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International MBA Program

Vishal Khushalani's Internship Web Journal

Vishal Khushalani
 IMBA Class of 2007
Schweiger & Lippert in Columbia , SC USA
vishal_khushalani@moore.sc.edu

4th Journal Entry - Friday, July 29, 2006:  

Best month of my life –  Professionally & Personally!!!

Professionally, it was a great learning experience preparing for the ‘Challenge Session’, where the top management challenges what the division team has thought about their future strategy. The challenge session was in the last week of July and included the top management and other division heads of the company. Our effort of the last six weeks was being critiqued so that the team could improvise their plans, fill the gaps and move forward.

The atmosphere of the meeting was relaxed and it was exciting to see the exchange of thoughts within the group. Different people with different experiences and priorities, critiqued from several perspectives. It was quite interesting to see the division team justify their strategy. There were times, we did not have an answer to the questions posed, and it was considered acceptable to say that "We have not thought about it" or "We don't know, and we'll work on it"

It was a good learning experience to observe the CEO’s comments. His priorities were focused on using present assets innovatively, on shareholders' views, among others. When the topic of a probable M&A came up, he kept arguing on why organic growth was not possible?. He kept giving innovative suggestions on how teams across the world could synergize to create the required capability instead of buying it. It was interesting to see how our team answered those queries and justified their stand. The M&A director had his inputs on the companies listed and on the price that he would be willing to pay in case we think of a probable merger.

 

  Fireworks on Independence Day
This meeting platform before the final presentation is one of the strategies used by Schweiger, Lippert, & Associates to ensure that the entire company is on the same page and also to gather different perspectives to solidify our strategy. This also helps us in presenting bottle necks expected during the project and in discussing solutions for the same.

Finally, by the end of the three hour discussion/ debate, the management appreciated our efforts and liked the direction in which we were moving. After that the division team met for another two hours and discussed the action items required to fill the gaps highlighted. Our final presentation is due in the last week of August and I can foresee the energy, excitement, and commitment of the team to make a difference to the company.

Overall, I am happy that I chose to intern as a management consultant and am fortunate to work with Dr. Schweiger & Dr. Lippert during this period. This is just the beginning and hope I make a good career in this industry.

I am happy to inform everyone that I got married this month to my college sweetheart after a long courtship period. We took vows in front of our family, friends, and and the Court of Pittsburgh, U.S. on Saturday, July 15, 2006 and were blessed to become husband and wife. A few photos of the ceremony are below.

Taking our vows.

 It's official. 

My wife, the magistrate and me.

...with Raghu, a colleague.

3rd Journal Entry -  June 29, 2006

New project, New people, New experience!!! - Best part of the consulting business :-):-):-)!

 

Dr. Schweiger, Dr. Lippert and me in Columbia

In the week of June 5, I was asked by Dr. Schweiger if I'd like to work on a new project with one of the divisions of a global packaging company. I was thrilled to know about it and could not wait for the meeting with the company's management team on the 15th of June.

The meeting was held at the company's corporate headquarters in SC. The agenda was to have a brainstorming session to decide the division's US business strategy and the global strategy. For me it was the first time that I was involved in any kind of top level strategy meeting and obviously, I was very excited about it. I would love to take you through the entire experience.

 

  Chicago downtown view from the boat ride.
The meeting involved people at the level of a Director or higher from most functions, eg. Finance, Marketing, Operations, Technology, among others. People who could not make it were connected on a conference call. To begin with, the President of the company informed everybody that this project is critical for the company's growth and all should give in their undivided time and attention till the project is completed. Dr. Schweiger, an eloquent speaker, took the lead and presented all the thoughts/presentations that were discussed with the management team. The table was then thrown open for ideas and comments. Discussions were very open and people spoke about their experiences, appreciated ideas or shot them down; they laughed, joked about people/ ideas, making it a very lively interaction. I felt at ease and did not feel nervous after sometime. I also presented a few ideas, which were appreciated. I felt happy about it, my day was made :-):-):-)!

As the discussion moved forward, Dr. Lippert put everybody's thoughts on a new presentation. Slides from other presentations were clipped and added. Discussions moved from the industry potential to technologies available, followed by marketing & sales inputs to conclude that if we have to enter the targeted industry & market, the best strategy was to acquire another company. Here is when I was assigned the task of researching all possible companies that could be potential targets. Fortunately, there was a list of targets available (over 50 of them) from which I had to shortlist and give a presentation in the coming few weeks.

