The consulting case was an opportunity for me to “test drive” my personal vision, mission, and self-analysis. It was a chance for me to evaluate whether my expected life path makes sense based on my capabilities. Working with management and having full control over the project with my group members helped me find my personal focus on the project and voice in the report. The experience of working on such a report has improved my understanding of the process, it has added to my portfolio, and I would feel comfortable reaching to our company contacts for references.
Andrew / “Cook Lumber” Case
The most valuable aspect of this experience was the opportunity to help an organization that I love to enhance its business. The most challenging experience was to fully understand the core of the problem, and start writing from it. Putting pieces of information together and connecting them directly to the problem was not an easy task for me. However, at the end, I felt completely satisfied when I realized that I made a big difference in people’s lives just applying what I was studying and writing about. It was the feeling of plenitude of helping people to become better ones, and organizations to develop their business.
Thaissa / “Instituição Beneficente Nosso Lar” Case
My biggest takeaway from the BE-EDGE journey with Dr. Ivy was the experience of interacting with real corporate problems and finding the means to better answer my CEO’s dilemma. The emotion behind researching, interviewing, and feeling that I can add value made this experience so enriching.
What is next? I am planning to implement the plan that I suggested, and the company is willing to sponsor my travel and put in place what was written
Mauricio Rey / “ZenithOptimedia, The Agency ROI” Case
On the BE-EDGE project investment to my personal capital:
While earning my graduate degree at Northeastern, I applied and expanded on my 5+ years of professional experience and growth within the field of Marketing. A crucial pillar of my learning experience, and what makes me the perfect candidate for my role in advertising can be attributed to a consulting case that myself and a group of colleagues completed for the software product LastPass, a password management and enterprise single-sign on solution. I played a key role in tailoring an international market entry strategy for LastPass, and due to the emphasis that needed to be placed on localizing a historically domestic product in a new foreign country, I am confident that I have the skills to work in a role that allows me to apply this same tenacious and thoughtful approach to advertising campaigns.
Ultimately, this class exceeded my expectations for how I personally wanted to use what I learned to help my career. It helped me become more confident in what I eventually want to do with my career, which is to tailor informed marketing campaigns for different brands and companies domestic or international.
John / “LastPass” Consulting Case
The space I envision for myself in the global market is in a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) department for a large scale company to make positive, sustainable changes in the large scale. The AYUDA case was an excellent opportunity for me to dive into something that I care about and genuinely try to help an organization that helps others. AYUDA operates in the non-profit space which I am very much interested in. Although healthcare is not a particular field of interest for me, they are contributing to the greater good.
I wanted to really understand the issues that those that are in the company face in order to properly come to a recommendation that would actually be viable. One of the most important aspects of being a consultant and a leader is to also be a listener. In the effort to generate value, I did a deep dive of secondary research into the markets of Argentina and Mexico to see if these would be viable options for AYUDA’s next markets. It was important for me to make sure that I give recommendations that were based on supported logic.
What’s Next?
This project was a perfect example of how I can apply my international business knowledge to organizations that are trying to do work that results in a positive impact on the world. Going forward, I will be able to show potential employers that I have the know-how and skill to be able to do research and recommend strategy backed by this research.
Joshua / “AYUDA” Consulting Case
I have been using BE-EDGE to prepare for my interviews and I got my dream job! I use BE-EDGE to gain employers’ trust and enable them to picture themselves working with me in the future. Based on my personal experience and observation, people usually buy products that are emotionally related to them. It is the same rationale when hiring managers are making job offers. There are so many prospective job candidates who have the same degrees and the same years of experience as you do. This means that many people seem to be qualified for the job position.
Through my own experience, I have found Employers are looking for employees who can solve challenges and support company’s current success and future development, so understanding your core values and the industry that you wish to devote yourself to is very important. Following the advice in the Crafting Your Edge for Today's Job Market, I do heavy research on company’s organizational culture, evaluate main issues, find root causes, and devise action plans to address problems. I implement my plans, monitor the effectiveness and efficiency of the plans, and demonstrate the results to employers to solidify trusted relationships between us and achieve future goals. I have found that this strategy not only can be utilized when you are working, but also can be utilized when you are searching for a new job opportunity.
The BE-EDGE experience allowed me to find the source of the problem in my family business. After graduation, I went back to my country and applied the knowledge into a practical issue. For example, the consulting case revealed that the culture was critical for my organization – more than other management components. Though I still had a long way to learn and needed to gain more experience, I relied on the BE-EDGE experience to establish myself as a transformational force. I introduced a task force effort to transform the culture, and together with my team, we made it successfully. The fundamental and practical knowledge we have learned from Dr. Ivy was the greatest power and a lifetime skill for us to be the survivor in the future, and it also helped me establish my own voice as a leader.
Henry / “JL Cambridge International, Inc. (Taiwan branch)” Case
Through the BE-EDGE method, I understood the importance of precisely define a long-term career objective and set steppingstones to make this vision comes true. Having this vision was critical to work on a valuable and interesting thesis project, but also helped me been more accurate when interacting with professionals. Thanks to the BE-EDGE method I have defined my aspirations, linked them to my skills and presented it in a way to connect with a large network of professionals. The method also gave me tools to select the right company and people that align with my career path. I was able to use my skills and knowledge in the best way possible and gain self-confidence to shape my space in the job market.
Alix / “Internationalization of Therapeutic Innovations: Entering a market of Ghana” Case
The BE-EDGE method helped me even after graduation!
In my current work, I have applied the same E-D-G-E steps when worked on solving a challenge of the shrinking market share of traditional bonds. This was not a typical consulting project, but the framework and business ideas I use were the same as what I learned in my final project. These frameworks, the importance of crystallizing my focus, understanding clients, and the ability of design thinking were the cornerstones that were useful for any industry and for any business. What’s more important was to use it flexibly and innovatively.
Junte / “Entering the Emerging Market of Convertible Bonds” Project
Since I was a kid, all the Airtek employees know me and see me growing up as “the daughter of the owner,” which made highly challenging for me to change the way how the Airtek employees and my parents see me and establish myself as a future company’s executive. Through the BE-EDGE process of my capstone project for Masters in International Management, I conducted research, analyzation and consultation for the Airtek case. I was able to nurture my skills, sharpen my voice and views, and show Airtek managers my expertise in international management. This project provided me with the opportunity to show a different dimension of me that they had not have a chance to see before.
Sherry / “How Could Airtek Win Shanghai’s Market?” Case
