ISSUE 6, APRIL 2017
The
Willis News Bi-annual newsletter for the Work Integrated Learning subjects. Connecting past and present alumni, students and clients.
INSIDE THIS ISSUE: FEATURE STORY
Quantifying Employer Branding PAST STUDENT REFLECTION
San Francisco to Santiago AN INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE
Working together to exceed expectations WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
Julia Rambaldi & Luke Nankervis PAST STUDENT REFLECTION
From Singapore to Hong Kong MELBOURNE BUSINESS PRACTICUM
Gaining skills and knowledge in the working world
Welcome Welcome to the sixth 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. The November 2016 Global Management Consulting (GMC) program took place in Santiago, while the January 2017 program visited San Francisco and Bangkok. Once again, our valued industry hosts offered some challenging and interesting projects to their student groups. Each city hosted 20 of our BCom students, with groups of four or five working as consultants in each company. Some of our industry partners included Pacific Hydro, Austrade and QBE. The GMC students found their experience full of valuable learning opportunities, in a new culture and environment. Management Consulting produced some great projects for a diverse mix of clients such as City of Melbourne, World Vision, NAB and Sensis in Semester Two last year. We had 60 students participate in the program, working on projects for 15 different clients. Our congratulations go to the Digital Affair student consulting group, who won the $2500 FBE Management Consulting Team Prize for the highest performing team during the semester. You can read about their project for Digital Affair on pages 4-5. We would also like to congratulate 3rd year BCom student, Christopher Hunt, who was the winner of the 2016 AT Kearney Australia Management Consulting Prize, which is awarded to the student who receives the highest grade in the subject over the entire year. Well done Christopher! The Global Business Practicum grew this summer, with eight teams hosted by organisations in Singapore, and 11 teams travelling to Hong Kong. In Singapore the teams worked with companies including NAB, PWC, Fairmont and KPMG. In Hong Kong our clients included HKICPA, Nomura, Deloitte and Ocean Park. Our students had the opportunity to gain work experience in these professional organisations while also learning about their city’s business culture. Monique Lau, one of the students with the HKICPA team, described the team’s final presentation as the “most rewarding experience of the GBP… as our team’s practical and actionable recommendations were well-received by our hosts.” Meanwhile, back on home turf, we were also able to increase student participation in the Melbourne Business Practicum, sending a total of 15 multi-disciplinary teams to organisations across Melbourne. We continued our longstanding partnership with clients including ANZ and The Huddle, North Melbourne Football Club. New partnerships paved the way for student teams to work with organisations such as the National Heart Foundation, Keep Victoria Beautiful, Melbourne Football Club, L’Oreal and The Smith Family. You can read about the experiences of our Melbourne Business Practicum students at Medley Hall, one of the residential colleges here at the University of Melbourne, on pages 18 and 19. The summer graduate subjects were recently celebrated at the Business Practicum Showcase. This event was a wonderful opportunity for our industry partners, students and staff to connect with each other and showcase the amazing work that came out of the Practicum subjects. We were very pleased to have George De Crespigny from the Melbourne Football Club attend and speak about how impressed the Club was by the work generated from their two student teams, and that he was already thinking of projects for the upcoming winter intake. He strongly encouraged other organisations to get on board. It was gratifying to hear of the student experience from one of the two project teams allocated to the Melbourne Football Club. There was some envy in the room when the MFC team shared that their office space for the duration of the program had been one of the corporate boxes at the MCG! 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
Professor Prakash Singh
Deputy Dean, Melbourne Business School
Head of Department, Management and Marketing
MANAGEMENT CONSULTING
MELBOURNE BUSINESS PRACTICUM
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.
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.
Work Integrated Learning Subjects The 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.
GLOBAL BUSINESS PRACTICUM
GLOBAL MANAGEMENT CONSULTING
A two-week overseas in-company team project for Masters students. Destinations include Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Shanghai. Projects run during January, July and November.
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 November.
