HAAS Strategic Analysis - Essay Example

HAAS 19970 Order No. 248967 No. of pages: 9 Premium 6530 At HAAS, we value innovation and creativity. Describe an innovative solution you have created to address a specific challenge. (250 words maximum) Solving everyday conflicts in a bustling neighborhood seemed no less than a ‘mission impossible’ exercise. However, fortunately, since I possess a never say die attitude, I innovatively and skillfully managed to project the daily problems in a new perspective to achieve the much desired harmonious atmosphere with peace and serenity all around. Living in an overcrowded building with four households, that shared the same kitchen and corridors, it was inevitable that there was a steady flow of conflicts that passed between our ever wary neighbors and I, as the Good Samaritan that I was, used to handle these conflicts almost everyday. Since the neighbors often intended to solve problems emotionally rather than rationally, it complicated the situation further still. As I gained good experience in this field through a lot of mediation, I began to conjure up creative solutions that could solve these problems from the root. A good example of this is when one day my roommate quarreled with our neighbor for a dead rabbit in the public corridor. I not only solved the problem, but also taught them how to resolve their conflicts in a peaceful manner. During the rabbit episode, my neighbor had blamed my roommate for placing a smelly dead rabbit in the corridor, while my roommate accused him for opening her personal belongings, as the rabbit was held in her box. The heated argument led to them threatening to call the police and this is where I stepped into the picture, calmed them down and guided them to see that they both violated the other’s rights. I also told them that the best way to solve conflicts was to sort them out rationally with mutual respect for each other. Taking my bit of advice to heart, my neighbors gradually learnt the art of reasoning and duly made use of it in times of conflict. So, when another conflict arose between my roommate and the landlord, they managed to resolve it successfully in harmony, as this time they had learnt how to resolve conflicts. Therefore, teaching people how to handle conflicts, I fulfilled my ‘Mission Impossible’! What steps have you taken to learn about the Berkeley MBA program, and what factors have influenced your decision to apply? (250 word maximum) My first impression of Berkeley was reflected through the eyes of my admirable uncle, a seasoned entrepreneur, who had rebuilt his company after the earthquake in Los Angeles in 1971. With his high recommendation due to his entrepreneurship at Berkeley, I started to carry out a critical research and consulted other Berkeley alumni. From the interaction, I found out that all the alumni were most proud and indebted to be part of such a distinguished university. Another good thing that was reflected in their attitude was that they were always most willingly to help the other prospective students who enter their campus. My passion for Berkley increases as my understanding of its dignified atmosphere and support captures my senses. Berkley, with its intimate and powerful global network had me surprised most of the time. Actually in China and in U.S. alike, all the Berkeley alumni are just the same. They greatly value and respect the Berkeley community and are ever ready to help each other to make good progress. I wish that my multi-cultural experience in Ernest & Young lends insight and understanding of the diverse industries in China would help me to offer valuable contribution to this special global community. Furthermore, aspiring to be an entrepreneur like my uncle, who is a passionate and enthusiastic person and most helpful to people around him, the ‘Certificate in Entrepreneurship’ is what I desire most. Taking full advantage of its geographic proximity to Silicon Valley, HAAS provides the unmatchable entrepreneurship experience to all its students. Perfectly integrating the various courses with extracurricular activities, it also enables me to gain positive internships in the local companies to gain useful hands-on experience and the knowledge and know- how of such cutting-edge business especially in the field of marketing and finance. My wish is that I could make good contribution to both Berkeley and the society at large in the near future. Give us an example of a situation in which you displayed leadership. (500 words maximum) 480 words By overcoming challenges in life, one can become a successful person individually. But by leading a group of people to overcome challenges at work, is extremely satisfying because one can bring joy and success to the whole team by being a successful leader. One of my greatest aspirations in life is to be a successful leader and make the best contribution towards my job and the society at large by efficiently and effectively solving the challenges I may come across. One challenge posed in front of me during one of the peak seasons in 2007. When we were about to submit the annual audit to our VIP client, C Company, the FIC of that project suddenly resigned. The situation was a bit critical as we had just two weeks before carrying out that project. There was no one else in our company who was familiar with the project, as the FIC was the only one in charge of the project, and was the person who had all the first-hand information and long-term cooperation with company C. As we were in the middle of this dilemma as to who should shoulder this huge responsibility, my team mates chose me unanimously and said they had great faith that I could handle this project with ease and so this mission fell upon my shoulders. Though I was equally ignorant of the intricacies of this project, I took up this project as a challenge and solved the issue in the best possible manner thus enhancing my leadership skills by coming to the fore. After carefully studying the different aspects of the project, I started to take series of actions immediately. First, I informed the client of the personnel alteration to avoid last-minute