Ask Jon Frank- P69-Q&A:WHY MBA? 7 OVERLOOKED REASONS TO GET AN MBA

JonFrank

Dear Jon:

How to approach this recommendation question ? Thanks. My recommendator and i are BOTH confused.....

The School of Business is committed to developing outstanding leaders who can inspire trust and confidence in others. Please comment on the applicant's behavior within your organization and in the community.

-- by 会员 Monkyi (2010/12/6 23:44:33)

Hey there!  Happy to offer up some guidance here my friend.  What theyre really asking here is about LEADERSHIP.  After all, that is what leadership is, to inspire others to, well, do what you say.  So what they want you to talk about is LEADERSHIP.  If you and your recommender can do that, you will be in business.  So to speak.  J  Hope this helps.


Jon Frank

JonFrank

Hi, Jon.  I have a question about the choice of recommendator, please.  Which two people do you think is better?
(1) two current senior managers in my company
(2) 1 current senior manager, another guy was a senior manager of my company and recently joined another multinational company as a high level director (in different industry)

All of them know me well and are willing to help in this regard. So...I dont know whom I ought to choose.

Many thanks, my friend.

-- by 会员 肥熊 (2010/12/7 3:49:18)

Hey there!  Hard to make a call with such limited background here.  BUT.  What we don’t want is two of the EXACT SAME recommendations.  So if the two dudes in your company know you in the same capacity, doing the same job, in the same setting…then you will likely wanna mix it up a bit.  And it sounds like the second guy knows you pretty well too.  So that’s what Id do…without any background info.  But that’s what bschool teaches you—how to make decisions with limited information…  ; )


Jon Frank

greekhero

Hi John

I would like to seek your opinion on the ethical dilemma essay question.

When we dealing the ethical dilemma situation, some of us chose to bend the rules, not to break them, so my question is what the western business cultural would view this practice, as an imaginative attempt or a sign of dishonest?

For example the CEO wants to fire one of my man who is under-performance, but I want to keep him (because of the strong friendship), the dilemma is I can’t inform him that the CEO is collecting the negative evidence against him and ready to fire him (it against the HR policy and rules). But I do want to help him (and give him another chance)to keep his position in the company. In the end, I decide to give him a sign without revealing everything I know. That is how I find the wiggle room and bend the rules.  
But the end of the story is good, that man changes his working attitude, work more efficiently and contirbute more to the Organization.

What is your attitude on bend the rules, not break them? Will it be too riksy for me to use this experience to answer any question about the ethical dilemma?

jls

Hey Jon!!!
Thank you so much for your input on this forum. Your advice really helps a lot!!!

Can I ask a few questions that I am still not sure about after reading your posts?

My background is blended with Science and Business. I got my BS in China in Biotechnology and Master here in the US in Genetics and have 3-year hands on research experience in graduate school. Then I became a salesman at a Biotech company, which provides service to Pharmaceutical companies. My questions are:

1. career plan
I am pretty clear about my long term goal, which is to build China's Pfizer one day. However, I am not quite sure about short term goal.  I am considering two options now: a. Management consultant in Pharma and Biotech industry. b. Business development manager specialized in licensing in Big pharma. Both options utilize my combined background but which one do you think may sound more realistic and practical to the adcoms in B-school? Apparently there are many more MBA graduates pursue consulting route than BD route so does this mean I should choose consulting? Or can I mention two short term goals in the essay at the same time?

2. Outsourcing
My company is actually outsourcing big pharma's R&D job to China so I am dealing with US and China folks day in and day out. I feel this shows my globalization perspective and experience. However, as you know, outsourcing is sensitive to americans, especially at such bad economy climate. So do you think if it may cause negative effect if I include this part in my essays? Or I could still mention this international experience but avoid the word "outsourcing"?

3. Recommender
Many schools (not harvard or stanford) now only ask for two recommendation letters. I will surely have one from my current direct boss. But whom do you think will make a better second recommender, my client, who is a professor in a top university, or my previous supervisor, who may comment on my licensing experience that could be related to my short term goal?

I hope this is not too overwhelming, Jon! Thank you so much in advance!!

askwind

Hi John,

Thanks a million for your help here  Could you please help to answer this question at your convenience?
http://forum.chasedream.com/North_American_MBA/thread-486494-3-1.html

可怜孩子

Hi John, I sent an email to your HBS maibox. Could you check it and then get back to me? Really thanks for your useful information on CD.

JonFrank

Hi John

I would like to seek your opinion on the ethical dilemma essay question.

When we dealing the ethical dilemma situation, some of us chose to bend the rules, not to break them, so my question is what the western business cultural would view this practice, as an imaginative attempt or a sign of dishonest?

For example the CEO wants to fire one of my man who is under-performance, but I want to keep him (because of the strong friendship), the dilemma is I can’t inform him that the CEO is collecting the negative evidence against him and ready to fire him (it against the HR policy and rules). But I do want to help him (and give him another chance)to keep his position in the company. In the end, I decide to give him a sign without revealing everything I know. That is how I find the wiggle room and bend the rules.  
But the end of the story is good, that man changes his working attitude, work more efficiently and contirbute more to the Organization.

What is your attitude on bend the rules, not break them? Will it be too riksy for me to use this experience to answer any question about the ethical dilemma?



