Objectives for Attending INSEAD Executive MBA Programme - Essay Example

?MBA Essay I am a co-founder and the general director of Globus E The company renders property management services in the office real e sector in Moscow. Our clients are families with real estate investment funds in total owning over one mln sq. m. of commercial property in Moscow. We optimize the economic value of new commercial property. The deals take the form of sales and leasing agreements. We have four employees directly engaged in negotiations and 12 outsourced professionals including lawyers, accountants, and building engineers. Under management we presently have two new buildings (95 thsd. sq.m.), with a potential worth of 180 mln euro. Our team is proud of the previous project - the Omega Plaza 110 thsd. sq.m. office center. This project was fully leased to 175 clients within a year. Gross revenue from the business center this year is 28 mln euro. Currently, the property owners are selling the building to a real estate investment fund that is interested in dividend income between 170-190 mln euro. Among our clients are BNP Paribas, Thomson Reuters, Nikon and Sviaznoy, the second largest digital retailer in Russia. My personal responsibilities within the company include maintaining relations with property shareholders, deal origination, execution supervision, budgeting and controls. In the next few years, I plan to offer other services at earlier stages of the property development cycle. The best opportunities I see are in the area of strategic partnerships between Western developers who possess modern construction technologies and expertise and between local developers who have land bank and local connections. 1. Please give your objectives for attending the INSEAD Executive MBA Programme. What would you like to achieve over the next 5 years, and how could the INSEAD Executive MBA contribute to achieving these plans? What are your alternatives to INSEAD? (500 words approx.) Objectives for attending INSEAD Executive MBA Programme My overarching objectives in attending the INSEAD Executive MBA Programme are to sharpen my skills and advance my career. I believe that modern business environments require flexibility and continuous learning. I use every opportunity to gain new knowledge and improve my current skills. As an experienced executive I see the MBA programme as a natural step to gain the world’s best business education. Though I have a strong financial background and deep knowledge of the real estate industry, I need further improvement of my soft skills to advance my career. To explore new opportunities I need to assess my career plans from a new perspective. I have a solid career, yet I am always open to new opportunities. Who knows, maybe after school I will begin a start-up company in China or launch a subsidiary of a Russian mining company in South Africa. I am seeking these kinds of challenges. 5 years plan Currently, I’m considering two options. In the first option, I will expand my real estate business and it will serve as both a property management and a property developing (design, fund raising, construction) company. I am also considering an Internet start-up project in the gaming industry. In the second option, I will return to my corporate career, preferably in a Russian company working in international business. In this case, I am interested in a business development position where I can explore my executive skills and have entrepreneurial challenges. INSEAD contribution To advance my personal development I have a strong motivation to continue my business education. My former education was formally devoted to finance (accounting, investment analysis, management accounting, advanced finance) and is short in terms of marketing, management, and soft skills disciplines. To build an international network I want to be an INSEAD alumni: part of a team that shares a similar interest for personal development and a commitment to making a difference. Last year I tried to launch a payment terminals company in the Baltic States. Despite the project being put aside, I was amazed at how my personal network helped me meet key people in the local telecom, Internet, retail, real estate companies. That is why I desire to meet like-minded people interested in exploring entrepreneurial opportunities. Career service At this point in time I need to assess my career and I appreciate professional career advice. I had a top executive position in a media company and currently own a small business. Entrepreneurially, I like the freedom of decision-making. I plan to look around for new career opportunities in other countries and from this prospective INSEAD is a perfect place for me. INSEAD alternatives I have considered two other programs: Trium (HEC Paris / LSE / New York University) and Stern, Columbia/London Business School. I like the idea of joining the best programs from the best schools. Still, INSEAD remains my first option. 2. Give a candid description of yourself, stressing the personal characteristics you feel to be your strengths and weaknesses.(500 words approx.) I will outline key characteristics I recognize as the most relevant to myself Passion for results. If there are two types of people -- those who are oriented to results and those oriented to processes -- I definitely relate to the first type. I always think in terms of recourses and results (Of course, this does not relate to family issues. Here, rules are completely different). This is why in my career I always choose business development assignments: a consultant, an equity fund executive, and a corporate business development manager. Generally our weaknesses are a continuation of our strengths. I clearly understand that both intensive and extensive efforts should be done to get perfect results in a specific area. My purpose is to achieve the level of business skills sufficient to deal with any situation in any industry. I was successful in business in completely different industries, including manufacturing, Internet and real estate. Still, my critical side says that I could archive better career progress if I concentrated on one professional area. Enthusiastic and motivated. If I have a vision of a target, I will adopt a proactive strategy. One might view this process as a chess game, where it is critical to be few steps ahead of circumstances. And if my assumptions were right and I did the appropriate homework, I feel real satisfaction. Furthermore, I can do long and short term assignments. When I was in charge of investment in a manufacturing business, working for a private equity fund, we had a relatively long horizon of investment initiatives. The whole project cycle was usually around one year. Excessive concentration. I can be too concentrated on something that does not have rational sense. In other words, input of efforts and output of results are not balanced. Having worked for the equity fund I tried to get a CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) certificate. I studied for three years and only successfully passed two out of the three levels. Later, I found that I was studying too deeply in high-level financial products like derivatives on derivatives and could not benefit from this knowledge. I will not admit that CFA program was a complete waste of time, but I definitely would rather do something else. Continues learning. I am a strong believer in a balanced development of human nature. To achieve optimum results, a person should combine working process with continuous education. There is a popular notion that job experience gives the best knowledge. I will not argue, but add that education provides a solid foundation and accelerates career progress. After high school, I invested considerable amounts of time in education. I won a Soros grant, completed a yearlong program in the London School of Economics, and spent three years gaining ACCA membership. Now I would like to begin the Executive MBA programme. 