surprises, then I discussed with them about the time schedule for the project, and started establishing cooperative relationship with other team members. Secondly, I caught the opportunity of discussing customer’s information, demands and expectations with the previous FIC before he left, and collected as much information as possible from the other executives. Meanwhile, I built close communication with the FC of C Company to know of any significant changes they had made, which might affect our audit procedures and delivery time. Thirdly, I organized a team meeting to brief the other team members of our audit strategy and client’s changes in the last year. Fourthly, I assigned tasks to each team member according to each ones strength and capability. During the middle of the project, an unexpected problem arose. The morale of the team was quite low due to the resignation of previous FIC. In order to boost their morale and make them more dedicated and focused on the project, I introduced two initiatives. Firstly, I referred to Talor’s scientific management principles and created a ‘time-sheet’. As everyone was required to record his/her work process and timeline in the sheet, their work efficiency immediately improved as they started working more conscientiously. Furthermore, I increased their work involvement by empowering each team member to cross-review the other’s work, which was previously the team leader’s responsibility. With increased work responsibility and better communication, the team worked more dedicatedly and efficiently. Meanwhile, I kept close interactions with the C Company, reporting to them about the outstanding issues, work progress, etc. Therefore, we avoided any kind of misunderstanding and the project went on smoothly. As a result, the client was pleased and eager to build a long-term cooperation with us due to our excellent performance. By successfully solving the challenges for my company, I too am happy and satisfied to see my leadership capabilities improve. What are your short-term and long-term career goals? How do your professional experiences relate to these goals? Why do you want an MBA from Berkeley at this point in your career? (1000 word maximum) 989 words What strikes me most is a remark by Ma Yun, the CEO of Alibaba.com, which best describes the entrepreneurship in China— “most enterprises die tonight, while everyone is enthusiastically talking about tomorrow.” During my three years’ professional stint in PWC ranking from auditor to senior auditor, I have observed that although Chinese enterprises boast of high entrepreneurial spirit and high growth rate, yet they urgently need a risk-control system, which could help them jump out of the short-life circle, and become industrial leaders in the future. This demand is especially urgent, considering the fact that when the manufacturing crisis attacked China, numerous Chinese enterprises shut down overnight. Taking to heart this notable observation, I heard a calling to build a strong financial control system for these enterprises and enable them to grow from infancy to maturity. Therefore, I set my short-term career goal as joining a Chinese enterprise and acting as its financial controller. The changes I would like to make are to change the notion that financial control has nothing to do with functional departments, to establish strong interactions between financial departments and them, and also to implement a fool – proof risk control throughout all managerial levels of the enterprise. Therefore, the enterprise could jump out of its short-life circle and develop rapidly with the establishment of a well-rounded corporate governance, which could smooth the pathway of corporate expansion, by embedding the newly acquired company as a module into a clear framework that has already been designed, constructed and tested. In the long-term, I aim to become a CFO of such an enterprise, acting as the strategic partner of the CEO, by working together to shape the future of the enterprise and ensuring that financial execution could successfully fulfill corporate vision. By far, my professional and academic experiences have provided me timely assistance in helping me to fulfill my goals, which includes financial control expertise, general management perspective, and capability of managing changes. First and foremost, I have accumulated professional knowledge and skills about auditing and accounting. In spite of the intensive workload in Ernest & Yong, I managed to accumulate wide knowledge and skills in diverse sections and industries in my spare time. In just two years’ time, I gained a CPA certificate and became a member of the China Registered Accountants Association. Vigorously putting my knowledge into practice, I also excelled at my work place. In 2008, I achieved the ‘Bravo Award’ at Ernest & Young, as my extensive professional knowledge could hardly be competed by any of my peers in the company. Secondly, I have accumulated rich practical hands – on experience and insightful understanding of various industries. By eagerly gathering knowledge in corporate operation modes, sales & marketing characteristics, taxation policies and market demand patterns etc. in diverse industries, I have established an extensive understanding of the financial control system of Chinese enterprises. Moreover, by managing numerous projects, which were usually carried out in multiple locations or countries, and executed by different departments, I have well nurtured my spirit of teamwork and honed my language and communication skills. Thirdly, I have put into practice my leadership capabilities and leveraged positive changes in Ernest & Young. Ever since my early years in Ernest & Young, I started to help my colleagues at the lower levels. From this mentorship, I have developed these leadership skills to assist ‘B’ players to achieve ‘A’ performance by providing them with appropriate training, encouragement, etc. Furthermore, seeing that the expertise of many colleagues was strictly restrained and limited, I initiated the ‘Peer Training’ program to exchange professional knowledge within the company. Through