the willis news [issue 4, 2016]

15
INSIDE THIS ISSUE: FEATURE STORY A ‘Lidl’ bit more competition PAST STUDENT REFLECTION Eleanor Groeneveld, Adrian Yeung & Emma Wood AN INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE Kim Anderson, NAB WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Harrison Callahan & Kevin Jianxin Liu MELBOURNE BUSINESS PRACTICUM Practicum Practicality The Willis News Bi-annual newsletter for the Work Integrated Learning subjects. Connecting past and present alumni, students and clients. ISSUE 4, APRIL 2016

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Welcome to the fourth edition of The Willis News. This bi-annual newsletter celebrates Work Integrated Learning at the Faculty of Business and Economics. The Willis News endeavours to connect current students and clients of the practicum and consulting subjects to past clients and alumni of the programs. We hope that this newsletter highlights the great achievements that have come out of the projects over the past six months.

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: The Willis News [Issue 4, 2016]

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

FEATURE STORY

A ‘Lidl’ bit more competitionPAST STUDENT REFLECTION

Eleanor Groeneveld, Adrian Yeung & Emma Wood AN INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE

Kim Anderson, NABWHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Harrison Callahan & Kevin Jianxin LiuMELBOURNE BUSINESS PRACTICUM

Practicum Practicality

TheWillis News

Bi-annual newsletter for the Work Integrated Learning subjects. Connecting past and present alumni, students and clients.

ISSUE 4, APRIL 2016

Page 2: The Willis News [Issue 4, 2016]

WelcomeWelcome to the fourth edition of The Willis News. This bi-annual newsletter celebrates Work Integrated Learning at the Faculty of Business and Economics. The Willis News endeavours to connect current students and clients of the practicum and consulting subjects to past clients and alumni of the programs. We hope that this newsletter highlights the great achievements that have come out of the projects over the past six months.

You may recognise a change in this issue; as we have now expanded the programs we cover in this publication from previously just the Bachelor of Commerce subject Management Consulting to now also include Global Management Consulting, as well as the two graduate programs, Melbourne Business Practicum and Global Business Practicum.

The Global Business Practicum visited Hong Kong and Singapore in January. In teams of four and five, the students faced challenges put to them by a range of companies, such as PwC, KPMG, Fairmont Hotels and Hong Kong’s Ocean Park.

Last February in Melbourne’s CBD and in regional Victoria, our Melbourne Business Practicum students worked for start-ups, multi-national corporations and not-for-profits; including ANZ, Royal Botanic Gardens and the Kaiela Institute. The summer graduate projects were recently celebrated at the Business Practicum Showcase. This was a great event for our industry partners, students, friends and staff to connect with each other and showcase the amazing work of our graduate students that came out of the industry projects. We were very pleased to have professionals that took part in the Melbourne projects come along and talk about their experience with the students.

Management Consulting in Semester 2 last year produced some great projects for a diverse mix of clients such as Deloitte, Crime Stoppers, Keep Cup and NAB. We had 60 students participate in the program, working on projects for 12 different clients.

Global Management Consulting in December and January visited three different cities; Santiago, San Francisco and Bangkok. Each city hosted 20 of our BCom students, with groups of four working as consultants for companies such as Ernst and Young, IBM and QBE. Once again, our students found this experience quite challenging and full of valuable learning opportunities in a new culture and environment.

From Shepparton to Santiago, our students have learned vital lessons from their experiences in company. In this edition we will hear about some of their exciting projects, including an article written by one of our Management Consulting students about the project they recently completed for Deloitte. We will catch up with past students to learn about the impact of their Work Integrated Learning experience, and hear from one of our clients about the benefits they receive by being involved with the programs.

To conclude, we would like to recognise the commitment and hard work that students and clients, past and present, have put into making these subjects a great success. We look forward to these programs continuing whilst growing our alumni and client network.

Professor Nasser Spear

Deputy Dean, Melbourne Business School

Professor Prakash Singh

Head of Department, Management and Marketing

Page 3: The Willis News [Issue 4, 2016]

Work Integrated Learning SubjectsThe Faculty coordinates four key work integrated learning subjects

that place undergraduate and graduate student teams in “real world” business projects that deliver results for our partner organisations.