3. Please describe one of your most enjoyable experiences in life, preferably from your business context. Where did it originate? In retrospect, what did you learn about yourself and about others? (500 words approx.) My most enjoyable experience relates to the first project I was fully responsible for. It took six years beginning in 2000 to make a 200 mln usd outcome from a 7 mln usd initial investment. In 2000, I worked for the First Mercantile Capital Group as the Head of Research. My responsibilities were primarily to search for investment opportunities in second tier stocks, where our funds had specialization. During this period I felt tired from analytical office work, which I had been doing for five years. One of our investments was Dinamo, an electrical motors manufacturing plant in Moscow, which was close to bankruptcy due to a high level of operational losses. We agreed with the fund manager that I could share the responsibilities of Head of Research and be in charge of this project as it could be written off to losses. Dinamo had around 1500 employees, 12 mln usd turnover and negative operating margins. The key problems were typical for ex-soviet plants originally designed for mass production: low capacity utilization, shortage of working capital, inefficient sales channels, excessive fixed costs and de-motivated management. In 5 years my team managed to increase sales to 36 mlb usd, EBITDA to 12% and to sell the plant to a regional strategic investor with commitment to relocate production capacities out of Moscow. Through this assignment I gained incredible work experience and tremendous satisfaction from the process and results. Power of teamwork. I brought together a team of truly dedicated professionals. We rearranged production cycles from mass to custom driven manufacturing process (by relocation of 1500 manufacturing units and redesigning manufacturing logistics), implemented Enterprise Recourse Planning, executed cost cutting program and optimized sales channels. I really enjoyed viewing how small team steps were turning into positive numbers. Common success as a motivation tool. This appeared as the strongest motivation. When employees had seen results and improved efficiency, they demonstrated more commitment and involvement. Unpopular decisions must be performed quickly. Having succeeded with production efficiency, we came to the unpopular decision of having to fire excessive employees. The company implemented the extremely painful process of firings throughout the year. We could have avoided undue emotions and turbulence having done it quickly. Magic of unexplored opportunities. Having concentrated production facilities I found that we could use this property for commercial real estate purposes. During the next six years I put into operation around 200 thsd. sq. m. of commercial property and received sufficient profits for internal investments, dividends and increased capitalization of property. I had thrilling experience from the dynamics and the returns of undiscovered market opportunity. Importance of ownership and responsibility. I consider the most valuable experience in my life, the first time in my career I was in charge of the entire project. I discovered that I have the ability and leadership skills sufficient to fulfill the most complicated assignments and to make my own executive decisions. 4. Please describe a situation, either work or personal, where you faced particular frustration or difficulty. What was the outcome and what did you learn from the experience? (500 words approx.) My job as the COO of Rambler Media Limited (RML) is the best example of pride and frustration. RML is an Internet media company that operates the Russian language portal and search engine 'www.rambler.ru'. During this period of my employment RML had achieved impressive financial results (the revenues were doubling every year from 2006 to 2008 well above the market growth), made the best partnerships in the market (with Google, Microsoft, ICQ, Video International) but lost its lucrative market share. Despite tremendous efforts and commitment, our team was not decisive enough on internal business issues and did not manage to explore crucial market opportunities. Firmness and consistence in business decisions. In 2006 RML, as a classical Internet portal, the company had to decide what direction to develop its core media products. As usual, there were no obvious solutions: search – threats from Google and Yandex, the largest national search engine; news – strong competition from traditional and Internet news agencies; communication and instant massaging – existence of quality products from Skype and ICQ. The right solution was social networking and in 2007 RML missed its chance. I was engaged in a number of traffic monetization M&A deals and was not firm enough to convince our Board on acquisition of a social networking company with rocketing traffic but extremely poor financial performance. The Board had made decisions to concentrate on traffic monetization actions and to monitor the social networking sector. My team was under heavy pressure from the current pipeline and I did not want to be engaged in undue disputes. Consequently, RML completely lost the social networking sector. Today this company has higher Internet traffic and comparable revenue. I learned that despite work pressure and employment concerns I must be persistent and firm in defending my position. Production is a core function of business. In RML my key responsibilities were partnerships, M&A deals and integration. During my employment I performed acquisition and integration of Begun, a context advertising agency, did partnership with Video International, the largest advertising agency in Russia; signed a 140 mln usd deal with Google; and had commercial agreements with ICQ, Microsoft. As a result of these deals, in 2008 RML had the second highest revenue and traffic monetization rate on Russian Internet. At the same time, the company was extremely slow on resolving internal production issues and reforming the engineering department. While all other departments were continuously redesigned, the engineering department was regarded as a sacred cow. No adequate controls were set on production budgets and deadlines. During the 2006-2009 periods, RML did not introduce any significant Internet media products and lost market shares in strategic areas. I learned that perfect acquisitions and successful commercial deals have little long-term effects on a business if a core business function poorly performs. 