By the end of five hours (time just flew), we had a new presentation of 44 slides (starting from stratch) combining ideas from different functions, facts & figures, company vision, etc. trying to set a direction for the team. Finally, people were assigned tasks to be completed for the next meeting, dates & deadlines for all future meetings were fixed and the project was decided to be concluded in two months.

 

  Amphi-Theater (Open air theater in downtown).
From this interaction, there is something important I realized - We all Know that everything is in people's minds, they know where to go, what to do, it's just the art of getting all of them together as a TEAM, bringing out the best in them and moving ahead. It sounds simple but takes years of experience to be able to lead leaders. I feel fortunate to get this opportunity to see Dr. Schweiger & Dr. Lippert in action and learn from them as I move forward to be a professional consultant.

Finally, I am back in Columbia, working on tight schedules as I research on the top companies. In the months to come, I will have the opportunity to see our client acquire a new company and increase their business in the following years. This is a very thrilling & fulfilling thought that keeps me excited about my job!

Check out for more in the following days:-):-):-)!



2nd Journal Entry - May 31, 2006

 

Cloud Gate - Metal Cloud that reflects the downtown and looks very beautiful at night

Two months into the Internship and I just wish I could continue with my life this way. Though the company is based in , they have given me the flexibility to be based where ever I wish to be in the. Most of the job is research oriented and in case of any queries, they are sorted out over conference calls. My boss says, “if you are personally happy then you will do a good job for me”. That’s so true – I am happy to spend a lot of time with my fiancée as well as my family in the U.S. and at the same time I ensure that I meet my weekly deadlines, as required. There’s nothing better than traveling around, meeting friends and family, and getting paid to do what I love to do… Ain’t that cool!!!

Work's getting interesting day by day. One thing I can definitely claim of achieving is becoming a ‘Google’ expert. I have always enjoyed researching (not the PhD kind) but the spy kind. I’ll explain this – The most important thing a company needs to know is about what their competitors are doing. There is no single recipe to get this information except to interpret their strategy from all the information that you can gather. My research involves studying the CEO’s background or the board of directors, studying the company financials/annual reports, latest investments/expansions, press releases, employee reviews, and just everything one can think of to find their strengths and weakness. This is one of the most challenging tasks I face every week as I evaluate the competitive scenario for the construction industry in the short-listed states. Honestly, I dread this part the most since you never know if you will find anything at all but something always comes up. It’s pretty challenging and I love it!!! Research work also has it’s own frustrations - You could spend your entire week researching data on a particular region/state just to conclude that it’s not worth recommending to invest in that region/state. This is also the best thing about the job because you always learn something new everyday and that’s what keeps me going!

Hope my experiences interest you for a career in Management Consulting. Over and above my internship, my team and I look forward to give you guys a lot of exposure to the consulting industry during my tenure as the President of the Moore School Consulting Club for the year 2006-07.

These photos were taken on the Memorial Day weekend at Niagara Falls along with my family.

This is just the beginning!!!

Journal Entry/Date:
1st Journal Entry - April 12, 2006

Hi, I work for Schweiger & Lippert Associates, a management consulting firm. My present project is to help devise a business development strategy for a construction company in the US. It involves analysis of several data sets (population, unemployment, planned airport & highway construction projects, federal funding, etc) for every state, county, city in the US.

As of now, the Data Analysis class of my first year has been the most useful. Analysis involves constructing several pivot reports and data filters to come up with a shortlist of potential business regions. Our training in map point was most useful since it helped me to give a graphical perspective to the short listed cities and counties.

The work culture of the consulting company is just the way I wished, encouraging and exciting. To begin with, I planned the detailed project schedule myself given the deadlines. After a few weeks of getting acquainted with the project, I was encouraged to work with the client directly. The client found the map-point listing of cities very useful and gave further insights to make progress on the project. The second phase of the project involves applying the porter's model (studied in marketing & strategy class) to develop the overall strategy for the company.

Overall, it's fun working with Dr. Schweiger and Dr. Lippert, managing partners of the consulting firm. Their valuable experience and knowledge gives me the necessary guidance at every step of the project. It is exciting to be a part of a company that helps organizations become more competitive, grow their market share and increase shareholder value. Will keep updating as I move forward with the project!!!