FEATURE STORY: MANAGEMENT CONSULTING
Quantifying Employer Branding: a New Approach to Managing Human Resources
Digital Affair, a Human Resources tech start-up, approached us with the task of refining and validating a tool that could measure the strength of an organisation’s Employer Brand. Methods to increase acquisition of high performing employees have traditionally been performed through outsourced recruiting. Despite the benefits, recruiting through agencies can be an inefficient and expensive option. The concept of Employer Branding has emerged as a means to improve hiring processes, however most organisations fail to effectively build their Employer Brands due to a lack of expertise. This is where Digital Affair comes in - as the specialists in the field. Over recent years the concept of employer branding has become increasingly popular, especially as a substitute for recruitment agencies. The search for high performing employees is a demanding process, which
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takes a lot of resources. Employer Branding seeks to remove traditional head hunting costs and outsourced recruitment, in favour of building an organisation’s brand as an excellent employer to attract new talent. Employer Branding is a valuable asset that generates growth in organisations. With a strong employer brand it’s possible to achieve an increase in the pool of potential workers by 20%, a fourfold increase in commitment and a 10% decrease in costs from payrolls. Employer Branding is a relatively new concept that applies marketing to recruitment methods and seeks to best understand what makes an organisation attractive to employees. Put simply, if we imagine a good consumer brand makes us more likely to purchase a product, then a good employer brand makes us more likely to apply for a position at that organisation. The pre-existing tool asked organisations to provide their HR data in the form of a survey. Calculations are then performed to evaluate the inputs, and a score out of 100 is provided. This tool is the first of its type in the world,
The Project Management Consulting Melbourne, Australia Semester 2, 2016 Digital Affair Christian Sullivan Bachelor of Commerce, Management and Marketing Major Mads Wittendorff Feldt Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Project Management, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark Ying Xiu (Daniela) Lim Bachelor of Commerce, Accounting and Management Major Yucan (Claire) Tang Bachelor of Commerce, Accounting and Finance Major Christian, Mads, Daniela and Yucan were the recipients of the Management Consulting Team Prize for Semester 2, 2016.
“Our group learned that this tool has the ability to effect changes in the way organisations measure their data and that it could be used in the future to establish best practices for organisations to record and report on their HR data.”
and it not only evaluates the strength of an Employer Brand but also draws attention to the concept of Employer Branding and what it is that Digital Affair does. Our team came on board to research and determine if the metrics used in the tool were widely used by organisations, and if the score organisations were provided with was helpful in benchmarking their performance. Digital Affair put us in contact with HR executives from GE and Ericsson who assisted us with our research and validating the tool. Through conversations with them, we discovered that organisations want more than just a score to measure their Employer Brand, they want insights. Backed by academic research, we discovered that an Employer Brand can be split into three areas: a psychological component; a functional component; and an economic component. These three components would then feed into how we report the results to organisations using the tool. In addition to an Employer Brand score, scores for each of these three dimensions were added to the tool. Following positive feedback on the changes with GE and Ericsson, we proceeded to survey ten HR thought leaders on how they thought each metric used in the tool’s score calculation would relate to each of the three dimensions. Using the results we reweighed each metric according to their relevance to each
dimension. The result was that now organisations would be provided with a final Employer Brand Score as well as a score for each dimension. Following refinement, the tool was trialled with five large organisations that were based both in Australia and overseas. The results showed that organisations still lacked some of the data we were asking for. This required us to change some of the metrics and to evaluate the way we asked each question. More surprisingly, however, was that these organisations, when unable to find data to answer a question, began the process of recording data on the metrics for future use. From this our group learned that this tool has the ability to effect changes in the way organisations measure their data and that it could be used in the future to establish best practices for organisations to record and report on their HR data. To finalise our report we made a number of suggestions on how Digital Affair should proceed with development. We suggested that they change the way results are reported from a number of scores, to larger automatically generated reports that benchmark an organisation’s performance against their industry, country and among job functions. These reports will then provide a number of insights to organisations who have previously been unable to track the performance of their Employer Brand against their competitors.
The tool is now in full development with Digital Affair and will be available to organisations willing to assist with further testing in 2017.
