ESCP Europe Alumni Magazine - n°131 - Juillet 2010 - 49

Campus
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MBA team members represented key expertise and input for the project. Professor Véronique Tran, the ICP tutor, brought invaluable insight and methodological recommendations to the team on a regular basis. «Professor Christophe Thibierge was also a great help. For his financial planning class, he assigned my company’s business plan as the homework assignment! So I had 7 different sets of ideas for my project, instead of just one, plus Christophe’s expert advice». The MBA Entrepreneurs Club was an additional precious resource for Justin and the team, in particular the recommendations brought forth by Professor Jacqueline Fendt, whose Elective « The Entrepreneurial Toolbox » is one of the most popular choices in the programme’s 36-strong elective portfolio.

of MDs mid-2009, and adopted as an action plan two months later. It is still in use today, with direct buy-in of the marketing and sales forces.

The MBA, Microfinance and the International Consulting Project

«Microfinance and education are recognized as the most effective tools for the sustainable alleviation of poverty and the advancement of women worldwide», visitors to the website of womensworldwideweb.org are informed. Launched on International Women’s Day 2010, the Women’s Worldwide Web is the brainchild of Lindsey NEFESH-CLARKE (MBA 09) -see Personnalité du mois cover story. Together with her teammates Andrea CAMPIONE (MBA 09), Hector MARGAIN (MBA 09) and Isabelle MASSONAT (MBA 09), Lindsey developed the plan for this innovative platform that seeks to raise funds through online lending and online giving, thereby financing grassroots microfinance and education initiatives around the world. Women’s Worldwide Web is also an information provider/sharer and a social networking platform. Lindsey is now the Managing Director, and Isabelle is the Deputy MD. «The Strategy Models were a source of inspiration and guidance for the task of identifying a strategic diversification in the not-for-profit company», states Isabelle Massonat «The European Executive MBA provided the tools and the fertile learning environment to explore new frontiers based on a thorough analysis of the industry in terms of business system, market segmentation, core competencies and competitive advantage». Today the Women’s Worldwide Web is on the verge of launching a portfolio of programs and projects for which it will be collecting funds, and has just signed an agreement with Grameen America, the non-profit microfinance organization based in New-York and founded by Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus. The European Executive MBA, and in particular the ICP, provides the framework to formalize a business concept. Justin, Patrick and Lindsey all built on the theory and ideas from classroom sessions and group work by applying these learnings to their projects. For Patrick, the ICP provided him the opportunity to respond to a challenge put forth to him within the context of his employer’s development, which allowed him to advance in the company. For Justin and Lindsey, the ICP gave them the means to create their own organizations, and take a different turn in their careers. l

Patrick Ginter

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The ICP Team develops a Strategic Roadmap

Lindsey Nefesh-Clarke

Professor Fendt was the Tutor for a very different ICP in the MBA Class of 2009: creation of a strategic roadmap for the development of business growth in Spain, Italy the UK and France (the exact details of the project remain confidential at the sponsoring company’s request). The company for whom the strategic recommendation was developed was highly involved in the project, and sponsors included the EMEA Sales and Development Director, and the CEOs and Marketing Departments of the company’s subsidiaries in Spain, Italy, the UK and France. The ICP team of Patrick GINTER (MBA 09), Olivier DIDRY (MBA 09), and Steffen RINGWAL (MBA 09) had three main objectives: preparation of a strategic change, sales development, and the increase in profitability of a specific product line. According to team leader Patrick, «the main recommendations of the study focused on the marketing mix, products portfolio and the supply chain policy. One of the challenges was to convince the decision-makers and sales forces to shift from a technology-push and product-based, to a market-pull and customer-based strategy». The early buy-in by the top management of the company was a key success factor in project implementation. «My direct boss mandated this study, and was therefore a key stakeholder in its development and ultimate success. The role he played allowed him to take an active part in my MBA work, which showed him first-hand the value of the investment». In fact, the strategic roadmap was presented to the Board

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Isabelle Massonat

ESCP Europe Magazine N° 131 - Juillet 2010

http://www.womensworldwideweb.org

Table des matières de la publication ESCP Europe Alumni Magazine - n°131 - Juillet 2010

Couverture
Zapping
Sommaire
Editorial
Personnalité du mois - Lindsey NEFESH CLARKE
Focus - Hors des sentiers battus
Itinéraires
Entretiens - Banque
Vie du réseau
Évolution professionnelle
À lire
Voyages
École - When the ICP¨becomes a reality
Fondation
Vie étudiante

ESCP Europe Alumni Magazine - n°131 - Juillet 2010