Employability And Consulting Skills End Of Module Portfolio Business Essay

I have selected the industry of Banking for my future career as Global Financial services is the field in which I am pursuing my Masters from Coventry University, London. Banking is a part of the Investment sector which itself a sub sector of vast Financial Industry. Through PESTEL we analyse the external environment of the Industry. Now, we will consider three companies of the Financial moreover Investment industry and the key features of their industry. These companies face different stages of profit/loss and growth/ fall in the current economic environment of recovering from 2008 recession and facing the Double dip.

Market Leader – State Bank of India

Emerging Company- ICICI Bank

Company at risk – YES Bank

Before the 2008 economic crisis the Banking industry was one of the exponentially growing and promising companies making everyone believe that this sector and their business model will never fail and the amount of return or the profit money margin they were making it seemed very reliable. In the year 2008 the growing economic structure collapsed, first started with Lehman Brothers and the rest followed that suite. With the US government’s help in terms of Trouble Asset Relief Program (TARP) some banks were declared failures. In the current financial module I will analyze 3 major companies of this industry and the factors affecting them externally and internally.

Market Leader: State Bank of India

SBI is the India’s financial services assets, market capitalisation and revenue which is majorly owned by the Government of India. The bank has 7 Subsidiaries and is a market outperformer in recent times (revenues of $22 Billion).

State Bank Bikaner Jaipur

State Bank of Hyderabad

State Bank of Mysore

State Bank of Patiala

State Bank of Travancore.

As of March 2012, the assets value is US$360 billion with 14,119 branches, including 173 foreign offices in 37 countries around the world. (SBI 2012)

SBI is the oldest commercial bank in the Indian subcontinent founded in 1806 as bank of Calcutta which was nationalised by the Government of India in 1955 with the Central bank, Reserve Bank of India taking 60% stake.

The SBI bank itself has about 27,000 ATMs along with the associate banks summing up to 45000 Cash Points other than Bank with 99000 offices in India . The bank also marked its presence on International scale as well in terms of 173 overseas offices. SBI has many subsidiary branches in almost all of the world’s recognised cities like London, Los Angeles, California, New York, Dubai, Frankfurt, Sydney, Tokyo, Osaka.

There are many external factors influencing the SBI, it has competition threats from Banks like HDFC, ICICI Punjab National Bank, which are exploring the Banking sector of Indian Market. The implementation of the Centralized Core banking System makes difficult to stand out aside of other banks. The introduction of the new banking mediums and standards made this competition more difficult. Also the alliance of International Insurance companies with other Indian banks the financial support and expertise services to the Indian customers.

According the Financial report of the bank itself along with the Central bank Reserve Bank of India’s annual report clearly gives a strong and leading position among all other National Banks. The net profit increased by 25% in the march 2012.Also, the good performance of the subsidiaries helped to increase the profit and standing out in the Bank rankings.

Emerging Company: ICICI Bank

ICICI (Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India) is the largest Private Bank of India founded in 1955 with its operations in all Financial Service Sectors in the country and internationally. The Bank has faced a real bad time in 2008 during Lehman downturn now it has recovered and is one of the most promising private banks. With the revenue of $13.81 Billion and the profit of $1.36 billion in the last financial year shows its strength in almost all of the financial sectors of the banking industry. ICICI has Chanda Kochhar as its current Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer with one of the strongest management teams in the country. Like other private bank HDFC Bank its majority of shares are held by foreign investors.

The bank reduced its risky segments size which were overextended in the boom of 2007-2008 and now is back on growth trajectory. The bank has a 2760 bank branches along with around 10000 ATM cash points across the country and presence in 19 countries around the world. The Bank has subsidiaries mainly in all the financial hubs like UK, USA, Canada, Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai and Qatar.

The ICICI is in the top banking list of India along with State Bank of India, Punjab National bank and HDFC. The bank has the total asset value of $119.69 billion maintained by around 80000 employees.

Company at Risk: YES Bank

The YES bank is one the newest private bank in India founded in the financial year 2003-2004 by a duo Rana Kapoor and Ashok Kapur. They both hold a collective financial stake of 27.16% the total banking asset value. The founder of the bank was recognised as the Entrepreneurial Banker of the Decade (2001-2010) by a management association in India for his expertise management. As the bank was founded on 2004, after a couple of years of its establishment they struggled in the 2008 recession which was the worst one in the recent time especially for the banking and financial industry. They somehow struggled to manage the $25 billion bank by the management and the leadership of its co founder Mr. Rana Kapoor and trying to recover from the debt and losses of the 2008 recession.

