Management Consulting Student Introductions
Welcome to all, and particularly the Grenoble Graduate School of Business Management Consulting MSc and MBA students!
Here’s your assignment…. add a RELEVANT comment to this page – something interesting, creative, entertaining, useful…
You will also get to read the introductions of some of the previous year’s students, a great network of some great people!
This is a place for you. Explore, Learn, Enjoy!
Get Business Wow - by Sharon Crost 
Dear all,
My name is Galina.
I come originally from Bulgaria, from the sea coast of Burgas.
I have studied bachelors in economics of international tourism and relations,
then I studied Computer Science in Munich, graduated with a master.
Last few years, I have been working in the IT consulting sector in Europe.
The course held by Sharon is very useful for me in order to stay up to date and
to align my knowledge to the newest trends.
It was very interesting for me her interactive style and the excersizes.
I enjoyed my time spent in her lecture.
That is why I would like to thank you again wish you all the best!
Kind regards,
Galina
Hello Everyone,
I’m Priscilla, a Brazilian/Portuguese Production Engineering with specialization in Strategic Management. I have worked structuring management routines, methodology support and lean&six sigma projects. I’m enjoying your class very much, Sharon. A lot of practical knowledge that I can apply right away. Looking forward to develop my soft skills.Thank you!
Best regards,
Priscilla Bastos
Thanks for your introduction and your comments Priscilla. It’s been great working with you in Grenoble! You have a great background and I wish you all the best in advancement of your skills!
Hello Sharon, Greetings!
I am Ravi from India, I completed my Bachelor’s in Engineering specializing in Electronics and Communication. I worked for Computer Sciences Corporation as a senior Engineer in IT before I joined GGSB. I have more than 6 years of work experience in IT. I am looking forward to see you and am excited about the course
Regards,
Ravi Palaparthy
Hi Ravi, I look forward to meeting you tomorrow. See you then, Sharon
Hi Sharon,
my name is Alessia, I’m a student at LIUC Industrial Engineering School specialization in Business Consulting. I got last year my bachelor degree, and now I’m applying for the master degree. i’ll attend your class in Grenoble unluckily only for few days, i’m sure i’ll enjoy it.
looking forward to meet you
kind regards
Alessia Kuhlow
Hi Sharon,
my name is Stefano and I’m an engineering student at LIUC, Italy.
Actually I’m attending the Master’s Degree in Industrial Engineering with specialization in Business Consulting. Thanks to this I’ll have the opportunity to join your classroom, even if only for a very short time (just 3 days), but I’m sure I will enjoy it!
I look forward to have a great learning experience with you
Kind regards,
Stefano Vernetti
Grazie Stefano! I appreciate your introduction. We are looking forward to welcoming you and the LIUC students to Grenoble. The course has been redesigned so that you will get the most out of your time in Grenoble and with the MSc students. Have a safe trip!
Hi Sharon,
My name is Manisha and I am a Management consulting student at GGSB. I come from India and have a Masters in Psychology with a specialization in organizational behavior. I have prior work experience in HR, Banking and Real estate.
I look forward to a great learning experience with you.
Best Regards,
Manisha
Hi Sharon,
as Mattia Torchi, I am a student of LIUC University (Italy). I gradueted in industrial engineering with specialization in mechanical.
Now I am attending at Liuc my Master’s Degree in Industrial Engineering, specialization in Business Consulting.
in the second half will probably leave with the Erasmus program, destination TBD shortly.
Waiting to start this exciting experience, I wish you a good day.
Regards,
Marco Gatto
Hi Sharon,
my name is Mattia and I am from Italy (LIUC University). I will spend with your class just three days but I am sure that I will get important skills. I took the bachelor’s degree at LIUC in Industrial Engineering with specialization in Mechanics. During my bachelor’s degree I spent a semester of study in Finland at JAMK University of Applied Sciences with specialization in Logistics Engineering. And I also had a work experience at “AgustaWestland” as a Project Manager in a ICT project. Now I am attending at LIUC my Master’s Degree in Industrial Engineering, specialization in Business Consulting. Next Semester I will like international student to University of North Carolina in the school of Business Administration.
I am very happy to have the opportunity to follow your lessons and to compare my competence with international people.
I look forward to meeting!
Kind Regards,
Mattia
Thanks Mattia, As you can likely see from the amazing people that are on the list of introductions, you are part of a long list of international professionals. Many are quite successful business consultants and I hope you’ll be able to follow in their footsteps. See you soon!