MANAGEMENT CONSULTING

A final year Bachelor of Commerce subject

where student consulting teams work on a ten

week project. Offered in both semester one

(commencing March) and semester two

(commencing August) each year, with

students working in-company for half

a day per week throughout

the semester.

MELBOURNE BUSINESS

PRACTICUM

Masters students across the range of business

disciplines engage in an intensive two-week

in-company team based consulting project.

Projects run during February and July.

GLOBAL MANAGEMENT

CONSULTING

An intensive two-week in-company project in

an international setting for teams of final year

Bachelor of Commerce students. Destinations

include Singapore, San Francisco, Bangkok

and Berlin. Projects run during

January, July and December.

GLOBAL BUSINESS

PRACTICUM

A two-week overseas in-company team

project for Masters students. Destinations

include Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuala

Lumpur and Shanghai. Projects run

during January and July.

Page 4: The Willis News [Issue 4, 2016]

1

Our Management Consulting client Deloitte Australia, challenged us to produce a thought leadership on how Australian supermarkets can remain competitive against the anticipated entry of German discount retailer, Lidl. Our recommendations focused on strategies driven by consumer trends for the key players: Woolworths and Coles.

Expanding the private label product offering

Over 85% of Aldi’s products are private label. Their use of pseudo-brands; packing products to look like their branded counterparts, has shifted Australia’s perception of private labels from cheap compromises to quality alternatives. Consequently, consumers are switching to Aldi for home-brand essentials as their products are, on average, 25% cheaper than that of Coles and Woolworths.

Since Aldi’s entry in 2001, the industry has seen escalating price wars as major supermarkets attempt to counter Aldi’s cost leadership strategy. Additionally, consumers readily switch between supermarkets for better prices and convenience. This trend is exacerbated by the increased use of mobile technology to inform shopping choices through reviews and real-time price comparisons. The increasingly busy lifestyles of Australians also creates a growing pressure for more convenient options.

The Project

Management Consulting Melbourne Semester 2, 2015 Deloitte

A ‘Lidl’ bit more competition

FEATURE STORY: MANAGEMENT CONSULTING

Chai Ng - Bachelor of Commerce (majors Economics and Management)

Based on a project completed by Julius Bettray, Lewis Chow, Jenny Luu, Chai Ng and Vishwamithra Shashishekara.

Page 5: The Willis News [Issue 4, 2016]

2

Modern consumers are shifting away from weekly bulk buys towards more frequent, but smaller trips. With 68% of consumers basing their shopping decisions on what is available on store shelves, shopping trips revolve more around short-term meal building and less on pantry stocking.

A recipe generator app that creates meals and shopping lists by scanning a product’s barcode will simplify meal-planning for these ad-hoc shoppers. Recipes and suggestions of complementary foods will cross-promote products while introducing new products and cuisines to customers. These suggestions can be further tailored to the customer by analysing the customers’ past purchasing patterns. Supermarkets are able to establish personal and individual connections with their customers, increasing customer retention and loyalty.

By integrating digital and in-store channels through a recipe generator, supermarkets are able to provide a personalised shopping experience for their customers and remain competitive against Lidl’s no-frills shopping experience.

Lidl’s identical strategy pressures major supermarkets to expand their private label range. However, a major barrier is the poor brand perceptions of Coles and Woolworths’ home-brands. By using more pseudo-brands, supermarkets are able to reverse the negative consumer sentiments of home-brands restricting choice and ‘pushing other brands off the shelves’.

Furthermore, by offering bundled food samples during peak periods, such as a name-brand cheese with home-brand crackers, supermarkets can breakdown negative misconceptions about the quality of home-brands while cross-selling complementary goods. This will encourage consumers to view home-brands as quality substitutes for essentials because 37% of customers make a spontaneous purchase after sampling.

By employing pseudo-brands and in-store food sampling strategies, supermarkets are able to successfully expand their private label range, deliver better value and remain price competitive.

Providing a seamless shopping experience

Nielsen reported that 6 in 10 Australians use a combination of digital and traditional retail stores for their grocery needs. However, the traditional shopping experience remains irreplaceable due to the importance of first-hand inspection of products and the convenience of in-store shopping. Supermarkets need to holistically integrate digital and in-store experiences, instead of simply introducing stand-alone digital channels.

