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Business School Careers Summer Webinar Series

Careers Summer Webinar Series Launch

We are pleased to launch our Careers Summer Webinar Series to Admitted and Current Students this week, they are a series of both Live and Recorded webinars presented by our Careers Staff with the goal of supporting our Admitted and Current Students through the recruitment cycle.

This year we are focusing the Careers Summer Webinar Series on these subject areas:

Getting ready for video interviews - available from 15 June on the Hub

Online assessments are widely used in the graduate recruitment market and it’s unlikely you will secure your first job after graduation without facing a digital or online interview. In this short webinar the Careers Team expands on how companies across different sectors use online interviews and how to prepare to succeed in this selection stage, as well as tips to stand out and useful resources you will have access to as you start your Master’s at Imperial College Business School.

In order to complete your Careers module, you will have to submit one video interview by the end of Autumn Term (compulsory). This webinar also explains in detail the process you need to follow and the feedback you will receive for your development.

Performing well at Assessment Centres - available from 03 August on the Hub

Did you know that 94% of graduate employers report that they use Assessment Centres as part of their recruitment? Frequently the last or penultimate step in the process, it’s important to make a positive impression and fully demonstrate your capabilities as a potential future employee. This webinar will outline the typical exercises you can expect, look at how employers tend to score and assess you and provides top tips for how to perform at your professional best.

Careers: How we can help you - Live Session book via Symplicity

Wondering how Careers can help you? In this short webinar you will gain an overview of the Career services on offer and support available to you as an Imperial College Business School student. From career planning and applications to employer events and salary negotiations, you’ll hear all about our resources and best ways to contact and communicate with us throughout the year. Whatever your career goals, we are here to support you at every stage of the process.

Understanding the graduate recruitment process - Live Session book via Symplicity

As an incoming Master’s student, we know there is a lot to think about over the summer. Once you begin your MSc programme, you will soon be very busy making new friends, starting your academic studies and job applications. So why not get ahead and join this session to:

· Understand the graduate recruitment process and approximate timelines

· Build your self-awareness and identify key strengths and skills

· Identify careers resources to get you started

This is suitable for everyone, whether you already know your career goals or are just starting to explore your options.

All of the Live Sessions are available to Admitted and Current Students and are bookable via Symplicity. Recorded sessions are available on the Careers Programme Area on the Hub.

How we moved all MBA and MSc teaching to remote delivery through Imperial’s Edtech Lab

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting lockdown that came into effect in March in the UK, Imperial College Business School had to unexpectedly shift all teaching and exams to remote delivery in just one week.

This meant a complete shift to remote delivery for our 13 Master’s programmes, Full-Time MBA, part-time Executive MBA and Weekend MBA. It doesn’t sound like an easy task, however, thanks to our award-winning Edtech Lab, we were already well positioned to succeed.

At the Business School, we have one of the biggest departmental EdTech teams in Europe. So we were able to not only pull this this transition off, but we were also uniquely positioned to deliver a robust learning experience to our students straight away.

So who are the Edtech Lab and why did we have an advantage in moving all classes online? How do students learn in this new environment? All these questions and more answered for you here.

Moving to remote delivery with the Edtech Lab

When we were no longer able to teach on campus, our Edtech Lab worked to quickly shift all of our teaching to remote delivery.

The Edtech Lab is a dedicated team of educational designers, developers, media producers and researchers, experienced in supporting our faculty to deliver high-quality online and blended postgraduate management education for the Business School.

They are currently responsible for delivering approximately 180 online modules every year, including modules for our award-winning Global Online MBA, MSc Business Analytics (online, part-time), our blended Executive MBA programme and our brand new MSc Strategic Marketing (online, part-time), due to launch this September.

With this wealth of experience and specialism of designing online and blended programmes, Sarah Grant, Associate Director at the Edtech Lab said:

As a team, we are well-positioned to respond to the emergency, embrace new pedagogies and support our faculty to deliver high-touch, social and experiential learning to our students from a distance.

When the government announced the lockdown, we took a staged approach to shifting all learning deliverables to remote teaching. The first priority for the spring term was to support faculty to transition to remote learning in the most expedient manner possible to enable students to continue studying when the campus closed.

This involved delivering all face-to-face classes on Zoom with out-of-class activities remaining largely unchanged from the face-to-face modules. Speaking on the remote teaching transition, Seyon Indran, MSc Economics & Strategy for Business student said:

The Business School have handled the transition to remote teaching great in my perspective. With lectures, I’ve quite enjoyed having them online mainly because of the convenience; the quality of teaching is just as good and I get to save myself from a long commute to campus! Overall, it’s clear Imperial is committed to making sure the rest of our term is as smooth as possible, so I am confident that the remainder of our programme will be an equally great experience.

Shortly after this transition was made, a concern for many students was sitting their exams online. The Business School had already trialled an online exam platform with students previously and were able to roll this out to all programmes.

MSc International Health Management student Jessie Bosshard said:

The pandemic hit right as our spring term came to an end, so we first experienced the transition to remote learning when we took our exams a month later. It was a bit challenging, because I took exams in the middle of the night (e.g. 3am), but there was plenty of time to adjust my sleep schedule, and other students were in a similar situation. The Exams team walked us through the Mitigating Circumstances process, just in case the outcomes were suboptimal, so all was well.