Hi Sharon,
my name is Claudia and I am from Stuttgart, Germany. I have completed a bachelor degree in International Business in Germany. At the same time, I was part of a corporate program with a multinational technology and consulting corporation. The program involved internships in Quality Management, Strategy Consulting, Accounting and Marketing in Germany, England and Spain.
What I am hoping to get from the course is to extend my consulting skills (especially the quantitative analytical skills), to acquire a broader knowledge and new perspectives on consulting issues as well as to obtain guidance in my personal development.
I am looking forward to a great learning experience!
Kind regards,
Claudia
Thanks for the introduction and welcome to a group of very talented professionals that have passed through Grenoble. You have such an interesting background. I look forward to meeting you and your peers in October.
Hi All! In another couple weeks I will be welcoming a new set of MSc Management Consulting students in Grenoble! Please let me know if you have any words of advice for the students (or for me!) as all of the preparations are put in place for an intense but rewarding learning experience.
Wishing everyone all the best!
Hi Sharon,
I’m Anton, from Russia. I’m passionate about operational excellence, I have chosen management consulting spesialization to switch my career.
Thank you for the great performance during amazing week. Such intensity gives much more outcomes in such a short period of time.
As outcome I understand a lot of about myself, got insights of how management consultants work. Once again was convinced that management consulting and team work is what suits me most. In a short period of time we created the team and something that I’m really proud of. TreeTop Consultants are the best 😉
Thank you again, and hope to attend your classes in future.
Hi Sharon,
My name is Mark and I am originally from New Zealand. I have worked in New Zealand, Australia and England, with a background in both finance and consulting. Most recently I worked on a post merger integration project for a large telecom company and prior to that I was a manager at one of the big 4 accounting firms, consulting to clients on business turnaround and strategy. My goal from the course is to enhance both my analytical and soft skills, to help in obtaining a role in a global management consulting firm.
Regards,
Mark
Many thanks for the intro Mark. Remind me to talk to you about some ideas regarding your analytics goal. See you Monday!
Hi Sharon, I am Jose, from Spain although living in the UK since 2002. I have a degree in Economics and following the MBA programme at Brookes University. My background is in sales and general management as responsible for the UK subsidiary of a Spanish tile manufacturer. Really looking forward to this coming week. See you all soon.
Warm regards
Jose
Thanks for the intro. I’m also looking forward to this week and meeting you on Monday!
Hello Sharon,
I am Paresh Jaisinghani from India currently doing my full-time MBA in Oxford Brookes University. I completed my Graduation in Mumbai, India (Commerce Honours) and a Diploma In Human Resources Management. I worked in HR in Banking Industry for around 4 years and a year in Manufacturing Industry.
Looking forward to this module which i am sure is going to be a wonderful experience and we will learn alot from your wide experience and knowledge.
warm rgds…
Paresh DJ
Thanks for the intro Paresh. Have a safe trip to Grenoble and see you soon!
Hi Sharon,
I am Tamara, Managing Director of my family owned bookstore business for 12 years in Georgia. As Entrepreneurship field did not open in Grenoble this year,I choose Management Consulting. I hope this decision will help me to consult my own business through the innovative path.
I am very motivated to be on the board and get involved in the intense learning process. From the above, I learned that your classes are somehow unique and interesting,
Very Excited and looking forward to see you soon.
Best,
Tamara Megrelishvili
Hi Tamara,
Yes indeed this will be very helpful to you as an entrepreneur! See you soon.
Hi Sharon,
I’m Lester and I am a scientist. I have a PhD in organic chemistry and worked for 10 years in drug discovery in Oxford where I managed projects for most of the top western pharma and biotech companies. I then moved to India for 3 years where I was responsible in establishing new offices, laboratories and personnel for my employer. After returning from India I started the MBA and now work for a chemistry outsourcing company in business development and alliance management.
I am looking forward to this course very much, and especially grateful for the opportunity to visit France again.
Thanks
Lester
Thanks for the intro, a very interesting background indeed! I look forward to welcoming you soon in Grenoble!
Hi there, my name is Andy Smith and I’m coming on the elective in Grenoble in February and am really looking forward to it. I’m studying on the full time MBA programme at Oxford Brookes. My background is in project and event management and I’ve worked in a number of organisations and countries as a freelancer as well as in more normal full time positions. I look forward to meeting Sharon and the rest of the students in a few weeks
Welcome Andy!