The YES bank is basically has its bank branches only in metro and developed cities where they are facing a real competition with the banking leaders like ICICI, HDFC, AXIS and other nationalise banks which are even 5-6 times of the asset value itself. Unlike other private banks YES bank is not even registered on London and New York stock exchanges but as a bank it is registered on India’s national stock Exchange i.e. BSE (Bombay Stock Exchange) as BSE:532648.

The Ranking of Indian Banks as per there total Income

Bank Name

Number of Branches

No.of Employees

Total Income(Rs Mn)

Net Profit (Rs Mn)

State Bank of India

9143

198774

431836

44067

ICICI Bank Limited

557

25479

187676

25401

Punjab National Bank

4066

58047

108153

14393

Canara Bank

2532

46893

100890

13432

Bank of Baroda

2687

38737

82917

8270

Bank of India

2563

41808

82131

7014

Industrial Development Bank of India Limited

173

4548

66612

5609

HDFC Bank Limited

515

14878

55993

8708

(2007) D&B ranking report.

References:

1).unknown. (2012). indian bank. Available: http://www.moneycontrol.com/financials/indianbank/profit-loss/IB04. Last accessed 20.09.2012

2).unknown. (2012). top banks. Available: http://www.dnb.co.in/topbanks/company_listing.asp?q=Total_Income. Last accessed 20.09.2012.

3).unknown. (2012). top ten indian banks. Available: http://www.greenworldinvestor.com/2011/03/08/list-of-top-ten-banks-in-india-each-a-good-investment-for-different-reasons/. Last accessed 20.09.2012.

4).unknown. (2012). annual publications. Available: http://www.rbi.org.in/scripts/AnnualPublications.aspx?head=Trend%20and%20Progress%20of%20Banking%20in%20India. Last accessed 20.09.2012.

5).Sbi,2012

Sbi annual report, 2012 www.sbi.co.in

6).ICICI bank,2012

icici annual report,2012 www.icicibank.co.in

7).YES,2012

YES annual report, 2012 www.yesbank.co.in

Unit 1 – The feedback

The feedback that I received from peers was quite positive and said the analysis and the way I put it is well written and referenced. The deep analysis of the companies as discussed was the best part of the assignment. My colleagues gave me few suggestions for the first two parts lacked with the business language and little bit missed the market data that I made the essential changes in the improved assignment.

Unit 2 : JOB DESCRIPTIONS

(Improved Version)

Updated version of the submitted work following peer and tutor feedback

I have chosen the Investment banking as a sector of interest to work in the banking and finance industry and the job profiles i wish to work in are :-

Job Description 1: Investment Banking Analyst

Role of an analyst and the Responsibilities:

The main role of an analyst in investment banking is to provide his and his companies services and advices to the clients by working within the company regarding the areas of Financing, Mergers & Acquisitions and generic strategic advice. With the range of broad responsibilities offered to the successful applicants to start their career in the Investment banking sector with broad exposure, comprehensive training and access of the network of the first class career advancement. The Analyst works integrally within the International Investment Banking Division. They will work on the current pitches of the client and the ongoing live deals as a part of team of the financial deal. The responsibilities are not limited to the creation, analysis of basic and advanced and maintenance of the companies valuated models along with the same responsibilities of the market and industry overviews. The analysis and researching of any specific company’s fundamentals and financial information. They usually interact with bankers of all different regions very frequently. They area facilitates themselves through the service of the company to various GS offices for reconnecting and training with global teams and working on the given assignments.

Job Description 2: Business Analyst – Trading Finance

Key Responsibilities

The majority in terms of responsibilities for a business analyst is around 60% of overall the job. They make strategies to prioritize and specify the company requirements to accelerate and evaluate the business values of the firm. To build the expertise domain and work with the business is required for understanding the challenges in the business market and there functional requirements. Gather the workshops to facilitate and co-ordinate the requirements. The requirements of the functional and non-functional model of business processes and to manage the acceptance or signing off of the deals. They do the analysis of the existing structures of the available data and assist in development of physical and logical data models. They have the detailed understanding of the corporate banking and their products to provide expertise services and have a practical approach towards implementation of the integrated solutions

The second major responsibility in term of job profile is the Solutions Delivery.

