Describe your substantial achievement to date. Explain how you accomplished it, and why you view it as a success. (500 words)
In my opinion, success means turning around negative factors in a situation and changing them into positive factors that lead to an accomplishment. In September 1999 I signed on as the vice marketing manager of CAILUN Pulp and Paper Company, Ltd., which is a trading company dealing with the business of pulp and paper products. Just five months later, In February 2000, I faced the biggest challenge of my career. I needed to win a big pulp supply order contract from the Dongying Paper Factory, a large, state-owned paper mill. This contract would run for three years with revenue of one million RMB per month, which would be the largest order in the company’s history.
As a newly established company, this would mean not only a considerable monthly income but it would also be a solid foundation for the future development of our company – a good reference point for our future business. Although in the beginning we were excited about the possibility of working with such a large, state-owned enterprise, we soon realized that we would face many difficulties. First of all, compared with our competitors, we did not have as much economic strength and extensive experience in pulp operations. Secondly, if we admitted that we had fewer resources and less experience, then the basis of our competitive advantage would need to be a lower price than that of our domestic competitors. But, unfortunately, it was impossible to gain this competitive advantage by means of a lower price simply because all the pulp suppliers in the United States, Canada and South America sell their products to their Chinese agents at the same price. The situation looked hopeless and many of my colleagues suggested that I just give up.
After thoroughly analyzing the situation, I came up with a creative and bold strategy to apply to the situation. Our company had good relationships with many of our customers that had years of experience with the sale of pulp and paper, such as publishing and printing houses. My new idea was to persuade these customers to sign a long-term letter of intent for the purchase of paper products over the next two to three years. In return, our company would agree to give them lower prices based on future market conditions – an agreement that no other tradesman could provide. By linking together suppliers and buyers in the value chain, we were able to win the confidence of Dongying Paper Factory by guaranteeing them a market for their paper products in the future. We not only were able to win the supply contract, but we were also able to set up good relationships with the Dongying Paper Factory and the end consumers. My strategy proved to be correct. My creative thinking “outside of the box” gave us a victory over more experienced competitors. Looking at customers as partners rather than simply purchasers of our products allowed us to optimize our advantages and move forward as a company. I see this as my most substantial achievement to date, which has laid the foundation for more such achievements in my future career.
MBA Essay Writing CASE FOUR
Discuss your intended career plans and the Ivey School’s place in those plans. Why do you want to pursuit an MBA Program Now? (700 words)
In the future, my career will follow the rapid ascendancy of Asian businesses. Initially, I plan to work in an advisory capacity, such as in consulting, but ultimately I believe that I will fill a leadership role in a multinational company. My career plans come from my diversified experiences with two highly reputable companies and from my observations that there will be tremendous opportunities in Asian business in the near future. With China’s entry into WTO, there will be a huge demand for people with a first-hand knowledge of China’s business environment that have also been trained in Western business methods through a high class MBA program such as the Ivey School of Business.
At the time that I graduated from university, my uncle and my father were raising money to start their own business. They established a small mechanical manufacturing facility in Shenyang with my uncle as the manager. Although he had never been involved with a business before, he was very successful. The company developed new metal molding products and was awarded a patent. The factory grew very quickly and made high profits. I was astounded by the fact that from such a small beginning the factory had three hundred employees when I visited there during my summer vacation.
My dream then became to someday act as a financial manager for my family’s business. To gain experience in the financial field, I joined the capital department of a famous foreign bank, the Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank (DKB) in Dalian, China, as one of its first ever Chinese employees. I was chosen to take charge of the Foreign Exchange Transactions and Loans department. During my two and a half years with DKB, I gained tremendous knowledge of the international capital market, multi-bank loans and international monetary settlements. More importantly, I gained valuable experience with the big bank-led corporation system of Japan and the operations of foreign banks in China.
I then decided to join my family’s business, which unfortunately went bankrupt due to a variety of factors, including a large investment mistake, weak company fundamentals, unfavorable tax planning, poor management, rapid market changes and a severe lack of market information. I was deeply disappointed and discouraged as my career dreams were destroyed by the final closure of the factory. I was determined to find the true answers for the collapse of the business in such a short time. During a conversation with my uncle, he encouraged me not to let his business failure deter me from a career in business. He told me that anyone who had never experienced failure probably didn’t have what it takes to build a business. He also said that if what you are doing is worth anything then failing now and again is inevitable. Ultimately, success is about getting past the setbacks that you encounter. Since that conversation I have set a new career goal of starting up a consulting company to help companies such as my family’s business in China.
In 1997, with a desire to learn and accumulate management experience, I found a position with the Legend Group. The Legend Group has been praised as the “Best Managed Company” in China according to a survey conducted by Finance Asia and is involved in the severely competitive Information Technology industry. My responsibilities with Legend in the areas of public relations, human resources and office automation have given me a well-rounded knowledge of the business environment in China. My work experiences are an important asset that will surely aid in my pursuit of MBA studies at Ivey and subsequently the development of my future career.
The Ivey School of Business is very strong in the case method of teaching from a global perspective. Ivey is the largest producer of Asian-based cases, which will greatly foster my future career development when combined with my previous Asian work experience. Compared with other top business schools, Ivey performs exceptionally well in the international mobility and goal achievement of students, which is essential to me in choosing an MBA program. Ivey has distinguished internationally mobile alumni. I feel confident that Ivey’s MBA program will prepare me for a successful career in consulting and eventual leadership of a multinational company.