Thanks for the intro. See you soon in Grenoble!
Still, if you want to utilise natural processes, then the consultants will likely integrate this into the design so as to optimize your structure with no incurring greater costs in such things as drainage and water employ. — Suite 202
Hello Sharon:
I am Leen ALSHAIKH ALI ALMASRI, a student in MCs 2011-2012 and this is my Bio.
I am LEEN ALSHAIKH ALI ALMASRI, I has a long and divers experience in the fields of architecture, urban planning and sustainability.
Five years of working experience in domestic, national and even international level of projects, gave me a strong personality, leadership, and team work skills as working in the field of architecture and urban planning requires collective work also requires dealing with specialists from other areas (civil, electrical and mechanical engineers, sociologists, economists ….), Where the architect is the manager and the organizer of the whole work for all other specialties.
I has flexible and good communication skills, as I worked in several projects for the benefit of Egyptian and Quatrain companies, in addition to my regular local Syrian projects and this gave me the opportunity to deal with employees from several countries, cultures and backgrounds. Also, Syria is well known for its religious and sectarian diversity, but this does not constitute an obstacle between me and any one of her colleagues.
I am competent and problem solver, I dealt with variety of foreign companies and these companies require high level of professionalism and accuracy and they had their own Architecture codes and laws in their work, somehow different than what it is common in Syria, so I had to find the fastest and easiest way to learn and suggest ways for myself that will enable her to reach the required high standards level of work.
my major projects were planning of the center and new district in the capital of Syria commission by Damascus Governorate.
The Grenoble week was the icing on the cake of the MBA. Sharon is great but don’t be late, unless of course you don’t mind buying 30 drinks in the bar later!!
The course really showed what pressures a consultant is under and gave a insite into the variety that can come from being a consultant.
The course filled me with confidence especially the pitching side of things. this in turn lead me to seek further finance for my business. I was confident when i pitched and got the money. I have doubled the turnover of my business (it is a small business!!) since the course.
Regards Keith
Hello Dear Sharon and MC 2011,
This management consulting week is an intensive week but it has been the one where I learn the most and the one that gave me greatest memory.
Since I finish my MBA last July, I delivered 2 pitch, one for the watch industry in Switzerland and one for a French clothing creator that wanted to change his Business model and open franchises. Thanks to the exceptional training I got from Sharon and Mike last year, I’ve been successful on both pitch and got 2 contracts. It’s amazing to see that you can complete your knowledge and become a consultant in a week of intensive class and work. What customers are waiting from MBA’s are critical thinking and solutions to improve their profitability.
This MBA week was definitely the one that represented the best ROI.
Furthermore Sharon is an awesome teacher and a nice and reliable person. She is always willing to share knowledge, it might sound obvious but to share it, you need to have some very strong knowledge on topic you are talking about….
Wish you all, all the best and see you all on Friday after class.
Kind Regards,
Sébastien Lacour
Hello Sharon,
Hope you enjoying the week with the new group. My advice to the new students is simply to value every moment as they experience the MC program. The cultural mix for the new group is magnificent. One key trait about consulting is appreciating and understanding diversity.
To make the best of the program I urge participants to go out and make the experience gained a way of life in their future endeavours.
All the best.
Mazuba.
Thanks Maz! Great to hear from you. I really appreciate your beautiful advice, right on! The week is intense and challenging but your class’s advice and improvement comments are paving the way for even more success for this group.
All the best to you Maz, Sharon
Hello Sharon and 2011 students
Hope you are all doing great.
I am Veeresh from India. I attended last year MC class in Grenoble and would like to share my experience of the consulting class.
The memories of last year MC class is still fresh and would love to attend again…!!!
It was really a great learning and a test of team work and mental strength.
Indeed a great feeling after I finished with a list of feedback from Sharon and Mike.
For the new students my piece of advice is
1. Always be prepared – have your own stationery kit, Visiting card ..these are simple but has great influence on customers.
2. Think out of box – In Class Sharon asks questions which will be very simple but intriguing. So think think ..thats the only option.
3. Gel with the Team to maximise your performance
4. Use stories to explain things – this is a wonderful piece of tool to make things easy and effective.
these are few things, but in the class you will learn a lot.
Moreover Sharon is a great personality who will keep things interesting and provide a good platform for all to learn.