Innovating the online ordering process

UBS expects online groceries to triple over the next 5 years to 6% of total industry revenue, from 1.9% currently. Coles and Woolworths need to build their capabilities to meet this growing demand and effectively seize the e-grocery opportunity.

Currently, online orders are fulfilled by ‘pickers’ who manually pick items from store shelves during off-peak hours. This method was cost-efficient and scalable during the early pilots of e-groceries. However, this labour-intensive process will face limitations such as bottlenecks, complexity of varying product ranges and delivery logistics for multiple stores.

In preparation for the growing demand, Woolworths recently launched an online-only ‘dark store’ in Mascot, NSW. These fulfilment warehouses are three times more efficient than traditional supermarkets. Coles should consider a similar strategy by strategically placing a fulfilment warehouse in areas of concentrated online orders, while optimising the layout and automating process to achieve an efficient picking process.

Supermarkets are able to achieve greater economies of scale and pass cost savings on through online-only specials, lower minimum spending requirements and same-day delivery options. By innovating their online ordering process, supermarkets are able to lead the e-grocery growth and remain competitive against Lidl’s cost leadership strategy.

In conclusion, Australian supermarkets should expand their private label range, create a seamless shopping experience and innovate their online ordering process to differentiate their shopping experience from Lidl’s to remain competitive.

“Supermarkets are able to establish personal and individual connections with their customers, increasing customer retention and loyalty.”

Team Deloitte: Jenny Luu, Lewis Chow, Julius Bettray, Academic Coach Paul Wiseman, Vishwamithra Shashishekara and Chai Ng

Page 6: The Willis News [Issue 4, 2016]

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PAST STUDENT REFLECTION: GLOBAL BUSINESS PRACTICUM

I was excited to learn of my acceptance in the Global Business Practicum (GBP) and that I would be travelling to Singapore to work as a consultant with a team of fellow students.

I planned to use this experience to increase my practical knowledge of the workplace in order to complement the theoretical learnings from my studies. Our project brief was to recommend strategies for cultural development at QBE Insurance.

There were definitely challenging parts of the brief, including deciding as a team how to cut the brief down and narrow the focus. We had to learn how our team worked together, and how to navigate QBE as a business and understand the workplace culture. I learnt that it is not necessary to be an overly outgoing person to be a leader of a group. It is equally as important as a leader to listen as it is to advise. I found that ensuring everyone had been given the chance to be heard allowed our group to work a lot more effectively, despite some initial tension. What I really liked about working in my team was how we complemented each other’s strengths and weaknesses.

At the end of the two-week project, we were thrown a curve ball - our presentation was brought forward by

24 hours. This meant we were due to present in just four hours. In order to rise to the challenge we had to trust each other as a team and have confidence in what we were presenting. This taught us that fixed goalposts are often a luxury that the real workplace can’t afford; that deadlines and priorities can change quickly, and as a member of an organisation it is important to learn to adapt to the environment.

The Global Business Practicum was an invaluable experience, not only did I learn the value of the theoretical knowledge that you gain throughout your university degree, but I was also able to refine and develop the soft skills needed for a professional career.

Eleanor Groeneveld

The Project

Global Business Practicum Singapore January 2016 QBE

Team QBE: Paul Roberston, Johnson Xu, Emma Huang, Eleanor Groeneveld and Claire Li

Master of Management (Marketing)

Page 7: The Willis News [Issue 4, 2016]

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Participating in the Global Business Practicum was a life-changing experience.

Initially I was anxious about taking on the role of project consultant in an overseas environment. Prior to my studies at the Melbourne Business School I came from a completely different field, and so was unsure if I was prepared to tackle a proper consulting case. To my relief, I found that many other practicum participants also came from different disciplines. Rather than being a handicap, coming from a non-business background can actually give one an advantage, by bringing a more diverse array of knowledge to the team.

Our team was assigned to Toll Global Forwarding. Instead of a straightforward business case, the project was focused on logistics and consumer trends. This caused some concern among my teammates, as logistics was not an area in which we’d had much prior exposure. As it turned out, our four very different backgrounds meant that we ended up coming together and crafting some very unique and creative recommendations for Toll to undertake in its bid to expand into the Chinese market.