They work very closely with the solution architect and drawing the solutions from the experts within the team .They manage the work streams’ end-to-end delivery drawing on the Project Management skills for manage a multi-discipline team and its implementation. Provides expertise advice and services across both the technical solution and business solution. They understand the current ongoing IT developments and the industry direction and have a good understanding of the impact of technology on business. They act as an expert of the subject matter for test and development team through the whole project lifecycle. One of the other responsibilities of this job is the Strategy Development. They also assist the company is refining technology strategy which is aligned to the business strategies. They maximise the use of the technology to influence the strategy of the relevant business model.

Analysis: Both the jobs have a great level of analyzing capabilities irrespective of the department. Investment banking Analyst is much more evaluating job as it covers maintenance, analysis and creation of the financial model of a specific company, market and industry. They are responsible to serve the clients in the job profiles like Financing, Merger and Acquisitions and generic strategic fields. They require frequent travelling and interaction with the banking personalities from all around the world of different regions, ethics and business cultural environments and develop a business relationship with them to work with them. So, one of the integral part of the job is the continuous learning because of the ever changing markets, rules, regulation and most importantly the people.

Personal Skill Match: My skills surely match more closely with the Investment Banking Analyst Job Description over the trading finance analyst. As i am pursuing my MBA in Global Financial Services that will help me in understanding the financial industry, the companies and most importantly the market with help of the report analysis which is basically required in the deals of Merger and Acquisitions. I did my bachelors degree in Engineering with Electrical Technology as major which will definitely help me in navigating through different technical aspects of the industry in logical and numeric skills Expertise strategy and analysis will make this profile more favourable for me as the key job profiles are Merger and Acquisitions and investment opportunities.

References:

1] iimjobs (20/09/2012) Goldman Sachs – IBD Analyst [online] available from <http://http://iimjobs.com> [20/09/2012]

2] Barclays Plc (20/09/2012) Career Section [online] available from <http://barclays.taleo.net> [20/09/2012]

Unit 2 – The feedback

The feedback that I received from my peers was mostly positive and they appreciated that I very well analysed the two mentioned job descriptions. My peers suggested that it was very clear in selection of same kind of position in various organizations also that made my task much easier to do and suited it. The justifications presented were very professionally sound for the job selection and my personal skills with that which I improved to my previous sketch.

Unit 3: Cover letter and resume

(Improved Version)

Updated version of the submitted work following peer and tutor feedback

COVER LETTER

Vijay Kumar Burdak

14 Chertsey House, Arnold Circus, London E2 7JX

+44 7448205905

Dear manager

I am writing in response to your job advertisement for Investment Banking Department Analyst and enclose my CV for your consideration. I consider that my credentials and interests match with your requirement and want to apply for the same.

I am a MBA graduate with experience in Financial sector of Energy Industry and also have knowledge about the new technologies through my Bachelors of Engineering (B.E.) in Electrical. I am well organised, well mannered, enthusiastic and self motivated individual with good communication skills, having a ‘we can do’ thinking and proactive approach in managing work pressure. My previous experience in a similar role will be an advantage for my consideration for this position.

I hope that on consideration of my CV, you will be persuaded of my potential to perform well in this job position. I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

Vijay Kumar Burdak

Resume

Vijay Kumar Burdak

14 Chertsey House, Arnold Circus, London, Greater London E2 7JX

Mobile: +44 7448205905 Email:

PERSONAL PROFILE:

I am an MBA student, who is organized and reliable individual who takes in pride in completing any task to the maximum standard, adaptable person with the ability to adapt to a variety of new responsibilities efficiently, a good communicator who works equally well on his own initiative or as a part of a team. I have experience in Personal Financial Planning, Financial Services, Financial Markets and devising and implementing Strategies. I am actively pursuing a fulltime opportunity in finance and business consultancy.

EDUCATION AND QUALIFICATION:

April 2012- Present MBA (pursuing)

Coventry University London Campus, London, UK

Modules- Marketing in Global Age, Finance Funding and Legislative Framework, Leading in Changing World, Banking Regulation and Risk, Global Financial Markets, International Accounting Perspectives, Financial Responsibility and Social Enterprise

Aug 2005-June 2009 BE (Electrical Engineering)

University of Rajasthan, India

Work Experience:

May 2012- Present

Asst. Quality Manager, Sainsbury’s, managing the products as per there scheduled discount offers and the expiry dates

Oct 2010 – March 2012

Asst. Project Manager, JSL (Jyoti Structures Limited), Energy Sector, Rajasthan, India

– Responsible for advising and managing the ENERGY SECTOR contractors work in installation and distribution of power supplies to the feasible financial investment and efficient supply.