Hey there—happy to offer some guidance here.  In general, you need to be veeery careful in bending rules.  This is a red flag from a western business cultural perspective.  Especially if you are protecting this dude because he is your “friend.”  That isn’t a good reason to make a business decision, I don’t think, in any culture.
Now, there IS a way to write this story in an acceptable way.  You can say that your boss didn’t like the guy, but you knew that he WAS good at his job.  From there, don’t say that you gave him a clever sign, or gave your boss away at all.  That would be dishonest.  Instead, say that you showed this employee the benefits (for example) of the other group.  You SOLD it to him—you didn’t give away your boss, you actually convinced this guy to leave and go into another group!  On his own!  Now THAT would be cool.  That way, everyone wins.  Your boss gets rid of the guy, your employee keeps his job, and the company benefits.  That would be cool, eh?  Hope this helps.
Jon Frank

greekhero

Hi John

I would like to seek your opinion on the ethical dilemma essay question.

When we dealing the ethical dilemma situation, some of us chose to bend the rules, not to break them, so my question is what the western business cultural would view this practice, as an imaginative attempt or a sign of dishonest?

For example the CEO wants to fire one of my man who is under-performance, but I want to keep him (because of the strong friendship), the dilemma is I can’t inform him that the CEO is collecting the negative evidence against him and ready to fire him (it against the HR policy and rules). But I do want to help him (and give him another chance)to keep his position in the company. In the end, I decide to give him a sign without revealing everything I know. That is how I find the wiggle room and bend the rules.  
But the end of the story is good, that man changes his working attitude, work more efficiently and contirbute more to the Organization.

What is your attitude on bend the rules, not break them? Will it be too riksy for me to use this experience to answer any question about the ethical dilemma?



Hey there—happy to offer some guidance here.  In general, you need to be veeery careful in bending rules.  This is a red flag from a western business cultural perspective.  Especially if you are protecting this dude because he is your “friend.”  That isn’t a good reason to make a business decision, I don’t think, in any culture.
Now, there IS a way to write this story in an acceptable way.  You can say that your boss didn’t like the guy, but you knew that he WAS good at his job.  From there, don’t say that you gave him a clever sign, or gave your boss away at all.  That would be dishonest.  Instead, say that you showed this employee the benefits (for example) of the other group.  You SOLD it to him—you didn’t give away your boss, you actually convinced this guy to leave and go into another group!  On his own!  Now THAT would be cool.  That way, everyone wins.  Your boss gets rid of the guy, your employee keeps his job, and the company benefits.  That would be cool, eh?  Hope this helps.
Jon Frank

-- by 会员 JonFrank (2010/12/10 11:57:46)

Thanks,

JonFrank

Hey Jon!!!
Thank you so much for your input on this forum. Your advice really helps a lot!!!

Can I ask a few questions that I am still not sure about after reading your posts?

My background is blended with Science and Business. I got my BS in China in Biotechnology and Master here in the US in Genetics and have 3-year hands on research experience in graduate school. Then I became a salesman at a Biotech company, which provides service to Pharmaceutical companies. My questions are:

1. career plan
I am pretty clear about my long term goal, which is to build China's Pfizer one day. However, I am not quite sure about short term goal.  I am considering two options now: a. Management consultant in Pharma and Biotech industry. b. Business development manager specialized in licensing in Big pharma. Both options utilize my combined background but which one do you think may sound more realistic and practical to the adcoms in B-school? Apparently there are many more MBA graduates pursue consulting route than BD route so does this mean I should choose consulting? Or can I mention two short term goals in the essay at the same time?

2. Outsourcing
My company is actually outsourcing big pharma's R&D job to China so I am dealing with US and China folks day in and day out. I feel this shows my globalization perspective and experience. However, as you know, outsourcing is sensitive to americans, especially at such bad economy climate. So do you think if it may cause negative effect if I include this part in my essays? Or I could still mention this international experience but avoid the word "outsourcing"?

3. Recommender
Many schools (not harvard or stanford) now only ask for two recommendation letters. I will surely have one from my current direct boss. But whom do you think will make a better second recommender, my client, who is a professor in a top university, or my previous supervisor, who may comment on my licensing experience that could be related to my short term goal?

I hope this is not too overwhelming, Jon! Thank you so much in advance!!

-- by 会员 jls (2010/12/9 15:11:18)

Wow!  Lots of questions, and as you can imagine we have lots of answers!  Lets do this in order:

1. Either of your two short term goals are just fine.  If you choose consulting, be sure to explain why consulting is better than going into industry.  But whateeever you do, do NOT list more than one goal.  You will need to pick one (and either are fine) and then youll need to support it.
   
2. Outsourcing is a bit sensitive, but it is also the nature of business these days.  If you DO bring it up, simply be sure (in one sentence) to mention that there are many challenges associated w outsourcing—it doesn’t solve everything of course, there are economic implications, environmental, etc.  Indicate that you GET that.  But once you’ve done that, tell the story.  Tell the truth.  We can take it, we aren’t that sensitive.  J
   
3. Hey there!  Your client would make for a great THIRD LOR for HBS, but you should stick with your supervisor if you can, instead.  The problem with taking recs from clients, peers, even subordinates, is that the adcom may assume that they don’t tell the truth, to gain favor with you.  So be careful there—it’s a great THIRD LOR, but not as a second.
   

Hope this helps.  And good luck!


Jon Frank

jls

This is very reasonable! Thank you so much Jon!!