I approached my MBA with the intent to focus on broadening my perspective and diversifying my knowledge. Immersing myself in various fields without specializing in any single area was the ultimate goal.
My interest pulled me towards entrepreneurship, marketing and strategy. The portfolio below is a summary of those broad areas…
Marketing
1. Garnier – Brand Portfolio Strategy: A detailed analysis of Garnier and how brands and sub-brands work in today’s competitive hair and skin-care industries. I selected this piece of work as it illustrates the wide diversity of subjects I studied during the MBA and further showcases an in-depth breakdown of an industry which I had never studied or participated in.
2. Acute Red – Brand Plan: This piece of work was an in-depth strategic plan including a detailed analysis of the market opportunity, a brand platform as well as some very specific research to complete “5-P’s” and other customer segmentation metrics. This project also included detailed renderings of our physical locations a piece that the team was very proud of. I chose to include the Acute Red Brand Plan because it serves as a great summary of all of the marketing knowledge I attained through the MBA program as well as some additional insight into strategy and market research.
Strategy
3. Learning and Development Portfolio: The Development Portfolio includes a specific response to an issue faced by the Ontario health care system. These included the lack of available hospital beds and the lack of availability of alternative health care clinics. This early phase project was intended to really push problem identification and a systematic approach to problem solving. Beyond this, the Schulich staff really pushed the teams to devise a creative solution and move groups outside of the realm of what would be a typical “business solution.” I think that it demonstrates a perfect starting point in the program and really contrasts well with some of my later work.
4. Haier – Positioned for Growth: This presentation was put together by a group of students very late in our program. This was prepared as part of a course taught by a former BCG consultant and the current MPP for Etobicoke Centre, Yvan Baker. This piece of work truly outlines what doing a presentation “the BCG Way” is truly about. It has all of the key pieces necessary in making a fantastic presentation from both a visual and factual point of view.
5. Mattel and MEGA Brands Merger: The Mattel and MEGA Brands project analyses the implications of the 2014 merger between Mattel and MEGA Brands. It is the summation of the extensive amount of work completed as part of Schulich’s, Mergers and Acquisitions course. Outside of the 601 (discussed elsewhere), this was by far the most challenging and rewarding course I had taken during my MBA. This particular piece of work outlines everything from a strategic analysis to possible alternatives and key risk factors to the success of the deal.
6. Indigo – Strategic Analysis: Indigo was the first in-depth, strategic analysis, I had conducted during my time at Schulich. Indigo is a fantastic example of an organization that has had its challenges and has managed to persevere through them. This particular piece of work was written in December of 2013 and it showcased a strategic path forward consisting of focus and differentiation in the Canadian market. Incidentally, this is exactly what the company did to turn around its business over the past few years.
Entrepreneurship
7. Suited.ca: Suited was a business plan for a web-based business which would generate matches between job candidates and employers based on personality fit. This would be in a manner similar to popular dating websites such as eHarmony or Match.com. I chose to include this project in the portfolio due to the interaction our team had with Good.co, a company that is competing in this field today. Good.co actually agreed to work with us in the event that we decided to pursue the business upon graduation. Although we decided against it, the experience is a great illustration of what can be accomplished through research and networking.
8. Arts Management – Failing Arts Organizations: This assignment outlined the furthest I went out of my area of comfort. Arts Management was an area I knew nothing about and writing this piece was a tremendous challenge for me. I have chosen to include it in my portfolio of work to demonstrate a unique area of interest for me, an area that I would definitely consider pursuing in the future.