cooperation, determination and dedicated efforts, our team successfully won the ‘Best Performance Award’ in Ernest &Young, due to their exemplary behavior. Though I have accumulated a lot due to my past rich experiences, I still feel that I lack systematic knowledge on business management, financial control, cutting-edge problem-solving skills in the real world, and, most of all, the set of innovation skills which would be my invaluable asset in leveraging changes in the ever-changing business world. Therefore, I am determined to take a MBA in Berkeley, as it would provide me with the necessary knowledge and expertise that I would need to best prepare me for my future challenges. On joining Berkeley, I would firstly make best use of the highly collaborative culture in Berkeley to exchange thoughts, ideas, expertise and insight on Economics for Business Decision Making, Operations Management, and Macroeconomics in the Global Economy with genius fellow students and world leading faculties, to gain a better understanding of business management and strategies in the real world. Secondly, I will project seasoned understanding and creative ideas of how to leverage changes in managing human resources by taking Human Resources Management, Negotiations and Conflict Resolution, and Organizing for Strategic Advantage. As all the lectures offered in Berkeley are well supplemented with the current highly relevant cases in the real world, I am sure that my education here would prove indispensable to the bright future I look forward to in life. Thirdly, I will improve my problem-solving skills and enhance my innovation capability by joining HAAS General Management and Strategy Club and HAAS Consulting Club to learn from the brilliant minds in the group and take advantage of Berkeley’s path-breaking researches. Furthermore, I will improve my understanding of entrepreneurship by taking Social Entrepreneurship, Investment Speaker Series to best serve for the enterprises in China. Last but not the least, I will establish a global perspective and a highly interactive network by joining Berkeley’s world-famous alumni. While providing my extensive understanding of Chinese industries and intensive knowledge of accounting to the Berkeley community, I will also acquire insightful expertise in corporate management, financial control system, change management, etc. from this robust network. I am sure that the MBA in Berkeley will offer me, not only cutting-edge management knowledge, innovative problem-solving skills, and a global perspective, but also a life-long assistance which could foster great success in my career enabling me to leverage changes to the Chinese enterprises. With constant assistance from the Berkeley community, I am sure to cherish the Berkeley experience with the highest gratitude and pride. Optional Essays: (Optional) Please feel free to provide a statement concerning any information you would like to add to your application that you haven’t addressed elsewhere. (500 words maximum) 498 words Ever since I was a child, my parents have educated me to develop diverse capabilities, which would help people around me. Taking their advice seriously, I took the opportunity by traveling widely and gaining experience to learn various local dialects throughout China. To my delight, my language talent had benefited the people around me to a large extent both in school and in my work place. When I studied in Shanghai, I saw there was a ‘language barrier’ between the newcomers and the local Shanghai residents. Although I could speak Shanghai dialect in no time, most newcomers still felt that the Shanghai dialect was a ‘foreign language’. They couldn’t understand the local students at all. Therefore, they frequently misunderstood the local students, assuming they were mocking them or were speaking ill of them behind their backs. Meanwhile, the local students also thought that the newcomers were hostile and hard to get along with. Seeing this grave situation, I offered to act as the mediator. I constantly explained the misunderstandings between them, taught Shanghai dialect to the newcomers and organized activities to enable both parties discover the other’s merits. My efforts paid off. The ‘language barrier’ was soon swept off and I was praised for my enthusiastic contribution. My language talent made further contribution in my work place when once we needed to carry out a project in Sichuan. During the process, we had to carry out research in numerous towns throughout Sichuan, where people could only speak and understand the local dialects. As most of my colleagues had not been in Sichuan before, they could hardly communicate with the local residents. Hence, misunderstanding and even arguments sometimes broke out. Acting as a translator between the local residents and my colleagues, we finally established close cooperation and finished that project in time. Besides my language talent, I have also developed good cookery skills in order to enrich people’s life and add some color to corporate culture. When I was a kid, I helped my mother to cook cakes for Spring Festival and sent them to my neighbors and relatives. When I saw their satisfied smiles, I was more eager to share this joy with other people. When I started working in ****, I not only cooked for my colleagues in my spare time, but also suggested the company hold a cooking contest to enrich people’s life and build up a gourmet culture throughout the company. After series of delicious feasts, more and more colleague became more interested in cooking. They enthusiastically exchanged recipes and cooking tips with each other. Thus communication was tremendously increased and we created a more harmonized working atmosphere. Moreover, people also started paying more attention to their health. As there were many pregnant female colleagues in our company, we arranged various parties to exchange nutrition information and cooking tips. All our colleagues enjoyed this ‘gourmet’ activity. To give is much happier than to receive. By joining HAAS, I wish to bring my diverse skills to the community and make people’s life more meaningful and colorful. Read More