Stage two of remote delivery: enhance

The immediate transition for students was effective as a short-term measure, but the team quickly recognised that the stabilise approach was not sustainable beyond the spring term and so immediately began to implement measures to assist faculty in enhancing the learning experience for the summer term. Grant says:

The aim was to broadly adopt a flipped approach to learning, incorporating online pedagogy into the provision of learning activities through the addition of structured, supported, social and interactive elements. We created a series of templates in the platform for scaffolding the Zoom classes within a larger learning narrative, including asynchronous preparation activities, which students are expected to participate in prior to attending class; synchronous in-class exercises, which students engage in during the live class; and post-class exercises, aimed at consolidating and expanding understanding of the key concepts covered that week.

To facilitate the enhance approach to remote teaching, the Edtech Lab migrated all of the on-campus programmes to the new Hub, which is an updated version of our existing learning platform. The team have been using the Insendi platform (a spin-out from the Edtech Lab) to deliver our online programmes for the past year. Grant says:

The platform, which is based on the Business School’s unique pedagogical approach to online management education, is incredibly intuitive, allowing us to collaborate with faculty to rapidly develop new content and, where appropriate, repurpose pre-existing content from our successful online programmes. The new platform offers a built-in library of over 50 unique learning activities to choose from, suited to a range of different learning outcomes, from coding in Machine Learning to case-based learning in Organisational Behaviour and Strategy.

The updated version of our online learning platform has elevated the way we teach students remotely. It’s easy for students to navigate and offers a seamless learning experience, encouraging the idea that learning doesn’t just happen in the classroom.

In addition, the platform also offers advanced learning analytics, that will allow the Edtech Team to review student engagement with the online materials and evaluate our approach to help inform future decision making as we evolve to embrace new pedagogies in the future.

How have our students been finding remote learning?

"“I have been impressed by how seamlessly Imperial was able to quickly transition to remote delivery amidst the COVID-19 crisis. As an established leader in online education for many years, the Business School was able to quickly extend this capability across all programmes and modules. I was pleased to play a small part in advising on this transition through my leadership roles, and I was encouraged by how proactive the Business School’s leadership team was in ensuring the transition was student-centred.”"

Austin Allaire

MSc International Management

"“I miss our Imperial campus and being around my classmates and friends. However, I think that Imperial has done an incredible job at switching to remote delivery. We can attend lectures online via Zoom and have the ability to watch recordings of the lectures if we are unable to watch the livestream, for instance due to time zone issues. Moreover, we have access to all the support Imperial offers. I have the opportunity to attend my professors’ office hours, meet with my career consultants, and can attend workshops.”"

Eva Abend

MSc Risk Management & Financial Engineering

" “It has been impressive how the Business School successfully switched online! Although the experience is radically different, given the circumstances, learning has not ceased or been hindered. The platforms available guarantee continued uninterrupted education without a meaningful loss of access to resources. Furthermore, faculty have been constantly supportive.”"

Rodrigo Hernandez Canteli

MSc Innovation, Entrepreneurship & Management

"“I can say that Imperial and the Finance Programmes team did an amazing job at switching everything online in a timely manner and responding to student feedback about the online delivery of lectures. Everything is running smoothly and interaction with both the cohort and the professors has been preserved – the only thing I miss is going to the library.”"

Ana-Maria Simionescu

MSc Finance

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Alumni blog: Hello digital age....

Written by Aziz Sajdi (MSc Innovation, Entrepreneurship & Management 2016) Innovation and Strategy Officer at SAJDI, Consulting Engineering Centre. He has been in lock-down now for over a month in Jordan - one of the few countries to take drastic lock-down measures to minimise the spread of COVID-19. In this blog post he reflects on impact of the global pandemic and the shift to a digital age.

Companies are continuously forced to disrupt their thinking. Some have done it well over the years, while others have been slow in implementation. However, this pandemic has forced disruption in an entirely new way; for some deliberate and for others emergent. Should businesses think of new operation methods? Perhaps lower liabilities? Lower debt? New diversified products and services? Very interesting times we live in.

It’s been more than two weeks now of our quarantine against this so-called ‘pandemic of our century.’ While time is not directed to the usual work, it made me think of what to expect and how businesses should react to the situation. Working in the consulting industry and having most of my time dedicated to innovation research and financial strategy, I need to say that what is yet to come is way worse than what has passed.

Let’s look at the three major shifts to be expected; people, companies and government/banks.

People

People are the most impacted in this situation. As people shift to working from home, they are finding new ways to organise time. But would their mentality be the same when we are all out of this quarantine? What should businesses do to overcome this sudden shift? In my opinion, companies should act swiftly on how they should treat employees during lock-downs (remote working) if they want to create brand succession and future stability. Spending behaviour has also majorly shifted - with fear of the unknown, people went into survival mode, purchasing essential goods as they prepare for the worst, majorly cutting down on non-essential goods. However, will their spending behaviour shift after this pandemic is over? More contingency plans? Cuts towards non-essential purchases? Each household should radically alter their spending habits for the future. We can expect more demand on technology platforms; financial, education and medical.

At times of recession (current times) people will definitely think in a completely new way. It’s crucial to think of insurance for yourself and your loved ones. In these uncertain times, it’s vital to take note of how you can benefit from health and home insurance. Cut overhead expenses, this will make the unwanted in the past, think of contingency plans or funds, think of new ways to invest. It doesn’t mean we are going to live through a pandemic our whole lives, but it would seem that the impact of a recession will take some time to recover. With higher unemployment rates, this can only mean we would need to possibly think of supplementing our income? If you are jobless, would that mean freelancing for the new digital era?

Until this is over, you need to boost your credit score so that banks are willing to lend you when support is needed. Maybe buying the house or the car can wait, but meanwhile, work on raising your investment balances and cash savings. Interest rates are lower than what they were, but does it always make sense to buy the house instead of renting it? Study your in’s and out’s.