“We had autonomy in the project, which meant we could structure our time ourselves. We were in charge and could choose the direction for the project… Management Consulting is about taking control of your own work. It is important to be independent and to think outside the square” – Mads Wittendorff Feldt “Management Consulting was the most exciting and challenging subject that I have taken at university. It provides the opportunity to use your talent to solve real business problems” – Yucan (Claire) Tang “We were constantly pushing boundaries and working to our fullest abilities…I was delegated significant responsibilities that I would not have been given otherwise” – Ying Xiu (Daniela) Lim
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PAST STUDENT REFLECTION: GLOBAL MANAGEMENT CONSULTING
Rebecca Satkunam Bachelor of Commerce (Economics and Marketing Major)
Participating in Global Management Consulting felt like taking a leap five years into my future and seeing the type of collaborator, investigator or creator that I could be in the world beyond university. San Francisco, USA In this unfamiliar environment I was both confronted and empowered as I learnt how to forge my own path to a goal, adapt to the dynamics of a high performing team, and understand how my skills translate from the classroom to a business environment where they can have real, reverberating impacts. Armed with my university knowledge and a strong bond to my consulting team, I landed in San Francisco seeking to deliver creative marketing strategies
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to the IBM Bluemix Garage. Our task quickly grew more complicated than we anticipated as we filtered through conflicting perspectives and expectations. But, using the diverse strengths in our team, it was rewarding to see how we were able to independently find, decipher and overcome these challenges. In those first few days, I also learnt that the element of surprise is useful fuel for innovation. Perhaps what surprised me the most during this experience was understanding that our team had been handed the opportunity to provide significant, meaningful value to our client, and that this potential was so openly appreciated by the company itself. I was also surprised by the new perspective I developed on the skills I had learnt through my education. Critical thinking, leadership and interpersonal development are not unfamiliar concepts at university. But once I came to understand them in the context of a real business, and met the people impacted by their application, using these skills started to mean more
The Project Global Management Consulting San Francisco, USA January 2017 IBM Bluemix Garage Rebecca Satkunam and Andrew Pankevicius were the recipients of the Global Management Consulting Award for January 2017. than getting a grade. In fact, more than once during my time in San Francisco, I forgot there was a grade to be gained at all! Global Management Consulting proved to be an unparalleled learning opportunity, both in understanding my capacity in a professional workplace, and in understanding my potential to grow and embrace new experiences. The subject gave me more than I had expected, and I’m happy to know I was able to contribute something in return to the client who had made that experience possible.
Alexandra Kent
Bachelor of Commerce (Finance and Management Major)
To say we hit the ground running would be an understatement. Santiago, Chile Still recovering from a severe case of jet lag, the beginning of our two-week consulting project at Komatsu Latin America was a whirlwind. Ushered in and out of presentations, we were quickly brought up to speed on the project. Fortunately our team had two students studying the Spanish language, including myself, which assisted us in our data collection. By the end of the first 72 hours we had scoped out our objectives and started to formulate some initial hypotheses. Our project was based in the used construction equipment division, and our focus was on developing a model and complimentary set of tools that would allow Komatsu to effectively pool together and sell used equipment.
By the time the final presentation arrived we were able to craft a solution incorporating both incremental and innovative ideas. An unexpected ongoing theme throughout the experience was the impact of national culture. In our predeparture briefings we spoke at length about the role of culture, however it was not until we were on site that it became apparent the extent to which cultural differences can influence a working environment. Although I had some familiarity with consulting from working with a non-for-profit consulting organization, the Global Consulting Group, working for a Japanese company in the capital city of Chile was an entirely unique experience. During our time at Komatsu, we were also fortunate to be shown the different company sites. We were taken to see one of the largest mining machines in Komatsu’s range, colloquially known as ‘the big truck’ (pictured). Standing next to it, we were barely as tall as the wheel hub.
The Project Global Management Consulting Santiago, Chile November 2016 Komatsu Cummins Alexandra was the recipient of the Global Management Consulting Award for November 2016.
The Global Management Consulting subject gave great insight into the work of a management consultant. Despite my concern that we were simply university students trying to solve problems for a multi-billion dollar company, the solutions we presented were valued just as if we were professionals on the job.
