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 case analysis of Cofem, S.A. to determine the next market for entry really provided the practical focus and basis to catapult my novice interest into a realistic venture. The whole process of implementing appropriate analysis and perspective really hit me as we worked towards the implementation method for the case. It became REAL! It was that moment that concepts became reality for me, which further increased my interest.
What’s next?
The dilemma is determining what the current need is, when to act, how to do it, but most importantly are you ready and can you fill the need. Realism is important. Growth and success aren’t guaranteed. But having the courage and resolve to dig deeper, self-reflect, practically analyze, and make an initial move is what it takes to start something special. If nothing else, I realize this initial exposure is a start but there is much more to learn, experiment and apply. I’ve got to put myself into organizations and situations that provide the avenues for continued exposure. Looking forward to continuing that journey.
Jeff / “Cofem, S.A.” Consulting Case
“The prospect of defining my personal strategy and mapping out my career path fills me with renewed purpose and motivation.”
Regarding the semester market entry consulting project, I found the experience to be quite unique because I have never been required to conduct a research project before, no less one that involves working with a real company and providing genuine recommendations for its operations and business model.
Besides the fact that I was able to apply information that I learned in the class and gained an understanding of how grueling collaboration can be at times in the workplace, I also enhanced my social and professional capital by learning how to apply my acquired knowledge to a realistic business setting, communicate effectively in a business context, and present a convincing analysis for a dilemma faced by a business.
What’s next?
I plan to utilize this capital by fostering relationships with as many people as possible in a working environment, communicating consistently with those in command, and offering a critical global-minded perspective when dealing with large-scale issues. I hope to implement these skills in my repertoire in order to pursue a successful career in the business sector, and I plan to further investigate world business affairs as well as experiment with my newly acquired competencies in future courses at Northeastern that require realistic evaluations rather than hypothetical solutions.
Joshua / “Threshold.world” Consulting Case
The most rewarding thing for me was proving to myself that I can do complicated research about the industry I knew nothing about. I was able to communicate with the company’s executives and provide my recommendations based on my theoretical knowledge.
I've spent a lot of time researching the industry, the company, and it's a new technological tool to be able to discuss it during the interview and get details for my case. I also realized that I really like to do this kind of project.
Jane / “GrabCAD. Social Marketing Strategy” Case
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
Working on the HC consulting case gave me confidence to seek strategic partnerships in my own career. As a commercial real estate agent, I have used the skills learned from the case to form alliances with institutional real estate companies and investors. Working with foreign investors and international companies with an interest in US assets, I have found it very helpful to consider the frameworks discussed in the case when working with my clients.
Ali Choucri / HC Security and Investments” Case
I was thinking about my capstone course at Northeastern University a couple of days ago and thought of you. I really enjoyed your class and I remember mentioning that I wanted to go to Columbia University in my final "personal strategy" assignment. Thank you for making us do this "professional core" exercise and developing a case for GM Développement: Inc. It was an important factor in helping me visualizing getting in Columbia and graduating with my master's in Real Estate Development from there. Thank you again, Dr. Julia!
Josephine / “GM Développement: Inc.: A Partnership of Love and Business” Case
I have always wanted to be a nonprofit consultant, so this experience served as the perfect opportunity to take what I have learned in my MS in Nonprofit Management program at Northeastern and put it into practice with an organization. I learned the value of listening to leaders of organizations and understanding what is most important to them for their mission and how I can be a part of the solution to their challenges. I learned that in order to change or influence behavior surrounding differences in belief systems, I need to spend a lot of time understanding where they are coming from and why they believe what they do.
Abigail / “Sustainable Development of a Nonprofit Organization for Veterans” 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