Always think of the best financial foundation scenario possible. Consult a financial banker or an adviser, they can be of great help at times like this.

We need to be more conscious of our consumption and invest more locally towards services, businesses and products. As a society, we need to work together to become our own country’s right hand. This in return will positively catalyse the growth of our economies and reduce harsh economic impacts caused by the pandemic.

Companies

Companies with the highest free cash flow balances would easily ride the pandemic without the aid of banks and other lending institutions. But what about small businesses? Legacy holders, knowledge holders and other day-to-day retail shops who are responsible for employees and their families? Would this mean they are out of business? Potentially yes. But what lessons could be learned and how will the mind-sets of business owners and entrepreneurs change? This shift could mean destroying entire companies and could also mean raising new startups from ground up. But don’t we need the knowledge of the older generation to help guide the economies? Or are the youth capable of pushing the new economy? I am a 3rd generation in a family business and I speak out of experience, we still need businesses and the older generation to help us with what I call the age of digitisation.

We need to be more conscious of our consumption and invest more locally towards services, businesses and products.

We think of industries and questions like, what should we focus on? What will be terminated? What sectors will boom? Sectors like internet providers (Verizon), online education (Chegg), cloud platforms (Microsoft, Amazon, Zoom) and human resource services (Ceridian) could ride the big wave.

But at times like this, companies should really be revisiting their operational models and questions their ability of what can we do to ride this pandemic with little damage? Or, what are the changes so that in the future we can sustain ourselves. Revisit debt, liabilities, cash and even assets. How can they be more lean in the future?

This could be the age of startups - the youth should be taking this advantage and build the next 50 years of businesses, they need to be able to explore all areas and be granted the complete freedom of not being taxed for example. We are seeing great examples of education websites, medical and other very inspiring stories. This is the time for entrepreneurial drive to flourish.

Governments and Banks

In my opinion when all this settles down, we will look around and see; higher unemployment rates, over-leveraged businesses, monopolies, partnerships and less social interactions due to implied digital age. Governments will need to tackle unemployment but how? Will banks and governments sustain such aid or do we need to think radically about our businesses and our lives?

With zero interest lending, businesses who are over-leveraged before the pandemic could face bankruptcy. Banks and governments want people and businesses to increase their loan balances after all this is over; they want us to increase debt to stay committed to the financial system. Debt is not always bad, it is very healthy when done correctly.

What will happen to banks, are banks like Monzo and N26 successors? Should banks think of re-modelling their operations? Will this create or destroy jobs? Banks have a higher advantage now than ever to remodel and grab the opportunity that is being given to them.

In countries like Jordan, it’s burdened with its zero natural resources, lack of water and increasing demand by influx of refugees. Although its non-stop work through this pandemic is extremely professional and disciplined, I fear the aftermath. They have placed the people before the economy and that is the true meaning of being a human.

Everyone wants to be optimistic about the future, but we need to be realistic, governments need to understand that if the economy wants to sustain and grow it will need to take sacrifices and ensure that the legacy of what was built through the past 50 years is not lost.

Are you optimistic about your job?

The impact of the current pandemic has been seismic, the impact of which will continue to be felt for some time to come not only from a global point of view but also for those people individually who have been most effected through illness, the loss of loved ones or the loss of their job and life as they had previously known it.

In the coming weeks and months, the world will re-emerge from this colossal crisis and be forced to wake up to face a ‘new normal’ and for the vast majority of us, many aspects of our personal as well as professional lives will have changed for good. The BBC has, as always, cornered the market on doom and gloom so this article is to explore the other side of the coin and embrace a decidedly more optimistic outlook. I want to look to the future and see how we can adapt ourselves professionally to the new normal and move forward with energy and tempered enthusiasm.

Agreed, some industries stand out as ones which have and will continue to suffer and will have to reinvent themselves, changing their business model to fit the new world order. Air travel and retail being two obvious categories here which will need to step up their reinvention massively in the wake of this situation. However, that’s essentially what will happen as we will still need and want to fly and we still need and want to buy stuff to support our lives so the market for their products and services remains, however, it remains in a new and exciting, albeit as yet undefined, form.

Companies and organisations are about to emerge from their crisis mode, shutting down almost everything other than essential operational requirements in order to survive. Many of you will have felt this with salaries being cut, possibly redundancies and hiring freezes. Firms will start now to look forward and make plans for the future and I feel we will start to see plans being formed for the second half of 2020 and beyond.

Many people will have been considering recently that this could be a good time to re-evaluate their career options. Perhaps you are in a firm or industry sector which has been impacted heavily or which you know will very shortly embark on a massive program of change. You may be wondering if you are interested in being part of that internal change or instead being part of something new. There is nothing wrong in not wanting to be an unenthusiastic participant in the massive change that will come. If you don’t see yourself as being happy with this possible scale of change, perhaps it is time to look beyond the frontiers of your “old normal” way of life and familiarity to understand what else you could do and where your previous experience could be applied into a new organisation or industry. The alternative option of course, is to remain where you are because it’s familiar and stay there, becoming unhappy with all the change and exhausting yourself with trying to resist it, in the end finding that the familiar and comfortable upon which you sought to cling, is now a thing of the past and that the future has left you behind.

It could similarly be said of the thousands of students graduating this year. Right now the world is looking scary and very uncertain but if you consider your options carefully, look for the opportunity emerging from this crisis, you will start to understand how you can fit in and add value to a whole range of commercial industry sectors.