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PAST STUDENT REFLECTION: GLOBAL MANAGEMENT CONSULTING
Bianca Strebl
Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting and Finance Major)
Global Management Consulting was an invaluable experience which led to both personal and professional growth. Bangkok, Thailand My experience of working with other students who were initially unknown to me within a foreign work environment involved moments of frustration and disagreement, but many more moments of excitement and breakthrough. I was fortunate to work as a student consultant for Aziam Burson-Marsteller (ABM). They are an affiliate of BursonMarsteller (a major player in the global PR industry) and have a rich company history. I was very fortunate that the CEO & Managing Director put in the time and energy to talk to our team and enrich us intellectually.
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My team was given the task to research and recommend a digital toolset that ABM could use in their digital transformation. Since ABM is at the forefront of the digital PR industry in Thailand, they have the opportunity to employ available technology to position themselves quickly and firmly within the digital technology realm by taking advantage of new developments in digital software. Although I had no previous experience in the public relations sphere and minimal experience with digital media, I realised that the task predominantly involved research and the use of judgement. I felt confident that we could create a solution for ABM’s needs. We found proper delegation of responsibility and a timeline for goal completion to be important objectives for our team.
The Project Global Management Consulting Bangkok, Thailand January 2017 Aziam Burson-Marsteller (ABM)
One of the most fascinating parts of the experience was being part of a team and watching the dynamic evolve throughout the course of the project. As we became more comfortable around each other, we were able to communicate and collaborate more effectively. The bonds that were formed over such a short period remain strong which has really reinforced my belief that what matters is the work that you do, and the people that you do it with.
“The CEO & Managing Director put in the time and energy to talk to us”
OUR STUDENTS:
Where you will find our Work Integrated Learning students
Berlin, Germany San Francisco, USA
Bangkok, Thailand
Seoul, South Korea Shanghai, China Hong Kong
Singapore Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Santiago, Chile
Melbourne, Australia
Our student consultant teams can be found across the globe; working in powerhouse cities across Asia, Europe and North and South America.
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Our clients A recent snapshot of the varied industries engaging the latest student intakes from our Work Integrated Learning progams.
Telecommunication Sport and Recreation
Transport and Logistics
Recruitment Public Relations
Banking, Financial Services and Business Consultancy
Pharmaceutical
Not-for-Profit
Cosmetics
Media
Marketing and Advertising Education Sector
Manufacturing Engineering Consultancy Information Technology
Environmental Conservation Government
Insurance Hospitality and Tourism
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Health and Allied Services
Banking, Financial Services and Business Consultancy ANZ Melbourne BTS Consulting Singapore
Government
Not-for-Profit
Austrade San Francisco
Belgian Avenue Neighbourhood Housing Melbourne
City of Melbourne State Library of Victoria
Deloitte Melbourne Deloitte Hong Kong Ernst & Young Santiago
Inclusion Melbourne Health and Allied Services First Step Melbourne
Grant Thornton Melbourne Grant Thornton Bangkok KPMG Melbourne KPMG Singapore
NAB Singapore
Ocean Park Hong Kong
MSIG Bangkok TAL Melbourne
Graduate Student Association, University of Melbourne Medley Hall, University of Melbourne University of Melbourne Library University of Melbourne Procurement Services
Bayer Singapore
Public Relations Aziam Burson-Marsteller (ABM) Bangkok
QBE Hong Kong QBE Bangkok
Education Sector
Pharmaceutical
Insurance
Cosmetics L’Oreal Melbourne
World Vision Melbourne
GlaxoSmithKline Singapore
Nomura Hong Kong
PwC Singapore
The Huddle, North Melbourne Football Club
Fairmont Hotel Singapore Melco Crown Entertainment Hong Kong
PwC Hong Kong
Oxfam Melbourne
The Smith Family Melbourne Hospitality and Tourism
NAB Melbourne
Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants
Heart Foundation Melbourne
Recruitment Fircroft Bangkok
Information Technology IBM Bluemix Garage San Francisco GTS Interactive Melbourne
Manufacturing Amcor Melbourne
Sport and Recreation Melbourne Football Club
Telecommunication Telstra San Francisco
Komatsu Cummins Santiago Pacific Hydro Santiago
Transport and Logistics Rohlig Logistics Santiago
Marco Polo Melbourne Marketing and Advertising Engineering Consultancy
99 Designs San Francisco
ARUP Melbourne
Digital Affair Melbourne
Tonkin & Taylor Melbourne
Sensis Melbourne
Environmental Conservation
Media
Keep Victoria Beautiful
Asian Private Banker Hong Kong
Toll Global Forwarding Hong Kong
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AN INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE: MANAGEMENT CONSULTING
An industry perspective
Working together to
exceed expectations “Our expectations were 100% met - if not exceeded. The student team who we worked with were all enthusiastic, highly motivated and very diligent throughout the entire project.”