Participating in the practicum is fantastic not only because it gives students insight into what it’s like to work professionally, but also because it provides a chance to have a real, tangible impact on an organisation. The findings and recommendations that are produced benefit our hosts by helping them solve real problems or develop new business strategies.

It was a privilege to work with a major organisation and receive invaluable employment experience. The practicum not only showed me what it is like to be a consultant, but also provided me with an understanding into how workplaces function and the skills and mindset employers look for in today’s graduates.

Adrian Yeung

The Project

Global Business Practicum Hong Kong January 2016 Toll Global Forwarding

Payne Li and Adrian Yeung sightseeing in Hong Kong

Master of International Business

Page 8: The Willis News [Issue 4, 2016]

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Kim Anderson, NAB Kim Anderson is currently the Head of Product Management, Deposits at NAB and has worked across financial services for more than 15 years leading strategy and business transformation programs at Accenture, Shell, Sensis, ANZ and AXA UK. Kim has now been personally involved

with two Management Consulting student projects.

AN INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE: MANAGEMENT CONSULTING

Page 9: The Willis News [Issue 4, 2016]

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What are the benefits of being involved in Management Consulting from an industry perspective?

The ability for the students to bring in fresh new ideas that aren’t constrained or moulded by the corporate environment. The students are not fully embedded in the day-to-day running of the business or overly concerned about financial limitations. They are able see above all that to identify what we should really be looking at. The ideas that they bring are above the noise of an organisation. We are also able to tap into highly driven and intelligent minds that challenge internal thinking and look further into the future.

What kind of personal qualities do you think a student needs in order to be successful in Management Consulting?

A learning mindset – not coming in thinking you have all the answers, and a willingness to learn from others who may operate differently from yourself. In a team environment you need to leverage different skills and learn from others. You also need an ability to feel comfortable about feeling uncomfortable. Don’t fear the unknown - embrace the unknown!

Do you have any words of wisdom for new students in Management Consulting?

Don’t expect everything to be answered for you; you should come prepared with recommendations and ideas. Some students really want me to tell them what to do, but that is not the point of the subject. They need to think for themselves.

Take the time upfront to ask the questions and get the scope right. Really utilize that face to face time. Plan out your weekly timeslots beforehand with the company, knowing each week what your key outcome from the session is. You should plan so that you know each week what you need to achieve for that final outcome.

Are there any memorable moments from your involvement with Management Consulting which stand out?

A student team gave their final presentation to a general manager. They presented an industry growth strategy, and he was amazed. It was so impressive, they produced higher

“We are also able to tap into highly driven and intelligent minds that challenge internal

thinking and look further into the future.”

“The subject matter was foreign to them when they began the project, but by their

final presentation they were experts.”

standards than some graduates would. They were asked a lot of questions, and they had the answers. They were able to articulate themselves and present professionally to a general manager with very high standards. The subject matter was foreign to them when they began the project, but by their final presentation they were experts.

Page 10: The Willis News [Issue 4, 2016]

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Harrison CallahanHarrison Callahan is an Associate at JS Careers in Sydney. He participated in Management Consulting in Semester 1, 2014 and completed a project for the Australian Communities Foundation. He graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce in 2014, majoring in Finance and Economics.

liaise with the relevant Manager/Director in running the interview process and discussing the best potential hires. I am also playing football for the UTS bats in the Sydney AFL competition. In any spare moments I enjoy the beaches and dining of Bondi.

What was your most memorable moment in Management Consulting?

Rather than a specific memorable moment, the biggest takeaway from the experience was the insight and understanding of what is required from a professional consulting engagement.

So what are you doing with yourself these days?

After graduation I secured a role within a specialised financial services recruitment firm in Sydney. We provide recruitment services to the leading investment banks, private equity firms and other direct investment houses within Australia. My focus is the corporate finance space at the Analyst and Associate level, primarily in M&A. Due to the specific requirements from our clients, a majority of our search processes involve headhunting from rival organisations. Once appropriate candidates have been identified, we

Any words of wisdom for new students doing the subject?

Communicate with your clients! Take every opportunity to understand their business, the people and the nuances that make each organisation unique. Ensuring engagement between both parties are high will result in a better presentation, a wide array of recommendations and a more satisfied client.

If you had to describe your experience in the subject in three words, what would they be?