There are some areas for growth already emerging. The mode of work is likely to have its most dramatic change since the advent of the internet. Many companies have been forced to realise that employing people to work from home some of the time means they won’t need so much office space, a costly overhead for any business. So, the growth in collaboration software will be huge and some industries will probably require bespoke solutions for this to work. This will allow for a much better work/life balance, something companies have talked about a lot for the last decade but struggled at times to really enable it to happen to the satisfaction of both the employer and employee.

E-Commerce took off as a result of Amazon trail-blazing the concept and making it normal, but I think we are about to see another new acceleration of E-commerce. The big supermarkets are looking to capitalise on their growth in home delivery and this growth is set to continue, especially if social distancing becomes more long term. In the UK we are quite relaxed about having to follow a queue of people behind a trolley in the car park during the summer but in the winter our level of tolerance will be lower.

Healthcare is going to become a huge priority, and this will prove to be a conundrum for governments across the globe but the growth area here is for the health sector to harness cutting-edge technology in order to be as smart as possible, not only in the protection and recovery of people but also in advanced diagnosis. Catching conditions and illnesses early to be treated as cheaply and quickly as possible is the way forward.

These are just some examples of a couple of key areas for growth opportunity I see, but in every industry and in every organisation, this crisis should have exposed operational weaknesses to be rectified and opportunities to adapt and grow for survival. Additionally, on a more individual level, some of you will be asking yourselves if this is a good time to take stock, to re-evaluate what you have been doing and consider if it is time to seek new opportunities for your own personal growth.

In short:

Start to think what sort of role you want to play in your current firm or industry
Do you possess skills and experience which could be transferable? Consult with a professional if unsure
Understand that the world will change and that you can be optimistic for the future so long as you are ready and willing to adapt to it

Once this pandemic has become part of history, which it will, we should look forward to the future, the possibilities which are there. The “new normal” way of working and living may be scary right now but take the time to think, consider your situation carefully, discuss with others and see what your reflections produce. The future can be bright and full of opportunity through your own personal professional reinvention. There is clear scope for optimism for your future, we will bounce back from this but you should ask yourself; are you positioned well enough to take full advantage?

Mark Daley - Career Consultant

Alumni profile: Neil MacKenzie (MSc Mechanical Engineering 1967)

It’s no secret that the best part of my role at the Business School is meeting our brilliant alumni community in London and around the world. This is even more so when the alumnus is a fellow Canadian and one of our most accomplished graduates. I sat down with Neil MacKenzie (MSc Mechanical Engineering 1967) over lunch in Vancouver where we discussed everything from his time at Imperial to his top tips for success.

Reflecting on his time at Imperial

Neil graduated with an engineering degree from the University of Manitoba in 1966 and came to the then department of Operations Research Management Science at Imperial as an Athlone Fellow in 1966. Athlone Fellowships were awarded by the British Board of Trade between the 1950’s and 1970’s and encouraged Canadian engineers to study and work in Britain before returning to their home country. The fellowships were highly competitive and only 40 per year were awarded across Canada.

Professor Sam Eilon was head of the Department. Neil remembers that his initial impression of London was it was a ‘huge diaspora’ and describes his time in the UK as delightful with lots of country pubbing with his Imperial classmates. Neil also recalled that his first understanding of internationalism came at Imperial when several of his former classmates left to fight in the Six-Day war in Israel.

At Imperial Neil realised how much he had to learn, and this ignited his passion for lifelong knowledge. He went on to take a range of courses from conversational French to general management at Harvard University, industrial marketing at Northwestern University and finance at the University of Toronto. Neil thinks that lifelong learning is easy to talk about, but difficult to truly understand, and that it spans academic, spiritual and intellectual disciplines. He describes education as the gateway to vision.

From corporate world to entrepreneur

Neil initially joined a management consulting firm upon his return to Canada and was fast-tracked to partner in six years. He is now a retired Partner of Ernst and Young (EY) Consulting. His career as a consultant spanned nearly two decades before he also became an entrepreneur. Reflecting on this period, Neil’s advice to students and young graduates is to imagine their CV at the age of 50 and think of it as a balance sheet in terms of real assets such as relationships and opportunities to grow, as opposed to an income statement. Neil also believes having a mentor is critical to success as they provide different non-textbook perspectives, valuable experience and wisdom.

An Imperial education allows alumni to imagine and to reach their potential.

A conversation over a Christmas drink with his brother-in-law some 25 years ago led to Neil’s first significant business – the founding and development of RTDS Technologies Inc. that is now the world standard for real time digital simulation in the electronical power industry. Today Neil is 76 years young and has been an Angel Investor, Founder and Director of several companies including Trans Grid Solutions (HVDC consulting worldwide), Ronin 8 Technologies (urban mining of gold and other metals from electronic waste), and Sonoash (beneficiation of coal ash to produce cementatious materials and reduce environmental liability). The companies share a common theme in that they are all science-based, brand-aligned and represent high-tech and sustainability industries. He regularly travels to their offices around the world to monitor their progress and still occasionally visits Imperial. Neil believes an Imperial education allows alumni to imagine and to reach their potential.

The secret to success

Neil takes a holistic view to achieving success that includes a balanced life with family, societal contributions, job creation and respect for the environment. He stressed the importance of kindness and individual success being part of success for all. Neil also believes that having children bring people to a stronger state of awareness and that it’s critical to think generationally about influence and impact. To achieve this balance, Neil recommends having both a personal vision and a corporate vision, with a global perspective.

