. You might not even realize when you wrap up with one engagement and the next one is waiting with the wings. And don’t have any doubts about that – it would be red hot as you step in.

3. You gotto convince me >> It happened in every class. The debates and discussions were never ending and the class participation aspect only made it more prominent. I still remember our Corporate Strategy project on Walmart. Our team got so involved in the preparation and the presentation that all of us were defending Walmart’s strategy when we did not have any reason (or incentive) to do that. All because, we wanted to prove to the audience that our opinion and analysis was right and why we think Walmart would only go in a certain way in the future. I’m not sure if we did achieve our objective but we tried – to convince everyone. It happened in business plan competitions as well. We had a sound business idea and we backed it up with a concrete value proposition. But judges in these competitions came in with loads of experience. Some of them were venture capitalists and others were stalwarts from the industry (which we were trying to penetrate). No matter what their question was – we had an answer to it. We at least tried to have one. As a consultant, you will mostly be working on short assignments that have specific objectives. However, due to the timelines and the availability of information (or the lack of it), your findings will be context-dependent. When you bring those in front of the client, usually the C-suite occupants and senior executives, you can be rest assured that you’ll be bombarded with questions and clarifications. Here is where you will need to use your skills from the MBA again. You will have to prepare for all such questions and give convincing responses to your client. Once again, this is real – your preparations and clarifications need to be factual and dependable.

4. People (means) power >> When we joined the program, we had nearly 20 different nationalities. In terms of distribution, we were highly skewed towards India and China – not a surprise. However, we did have representation all the way from the US till Japan. Our instructors used various tactics to get us to form teams for the coursework. Many a times, we were let free to choose our teammates. Over time, I ended up in teams of varying compositions and had a chance to work with people from different nationalities. This made me aware of the cultural and behavioral nuances of people from different parts of the world. This, to me, is a key trait - not just for a consultant, but to any aspiring global leader. Being able to work with people from different cultures and backgrounds is a very important skill. During my first professional assignment, I had team members from Australia, Indonesia, Singapore, China and Malaysia in my team. Since then, each one of my teams has had at least four nationalities. When we go in front of the client, this combination gets more colourful. My last client team had people from South Africa, Germany and Australia. That I had an understanding and experience with people from many of these countries earlier during my MBA certainly helped. I believe this could be the nature of many professional teams – especially if you are looking for a career in Singapore. This is simply due to the multi-cultural nature of the society. Make all the effort to get to know people from as many cultures and backgrounds as possible. On the lighter side, it might even help you in choosing a fine Irish bar or a spicy Mexican restaurant in Singapore.

There could be many more aspects from your MBA that come in handy in your career as a Consultant. However, as I perform my role every day, I get reminded of these things very often and how my MBA is helping me in my profession. Keep these in mind all the time as you make your way through this maze. All said, don’t forget to practise for those case interviews – after all, you need to get your feet in to experience all these yourself. Wish you all the very best!!

-Srikanth Sridharan
Class of 2008

NUS MBA Welcome Lunch 09

The NUS MBA Welcome lunch was organized by the MBA Programs Office on the 18th of August, 2009. The event took place at the Kent Ridge Guild house right next to the business school. An enormous structure adorned with beautiful water fountains, grand spiral staircases and soft, subtle decorations & layouts, the Kent Ridge Guild House is simply magnificent.

The idea behind the event was to welcome all the current batches, including the existing batches, the exchange students as well as the new batches, across all programs, to the new semester. Most of the students by now already knew their classmates, thanks to the OBS program and a week of classes. This afternoon, however, was a great opportunity to get to know people from other batches and cohorts. While many more such formal and informal gatherings would follow, this lunch, simply by the virture of being the first one, had an atmosphere buzzed with curiosity and excitement. More specifically, this was also the first formal interaction between the senior and the junior batches; and gave way to new associations and friendships; especially with regards to the “NUS MBA Buddy” program; since a lot of freshmen had yet to meet their buddies face to face.

The lunch started off with Shipra Gupta, Emcee for the program, welcoming the students and the faculty present. We had our Deputy Dean Prof. Kulwant Singh, Vice-Dean for Graduate Studies, Prof. Susanna Leong and the NUS MBA Academic Director, Prof. Nitin Pangarkar, amongst others, in attendance. Also present were members of the MBA Programs Office, Student Development Unit and the Career Services Office. The event included speeches by Prof Kulwant Singh and by Srinivasa Varadhan, the President of the NUS MBA Student council. Srini advised all of us to develop a positive attitude and to create strong sense of unity and pride within the cohort. Quoting George Bernard Shaw, he also encouraged us to explore new paths to make the most of the time here at the NUS MBA. Prof. Singh addressed the audience with some inspirational words for the new batch and also some encouragement and advice for the seniors.

The most awaited part of the afternoon, namely lunch, was upon us. The food was wonderful, a sumptuous spread amply catered to all cuisines and appetites. It was also a great opportunity to talk to our seniors and take their inputs, advice and suggestions on topics ranging from the best places to eat in the canteen to internships and job hunts! After having our fill of the delicious food and drink, it was time to leave and go back to the reality of classes & assignments. All in all, it was a memorable afternoon!

-Rajas Karandikar

Class of 2011

Summer Exchange Program - Germany

Germany has always been one of my favourite countries and a place I've always wanted to visit. Needless to say, when I found out about the opportunity to go for a summer exchange at the WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management in Koblenz, Germany; I jumped at the chance to experience German life. The programme entitled “The Changing Environment for International Business in Europe", centered around introducing students to the business environment in Europe and included visits to German companies and the European Central Bank

The application process was simple enough, ably coordinated by Zahira Nawi from the MBA Exchange Programme. All I had to do was to fill up the application forms and submit it together with a short write up of my motivations for enrolling in the programme and a copy of my resume.