Rewarding, practical, engaging.

Where are they

now?

PAST STUDENTS: MANAGEMENT CONSULTING

Page 11: The Willis News [Issue 4, 2016]

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Kevin Jianxin LiuKevin Jianxin Liu is a Senior Associate at Ernst and Young Advisory Services in Singapore. He participated in the Melbourne Business Practicum in July 2012 and completed a project for the Melbourne Football Club. He also participated in the Global Business Practicum in January 2013 and completed a project for Mondelez International in Singapore. He graduated with a Master of Management (Finance) in 2013.

management. Presenting to the Board of Directors, meeting leaders and top professionals at a dinner hosted by the Australian Chamber of Commerce and enjoying some live football at the MCG are memorable moments.

For the GBP, I worked with Cadbury in Singapore. This was my first time in the country and I gained an incredible amount of knowledge in supply chain strategy, performance measurement and stakeholder management. A fun aspect of the project was visiting a Cadbury Chocolate production plant and tasting all that sample chocolate that isn’t commercially produced! I was also fortunate to receive sound career and personal development advice from my project host – who I am in touch with to this day. He has been a valuable career mentor and facilitated my decision to move to Singapore.

Any words of wisdom for new students doing these subjects?

Congratulations on your new “job”! Yes, look at your project as the first 30 days at a new job. It is all about seeing opportunity and seizing it. I’ve found that being positive and proactive allows you to achieve great things. Don’t be afraid to stray from the pack. Determine what your end goal is and figure out the steps to make it there.

So what are you doing with yourself these days?

I’m a Senior Associate in Ernst and Young’s Advisory Service practice in Singapore. I focus on delivering IT Risk transformation engagements for the Financial Services sector. I help clients enhance their IT risk strategy, optimise risk management functions, conduct regulatory compliance assessment and improve controls and processes.

What was your most memorable moment in the Business Practicum subjects?

I was fortunate to participate in both the Melbourne Business Practicum (MBP) and the Global Business Practicum (GBP). During my MBP project with the Melbourne Football Club, I gained invaluable experience about Australian football culture and sports

If you had to describe your experience in the subjects in three words, what would they be?

Enlightening, exceptional, challenging.

PAST STUDENTS: GLOBAL BUSINESS PRACTICUM

Page 12: The Willis News [Issue 4, 2016]

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Practicum Practicality

Graduate students Jiaqi, Georgia, Chelsea and Aerim participated in the Melbourne Business Practicum in February 2016. They were based for two weeks in Shepparton, Northern Victoria, as they completed a project for the Kaiela Institute, a centre dedicated to supporting collaboration between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal leaders in the Goulburn Murray region. We asked them to document the process.

The assessment for induction week was to prepare a research proposal. Our team had a teleconference with our academic supervisor and the Kaiela Institute to discuss and confirm our project scope. This enabled us to deliver a successful presentation, demonstrating our research proposal and action plan for the coming two weeks in-company. As for our experience upon arrival in Shepparton, I was full of curiosity, expecting to know more about the Indigenous culture there and to explore a different life in Shepparton.

The First Day In-Company - Georgia CourtneyMaster of International Business

The first day at the Kaiela Institute was a whirlwind. We arrived in Shepparton ready to tackle the two weeks ahead. The four of us met with Kaiela staff to go over our project proposal. All our hard work from the induction week seemed to pay off as they were happy with the way we had framed the research problem. Soon after arriving, we found ourselves sitting in on a social impact

study regarding the Rumbalara Football and Netball Club. This club is regarded as an Indigenous hub and community centre within the region. The study outlined the relationship between the non-Indigenous and Indigenous populations and outlined a culture of disconnect between the two. This provided us with a great introduction and contextual understanding of the community we were engaging with. At the football club we were introduced to the Director of the Kaiela Institute and prominent Indigenous Elder, Paul Briggs. Paul was excited to hear what we could offer to the Institute and the community as a whole. We were able to foster some connections with members of the Indigenous community which we would later utilise when conducting our research. Overall it was a successful first day!

The Half Way Point - Chelsea QuiltlyMaster of Management Marketing

Our experience over the first week was equal parts intensive, demanding and rewarding. Fortunately, our project’s central objective remained fundamentally consistent with our initial proposal; however, as expected, we were required to make some slight adaptations so that our findings would be directly relevant to the needs of our company. We quickly discovered we had a plethora to do during our two week stay. We were frequently the first to arrive and last to leave the office.