Decades later, Neil still uses his Imperial education and even recently delivered an Imperial-inspired lecture at one of his companies. He recognises that his education at Imperial was a privilege and with that comes both responsibility and reciprocity. A responsibility that goes beyond making money and creating jobs. In his own words, "Imperial has done a lot for me, and now I want to do a lot for Imperial".

My experience of migration to remote learning at Imperial

On 13 March, the President of Imperial College sent out an email announcing that the whole university will move most modules and exams remotely from the coming week. This was an unprecedented mass migration to remote working and studying for the whole Imperial society and I had so many question marks in my mind.

How can I stay connected to the Business School, my MSc Strategic Marketing programme and classmates? Can we efficiently finish the 12-page group coursework on time? Will this situation interrupt my job-hunting process?

I have been social-distancing at home since the duration of this remote learning period, and everything went better than I expected. I would like to share a few moments with you.

Interactive lectures via technology

The modules of MSc Strategic Marketing have been quickly adapted to remote delivery. Thanks to utilising the latest technology, students who are studying from various countries can watch the lecture together. If you missed the lecture for unforeseen reasons, there are recorded sessions available on The Hub, our online learning platform.

Our first class after everything moved remotely was Marketing Decision Making taught by James Eteen through Zoom video conferencing.

I felt so emotional when I saw James saying “Hello, everyone. Welcome to our lecture.” Familiar prologue, same as ever. This lecture was recorded in the lecture room and James said, “It is my first time recording a lecture while facing an empty room.”

Despite the circumstances, the experience was amazing! It seemed like I was sitting in the first row and I could enjoy James’ lecture as usual. My only regret is that there was no chance to say goodbye in-person and thank James in the last lecture.

We had another two Relationship Marketing lectures which were delivered by Dr Yu-Ting Lin from home. The virtual learning experience was made even more fun and interactive through live streaming in Zoom.

We can type in questions in the chat box and get answers and feedback very quickly. Another reason I love remote learning is that it saves a lot time as I don’t have to spend two hours every day commuting. I can make a coffee to reboot my energy and join the class at 8:45 am with vitality!

Group coursework goes smoothly

One of the biggest concerns of remote study is group coursework. Our syndicate group has six members and we are in now in five different countries since the pandemic and campus closure.

We needed to submit a 12-page final report for the Marketing Decision Making module and I was worried about whether we would make it. Considering the situation that many students will go back to their home countries, the academic team decided to extend the submission deadline by one week. This gave us the time to all settle down in our home environments before reconnecting with each other.

We divided the tasks based on each team member’s strengths and willingness. We uploaded the article on Google Docs and arranged the online call through Skype to discuss and edit the report together. We also had some nice conversations which enabled me to understand the real-time situation of the pandemic in each country we're now based in. I’m very happy that everyone is safe and well. I love our team and hope we can reunite soon!

Remote learning syndicate group — Our group’s presentation before lockdown

Helpful Careers service is still here

Nowadays, I am busy applying for internships and jobs. I was very happy to find out that Imperial College Business School Careers is still running. Career workshops, 1:1 appointments and employer events are all still available on our Symplicity platform as usual.

On one occasion, I was I was notified of an interview for the following day. This is for an internship position that I am really interested in. To be better prepared, I booked a 1:1 appointment with Career Consultant, Megan Camacho, who gave me a series of useful tips for interviewing tailored to my background and situation. Also, Megan shared the contents of the workshop about 'how to convert an internship into full-time job'. I really appreciate her help in this special time.

The recruitment process hasn't stopped during this lockdown period. Some leading companies like Bloomberg and P&G hold online employer events which are shared with us as Imperial students.

Last Wednesday, I participated in the online P&G China sharing session, which was organised by Imperial’s APAC Careers team. Several guest speakers including senior recruiting managers and department managers shared in-depth insights of the working experience at P&G China which I find super useful for my career plan.

This is a very tough moment and could be the biggest public health crisis of our generation. But as Yuvalnoah Harari mentioned in his latest article: This storm will pass. But the choices we make now could change our lives.

I appreciate all the support from Imperial College Business School, which has been a solid backup for us in this storm. I wish for everyone to stay at home and stay healthy. With all the virtual learning resources, we can make full use of our time and be better prepared for the future.

Xiaoyu studied Accounting at an international university in China. After graduation, she worked as a marketer in both the transport and e-commerce industry.

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Alumni blog: Coping with Transformation

Coping with Transformation

The business environment is changing at a fast pace, creating new demands and the need to adapt to changes quickly in order to survive. Change is hard and it comes with its own challenges including push backs from establishments (i.e. organisation, traditional competition/curtails, regulators), structures including organisation and social setups and lack of expertise to drive initiatives.

Leadership plays a critical role in embracing, driving forward and harnessing the value of transformation. And here are few inspirations and learnings from my journey on how to survive the challenges of transformation and change regardless of the instigator:

Have a vision and remain true to your vision

Have a clear vision that will allow you to bond and communicate your aspiration including why you are doing it (i.e. market/other failures), what you will be doing and connect actions to people/society, economy, environmental and political influences. This should all align with investing in the right people and culture to help you drive it even in your absence.

And finally, ensure not to just follow the crowd, but to believe in your instinct and remain on your lane.

Surround yourself with the right people

Build and surround yourself with competent people that can see your vision and when the going gets tough, they remain loyal while continuously challenging your thought process. Believe me, when making the hard decisions it can get lonely with all the barriers you have to face, and as you can't do it all alone being part of an ecosystem that complements and champions your aspiration is the key ingredient of success.

Resilience to pivot quickly

The journey could come with failures and at times self-doubt and isolation. You need stamina to bounce back from your situation, keeping intact your alternative plans from a-z in parallel, and having the right people behind you will help to find the number ‘X’ route to your ultimate destination.