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Michelle Callanan is the Senior Marketing Leader, Lifebroker. Michelle hosted a team of Management Consulting students during Semester 2, 2016.
What attracted you to participating in Management Consulting?
Do you have any advice for new students doing Management Consulting?
We were very excited about the fresh ideas and new perspectives that a student team from the University of Melbourne could add to the Lifebroker team. We are always looking to encourage young talent to develop and potentially take up opportunities in our industry. We felt that Management Consulting would provide all of the above and more.
Firstly, it is a fantastic subject and an opportunity for a huge amount of personal development – so well done for choosing Management Consulting! Secondly, don’t be afraid to ask as many questions as you can think of, and ensure that you make use of the knowledge and experience of the individuals in the companies where you are completing the project. Everyone is usually more than happy to help and it will make a big difference to have that overview when preparing your final report and presentation.
What are the benefits of participating in Management Consulting? Our expectations were 100% met - if not exceeded. The student team who we worked with were all enthusiastic, highly motivated and very diligent throughout the entire project. Their development throughout the course of the project was evident for all to see and their final presentation was of an extremely high calibre. What kind of personal qualities do you think a student needs in order to be successful in the Management Consulting program? Enthusiasm and a willingness to learn and get involved are pivotal. All of the student team members who we worked with on the program had these attributes in spades. Also an ability to be nimble, agile and open to feedback is key when working in a fast paced environment.
Do you have any memorable moments from your involvement with Management Consulting? There are two stand out moments for me. Firstly, the beginning of the project meeting and getting to know all of the student team was a real treat. The team complemented each other greatly with varied backgrounds and expertise and they were all very enthusiastic to be involved in the project. Secondly, a hugely memorable moment for me was the final presentation from the student team. Their presentation was very in-depth and definitely surpassed our expectations. The team’s recommendations were well argued and supported with evidence. It was a fantastic moment to see them all present a great piece of research so well. Now that the students have presented their findings to you, what are your next steps? Will you be putting any of the findings you received from the students into practice? Yes, we’re currently working with our digital agency team to integrate many of their recommendations into some of our Q1 social media planning.
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PAST STUDENTS: MANAGEMENT CONSULTING
Where are they now? Julia Rambaldi Julia Rambaldi is a Consulting Finance Analyst at Deloitte. She participated in Management Consulting in Semester 1, 2015 and completed a project for SecondBite. She graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce, majoring in Accounting and Management, in 2015. Where are you working now? I am working as a Consulting Finance Analyst at Deloitte. Every day I am fortunate to work on client sites with a highly intelligent, diverse and energetic team to address both the opportunities and constraints facing CFOs today and tomorrow. Currently I am using innovation and technology to build a tool which will assist in the budgeting, planning and forecasting process for our client. Prior to this, I worked in the Restructuring industry as an accountant advising financially distressed companies. What was your most memorable moment in Management Consulting? Participating in Management Consulting was easily my most rewarding experience as a university student. The experience truly helped me confirm what I want out of my career today. Our client was SecondBite, a national not-for-profit
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that repurposes surplus fresh food and vegetables to feed the two million food insecure Australians and recover some of the $8 billion worth of wasted fresh food a year. Our team assisted in the feasibility of creating a Social Enterprise (“The Ugly Juice Truck”) to establish a sustainable income stream which would inject money into the core services of SecondBite. The most memorable moment of this project was experiencing our creativity transform into a real-life fruit juice truck. Our hard-work had paid off and we all had a very high sense of fulfilment and achievement. Do you have any words of wisdom for new students doing the subject? Ask questions. It’s simple but something often taken for granted. Continually ask yourself, your team, and most importantly your client if you are adding real value to their business. The most valuable skill-set developed
in this subject is the ability to deal with ambiguity. Trust the judgment of your team and test the theories taught at university to remove road-blocks and provide your client with creative solutions. Also, take advantage of the resources at-hand to help you reach your solution.