Best wishes
Veeresh Shivakumar
MBA PT6, GGSB , LONDON
Thanks Veeresh, fantastic words of advice! Appreciate that you took the time to post these. Indeed very valuable information for the new crew!
Hi Sharon and MC 2011,
First of all, thanks to eveybody who has posted comments, I have read them with great interest. I look forward to meeting you in Grenoble and I hope you enjoy your time here.
My 30 years of work experience have provided me with the opportunity of working alongside inspirational leaders, competent functional manegers and a fair number of managers whe were clearly out of their depth. I have also been involved in a couple of unfortunate experiences with Management Consultants(they aren’t all as good as they would have us believe!)
So why did I choose this MBA specialisation? Firstly, I do believe that good, objective, ethical consultants can make a real difference not only to profit seeking companies but to NGOs and other non-profit organisations.I would like to believe that a ‘second career’ in Management Consulting would allow me to contribute to making that difference.
The second reason for taking this course is to better understand the consulting industry. There are so many choices out there, it is sometimes difficult to see the wood through the trees.I hope this course will help me to clarify the direction in which I wish to take my career.
Have a good weekend and see you on Monday
Ian
Hi everyone,
What a difficult exercise but let’s do it
Woman, almost 43. I hate borders and boxes. I have the disease of curiosity and enthusiasm even though it’s less now. Born and childhood in Africa, 10 years. Expat environment. Still interacting with many nationalities. Travel and live in various countries (Japan, China, West Africa countries, Europe, US).
Among other things: I have been learning accounting. CPA studies, 5 years but I wanted to be free and artist however I really enjoyed what I learnt in my studies. After various experiences and travels, I decided to set up my own company at 27 in communication and stand conception and installation in Paris then I changed and currently, since 8 years, after some other experiences like helping a company in Senegal owned by Lebanese to re-design their Organization management, I am mostly acting as a representative (some time consultant) for 2 companies one in Japan for its West Africa market and one Italian company for its French market. I also do some businesses, good and bad and work on business development ideas on West Africa market. The story is that after playing too much golf I decide to join the part time MBA in Grenoble :-).
Today, I have multiple projects in mind. One of them is to learn how to be a recognized consultant and create a of consultancy agency in West Africa and if possible a revolutionary one.
But I am still a lonely starfish arm and I am very curious but a bit nervous to join you next week.
See you
Isabelle
Hello Sharon and peers of the Management Consulting Course 2011
My name is Sylvain Montreuil, I am French and live in Annecy, France.
I did my studies in the States to play Basketball. Then I played Pro Basketball in France where I have been fully involved in Sport, Health and peak performance.
I went away from competition, graduated at GGSB in International Business and created my own companies in the Freestyle market to promote Free expression and Creativity in Sports & Art.
Lately, I have been working as a COO for a subsidiary of Hermes in the Luxury Industry where I encountered the zenith of non-sense consumerism.
I decided to quit that job and engaged in developing an Academy that promotes a new paradigm approach to Health, Wealth, and Creativity or in other words a new way to deal with Time, Resources & Energy.
I believe, we are at a breaking point of evolution where we need new answers and solutions to our current problems. As Einstein said, “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them”.
The aim of the academy is to empower and inspire people to take full responsibility of their creative power by integrating Physical, Mental, Emotional and Spiritual aspects of life.
I am looking at offering a body of knowledge for free, anywhere, anytime to anyone, for this to be accessible to everyone. A butterfly effect that can participate to create the change we all want to see in the world. For those that want to take it farther, we will offer Coaching at an individual level and Consulting Management at an Organisational level.
We start to see the rise of Conscious business, for this I am deeply interested in emerging Business Models that are Purpose driven, empower People, Sustainable and good for the Planet.
I am really looking forward to meeting you all in this International “Mutli-background” program, which I am sure will be a great place to learn, discuss and share top of the edge practices, tools and approaches that will enable us to co-create our future.
All the best in change,
Sylvain
Hi all
We are Pablo Fontana and Caterina Ricci, we are part of the Oxford Brookes MBA. We are very much looking forward for the challenge in Grenoble.
Pablo Fontana – I was born in Argentina, Buenos Aires. I came to the UK to study in IT Business at Oxford Brookes; subsequently I worked in NHS (National Health Service UK) as part of the Media and Communication Unit. I am currently doing an MBA at the same university which I am really enjoying.