Build and surround yourself with competent people that can see your vision and when the going gets tough, they remain loyal while continuously challenging your thought process.

Embrace Learning mindset

With a fast-changing digital landscape, keeping up with technology trends and having foresight on how it will affect your organisation is key in maintaining relevance in the digital age.

Some platforms that will help stay current and polish your insights include; playing a mentor role and guiding talented people which will lead to something new you will learn and get sharper in the process; practical experience which will help understand new applications to address your customers problems and engage better with employees; and finally a public event that may give exposure on the latest cutting edge research works.

Along the way help others

There is no true happiness than thinking beyond yourself, always be on the lookout for talent that needs a hand and don’t underestimate your power to be the beacon of someone's aspiration.

When you make it or have the high platform, ensure you bring at least one person along with you and create the opportunity for those that need it badly.

At the end of the day, your name and work will be forgotten, but your values and the impact you have made as a legacy will remain.

Written by Kume Chibsa (Weekend Executive MBA 2017), Innovation and Strategy Executive and founder of Afrovalley Plc in Ethiopia, a Blockchain platform which drives socio-economic transformation and sustainable development through digital transformation. She has also set up BeatCorona a technology-led health sector transformation to combat epidemics.

Meet Imperial’s Weekend MBA class of 2020-21

We are excited to welcome the latest cohort of students to our Weekend MBA class of 2020-21 who are commencing their 21-month MBA journey with us at Imperial College Business School.

Under usual circumstances, we would be welcoming the new class onto our beautiful South Kensington campus for their induction week, with spring’s bloom in full effect charged by the electrifying excitement that surrounds this time of year in London.

While these aren’t usual circumstances, we nonetheless had a wonderful welcome to our class of 98 students who joined us for a remote induction week, eager to begin their Imperial Weekend MBA.

The unique situation hasn’t changed the feeling in the class. In fact, it’s brought students together in a way that only a shared experience can.

Find out who the new class are, what a remote induction looks like and how our Weekend MBA students will be studying remotely one weekend a month, thanks to our Edtech Lab.

Class profile

98 students have joined the Weekend MBA 2020-21. The students who join this programme don’t want to take their foot off the pedal of their career. But at the same time, they want to upskill and be able to apply their MBA learnings in real-time at their work.

This year’s cohort has an average of 7 years’ work experience. Their commitment to accelerate their career development is reflected in their dedication to join a time-demanding MBA programme while juggling full-time work and personal commitments.

Diversity is a key goal for all of our programmes at the Business School, and representing 35 nationalities, this new Weekend MBA cohort is no exception. The majority of students are located in Europe and the UK (55% of the cohort combined), and 19% of students join from Asia/Pacific, 11% from the Americas and 5% from Africa and the Middle East.

Beyond nationalities and location, the cohort also join from a diverse range of sectors. The most common sector is engineering (19% of students), followed by IT/technology/telecoms (17%) and banking/finance (16%). This highlights the attraction of the Business School’s connection to Imperial College London, a top-ranked STEM institute.

Remote induction week

Induction week usually commences with a welcome from Professor Francisco Veloso, Dean of the Business School. This induction was no different, albeit Professor Veloso beaming in from his home to offer his sage advice to students.

The rest of the induction followed very much to suit with the usual icebreakers, sessions on returning to study, introductions with our Student Experience team, the Imperial Enterprise Lab and more. There was even a virtual ‘pub quiz’ after hours, which was a fun way for students to get to know each other outside of the academic setting.

Two in-depth sessions with Imperial College Business School Careers initiated the Personal Leadership Journey, an important module that runs for the duration of the programme to develop students’ leadership capabilities.

On the programme, students work closely in syndicate groups for assessment. Induction provides the opportunity to establish the working and personal relationships that they will rely upon during the programme.

Online ‘breakout rooms’ gave students the opportunity to connect to their syndicate groups and begin forming these relationships. Richa Raval, Weekend MBA student said:

It was exciting to be virtually connected to an enthusiastic, well-rounded and high-calibre cohort, while also learning about the extensive resources available to us as students at Imperial. The ease of communication online between the entire cohort was a pleasant surprise as we were able to connect well and keep a conversation going alongside the presentation, as well as utilise other online tools like quizzes, polls and breakout rooms to create a very interactive experience.

The success of the induction week’s ability to bring students together and make them feel a part of the programme and Business School in a remote environment can also be attributed to our Edtech Lab. Weekend MBA student Fiona Evans said:

Imperial acted effectively, and with amazing support, to get our learning experience remote and help us to network - even if it is virtually. I think starting this programme we were all eager to meet each other and kick off our journey, so it being virtual was another factor which we all went through together as a cohort.

Our Edtech team have worked tirelessly in previous weeks to adapt the programme to be taught remotely, while ensuring the teaching and student experience is on par with the on-campus delivery. They have pulled off this feat while at the same time moving the teaching of our other 15 on-campus postgraduate programmes to remote delivery format.

The Business School is uniquely positioned to create excellent deliveries of our remote programmes thanks to our Edtech Lab. The team have already designed programmes from the ground-up: our top-ranked Global Online MBA and MSc Business Analytics (online, part-time), as well as the MSc Strategic Marketing (online part-time) programme which launches in September.

While the Weekend MBA temporary transition to remote learning has not been built in the same way as the online programmes – they take considerable resource and time to develop – we can use the same learning technology platform, The Hub, to translate these programmes in a sophisticated way. The below gives a quick snapshot into a module on The Hub:

Unlike online programmes, on the Weekend MBA remote format there is a fixed schedule with regular classes with faculty and classmates taking place via Zoom on the weekends that they would have usually joined us on campus.