– Dealt efficiently and diplomatically with client queries and complaints, gaining excellent time management skills to respond to both personal and legal enquiries

July 2009-Oct 2010

Site Engineer, REC-PDCL (Rural Electrification Corporation) Rajasthan, India

-Responsible for managing the regulation of power supply and maintain the distribution lines.

-Responsible for handling customer service related issues and complaints.

April 2008 – March 2009

Administrative/Customer Service Assistant, LifeStyle Group, Jaipur, India

-Responsible for handling the customer service issues and complaints, clerical responsibilities.

-Dealing efficiently with telephonic as well as personal queries on products and services and also helping with inbound store management.

Nov 2005- March 2008 Administrative/Customer Service Assistant, Shoppers Stop Group, Jaipur, India

COMPUTER PROFICIENCY:

Operating System: MS Dos, Windows

Languages: C, C++, Java (Basic).

Package: MS-Office, Internet Surfing

ADDITIONAL SKILLS

Adaptability

Teamwork Technical Knowledge

INTERESTS

I have a keen interest in writing. I have a blog where I publish short poems on different aspects of life and my understanding of those aspects. I also enjoy travelling, learning new languages and about other cultures. I also like reading books and playing badminton and cricket.

SKILLS & ACHIEVEMENTS:

National level Player in Cricket and Hockey (KVS)

University league player in Volleyball (University of Rajasthan)

Regular Cadet of Scouts and Guides(KVS)

REFERENCES:

Available on request.

Unit 3 – The feedback

This assignment was about preparing a cover letter along with a proper professional resume for the applications in search of a prospective job in Investment banking sector. My peers gave me a feedback that I have made a very well prepared and structured Cover Letter and CV, highlighting my strengths efficiently and effectively with all the information needed for a employer to ask for. I have also improved my education and work experience pat from the resume as it was not upto the level of proper format usually used here. The earlier version was even good but the tutor suggested few improvements in the feedback.

UNIT 4: PREPARATION FOR FUTURE INTERVIEWS

(Improved Version)

Updated version of the submitted work following peer and tutor feedback

1). Tell me about yourself?

Answer: I am Vijay Kumar Burdak form Jaipur, India and I am pursuing my MBA in Global Financial Services (2012-2013) from Coventry University, London, UK. Being a creative person I am a very passionate about the technology as of interest and my background as well I did my B.E. (electrical Engineering as major) from University of Rajasthan, India, with specialization in Electrical and Electronics Technology and have a First class in it. Before coming to London to pursue higher education I worked as an Engineer in Energy Sector in REC PDCL (rural electrification Corporation) and Jyoti Structures limited for 2 years and 8 months. . This was a conscious decision for me as the exposure, experience and multi-cultural platform will be useful for my growth, both as a professional and a person and help me carve out my own niche in the finance industry.

2). What is your one weakness?

Answer: My biggest weakness which I figured out is that sometimes I am too blunt and straight in putting things to others. I understand that one has to be honest about it but a more subtle and friendly approach could be adopted rather than going for a questioning and blazing approach. For e.g. during my group activity in the previous semester I told my group leader in the team meeting that he was doing something really stupid and unwanted which of course I could have avoided because team meeting wasn’t the place and time to give my opinion. I realised this fact and have made great points and words in limiting it but still the work needs to be done and I am sure over a period of time I will eradicate it completely.

3). Tell me about your greatest achievement?

Answer: My greatest achievement as per the current date is finding and securing a job just after doing my under graduation from India in Engineering as my same field the core sector of Energy sector despite my graduation time on the peak situation of 2008 global recession as many of my batch mates were struggling to even find a job vacancy. Also, the job was in the Prime government of India’s subsidiary company REC which is expertise and handles all the Indian Power line installation and management. In those days it was you couldn’t have imagined an engineering graduate working in a core sector of the graduation field working as an engineer, it means a lot and there is enough to learn which helped me to get my first increment as appointment in JSL as Asst. Project Manager. The recruitment in the REC is the one that i still consider my biggest achievement even more than coming to the financial hub of world London and doing MBA in the finance centre of the world.

4). How would your peers/colleagues describe you?

