One year later

Remember our first day of school? Can you believe that it was a year ago? Where did time go? Are we really at the end? Today, a new installment of GPMBA-ers walked through the doors of Tower 200; sat in our seats and probably wondered what they have gotten themselves into.

Well, class of 2012, though you will never be as “cool” as our class, you’re allowed to sit in our seats and embark on this amazing adventure that will inevitably change your life (yes, cheesy, but true). Get ready for long nights, very early mornings, and entirely too much time spent at school. Before you know it, December will arrive, and soon after, you will be off to Rio…then, back in Atlanta, and Paris and China, and all of a sudden—the end!

Without realizing it, in a year you will:

1. See at least one sunrise on the beaches of Ipanema
2. Have the most amazing breakfast every day at COPPEAD
3. Eat something from a questionable street stand somewhere in Brazil

4. Stand on top of the Great Wall

5. Engage in a fierce negotiation over 58 cents
6. Hate the pollution in Beijing and what it is doing to your face

7. Get annoyed that you have to walk by the Louvre every day to get to the Metro
8. Find out that wine is cheaper than water
9. Have the perfect justification to have a croque for breakfast, lunch, and dinner

10. Get lost in the streets of ___ (insert any city) and find amazing treasures
11. Ask one of your classmates: what country were we in when….?
12. Wish you could do it all over again, just minus the school work

13. Be able to write a 10 page, single spaced paper in an hour or two
14. Inevitably, freak out about internships
15. Procrastinate writing your thesis (we have to write a thesis, what?)

The only advice I give you is this: Don’t worry about grades too much, just enjoy the moment! In the end, “it is what it is,” and this year will be what you make of it!

And to my current classmates, don’t forget the wise words of Miley Cyrus: It’s the Climb! We are almost there!

Celebrating Independence Day – Chilean Internship Style

GPMBA Class of 2011 is moving right along — nearly halfway through our internships already! As you’ll know if you read my last post, I am interning in Santiago, Chile. The spring weather here is becoming increasingly gorgeous and lucky for me, last week was Las Fiestas Patrias holiday or Chile’s Independence Day! The celebrations for this weekend (celebrated primarily on September 18-19) are so important that in addition to the aforementioned 2 names, there is yet another informal name: “dieciocho” or simply “eighteen” in Spanish.

While the festivals / fairs or “fondas” and cookouts or “asados” and other fiestas were fun cultural experiences for me during the weekend, these festivities are interesting and relevant with regards to my internship and the associated corporate work culture at my office too. As I mentioned in my last post, the Chilean work week is longer than normal US full time weeks (typically 45hrs). The corporate culture at my company a mix of “typical North American” with Chilean. Unlike my previous work experience, greetings are very important — a kiss for hello and goodbye, even if this total interchange last less than 5 minutes. This creates a very friendly atmosphere, as does the very modern, open office layout and design with lots of natural light and glass. Yet at times, it seems to me, that this friendly environment comes at the expense of work efficiency.

So in addition to the daily work culture, I also have gotten to experience Chilean holiday work culture! Fortunately the Friday commencing the Fiestas Patrias events, we were able to have an early “Happy Friday,” finishing work at 1pm for a work asado celebration. The asado was complete with Chilean empanadas (fried pastry filled with meat, onion, an olive, raisins and hard boiled egg), sopapillas (sweet fried breads), choripanes (sausage on a bun), anticuchos (meat skewers) and sodas (no, the company did not provide the traditional alcoholic Chilean dieciocho beverages like piscos or chichas).

In addition to all the delicious foods, a Fiestas Patrias event would be incomplete without dancing cueca, the national Chilean dance. It is an interesting dance, including sliding, stomping, clapping and handkerchiefs. Yet the most unique thing about the cueca is the fact that the male and female dancers do not touch but must maintain eye contact until the end of the dance. To get into the festive mood, my company offered complimentary (and voluntary) post-work cueca dance lessons during the few weeks leading up to the holiday. Unfortunately my schedule (and lack of rhythm) prevented me from participating, but at the work asado my fellow coworkers performed for us!