Induction Week - Jiaqi RaoMaster of Management Accounting

I excitedly started my Melbourne Business Practicum (MBP) journey at the beginning of February. The first week is induction week, which aims to provide us with well-rounded knowledge to prepare us for our project. I got to know my friendly teammates and felt lucky to have the opportunity to collaborate with people with such diverse culture backgrounds.

During the induction lectures I learned useful research approaches, specific problem solving skills and tips on how to be a successful consultant. I also learned a lot about each team member’s personality through the Belbin test which helped us define team roles. My team also had an additional cultural awareness session delivered by the staff from Murrup Barak, Melbourne Institute for Indigenous Development. This was especially helpful for me, as an international student, to build up my knowledge on the Indigenous population of Australia.

STUDENT DIARY: MELBOURNE BUSINESS PRACTICUM

Page 13: The Willis News [Issue 4, 2016]

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At the conclusion of the first week our team was extremely satisfied with what we had accomplished and eager with anticipation for our work to come together over the next week, in the lead up to final presentation.

Final Presentation - Aerim YiMaster of Management Accounting

We stayed up late the night before our presentation to go through our report again and again. On the final presentation day, we practiced together from the morning until the scheduled time in the afternoon. I was nervous but tried to concentrate on practicing rather than worrying about making mistakes. I did actually make a mistake in the end, and my brain was going blank. Fortunately, I managed to look calm on the outside, and even my teammates didn’t notice it!

My biggest concern before the presentation was how to maintain the audience’s interest for an hour and deliver our vast amount of research. I believe it was a success because the host enjoyed our presentation and was satisfied with our work.

As we made the journey back to Melbourne after our first week, our group had achieved numerous significant targets. Firstly we had settled into the formerly unfamiliar town of Shepparton and managed to successfully familiarise ourselves with: the Kaiela Institute, some of the local Indigenous community, external stakeholders, our accommodation and even the local coffee hotspot around the corner. Establishing meaningful networks within the regional community was supported by our acquisition of cultural understanding and building community trust. The resulting cultural adaptability was a highly enriching feature of the MBP experience. Secondly, we had put together an extensive collection of secondary data sources that we had begun using to draft the situation analysis component of our final report. Lastly, we had compiled an intricate survey that we had distributed through the Kaiela network. The survey began documenting the candidate data that we would use the following week to generate our own formalised research and findings.

I definitely learned a lot throughout the project about Indigenous culture and history. Above all things, the feeling that I got from working on something meaningful for the community was truly rewarding. That feeling drove me to devote myself to the project. I genuinely hope that our strategies can bring a positive change to the community.

“We quickly discovered we had a plethora to do during our two week stay. In fact, we were frequently the first to arrive and last to leave the office daily.”

Team Kaiela: Chelsea Quilty, Georgia Courtney, Chris Giblin (ASHE), Robyn MacDonald (Kaiela Institute), Aerim Yi and Jiaqi Rao

Back row: Aerim Yi and Chelsea Quilty. Middle: Georgia Courtney. Front: Jiaqi Rao

Page 14: The Willis News [Issue 4, 2016]

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For two weeks we worked for Ernst & Young (EY) in Las Condes, the business district of Santiago, Chile. On its reflective surface, Santiago uptown appears very similar to Melbourne.

be addressed. Our brief stipulated that EY Chile wanted to expand the Capital Transformation department, and our job was to identify the most valuable service line for EY Chile to expand. As we conducted interviews and collected data we began to realise that our project was not just an expansion strategy anymore; it was about cultivating sustainable internal practices to support this expansion into the future.

We endeavoured to deliver to our client professional and practical business recommendations, but we feared we lacked the skills and consulting experience to achieve this. After all we were just university students; what value could we really provide to an international firm like EY? What we realised through Global Management Consulting (GMC) was that we already had the tools to overcome our performance gap; we just needed to understand how to use them. For example, when we looked at the data we had collected, we realised that we had unknowingly collected data that fit the Consumer Behaviour Model of Decision Making, taught in first year marketing. This model provided structure to our findings and a way to meaningfully interpret the results. The value of GMC lies in these opportunities to see the practical value of the theories learned at University and understand how they can be applied outside an academic context.