Answer: The feedbacks that I always received from my colleagues are mostly very positive. My peer in my University describes me as a person always ready to take on responsibilities and challenges, quite punctual, hardworking, dependable, dedicated, honest, great sense of humour efficient and trustworthy. I have often been told that I am good at the tasks or jobs I am assigned, since I always at least once review the work I do and I make sure that there are no loopholes before I left the job and say it is done. My colleagues further described me as one who possesses quality time-management, organisational and planning skills since generally I complete the tasks prior to the deadline marked, to have enough time to in order evaluate the work and rectify any lacking that gives a chance of improvement. While working as a team-member, my peers has an opinion that I am a very adaptable, enthusiastic, motivating and flexible while working as well outside the campus and so they consider me as a great team player. Often my peers put me in charge of any sudden teamwork like any class debate on which we are not prepared since they consider me as responsible and trustworthy and they can rely on my decision-making abilities. My colleagues do also have an opinion that I do not impose restrictions on anybody’s actions regarding a group work and that is considered to be a good listener and extracting every good thing out of the every mind working in the team, also due to my effective managing, listening and unbiased ways of leadership skills the goals are always achieved efficiently within the given time scale and results in a good teamwork.

5).What makes you better than any of the other candidates interviewing for this job?

Answer: As, I have not met any of the candidates interviewed for this same job so it would be wrong for me to comment about them I can assure you that I am an applicant that fits into this organization seamlessly, one who is passionate about the financial market and the Investment Industry, the one who is analytical and realistic at the same time which came through my under graduation in engineering, MBA in Global Financial Services and my work experience in one of the Finest organizations of India in the Energy sector managing the whole power distribution and the Finance behind this vast industry. In this organization are enthusiasm, honesty and most importantly punctuality are the things that I bring more than anyone. I certainly have the abilities that make my contributions in the organisation stand out. My extensive knowledgebase from ranging education background and vast experience makes me confident that in any given pressure situation I can easily plan, organise and find a solution with a very feasible and cost efficient manner.

Unit 4 – The feedback

This assignment was critically marked by the tutor comments he made absolute sense. And the suggestions in the feedback were about not including family in the resume, the focus on the educational qualification and the work experience which is the most important requirement in the whole assignment to prepare for the future and I had made considerable effort in providing a report using business writing style which on the feedbacks from colleagues and the tutors, it is improved in a much more structured pattern.

UNIT 6, 7,8 & 9: REVIEW OF THE CONSULTING CYCLE

(Improved Version)

Updated version of the submitted work following peer and tutor feedback.

Clarify the brief

Three meetings were conducted with the representative of the company with our consulting team. The background information of the company was provided in the brief from Mckinsey Quarterly. Our client wanted to launch themselves in Chinese Market. Our job was to give recommendations to the client regarding the market study in the strategy, industry and feasibility of the project. The Chinese luxury goods industry is the fastest growing luxury market in the world and according to EuroMonitor it will overtake UK and France as the fourth biggest market by 2015 (euromonitor.com, 2012).

To give ourselves a better chance to get the contract we divided the work among team members. The main topics on which our research was based are listed below:

Situational analysis to know where the company would enter in the luxury goods industry

Customer Analysis

Possible growth and sustainability analysis for the company

Competitor and business model analysis

We conducted POTER’S 5 Forces analysis to find out should the company enter into the Chinese market, to understand the competition etc. We also conducted PESTEL and SWOT analysis to indentify strategic position and strengths, weakness of the organization.

Outcome:

The objective was to get the contract from the client. We were able to convince the about our capability and professionalism by the research and in depth analysis we did for them. We were able to gain client’s trust. The client was assured that we would do everything we had to do the required research to find the information regarding the industry, market, business models and the strategies to gain sustainable growth. We had the strategy plans ready for successful and launch and growth of the company. We were awarded the contract as the client felt that our recommendations were up to the mark and backed by solid evidence so agreed for further meetings to discuss the implementation with us.

Environmental Audit:

The environment in the luxury industry is very competitive. China’s luxury market is growing at an annual pace of close 20-30% and because of such pace it will overtake Japan as the Japan as the world’s largest purchaser of luxury goods in 2012, according to the latest report from Bain Capital(china.org.cn, 2012). Rapidly increasing income is making luxury goods available to the growing middle class in china which is warranting a change in attitude in showing off the wealth and growing acceptance of buying these goods by the middle class people. This is creating opportunities and challenges for the companies in marketing their product. Though people earning more than 300,000 renminbi will remain their traditional customers but now they can’t afford to neglect the growing income group of 100000-300000 renminbi (mckinseyquarterly.com, 2011). This is due to the growing exposure of luxury goods to Chinese consumers through the overseas travel, internet, and experience. The enormous growth potential was seen early by the big brands like Richemont, Prada and Burberry. After opening shops in china they are all trading 15-20 time s multiples of their 2009 lows. The other factor which is contributing more to this fact that china will surpass Japan in 2012 is the willingness to spend that extra amount on luxury items. People in china are ready to spent 15-20% of their income but in Japan only 4%.

