Name: Camille Chandra
Major: MBA, a concentration in enterprise analytics
Career aspirations: Join a company that enables me to build on this knowledge base and continue to be a part of this technology wave in business today. It feels great learning about business tools and applications that are forward-focused, rather than a lot of traditional education built on models or trends of the past.
Why were you interested in taking the Doing Business in Emerging Markets course?
I was interested in this course because I spent a lot of time in my undergraduate degree volunteering (and even working for one year) in international contexts. It had been some time since I had an immersive experience that exposed me to a new culture and this opportunity immediately stood out for this reason. The ability to combine course credits with an area I was keen to learn more about, and working with a live client aspiring to enter the emerging Chinese market, was a win-win situation for me.
What do you expect to learn from your visit to China?
I expect to connect the dots in the information I spent the past four months gathering, but also for some of those pre-conceived notions to be proven otherwise. I expect to learn how consumers who fall under different cultural dimensions place value on products/services that are distinctly different than in the Western world. I also expect to learn about the complexities of doing business in a market as unique as China, from the vast opportunities, to key nuances and regulatory risks.
How do you think this experience will impact your future career?
This experience will impact my career in ways I can list here, but I guarantee it will also manifest in ways I could not have imagined, until I find myself drawing upon the experience. For instance, it will further build my cultural competence and diversity of thought. It will also allow me to think much more broadly than the obvious factors surrounding me. I hope it will also spur moments of innovative thinking and consideration for parties that do not think or act in the same ways as those in the immediate environment surrounding me.