Not understanding German, I was initially a little apprehensive about how I’d cope over two weeks. However, upon my arrival I soon found my worries were unfounded as most of the Germans I met spoke good very good English so I really had no trouble going about daily life.

WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management is a private university with a rich tradition, with a modern campus set in the quiet German town of Vallendar, Koblenz; one of the oldest cities with a picturesque landscape of castles and hills. I stayed in a little apartment in Niederwerth, a quiet town on an island in the middle of the romantic river Rhine, just ten minutes walk from WHU. My two week stay was an environmental awakening. I was impressed with the level of environmental consciousness in Germany. I soon found myself separating garbage, recycling empty bottles and doing all the things I did not recall doing back in Singapore.

At the broad level, the programme taught us about the history, social and political factors shaped Europe and learnt about the diverse cultural and social differences within European markets. We also discussed how the European Union (EU) policies and in particular, the European Monetary Union has helped to open opportunities and reduce costs for European based businesses. We also had opportunities to interact with German executives and ECB bankers who were happy to share their management and business experiences.

The course was fairly intensive because aside from the standard case studies, there was a final exam and an end of course project where we had to apply what we have learnt to market a luxury product in key European markets. Although the project work was arduous, I felt I had benefited tremendously from the opportunity to work closely with American and European MBA students. The handwork also paid off because our group won second prize for our strategy for manufacturing and distributing Harley Davidson motorcycles in Europe.

The social activities organized by WHU were also excellent. There was an introductory dinner with faculty members and fellow exchange students, barhopping and wine tasting with WHU students. More importantly, the activities provided a good social setting for MBA students from the US, Europe and WHU to mingle and interact with faculty. Through my newfound friends, I found out that the reason why German beer taste so good is because it is brewed in accordance to the purity law (Reinheitsgebot) since ancient times. The only allowable ingredients for German beer are water, hops and barley-malt. Any beer not brewed according to the purity law cannot be legally sold as beer in Germany.

But at the end of the day, no exchange programme is complete without a little fun on the side. I took the weekend break to visit Munich, where I went to Schloss Neuschwanstein (Neuschwanstein Castle, commissioned by Ludwig the Second, and the inspiration behind Disneyland’s Castle) and sampled the best German beer at the famous Hofbräuhaus in Munich.

Overall, I found the exchange programme very professionally run, with a good mix of lectures, interactions with German companies and leisure. More importantly, it gave me the chance to experience German culture and way of life as well as the opportunity to network with American and European MBA students, making this a truly memorable and enriching two weeks.
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- Andrew Cho Kuo Ren

MBA Part-Time Program

Red Yellow and Green

Red, Yellow and Green were the colours of the day, and what seemed like a quirky dress code for a party turned out to be a great conversation starter. For these colours were laced with sinister meanings, ‘available’, ‘taken, keep away’ and the most amusing of them all ‘complicated’!! The event: Fresher’s Party organized by the Student Activities Club at the University Cultural Centre (UCC) on 21st August. It was one of the first fun events organized by the Students’ Council to welcome the new batch of 2009, and what a party it was!

Speculations were rife as to who would turn up in red and who was sure to be green. As for the yellows, they had a hard time trying to explain why exactly they were wearing the colour. Explanations ranged from ‘I had only red and yellow, and yellow was the better choice’ to hilarious denials that seemed to say that the questioner was colour-blind, and that this was actually a shade of orange/maroon.There was also a ‘green quotient’, with some people saying they were ‘more green’ than others..All in all, the dress code was a great success.

And so were the anchors of the day, Hugo and Karla who worked their charms on the audience. They started off the festivities with simple games; one of which was picking on a person, and asking him in turn to pick on the next one by answering questions such as ‘Who do you think is the best candidate in this party for a shampoo ad’. The lucky person with the raven tresses would then have to choose, say, the person who looked most like Jennifer Lopez, while Jennifer Lopez then had to choose the worst dressed bum and so on. At the end of it all, we had the best and the worst dressed people in the party, the cutest person in the party, the shampoo model, the biggest beer guzzler and many other such genuine and dubious distinctions.

The next set of games involved people being divided into teams based on yet again, the color code. Each round required one person from each team to enact a situation with prizes for the best performance. The first round? Nothing less than Marriage Proposals! The budding actresses in the 2009 MBA batch put the Meg Ryans and the Aishwarya Rais to shame with their histrionics! It was hard to say who was blushing more during the winning performance, the contestant or the hapless guy on his knees in front of her!The Greens won the day with the most prizes. They blushed and swooned and sang and serenaded their way to victory. Though the free-flowing red wine might have contributed just a “little” ;)

The piece de resistance was however the paper-dance where couples had to dance on increasingly smaller pieces of folded paper without stepping out of the boundaries. The winner was the couple where the guy gallantly lifted up his partner and swayed to the music. All in all, an immensely entertaining experience for the onlookers.

Games and jokes apart, the party was a great place to meet all our seniors, in an informal setting, get to know them and enjoy some seriously good food ( a God-send for students who have to eat their own cooking on other days).We had most of our senior batch, and the student council members present in full force, as also Caleb from the MBA Programs Office. All of them went around the party talking to the freshmen, and offering to help make our first semester smoother and more comfortable. We clicked pictures, celebrated some birthdays with birthday songs and bumps!; and got to know our friends and their talents, and bonded together over full stomachs and wine. It helped us all feel togetherness as one cohort, have fun, and get ready for the hectic demanding semester lined up ahead.

-Mihir Mohite

Class of 2011