Teaching emulates the in-classroom experience with faculty lecturing and leading discussion. Learning is enhanced by our online learning platform, The Hub, but it is not the focal point of students' experience.

Different mediums will be utilised to connect and collaborate – from study groups to events. The quality of teaching delivered on-campus and by remote learning remains the same. Conor McCone, a student on the programme said:

Due to the huge impact COVID-19 has had on societies worldwide, our induction was understandably moved to remote delivery. I was impressed with how well the material was adapted for online delivery. The use of technology and different online tools have kept the induction week fresh and interesting. It's been fun getting to know the cohort through quizzes and informal online chats. That being said, I think we are all looking forward to the opportunity of getting together on campus and meeting face-to-face!

Beyond induction week, students will be studying the programme remotely for part of their studies until the situation evolves. We’re pleased that induction week has been a great indicator for the student’s enthusiasm and confidence in studying remotely for part of their studies.

Meet some of the students in the new class

Fiona Evans

Nationality: British
Location: London
Role: Data Governance Manager, Just Eat

Why did you study the Weekend MBA at Imperial College Business School?

“When choosing an MBA programme, I wanted to be able to continue my career at the same time. This programme provides focused learning whilst being able to create an impact straight away at work. My background is in engineering, technology and now data. Being able to retain that STEM focus was a key determinant for me in looking for a programme. That is what Imperial College Business School provides in abundance, through programme content plus all the extra-curricular opportunities.

What goals are you hoping to achieve on the programme?

To gain a more commercial understanding and to hone my mindset to create a sustainable career. This programme provides many different facets of leadership from entrepreneurship to innovation to responsibility. I want to take this experience as an opportunity to have the tools and understanding to navigate to my success.

Conor McCone

Nationality: Irish
Location: London
Role: UK Carbon Manager, Skanska

Why did you study the Weekend MBA at Imperial College Business School?

For me, one of the biggest factors for choosing the Weekend MBA was that I could stay in employment and apply my learning directly to my role. The diverse range of students' professional backgrounds and industries offer a great opportunity for cross-sector knowledge sharing and networking. I am particularly looking forward to participating in the Entrepreneurial Journey and utilising the range of resources that give Imperial its great reputation for business, technology and innovation.

What goals are you hoping to achieve on the programme?

As a sustainability professional, I want to broaden my skill set in global markets and financial management so I can deliver sustainable strategies that create value and reduce risk.

Richa Raval

Nationality: Indian
Location: London
Role: Financial Analyst, American Airlines Group

Why did you study the Weekend MBA at Imperial College Business School?

I chose to study the Weekend MBA as I wanted to advance my leadership and management skills while applying them to my current role. I also wanted to gain the skills to take the leap into the world of innovation, technology and entrepreneurship. I chose Imperial College Business School as it provides a perfect framework that balances excellent academics and research with practical application and support for not only personal and professional growth, but also constant mentorship on the path to entrepreneurship.

How are you hoping to apply your MBA learnings to your role?

In the short term, I am hoping to emerge as a stronger leader and professional in my current role in finance, while also leading innovation and enabling change in the industry. In the long term, I am hoping to take the leap into becoming an entrepreneur and am confident that the MBA will give me a strong foundation to get me started on that path.

Lloyd Rayner

Nationality: British
Location: London
Role: Program Manager

Why did you study the Weekend MBA at Imperial College Business School?

Imperial was my top choice MBA school, I was attracted by their world-class faculties and strong entrepreneurial environment. Programme content emphasises the intersection of business and technology, which I have a strong interest in. The Weekend MBA being delivered one weekend a month is an extremely appealing factor for those in full-time employment. I knew this was the right place for me.

What goals are you hoping to achieve on the programme?

Overall, I hope to expand my knowledge of my chosen business fields coupled with building a network of highly talented graduates. In the long term. I intend to benefit from the entrepreneurial modules within the programme, with the eventual goal of starting my own business!

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Applications are now open

Would you like to join our Weekend MBA programme? Applications are now open for the April 2021 intake.

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Nicole is the Content Marketing Manager for Programmes Marketing.

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Alumni blog: This is the right time for 'purpose' to take the place it deserves

Moving to a purpose-centric focus

Will the crisis be big? How long will it last? Will it be a type of a V curve or a U curve? How will we be affected? How will we be the next day? How should we respond?

I think these are some of the questions that more or less concern us all now. But the reality is that this crisis we are living in today, brings forward and faster some of the trends that have already begun to take shape in recent years.

One of these contemporary trends is that for various reasons related to the global challenges that humanity is facing today, businesses need to move towards a new model, where purpose is at the centre (Purpose – Centric) and affects seriously strategy, plans and execution. A Purpose – Centric organisation, for the reasons outlined below, has more ability to cope with any crisis faster and more successfully than otherwise.

Why purpose-centric?

What is Purpose?

Purpose is not vision or mission. There is often a confusion between these three different meanings. Purpose answers to the question 'Why are we here?'

Should Purpose be one or multiple?

Until recently, we tended to link purpose only with the bottom line, i.e. with satisfactory financial results, the satisfaction of the shareholders and consequently with the long-term existence of the company.

This is changing now. Consumers, investors and societies in general look more and more for ‘CSV/Creating Shared Value’, ‘CSR’ and ‘Green’ credentials in order to make their choices. The successful businesses of the future will be those that will serve with the same success a kind of a ‘Dual Purpose’. They will be the ones that will be able to achieve great business results, but at the same time be able to create social value to the societies that they serve.