All in all, I would say that the excited holiday environment was more interactive than my US company holiday experiences, at least for Independence Day (but perhaps that is in part because I worked for a British company in the US, so 4th of July celebrates our independence from them…). The weekend itself was a great experience going to fondas, visiting a nearby artisan town called Pomaire, and of course, more asados! I enjoyed a long weekend with Monday off and even got to see the military parade to the Escuela Militar academy near my apartment.

Of course after all the festivities, it’s back to work!

Internships Already!

As I take a moment to reflect, all I can say is WOW. This past year has flown by! I cannot believe that we have already survived all the classes, traveled around the world, and are here, in our final term doing our internships. It felt amazing to finish classes at the end of July in Atlanta, but this chapter is bittersweet. Amazing because we are all working in very diverse places doing very different and interesting jobs (hopefully pursuing our next big dreams!), yet it is crazy to confront the reality that the time with this little, tight-knit, GPMBA “family” is coming to an end. I’ll call it growing pains since this is just a taste as we all prepare to graduate and re-enter the non-academic world of work on our own.

At any rate, as mentioned our class is literally spread around the world: We are everywhere from Los Angeles to Singapore to Australia to Cambodia to Nigeria to Germany to South America to New York (and more not listed!). I happen to be the “South America” representation. As the Global Partners intern delegate to Santiago, Chile, I am enjoying my work at an esteemed engineering consulting services firm. Primarily I am focusing my thesis project as a marketing consultant, looking at ways to improve the company’s marketing and business development department’s efficiency. It’s an adjustment being in an office all day again, but in addition to the work, I am enjoying getting to experience the life and culture here in Chile.

And since the next class of Global Partners is about to embark on their journey, I’ll dedicate the final part of this blog for their benefit:

Top 5 Things To Know Before Interning in Chile:

5. Obviously this is not a repeat of Rio – it’s now winter when you arrive to the Southern Hemisphere and it’s a lot colder and drier climate here in Chile! It was quite a shock to the system when I arrived in August from 95-degree Atlanta to SNOW in Santiago (albeit, that’s not normal here either). It was more of a shock to realize that heating is not a standard commodity in apartments here either.

4. Despite the stereotype of relaxed Latin American work ethic, Chileans work long hours. 45 hours per week (8:30am – 6:30pm Monday – Friday) is common. This again was an adjustment, not so much because I haven’t worked long hours before — both in school and in my previous job, long and busy weeks happened frequently — but because at 5pm when normally US jobs are finished, I still have 1.5 hours to go!

3. Chile is on the “Ring of Fire” and there are volcanoes (in the south, Volcán Puyehue erupted in August) and earthquakes are common. Being a Georgia native and having lived in Chicago, earthquakes are not a norm in my experience. Therefore, being awaken by a 5.9 “terromoto” was startling and scary even though nothing happened except my coworkers making jokes about the “temblor” (tremor).

2. Chile is a very stable and peaceful country. It has experienced consistent economic growth and is widely considered one of the best Latin American economies. There seem to be nearly endless entrepreneurial opportunities here and the government encourages them through programs like Start Up Chile. However, this does not stop petty crime – I have heard many stories from new friends about purses, wallets, jewelry, etc. being stolen, including a necklace off a woman’s neck! The reputation also masks the large wealth inequities that exist here, which have recently led to social unrest. I arrived during massive protests that have even turned violent, forcing me to mostly keep my distance from Centro (downtown). So, as in all big cities around the world, be aware and be safe!

1. Chilean is a whole different language than Castellano Spanish! Fortunately my work is bilingual, as is my Chilean roommate because there are MANY “Chilenismos” that you will have never heard before if it’s your first time here! Chileans often add “po” to the end of words as a filler (“Si-po”), say “Cachai?” (you understand?), drop S’s (and the end of words!), and love diminutives (little -ito and -ita everything!). The combination of these new words and interesting additions/subtractions from what I know combined with rapid-fire speech is enough to make me re-evaluate how well I actually know Spanish! Fortunately, Chilenos are very proud and kind people who want you to understand and learn so there are many language intercambio opportunities to meet new friends and practice!