If you have the opportunity to travel, take it. South America has so much to offer, whether it’s trekking the Inca Trails in Peru, hiking the Christ Redeemer in Brazil, or exploring the mountain

scapes of Patagonia in Southern Chile. The continent has so many natural and cultural wonders worth seeing.

GMC is one of the unique programs offered by the University of Melbourne where you get practical consulting experience and you gain the most when you totally commit to the process. GMC is challenging, and sometimes we feared we did not have the professional skills necessary for our project, but confusion is all part of the consulting process. Working through these problems is what makes GMC a valuable learning experience.

The glass skyscrapers, manicured gardens and countless cafes quickly caused me to draw parallels between Las Condes and Docklands in Melbourne, both burgeoning business centres, pouring with time-poor professionals. The most obvious difference working in Chile was the language barrier. We decided at the start of the project to learn a Spanish phrase per day, the first being “tengo una cita con…” (I have an appointment with…). This served as a reminder for how important language is in cultivating relationships. Suffice to say, we learned a healthy appreciation of Google Translate!

What is always surprising with consulting projects is how the problem identified in the initial project brief is not always the problem that needs to

“The value of GMC lies in these opportunities to see the practical value of the theories learned at University...”

The Project

Global Management Consulting Santiago, Chile December 2015 Ernst & Young

Team Ernst & Young: Maddison Nash, Emma Wood, Han Li and Muhammad Ridho Ramahani.

Emma WoodBachelor of Commerce (majors Management and Marketing)

PAST STUDENT REFLECTION: GLOBAL MANAGEMENT CONSULTING

Page 15: The Willis News [Issue 4, 2016]

We are pleased to announce Emma Wood as the winner of the A.T. Kearney Australia Prize for Management Consulting for 2015.

Emma completed the subject in Semester 2, 2015 working on a project for NAB.

The prize is awarded to the student with the highest grade in the subject across

the year. Emma is currently studying a Bachelor of Commerce, majoring in

Management and Marketing.

Congratulations Emma!

Looking to host a student team?

Are you a student looking to do a work intergrated learning subject?

Confirmation of projects is sought approximately three months before each offering commences. To get involved, please contact:

Hayley Wolfert and Tracey Skordos

Student Employability and Enrichment Consultants

Email: [email protected]

Phone: (03) 9035 6707

Students are selected for these subjects via a competitive entry process. Applications open in the preceding semester. For more information:

fbe.unimelb.edu.au/students/bcom/enrich/gmc-dec

fbe.unimelb.edu.au/students/bcom/enrich/management-consulting

fbe.unimelb.edu.au/students/mbs/enrich/global-business-practicum

fbe.unimelb.edu.au/students/mbs/enrich/melbourne-business-practicum

> 99 Designs

> ABM

> Aliom

> ANZ

> ArtWrap

> A.T. Kearney

> Australian Retail Credit Association (ARCA)

> Berry Street

> Child Protection Society

> Crime Stoppers

> Deloitte

> Ernst & Young

> Fairmont

> Fircroft

> Genashtim

> Grant Thornton

> HP

> IBM Bluemix Garage

> Kaiela Institute

> Keep Cup

> Kinetic Superannuation

> Komatsu Cummins

> KPMG

> M&P Partners

> Marco Polo Project

> Medibank

> Melbourne Business Network

> Melco Crown

> MSIG

> NAB

> Negotiaction

> Nomura

> Ocean Park

> Pacific Hydro

> PricewaterhouseCoopers

> QBE

> Rohlig Logistics

> Royal Botanic Gardens

> Sedgman

> Telstra Global

> Toll

> Wild at Heart

Our supportersKey staff

ACADEMIC SUBJECT COORDINATORS:

PROFESSIONAL STAFF:

Global Business Practicum:

Associate Professor Jennifer Grafton

Amanda Marotta, Margaret Herczeg, Hayley Wolfert, Tracey Skordos and Clementine Bendle-Thompson

Global Management Consulting:

Dr Tine Koehler

Management Consulting:

Austin Chia

Melbourne Business Practicum:

Sujay Nair

Graphic design by Made Visual