If you had to describe your Management Consulting experiences in three words, what would they be?
1. Practical 2. Challenging 3. Rewarding
Melbourne, Australia
Luke Nankervis Luke Nankervis is a Buying and Trading Graduate at Coles. He participated in Management Consulting in Semester 2, 2015 and completed a project for M&P Partners. He graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce, majoring in Finance and Management, in 2015. Where are you working now? I am currently completing my second year on the Coles’ Graduate Program. In my first year as a Graduate, I worked as part of the People and Culture function, which included providing HR support for team members in the Coles Liquor brands. I’ve recently completed a crossfunctional move into the Merchandise function, where I’m currently gaining valuable experience in buying, trading and category management for our Supermarket stores. What was your most memorable moment in Management Consulting? Being assigned to a small strategic human resources and communications agency, M&P Partners, was a really amazing opportunity for our team. We were asked to take thought leadership on employee engagement and create a framework for the agency to use with clients. Due to the highly academic nature of our task, the most memorable
moments were the collaboration sessions our team had both in the classroom and with the client. There were often passionate and profound discussions that really enabled us to develop our final findings for the client - these were where our best ideas came from. Do you have any words of wisdom for new students doing the subject? Make the most of who your client is, big or small! Students who are assigned to small organisations, like we were, are given a wonderful opportunity to make a very significant impact. For us, M&P Partners was our opportunity to provide the two key consultants with research, a framework and methodology to better service their client’s requests. For me, this opportunity provided me with many key learnings that I’ve since gone on to apply within a much larger organisation.
If you had to describe your Management Consulting experiences in three words, what would they be?
1. Research 2. Conceptualise 3. Collaborate
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PAST STUDENT REFLECTION: GLOBAL BUSINESS PRACTICUM
Francois-Paul Bourg Dual Master Degree in International Business and Global Supply Chain Management, HEC Montréal (Canada)
The Global Business Practicum at GlaxoSmithKline Singapore was a lifechanging experience. Singapore I was forced to step out of my comfort zone many times during the two-week project, and polished my consulting soft skills. I expected to learn how to apply my academic knowledge to a real-world consulting project, but I also learnt about myself and how to work as part of a team – not just a group. The project from GlaxoSmithKline was challenging yet exciting: design and create a forecasting model for repairs and maintenance. It required specific skills and precise knowledge, which was a challenge at first. Before starting to work on the project, my teammates and I all had to voice our strengths and
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acknowledge our weaknesses in order to all work together as a true team. Openly talking about ourselves made me aware of things I did not know about myself, and I really learnt from the experience. It created a strong team bond and helped us to leverage our own individual strengths. It also showed me how to best interact with people from different cultural backgrounds as I got a better understanding of my teammate’s working styles. After working together for two long weeks, we finally presented our findings to our host company. We were delighted that we met GlaxoSmithKline’s expectations and that our work was valuable to them. Working in Singapore was very new for me - it was my first time working in Asia and I really enjoyed it. The working atmosphere and environment are very different from what I am used to in Australia and Europe, but I now know that I can easily adapt myself to any environment.
The Project Global Business Practicum Singapore January 2017 GlaxoSmithKline Francois-Paul was a recipient of the Global Business Practicum Award for January 2017.
The Global Business Practicum in Singapore has definitely been a milestone in my career path and strengthened my self-confidence. The experience helped me to grow as a leader and has been a valuable addition to my Masters of International Business.
Lori (Xue) Han
Master of Management (Accounting and Finance)
The Global Business Practicum program is a unique opportunity offered by the University of Melbourne and I was extremely lucky to be a part of it. Hong Kong I expected to learn a lot from the practicum; including soft skills like corporate behaviour, leadership, teamwork skills, and to learn more about myself and my potential future career path. My three other team members came from different countries and different educational backgrounds. Our team completed a research based project for PwC Hong Kong, which focused on improving community based elderly care services in Hong Kong.