Caterina Ricci – I am half Italian , half Australian. I was raised in Rome but I graduated in International Business in Australia. I worked in the shipping industry for 3 years in Sydney and recently relocated to the UK complete my postgrad studies.
See you soon
Pablo and Caterina
Wow, what an amazing diverse group of professionals! You are all the future stars of management consulting. I look forward to meeting the rest of the group!
Hi everybody,
My name is Anneli Oakes. I am one of 13 Oxford Brookes MBA students who will be coming to Grenoble on 21st February and look forward to meeting you all then.
We are part of a really international cohort at Oxford Brookes so look forward to enlarging that in Grenoble.
As for me, I am from the UK. Before starting the full-time MBA in September, I had 12 years work experience including business development, PR & Marketing in the pharmaceutical industry and latterly as an Operations Manager for the world’s largest private language education provider. My undergraduate degree is law, so I am hoping I will be able to utilise my skills during the week, as Consulting is a career I wish to pursue on completion of my MBA.
I look forward to meeting you!
Best,
Anneli
Hi Sharon and fellow students of the Management Consulting 2011,
My name is Natalia Binnmyr, I am Russian, pursuing Master Degree in off-site GGSB program in Moscow. My first degree in Bachelor in Banking which were about 15 years ago, no working experience in Banking…
I worked for 4 years in a Construction Company on the Project Manager position. The company constructed infrastructure for the first Ikea in Russia. That was my last job before:
I spent 8 years as a housewife in an expat environment raising 2 children. I am living in a truly international community, I would guess more then 20 nationalities I have to interact everyday!
After 8 years of maternity ‘vacation’ I decided to upgrade my education before start looking for a job and that is how I am here -in GGSB.
Half a year ago I started to work in a company-developer in real estate, in the finance department. Interesting, different, overwhelming…
However, my passion is traditional medicine and I dream to open center which has under the same roof few directions in traditional medicine e.g. homeopathy, osteopathy, diet, herb. Do not know where to start and hope Management Consulting Course will show me the directions. I am very sure that the future medical care will help human body to stay healthy instead performing “severe treatment” (which is needed sometimes also).
Kind Regards,
Natalia Binnmyr
Hello Sharon and fellow students of the Management Consulting Course 2011!
My name is Karina Gabrielyan. I am 33 years old. I was born in Ukraine, but since 1998 I have been living (studying and working) in different countries.
I live and work and Bonn since 2004. I am employed as a Project Manager at GIZ – Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit in Bonn. So I come from the field of international cooperation and fostering economic development. I am responsible for the Manager Training Programme.
My education background is MA in Culture, Communication, Globalization and English from the University of Aalborg, Denmark.
I also have some experience in training and consulting as an independent consultant and I find this sphere fascinating indeed. I believe that one should always grow and develop and that’s why I decided to take the course in Management Consulting at GGSB.
I am looking very much forward to the intensive work and of course to meeting you all in person in just a couple of weeks.
Best regards,
Karina
Thanks for your introduction Karina. It’s great to read that you have some experience in consulting independently! I know your experiences will be really valuable to your team. Plus your international experience will be helpful in collaborating with this group of about 25 different nationalities! Welcome and see you soon in Grenoble.
Dear Sharon,
My name is Emilio El Asmar, I am 22 years old and I am a fresh engineering graduate from the American University of Beirut, and currently a candidate in MSc in Management Consulting at GGSB.I have worked as a research assistant in the Engineering department, focusing on optimizing code and data driven application. I have also an internship as a maintenance engineer in Middle East Aircraft for 3 months. Besides the technical work, I have worked as a project developement assistant in business planning at Buhler, Switzerland. I was mainly involved in assessing risks and recommending action plan for new and emerging markets.
I am very interested in consulting, mainly IT consulting, and I look forward to learn from your experience in this sector.
Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow,
Best Regard,
Emilio
Hi Sharon,
I wanted to present myself a little before we meet next week.
My name is Fanny, I’m 26 years old and I am French. I am actually pursuing a Master’s degree in Management Consulting at Grenoble Graduate School of Business.
I graduated last year from ESC Grenoble with a Bachelor degree in banking and insurance. I have been trained and got experienced as a customer advisor in banking with 3 years working experience, with two of the most important banks, BNP Paribas and Credit Agricole, in France. I also worked for a mortgage broker in London through an internship of 5 months in 2005.