And with that, I leave you until next time with a few photos of Santiago to enjoy. And final bit of advice: pack peanut butter!

GPMBA Highlighted in GSU’s State of Business Magazine

The Global Partners MBA Program was recently highlighted in Georgia State University’s Robinson College of Business State of Business Magazine. Read what some of the students said about their time in Brazil and view photos of students and faculty. Here is a link to the full article.

Final Blog – China Experience

My thoughts coming into paris
The two weeks of Asian Experience in China enabled me to broaden my horizon at many different levels.  I personally feel that the fact we spend two weeks in China prior to Paris would have been so much more different than coming from US.  It implicitly conditioned me as an individual to become more culturally sensitive to the surrounding and the new environment that consists of so many complexities.  Thus, I am now much more prepared to explore Paris and Brussels as the aforementioned preparation will be the prime catalyst that will allow me to maximize my learning experience.

Salient issues I see now
Based on my research and observations, the following are the current salient issues and some major challenges in China:

1. Government Corruption
2. Job Generation
3. Human Rights
4. Environmental Consideration
5. Social Mobility
6. Quality Standards
7. Gap between the rich and poor

These issues are similar to what Rob Gifford has provided in his China Road book.  Though, couple of these issues have transformed in recent years; however further research will be required to determine their respective current magnitudes.

My thoughts on shanghai
Shanghai was one of the most modern megacities that I have ever seen.  The 2010 Expo has boosted the city’s presence not only in China but also in the global arena.  It is the city with many high rises as several of our visits were actually inside some of them including Citibank.  I was impressed how the city has transformed in less than decade.  You can feel the great potential and promising future as it will continue to be a prime location with better opportunities especially for the young generation.

My thoughts on Qingdao
Qingdao was the most conservative cities out of the three cities we visited.  The city somewhat looked like under construction as there were many new building and other infrastructures were being built across the city.  Specifically, many industrial projects were in progress including Wheelabrator – the company that converts the municipal wastes into renewable energy – that was finishing up its final phases of construction prior to full operation.

My thoughts on Beijing
Beijing possessed so much of the Chinese history and at the same time showed how globalization has created so many new opportunities.  One of the many catalysts that has enabled the city to gain more momentum globally is the Beijing 2008 Olympics.  Our visits ranged from cultural visits including the Great Wall of China, and Summer Palace to company visits with different business practices.  In addition, we had the opportunities to meet and connect with some business students at the Peking University.  Some of the major issues of the cities that are existing in other mega cities as well, were the pollution and traffic.

My favorite visits
This is perhaps the hardest question to answer for me as I enjoyed every visit and I felt that each of them allowed me to gain a diverse set of perspectives through different lenses. But, if I had to select one, it will have to be Continuum Innovation.  This company enables other companies with a wide range of visions to continually sustain their innovation and produce success.  One of their key tools that they utilize to produce such success is empathy – one of the core emotional intelligence traits required to become a global leader.  In addition, my favorite cultural visit was the Great Wall where many local and tourists including us came to get the glimpse of one of the main world’s wonders.

My best experience
My best experience was to experience one of the main superpowers of future with 25 other students from various background and learning more about China from three cities each with its own set of position in China.  As one of the local stated, Beijing, Qingdao, and Shanghai represent the “past, present, and future” of China.

One major lesson that I learned
One of the main that I learned throughout this two weeks is the importance of preparation for international business who are planning on coming in to China to expand their market share here.  They need to develop extensive planning that will help them minimize their risks and enable them to sustain their growth in China.  They may be able accomplish this through launching joint ventures with local businesses or mergers and acquisitions of Chinese companies; however, they must have acquired certain tools that will enable them to mitigate current and future risks.  One example will be the protection of their intellectual property.

Do I think China will be the next superpower??
I do think that China will be one of the next superpowers as it has built and continuing to build a foundation to support this transformation.  I also think that this wouldn’t happen anytime soon as some major issues continue to persist and affect many practices and businesses.  In my opinion, the most major issue is corruption as it has been a norm at different levels of all organizations in the past.