What should its content be?

We believe that the content, i.e. the description of purpose should not be neither too general, nor too narrow. But it should be exact and specific. The statement must be such as to enable people and teams to understand how it connects with strategy, plans and with their own everyday actions.

How to make this model work

Review the organisational model. In the case of dual purpose model, most probably you will have to make changes, if the structure is traditional. New roles that will oversee the progress towards the creation of social value must be defined
Hire the right people with the right mindset and attitude. Educate and train the whole organisation in CSV matters
Enhance cross-functional collaboration
Set CSV KPIs and measure the progress
Lead from the front. Ensure that leaders and key people embrace the new concept
Ensure the connection and the relation of Purpose to Strategy, Plans and Execution in everyday life. Make it practical, if you want to make it work.

Consumers, investors and societies in general look more and more for ‘CSV/Creating Shared Value’, ‘CSR’ and ‘Green’ credentials in order to make their choices.

What is the benefit of this approach for the business?

In summary, there are at least 5 major benefits.

A purpose-driven organisation is able to redefine the playing field faster and better. This is because they have a broader view and set of interests. Therefore they can change, expand and grow faster than others.
During a crisis these businesses usually adopt the trends faster.
They are able to restate the value proposition in a broader and better way, thus softening the effects of crisis on the ecosystems that they serve. They are both effective and efficient. During a big crisis, traditional businesses tend to think about efficiency, but efficiency doesn’t mean effectiveness.
The employees and teams in these companies during a crisis are united and more passionate than otherwise. Because they are connected around a common and clear purpose. They know exactly ‘why they are there’ and they are proud of it.
Finally, these businesses will tend to be better in attracting talent, and young generations/millennials are often sensitive towards social matters.

All the above benefits make these companies more sustainable and more effective in the management of crisis. This is the key takeaway of this analysis. We do not say that businesses have to think and act in a new purpose – driven way, because they have to look ‘nice’, ‘good’, ‘soft’, or ‘popular’. But because this model will make them more successful and more sustainable in the long – run than otherwise.

Yiannis Zarkadis (MSc Management Science 1987), is Founder of CONSULT2XL. In his blogs he draws on his experiences working at Unilever, GrandMet/IDV, SC Johnson and Bacardi, over his extensive corporate career.

MSc Strategic Marketing goes to Google

14 of us MSc Strategic Marketing students from Imperial College Business School visited Google's EU headquarters in Dublin.

This rare opportunity was arranged by Dr Marialena Zinopoulou, one of our lecturers on our programme, and Imperial alumni at Google including Adrian Masson and Elodie Harris, who were also taught by Dr Zinopoulou when they were MSc Strategic Marketing students in 2017.

This amazing visit was far more than a physical trip from Imperial College to Google’s office. It unlocked a truly insightful look into the innovative world of one of the biggest tech companies to us students.

From lectures to learning in the field

Dr Zinopoulou is the module leader of Research and Analysis in Strategic Marketing. I enjoyed this module a lot because it is very practical and explains common tools for a digital marketing specialist. During the module, Dr Zinopoulou organised a workshop to demonstrate how Google Ads can be used to track previous performance and advise future campaigns.

Both Dr Zinopoulou and the module strengthened my aspiration to be a digital marketing specialist. On this trip, Elodie, a New Business Account Manager in the Google Ads department, shared deep insights about how Google Ads work and forecasted the top five trends of digital advertising we will see in coming years.

Adrian, an Enterprise Customer Development Representative at Google Cloud, shared insights about the Cloud industry. I was new to the Cloud service and I had thought it as an invisible and untouchable high-tech field. However, with vivid examples and videos, Adrian explained what the Cloud is and how it has changed our daily life.

My favourite part was the competitor analysis of the Cloud industry, where we could see the knowledge we learned in our Marketing Strategy and Product Management module in action.

Also, I was eager to know how Google's 80/20 Innovation Model works in reality. During the panel talk, a current staff member at Google answered my question. He told us that at Google, everyone is passionate about their work. Apart from their main duties, staff have the freedom to work on a project they are interested in. Google provides abundant learning resources through internal platforms and it encourages staff to learn from their colleagues.

Secrets of Google

Besides the academic demonstration, we were very lucky to have a wonderful tour inside the office and the famous canteen. As one of the greatest tech companies, Google provides free and amazing catering services to all staff. There are nine different canteens in the Dublin office and I was really excited to eat in them!

Mexican food, Asian food, British Food… You can find almost any food you like! The food menu is also regularly updated, so you will never get bored! The day we visited was Valentine’s Day, so we had the chance to try lovely chocolates, cupcakes and other sweets.

The visit to Google was a wonderful trip. It allowed us to observe how Googlers work, live and study to improve themselves. We really enjoyed the trip and hope we can all be lifelong learners with a bright future.

Xiaoyu studied Accounting at an international university in China. After graduation, she worked as a marketer in both the transport and e-commerce industry.

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Class profile

Remote induction week

Meet some of the students in the new class

Fiona Evans

Conor McCone

Richa Raval

Lloyd Rayner

Applications are now open

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Moving to a purpose-centric focus

Why purpose-centric?

How to make this model work

Consumers, investors and societies in general look more and more for ‘CSV/Creating Shared Value’, ‘CSR’ and ‘Green’ credentials in order to make their choices.

What is the benefit of this approach for the business?

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About Yiannis Zarkadis

From lectures to learning in the field

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About Xiaoyu Zhang

About Xiaoyu Zhang