I don’t have any experience as a consultant but I am very interested by the job and would like to know more about it so I am sure your class are going to be very useful to me in the future.
My career objectives are to become consultant in the banking/insurance and to gain a deeper knowledge in other areas.
Best regards,
Fanny
Sharon thanks for creating this forum for the Management Consulting MSc students, who are pioneers in every way this year. They’re bound to have a very stimulating and productive journey with you. Enjoy it. Regards Michelle
Hi All,
After taking Sharon;s Management consulting course and the great personal development week we had on the GGSB MBA course I decided to overhaul my personal website and try something different for my CV.
I tried to show my online character in an image: http://benandbuffy.blogspot.com/2010/03/how-to-show-my-online-character-offline.html
Is the result, It’s a first effort, and open to imporvement I think. But it’s something I want to try and add to my paper (so 20th C) and PDF CV, I welcome your comments.
The other thing is my website, http://www.bpawson.co.uk which was just a bunch of personal links, but now it’s somehting I wouldn’t mind an employer seeing, the word cloud came from a presentation on Enterprise 2.0 by Richard Collin, although Sharon was involved! I;ve added some rollovers to it to try and make it a bitmore information rich.
Any feedback welcome (I’ve already had the spelling errors pointed out 🙂
Ben
Right on Ben! Congratulations on the site! I’ll send some comments and hope you get some great feedback from the Grenoble Management Consultant network! Cheers for now.
Hello Cohort members,
I have heard a lot about the intensity of this class and am really looking forward to the challenges. Very curious about the specially designed algorithm for team structuring… :o)
Just a little bit about myself… I’m from Malaysia and have worked in the Advertising industry for 6 years, my most recent work experience was with Saatchi & Saatchi Singapore; being involved in a virtual role managing lead clients from Frankfurt and London on the Sony Ericsson Business. I also have significant experience with Brewery businesses having worked heavily on brands such as Tiger Beer and Carlsberg in South East Asia.
Really keen to learn and be exposed to the extensive experiences of a multinational group.
See you tomorrow!
Best,
Leon.
Thanks for your message Leon! Ah, well many have asked for the secret sauce for team assignments yet for now, the algorithm still remains secret. The good news is that by the end of the morning tomorrow, you will be in what we all hope will be a winning team! You’ve had such interesting experience. I look forward to meeting you tomorrow!
Hi everyone,
My cohort starts on Monday and I’m really looking forward to an intense week of study here in Grenoble. We’ve just finished the Personal Development week and I couldn’t be more motivated for the coming week’s challenges!
A little bit about me… my background is in Finance, specifically working within Structured Equity Derivative Sales for UBS IB. I am pursuing my GGSB MBA off-site in London, with the goal of becoming more marketable in industries beyond Banking, so Management Consulting provides me with a great opportunity to work upon my transferable skills.
See you on Monday!
Thanks for the intro Simon! You are also going to enjoy meeting our co-facilitator who has a lot of banking background and will be able to add to your transferable skills. Glad you had a chance to orient in Grenoble and I look forward to meeting you tomorrow! Cheers!
Hi Simon,
I am from India and planning to join the GGSB MBA at London.Could you please suggest me whether I should attend this program at LSBF or not .I am no where finding the link to get in touch with the alumnus of the GGSB MBA Program.I believe your suggestion will be definitely helpful for me in taking my decision.Looking forward to your reply.
Dhawal
Hey Sharon, Your class sounds fantastic! Wish I could come to Grenoble and learn something new!
Something I’m looking forward to is getting up in front of twenty people and selling something, and then getting better at it, rinse and repeat.
Being convincing when you say something, especially in front of a group is a skill anyone could use, even one to one. Getting support for your ideas, and motivating others to spread your message can be powerful. But like Harry Potter playing with his wand for the first time, we all need practice. And playing with your skills in a group of 20 friends is a perfect place to practice, without costing anyone much money!
I kind of see any education, but especially an MBA, like putting a car in a garage for a tune up, and the addition of some after-market performance parts! And then getting a race track to go and practice with our new supercharged career cars before getting on the open road.
Where will you take your new hotrod?
Thanks Ben and Soumeet for your comments! Ben, love your analogies! You’ll definitely have the chance to get up and sell, with the added chance of winning virtual (and yes, it can turn into real) business. But you also get to do it with a diverse multinational team that you’ll have met just days earlier, just to add to the challenge! Soumeet, your profile in Media Consulting is very interesting given my background, I look forward to meeting you and more discussion on your career switch plans! See you both soon!
