Entrepreneurship in cross-cultural environment

The positive aspects of working in cross-cultural environment are always astonishing. The ideas and the thought process that people bring on the table is mesmerizing - be it case-studies or idea suggestions. The entire of March and April 2009 was occupied with Wharton GCP and Nipponica a Venture lab initiative. Nipponica was a seed plan, part of the entrepreneurship class curriculum, whose business model focused on providing technology consulting services to entrepreneurs/ companies in Japan helping them with their start-ups. After all this is what was required in this uncertain economy and period of unemployment i.e. to create job opportunities. Nipponica offered a reliable, high-quality alternative to in-house resources for business development, market development, and channel development. Working with 3 financials experts coming from Italy, France and Japan, with a marketing expert from Venezuela, with 15+ years experienced Indo-US IT combo was a tremendous learning experience. Language barriers and working methodology, despite the cultural differences and working styles, at times took its toll on the team, but none that could possibly stop the team from delivering high-quality plan backed by sound secondary research work. The overall quality of learning, documentation and presentation were excellent (or atleast that is what was told to us). Kudos to team Nipponica (2009)!! After Nipponica, I have now moved on to two different venture projects in the venture lab, looking to collaborate with my Latin American friends in the field of MVNO'S and CSR's. Hoping for an entrepreneurial and eventful 2009 :)

Wharton GCP 2009...six months of hardwork paid-off !!

The Wharton Global Consulting Practicum (GCP) is a cross functional course given within the curriculum of the Wharton M.B.A. and its associate partner school program (IE Business School in my case). Established in 1978, this unique program pairs teams of Wharton M.B.A. students and faculty with teams from partner universities (in Chile, China, Colombia, India, Israel, Peru, Spain, Taiwan and the United Arab Emirates with pilot projects in Africa) to consult with a client company (either profit making or non-profit social impact) interested in entering or expanding its position in the U.S. market, or somehow leveraging a relationship with North America. The goal of the program is two-fold: to provide exceptional learning value to the students and innovative, operational plans which add value to real-time clients. (Reference: http://mktgweb.wharton.upenn.edu/gcpcourse/index.html)

As an IE Business School IMBA 2009 candidate, I was privileged to have gotten this opportunity to address the client concerns and open up opportunities by debating and discussing with 9 other team members, each coming from a different background, culturally and professionally, for over six months. Our professional network included MBA's and teaching faculties coming from different industries, business types and geographies. The part-time strategic consulting program assisted me immensely in developing strong networks while also building onto the lessons from the different classes we undertook during our first two term, coupled with the business experience that each of the team members brought on to the table. After six months of hard work the Spaniards finally gave their shot at Wharton Business School in May 2009 (and my first visit to the states), showcasing their findings and studies to the client, thus building onto their reputation with strong bring alive and networking events. It was a journey well travelled in the past 6 months - smart work, time-management, Lots of research and entrepreneurial spirit. In the end that's what was needed!! If you are a future GCP candidate, who just happened to read this page, well this real-time consulting project is all about smart working leadership, team work, time-management and understanding your objective from this project.

To sign off, the 30th GCP gala started off with the Keynote speaker Jill Beraud WG '86, GCP Alumnus and Worldwide Chief Marketing Officer, PepsiCo. All GCP Friends, Alumni, Clients, Spouses and Partners from different countries participated in this event helping GCP celebrate its rich history. I finally had an opportunity to meet Mr. Len Lodish, a well known and renowned marketing professor at Wharton B-School and chairman of GCP program. It was an eventful evening with my strategy professors Mr. Rafa Ruiz and my mentor Mrs. Carolina Tejuca. Attached is the snapshot of our team that seen the ups and downs of consulting program (Cheryl, Shreyans, Anubha, D’laila, Jody are missing).