My teamwork skills were greatly improved over the two weeks of the practicum as I learnt to trust my team members. Instead of interpreting all the information individually and then discussing and comparing with each other, we divided the work early so that each of us was responsible for a particular section. I also realised the importance of time management and task allocation in team projects. This was ultimately very efficient and we delivered our presentation according to schedule. The PwC working environment was very friendly, supportive and flexible. The employees were generally bilingual and many had studied overseas. After work my teammates and I explored Hong Kong, looking for the best restaurants – which is not hard to do at all! By the end of our time in country there were still many places we wanted to go.
The Project Global Business Practicum Hong Kong January 2017 PwC Lori was a recipient of the Global Business Practicum Award for January 2017.
I enjoyed working with such a high degree of freedom in a consultancy environment. We had a strong sense of satisfaction in knowing that our recommendations may improve the wellbeing of Hong Kong’s elderly community. The Global Business Practicum was a valuable learning experience and a fun and exciting journey.
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STUDENT DIARY: MELBOURNE BUSINESS PRACTICUM
Gaining skills and knowledge
in the working world.
Masters students Aom, Arthur, Karlie and Tiwi participated in the Melbourne Business Practicum in February 2017. They worked for two weeks on a project for Medley Hall, a residential college of the University of Melbourne. We asked them to document their time there.
The Project: Melbourne Business Practicum Melbourne February 2017 Medley Hall, the University of Melbourne
Kate Masters was the recipient of the Melbourne Business Practicum Award for February 2017.
Induction Week Thanchanok (Aom) Choochart Master of Management (Marketing) There are two things that I wished to achieve while completing my Master of Management (Marketing) at Melbourne Business School. Firstly, I wanted to apply my knowledge from the classroom to the real working world. Secondly, I wanted to gain more professional skills and learn about Australian business culture. The Melbourne Business Practicum was just what I needed! My teammates and I were assigned Medley Hall as our host company. Our journey started in Induction Week, which aimed to prepare us for the Practicum experience with workshops on consulting skills and essential techniques for a professional business consultant. We also learnt about Australian business culture and market research. We then efficiently allocated tasks to each team member using the knowledge gained from the Belbin Team Role exercise during the team management workshop. As a first year international student with little work experience, these workshops were very helpful for me. At the end of Induction Week, we presented our research proposal for our Medley Hall project. I was delighted with our team’s performance and hoped
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that our client would agree with our proposal. Our next step would be to start working in company at Medley Hall. Although many challenges awaited us, we were very excited to explore more and more on this journey!
The First Day In-Company - Zhiqiang (Arthur) Wang Master of Management (Finance) I walked nervously into the lobby on our first day in company at Medley Hall. I had been a student at a college before, so it felt very different to be viewing Medley Hall from a business and marketing perspective. Our supervisor welcomed us into her office, and then showed us to our work place which helped us to relax and focus on the task at hand. Our supervisor clearly explained what she expected from us and sent us previous strategic plans to kick-off our research. We realised that this project should be self-driven, rather than scheduled by our client. There was no direct supervision or unsolicited feedback from our client, instead we made appointments to address unsolved questions or ambiguity. Our first day in company at Medley Hall effectively changed my way of thinking from that of an employee to that of a consultant who is truly responsible for the success of their project.
“They did not take our hard work for granted and are planning to put some of our proposed improvements into action.� The Half Way Point - Yinghui (Karlie) Sun Master of Management (Accounting & Finance) Our research objective was very clear and our analyses of the business situation in Week One was strong. For the second week in company, we focused on gathering information through interviews to identify customer needs and generate recommendations based on our analysis. Most of us had never conducted interviews before so we brainstormed many potential questions and determined our interview objectives for both past and potential customers. After designing our questions, we discussed them with our supervisor who pointed out some weaknesses and suggested we think more deeply about the real objective of the interviews. We started again, discussed the goal of the interviews and finalised our questions by separating them into different target markets and objectives. This process was a really good learning experience for all of us.
After many brainstorms and fierce discussions throughout our two weeks in company at Medley Hall, we developed a tacit understanding between the four of us. As a result, we were able to work together efficiently and effectively as a team – and have some fun!