5. Tell us about someone who has especially influenced your choices in life. (500 words approx) I always try to build my future based on my principles and ideas. I cannot name a single person who could influence my choices in life. All my choices were made based on my particular educational and career targets and specific circumstances. Honestly, I have a cautious attitude toward any declaration about such issues. Nevertheless, if I have to answer this question, I would choose my father. My farther was born in a small Russian town right after the Second World War. Since childhood, he had a dream to be a pilot. His life is a good example of commitment to a profession and continuous improvement of professional skills. Several times he attempted to get into pilot school, learned continuously his entire career, and spent one quarter of his career life in the air. My farther worked 38 years for Aeroflot and managed to fly almost all the company’s airplanes from the smallest one engine biplane to the largest airliner. During his service he showed courage and professionalism and was numerously rewarded by Aeroflot for his dedication and outstanding performance. Pilot is a dangerous profession. We admire the professionalism of the pilot who safely landed the broken airplane in New York, but there are numerous cases not publicly known that are as dangerous as this example. In these cases pilots did their job and saved many peoples’ lives. My father has a few such examples from his personal experience. Another feature I would like to mention is his tolerance toward any difficulties. He often says that despite bad weather, long flight fatigue and any personal problems the pilot must be absolutely professional and committed to his duty. This is a character element I have always tried to build in myself. I admire my father’s professional life and attitude. I followed my dreams and tried to use every opportunity to improve my professional expertise. Right after high school I wanted to get financial experience and continue my education in finance. I got place at Arthur Andersen as a consultant and won the Soros Foundation Grant for a Banking and Finance course at the London School of Economics. As soon as I decided to continue my career in investment banking, I applied to several banks and got a position in a Creditanstalt Investment bank. I worked with the team there for the next nine years. When I obtained enough skills and maturity to lead the business, I moved to the Chief Operating Office position of Rambler Media Limited. Now I have my own business. Everyone has his or her own path and we often object to that of our parents. But no doubt our parents directly or indirectly influence us all. I am proud of my father and have strong family support 6. What would you say to a foreigner moving to your home country? (500 words approx.) The recent crisis put Russia into a deadlocked economic position. After the collapse of the USSR, Russia came through the painful integration in the world’s economic community. The country actively explores a niche of oil, gas, metals, and fertilizer suppliers. High oil prices secured growth of the GDP. Consequently, the government increased social expenses; the domestic companies increased debt levels and the foreign investors did considerable investments attracted by high growth opportunities. The impressive economic results in the recent decade came mostly from the magic of “low start” numbers: cheap labor, growth of employment, low capacity utilization and low corporate leverage. After the crisis this model suddenly became insolvent. Nowadays, oil prices are high, but capital flight numbers beat records; internal and external investments are at all time low levels and domestic consumption growth is limited by low-income. The government does not perform adequately in this environment. The official position is to secure social commitments at any cost and to modernize the military. The governmental companies become the biggest investors in every industry and declare numerous high technology investment initiatives. At the same time, the government avoids the structural economic and political reforms required for small and medium business development. In this scenario, we will have the social stability and the illusion of prosperity only in the short run. The government should provide investments for infrastructural projects and create a business friendly economic environment. In reality, we see growing social liabilities as a part of the election process, raising corruption, capital flight and promises about reforms. Russia should concentrate on key competitive industries and supply processed raw materials to the world economy. For instance, the timber industry may export not only raw wood but also paper and furniture; the metal industry – car parts instead of steel; the oil and gas industries – chemical products, car fuel instead of raw commodities. Such natural moves will allow one to create new production capacities at relatively low risks and to offset the volatility of oil and gas prices. The innovation investments should be done in areas where Russia still has strong competitive advantages like airspace and atomic power industries. Desire to compete with the power train of Silicon valley is a “mission impossible” and takes funds away from realistic investment opportunities. Social stability must be secured by political and economic reform. The reform will provide political freedom and secure a limited-corruption environment. The economic reforms should encourage small and mid-sized business to create new jobs and to satisfy domestic consumption. The solution of economical problems lies in the political arena. The key challenge relates to building a civilized democratic society. If Russia accomplishes this, then we will become a respectful, prosperous country and a good business partner for the world community. Otherwise, the country’s integrity will become a serious issue. The good news is that we openly discuss the above issues and President Medvedev has implemented a number of reforms. One fact – during the recent police reform, 94 out of 250 top police officials were fired. Russia survived the most disastrous political and social catastrophes in the last century, and is resilient enough to manage these economic problems. Welcome aboard! Read More