To become a force to reckon with in the Chinese luxury market the company has to adopt radical thinking and bold moves which will bring the attention and the desire to buy the product.

Review of best practice

We used the Kubr’s Consulting Cycle (Kubr, 2005) for our consulting process for client. The McKinsey Quarterly report gave us valuable information about the Chinese luxury industry. We fund about the buying patterns, economic strata’s, geographical location and product sophistications. We suggested several strategies to the clients and asked him to select one choose and discuss its financial and nonfinancial details with the board of directors.

We conducted the PESTEL analysis for external and internal environment and then discussed the potential for the organization. Specific requirements were taken from the client and SWOT analysis was performed. This analysis was very useful as it gave all the information about the company and not just the financials. We researched various companies for the client to explain how this launch should and what future options they had. We used Porter’s Five Forces model to find out the feasibility of the project, power of suppliers, buyers etc.

We also did competitor analysis. It was us a fair idea about what to expect and what and whom we are up against. The comparison was helpful for the client and in deciding what kind of strategic has to be chosen to differentiate itself from its peers and what mistakes not to commit. The competitor analysis proved that the there was a huge gap between demand and supply and also between the customers the peers were serving which opened a window of opportunity for our client. We developed two sets of strategies. One long term and other short term. The client was very impressed with our in depth analysis and professional approach.

Proposal to execute the consultancy assignment

The research will take approximately 10 weeks. The research proposal will be handed to the client for their approval in the first week. The proposal includes the plan for the way research has to be done and it methods and way to measure the quality of research. The product development will also be advised to acquire crucial market share in the beginning. The plan will also include strategies for entering into China and marketing plan for new products. This research will be implemented 4 weeks.

The data will be collected by analyzing the consumer demographics. The suggestions for product development will be given based on the surveys conducted by our own company with the consumers. This survey will be conducted by the team online and offline simultaneously. The marketing plan will also be based on this survey. The data collected initially will be very helpful for structuring the operations in the organization. The Key Performance Indicators (KPI) will be helpful for comparison with its peers. The budget details of the company will be taken into consideration while putting forward the proposal

Individual reflection

Personal Experience

This was a great learning experience for me as I have never been part of the consulting team before. Initially the team was not prepared at all for the first meeting but the necessary work was done and from there on there was no looking back. We performed exceptionally in the second meeting and the client was very impressed with us in the third meeting as we prepared a PowerPoint presentation to give the recommendations to her. I developed leadership skills, listening skills, enhancing team performance and building and communication skills.

Personal Learning Goals

My goal was to develop a fast and efficient researching technique which would allow me to develop strategies and innovative solutions for client’s problems. I intend to develop my client pressure handling skills because a sometimes I faltered when pressure was there. I wish to take part in more client meetings like these to make myself more comfortable with the whole process of consulting.

Reflecting on the experience and peer feedback

We had 3 meetings with the client. Peer feedback was given by my colleagues and the tutor. Any kind of feedback was very valuable as it helped me to improve for the next meeting. The feedback after the first meeting was not very encouraging as we drifted from our agenda. The feedback for the rest of the meetings was very positive. The experience was very valuable and taught us to be thorough, precise and professional in our conduct.

Strength

The feedback is a very important tool to improve ourselves. We came to know the strengths and weaknesses during this process. My colleagues said that I was extremely confident while presenting the analysis to the client. They applauded my communication skills and researching skills. During the preparation for the last meeting, I came up with the suggestion to create a PowerPoint Presentation (PPT) or a program simulation where we agreed on doing PPT. We increased our commitment and professionalism levels as the meetings progressed. The client was also impressed and we were able to gain her trust. This was a huge victory for the team. We were successful in conducting the 2 meeting with inline of our agenda. We also tackled the situation well when all the members of the team were not present for one or the other reason. The ability to work in and with the team was developed by everybody.

Areas to develop

The feedback helped us to look and improve our weaknesses. We should have been able to discuss all the points with client and not allowing her to take us a drift. This is extremely important to gain trust and confidence of a client. The solutions provided should be accurate and precise. Both sides of the plan must be analyzed. The failure must be anticipated and contingency plan should be ready.

More practice of such projects must be done to develop the overall skills. Interacting with professionals and attending seminars and will help to decrease the initial nervousness and become comfortable with the whole process of consulting. We need to be thorough and more professional in the future.