The Final Presentation - Pratiwi Woro (Tiwi) Riesandhini Master of Management (Marketing) It was with somewhat mixed feelings that we approached the final presentation. We were excited yet nervous, especially as we knew that the Principal of Medley Hall would be in the audience. I cannot lie, we all felt a little bit anxious, and worried whether our recommendations would be well received. However, our host made us feel very comfortable during our presentation by giving us positive comments that made us feel that all our efforts were appreciated and that our recommendations had met their expectations.
The Principal of Medley Hall said that they would consider our recommendations in their marketing plans. They did not take our hard work for granted and are planning to put some of our proposed improvements into action. Over the last two weeks in the Melbourne Business Practicum we have learnt how to work in a multicultural team with different backgrounds and perspectives. We learnt how to take into account differing opinions and perspectives, the practicalities of marketing management and research, and the constraints of working in a real business. Image: Yinghui (Karlie) Sun, Thanchanok (Aom) Choochart, Pratiwi (Tiwi) Riesandhini and Zhiqiang (Arthur) Wang outside Medley Hall.
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Key staff Academic Subject Coordinators:
Professional Staff:
Global Business Practicum & Melbourne Business Practicum: Sharon Soltys Work Integrated Learning Teaching Specialist
Amanda Marotta, Lucrezia Marino, Hayley Wolfert, Tracey Skordos, Amy Stichbury, Clementine Bendle-Thompson and Rachel Hanley.
Thank you
Management Consulting: Paul Wiseman Academic Subject Coordinator Global Management Consulting: Dr Tine Koehler Academic Subject Coordinator
The Faculty of Business and Economics would like to thank Austin Chia, the Academic Coordinator for Management Consulting for the past five years who has now moved on to another role within the faculty.
Our supporters >> 99 Designs
>> Grant Thornton Melbourne
>> Ocean Park
>> Amcor
>> Grant Thornton Bangkok
>> Oxfam
>> ANZ Melbourne
>> GTS Interactive
>> Pacific Hydro
>> ARUP
>> Heart Foundation
>> PwC Hong Kong
>> Asian Private Banker
>> Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants
>> PwC Singapore
>> Austrade >> Aziam Burson-Marsteller (ABM)
>> IBM Bluemix Garage
>> QBE Bangkok
>> Bayer
>> Inclusion Melbourne
>> Rohlig Logistics
>> Belgian Avenue Neighbourhood Housing
>> Keep Victoria Beautiful
>> Sensis
>> Komatsu Cummins
>> State Library of Victoria
>> BTS Consulting
>> KPMG Melbourne
>> TAL
>> City of Melbourne
>> KPMG Singapore
>> Telstra
>> Deloitte Hong Kong
>> L’Oreal
>> Deloitte Melbourne
>> Marco Polo
>> The Huddle, North Melbourne Football Club
>> Digital Affair
>> Medley Hall, University of Melbourne
>> The Smith Family
>> Ernst & Young
>> Melbourne Football Club
>> Toll Global Forwarding
>> Fairmont Hotel
>> Melco Crown Entertainment
>> Tonkin & Taylor
>> Fircroft
>> MSIG
>> University of Melbourne Library
>> First Step
>> NAB Melbourne
>> GlaxoSmithKline
>> NAB Singapore
>> University of Melbourne Procurement Services
>> Graduate Student Association, University of Melbourne
>> Nomura
>> World Vision
>> QBE Hong Kong
We are pleased to announce Chris Hunt as the winner of the A.T. Kearney Australia Prize for Management Consulting for 2016. Chris completed the subject in Semester 1, 2016 working on a project for Deloitte. The prize is awarded to the student with the highest grade in Management Consulting across the year. Chris is currently studying a Bachelor of Commerce, majoring in Economics and Finance. Congratulations Chris!
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Are you looking to host a student team? Confirmation of projects is sought approximately three months before each offering commences. To get involved please contact: Hayley Wolfert and Tracey Skordos
Email: fbe-industryprograms@unimelb.edu.au
Phone: (03) 9035 6707
Are you a student looking to do a Work Intergrated Learning Subject? 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-nov 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