Fast-moving consumer goods manufacturers like Unilever and P&G struggled to find a market in developing economies with traditional American and European-themed promotional strategies. Poking the aspirational class with the hope of a better future or the sparkling smile of the celebrity didn’t help the market share. On the verge of giving up the drive to enter rural markets that represent the lion’s share in developing economies, the executives called on ‘MBA’ consultants, many from reputed universities, for solutions.
The initial recommendations skirted the familiar path. Focus on the color of the packaging or let celebrities with local recall promote the brands. Exhausting all the traditional placement and marketing strategies, student MBAs visited the shops to witness how local products are sold. While on an unrelenting exposure to the afternoon sun, a student suffering from an agonizing headache sought urgent relief from a Pharma shop and found the red and white sachet of ‘Alabukun powder’ – a staple of the stores and pharma alike for all illnesses from headaches, chronic pain, and fevers.
Questioning the unique packaging, the representative shared that for the locals, an entire strip of medicine was too costly. And so began the germ of the idea to package everything from ketchup, water, and shampoo into sachets.
Leadership founded on understanding the culture of the customer, team, or market works on re-imagining old solutions.
Rapid prototyping and interviewing stakeholders on the ground have taken over traditional methods of brainstorming in the comforts of a conference room.
Problem: In this example, the applicant stumbled upon an alarming statistic – close to 80% of mothers are not part of the full-time workforce in rural India. Most time was dedicated to cleaning and attending to children’s hunger needs. The result of a field study showed the inefficient way diapers were reused.
Failure: Finding a solution that works in developed economies, the applicant attempts to replicate the same in rural India and fails catastrophically.
The intellectual curiosity and adaptability to learn and pivot are the core of the narrative. The friend with whom the applicant partnered is also quoted for her unique leadership approach to setbacks and prioritization.
Q) The Berkeley MBA program develops leaders who embody our four Defining Leadership Principles. Briefly introduce yourself to the admissions committee, explain which Defining Leadership Principle resonates most with you, and tell us how you have exemplified the principle in your personal or professional life.
Please review the Defining Leadership Principles in advance and take time to prepare your answer before recording. You will be able to test your audio-visual connection before recording. Video essays should last 1-2 minutes and may not exceed 2 minutes.
Berkeley Haas Leadership Principle: Student Always
Theme: Adaptability, Failure
Theme (Explained): Failures are the trigger for the adaptability narrative. In this example, the applicant with all the right research and data applied an intervention that worked in developed economies. On failure, the applicant’s intellectual curiosity helped her understand the small differences that aggregated into a big setback.
After the failure, the applicant introduced a solution that addressed the trigger for the failure.
Admission Consultant’s Note – Emotional Intelligence
Very few applicants have the emotional intelligence to even use the word ‘failure’ in essays – written and video. By freely addressing failure and taking corrective action to address the failure, you will stand out from the crowd.
Opener: Starting with a line that shows the applicant’s empathy with the cause is the quickest way to establish motivation. A line expressing gratitude sets up the ‘student always’ mindset that the essay captures.
Strategy: The strategy in the essay is not to smoothen the blow of the failure but to capture the assumptions, the setback, and the solution to come back from the failure. By directly addressing failure by making the ‘problem’ the central theme, the reader will not dwell on the applicant’s missed research or missed judgment. The problem is set up with sufficient complexity that the mistake is never assumed to be from carelessness but the result of new developments.
2 Minutes: 254 words
Profile: Consultant
Industry: Non-Profit
Beneficiary: Working Mothers
Traits: Intellectual Curiosity, Open Mindedness, Resilience
Skill: Leadership
Speed: Medium to Fast
250 words: Medium
250 words – 300 words: Medium to Fast
300 words and above: Fast
Berkeley Haas MBA Embody Four Defining Principles Video Essay Example (Student Always) (Adaptability, IMPACT Oriented and Intellectual Curiosity) (254 Words)
Q) The Berkeley MBA program develops leaders who embody our four Defining Leadership Principles. Briefly introduce yourself to the admissions committee, explain which Defining Leadership Principle resonates most with you, and tell us how you have exemplified the principle in your personal or professional life.
Please review the Defining Leadership Principles in advance and take time to prepare your answer before recording. You will be able to test your audio-visual connection before recording. Video essays should last 1-2 minutes and may not exceed 2 minutes.
Coming from a middle-income family, I am fortunate to be among the 27% of women in India who are employed in a full-time role. Despite a shift in attitude towards sharing household chores, women still ..