Hi Sharon,
I am currently pursuing my MBA at Grenoble, glad to know that you are liking the sunshine.We were blessed with a lot of rain and snow in December & January, so the sunshine is a nice welcome…I have about three years experience in Media Consultancy and have worked for 2 international firms as of now in India in media & Public Relations field…I am hoping to make the switch to general business strategy consulting soon. I look forward to your classes in the near future and am sure I will take back a world of knowledge
Thanks
Soumeet
Hi,
I am a guest lecturer of an MBA in Management Consulting in Germany. The module I lecture on is based on a book I have written “Tools for Project Management, Workshops and Consulting. The German version is currently no 1 in the Consulting and PM category in the German Amazon shop and the englisch version is starting to establish itself in the academic and professional field.
I thought it might be a useful resource to have.
http://www.consulting-handbook.com
PS. I have done SupdeCo at the ESCT Toulouse. Any opportunity/interests/needs for a guest lecture in the consulting tools field, please don’t hesitate to contact me 😉
Best regards
Nicolai Andler
Dear Nicolai,
Thanks for sharing this excellent resource and congratulations on the wonderful success of the book! From a brief review of your outline, it looks like your book addresses many of the techniques we discuss in the GGSB course, right on! It seems like it would be an excellent additional resource for the students. The course I facilitate is highly focused on real life examples. We use actual cases from local businesses and business problems from some of the clients I work with in my consulting practice. The textbook we use is Business Diagnostics by Mike Thompson, my co-facilitator.
Thanks for the contact, I hope it can lead to mutual benefits for the students in Germany and at GGSB!
Hi Everyone,
My friends call me Franky and I just had a wonderful week in Grenoble, France learning how to become a great Management Consultant. Needless to say that Sharon was my coach for the week.
It was such a wonderful week filled with knowledge, nice dinners and wine tasting in the best places in Grenoble, mountain skiing, pubs and a great club to shake it all off!
I’d love to meet other great consultants on this site to share knowledge.
Me,
Frankly!
Hi everyone,
I am Joseph Lynn, Director of a small IT services firm, currently studying an MBA at Grenoble Graduate Business School.
I am involved in several university related projects, including a drive to improve the global visibility of GGSB through a corporate social responsibility programme offering pro bono consultancy services and a knowledge sharing website (www.studyguider.co.uk). I am also developing offering a hosted integrated ERP and CRM package that may be of interest to some aspiring independent consultants.
I look forward to gaining valuable skills to grow my business and building strong professional relationships with my peers within the class. If anyone is interested in finding out more about my various projects, feel free to approach me in class.
Till tomorrow…
Many thanks,
Joseph Lynn
Techahedron Ltd
Hello everyone,
I run small marketing agency together with two friends of mine. We specialise in one-to-one interactive marketing communication – buzz words for a bit more sophisticated direct marketing Before I worked in Xerox Europe in Uxbridge as a market research analyst.
I am sure we will have great time in Grenoble, can’t wait to meet you all.
Wishes,
Julia Kosela
Hi everyone,
I’m Christy and I’m from Hong Kong. I worked in an insurance company as actuarial associate for 2 years and now I’m working for my family business.
I would love to meet people with different nationalities and from all types of industries to share the experience and knowledge. I believe it would be very beneficial after working with you all in consulting area.
Looking forward to meeting you all.
Christy
Hi everyone,
Really looking forward to meeting you all next week and also to the challenges of the course! My background is in defence, technical consulting and team leadership and I am trying to add more broad management consulting knowledge for the future by doing an MBA.
Things that have challenged me in this area (possibly coming from at least one company who failed in this all the time) is how to get a customer really interested whilst making sure you under-promise / over-deliver. Harder when you can’t rely on the “McKinsey” level reputation of your firm…
Jon
Dear All
I just read an interesting article from the Economist about the change happening in the corporate etiquette right now. It says the brisk attitude consultants faced before has changed. It is all about ’charm and openness and taking time with people’. Sounds interesting, don’t’ you think? See for your self at http://www.economist.com/business/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13110436 ‘Manners maketh the businessman’.
I look forward for the consultancy experience and meeting you all.
Best Regards
Susanna
Thanks Felix and Sanjay for introducing yourselves! Just a few less than 10 days until we’ll all get the opportunity to meet in person. By the way, I just arrived in Grenoble to a GORGEOUS day of sunshine and snow in the mountains. I’m now at the school making sure that all the administrative items are in order for the course so that we can start off quickly and effectively.
Bonjour!!
I am an energetic and enthusiastic medical doctor, passionate about making a difference in my work place, with strong motivation and aspirations to succeed.
I was born in Australia, but moved to the United States, and subsequently to India where I completed my schooling and my Bachelors in Medicine & Surgery. I undertook my higher surgical training in Sydney, where I obtained my Masters in Surgery. Following this, I returned to India to complete my PhD in Cardiac Surgery, working full-time as a registrar at one of the countries’ renowned heart centres. My research was funded primarily by scholarships and awards, and my work has been published in over 29 international journals worldwide. With over 8 years of experience in treating critically ill heart patients, I am currently a Staff Surgeon and one of the Directors at Frontier Lifeline, a state-of-the-art heart centre in India.
Over the last 3 years, I have had to face several administrative challenges pertaining to finance, marketing, and human resource management. I realised that there was no sustitute for in-depth knowledge in these areas. This inspired me to take a year off from my busy surgical schedule and broaden my horizon by undertaking my MBA at Oxford.
I aim to combine my medical experience with my newly acquired management skills to help in logical analysis, strategic planning, and meticulous implementation of solutions to problems, particularly in the dynamic environments of the medical, biotech and pharma industries.
I am looking forward to the Management Consultancy module conducted by yourself & Mike at Grenoble where I am sure I will be able to learn from your wide experience and knowledge.
Kind regards,
Sanjay
Dear Sharon, dear all,
I am Felix; at the moment I join the MBA at Oxford Brookes. Before that I was working in tourism industry for 6 years. The major part of that I was a Product Manager for a niche golf tour operator, being responsible for two annual brochures. The last to years I was doing the sales of a software for golf courses, mainly in touristic areas.
From this course I hope to get background information how to act as a consultant and how to get an analytic view behind the scene of a company. Additionally this course then should help me in applying as a management consultant, not having worked in that area before.
I am looking forward to meet you all,
Best wishes,
Felix
Thanks for your comments Emre. You have hit on many of the points that we’ll talk about together in a few weeks: expectations of stakeholders, solution alternatives, managing the implementation and improving results. I look forward to the discussion!
Hello Sharon and Colleagues,
I am Emre, an internal auditor in financial services with 8 years of experience. I have worked in Turkey and Germany, and assumed a range of different advising and consulting roles in the course of my career.
Regardless of the sectors; understanding the needs, offering the most feasible solutions, overseeing implementation and improving results are some of the common key elements of any value adding process. And exceeding the expectations of senior management and shareholders is becoming a more demanding endeavour in the ever developing complex multinational environment. I think Management Consultancy ,in this regard, is the perfect complement of my GGSB MBA program.
I am very happy and excited to be a part of this team, and I am sure this will be an invaluable opportunity for me to learn and share. Actually, I have already started learning! I am looking forward to seeing you all..
Kind Regards
Emre
Thanks Pekka for sharing the story and your strengths! A genuine story does create interest and I am excited to discuss this further in class later this month.
Hi Sharon,
I’m Pekka Rautala, an international executive and aspiring consultant born and raised with 3 years of school in the USA before moving to Finland. After studies in Finland, M.Sc. (econ. and bus.adm.), I worked in the pharma/cosmetic Orion group in various financial positions for 20 years before turning to marketing and becoming the president of Orion’s cosmetic company Noiro (now Lumene group and Farmos).
During 10 years of leading Noiro my focus was developing and internationalizing cosmetic brands such as Lumene. After Lumene was successfully promoted in several countries and the sales of Noiro had nearly tripled, the company was sold to private equity and I moved to Holland to fix the wet wipe subcontracting factory Codi acquired earlier by Suominen corporation.
After three years of restructuring and culture change at Codi I began my own business in interim management and consulting. My company Piet IJzer BV is located in Holland and at the moment I have e.g an interim commission for the go-to-market phase of Uniq Bioresearch Oy from Finland.
I have noticed that a good story is often valuable in business and it can create even such excitement that it is already half of the success. My strengths are knowledge of different cultures and a broad experience in both consumer and B2B brands.
Best regards, Pekka