Hot Cities by McGill's Desautels Faculty of Management

Hot Cities by McGill's Desautels Faculty of Management Hot Cities of the World Tour

Hot Cities of the Past
Lead by Professor Karl Moore

2009: Jerusalem, Israel

2010: Abu Dhabi & Dubai, UAE

2011: Mumbai, Bangalore & New Delhi, India
Team: Melanie Walsh, Jun Yeo, Hurb Leung, Nisha Shakar

2012: Johannesburg, Pretoria, Port Elizabeth & Cape Town, South Africa
Team: Melanie Walsh, Nisha Shankar, Thomas Weber, Jun Yeo

2013: Moscow & St. Petersburg, Russia
Team: Thomas Weber, Alli

son Lickley, Emma Bambrick, Alexia Belisle

2014: Ulaan Bataar, Mongolia & Seoul, South Korea
Team: Mia Bernhardt, Aliénor Lemieux-Cumberlege

2015: Doha, Hong Kong, Jakarta & Bali
Team: Justine Vidal, Danielle D'Alonzo

2016: Chile, Colombia
Team: Elisabeth Novak, Jade Vaillancourt

2017: Hong Kong, Manila, Palawan
Team: Geoffrey Nicholson, Nicole Lechter

2018: Singapore, Yangon, Kuala Lumpur, Langkawi
Team: Fiona McCarten, Daniele Weller

Hot Cities of the World, Year 12! Applications are due Friday, September 30 by 17:30 at the mail slot beside Room 303 on...
09/30/2022

Hot Cities of the World, Year 12! Applications are due Friday, September 30 by 17:30 at the mail slot beside Room 303 on the 3rd floor of Bronfman. For one pager and application form, about 15 minutes to fill it out, go to https://lnkd.in/epeeG6CM

Today is our last day of accepting applications! Don't miss the deadline - 4pm in the BCom office
09/30/2019

Today is our last day of accepting applications! Don't miss the deadline - 4pm in the BCom office

NOTE: The application deadline has been changed to the 30th of September, no longer the 26th! (Still 4pm in the BCom off...
09/26/2019

NOTE: The application deadline has been changed to the 30th of September, no longer the 26th! (Still 4pm in the BCom office). See you all on Monday!

Day 9Today was a beautiful day. After 7 days of meetings and traveling all over Asia, we were lucky enough to have some ...
03/11/2019

Day 9

Today was a beautiful day. After 7 days of meetings and traveling all over Asia, we were lucky enough to have some much needed TLC. Although we did not have a formal meeting with any companies, we used this time to reflect and take in all the new experiences and cultures we learned about in our past week. Having experienced alumni also presented the opportunity to further discuss the Thai economy through a more experiences lens. We were also able to explore the tourism industry in Thailand, more specifically Hua Hin. 40% of the GDP is from the tourism industry in Thailand making towns like Hua Hin extremely important. From resorts and hotels to water parks and night markets, Hua Hin has many attractions that draw in tourists from around the world. Tourism hot spots like these ones are critical for the continuing growth in Thailand. We would just like to take a second to thank our amazing coordinators Rebecca and Carly as well as professor Karl Moore for planning this amazing trip and making sure we were always taken care of.

DAY 8 For our first day out of meetings so far on the Hot Cities trip, we had the opportunity to learn about ecotourism ...
03/11/2019

DAY 8

For our first day out of meetings so far on the Hot Cities trip, we had the opportunity to learn about ecotourism in Thailand ecotourism from the Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand.

The WFFT is an NGO founded in 2001 with the goal of rescuing domesticated or captive wild animals and rehabilitating them while campaigning against animal abuse and exploitation.

On the visit, we received a tour of the property, saw a diverse set of animals and listened to their origin stories. We were also educated on ways in which we can appreciate, understand and protect wildlife in their natural habitats.

The main takeaways from the tour included the unintended consequences of our actions on animal life and the environment as well as efforts we can make as individuals to mitigate these effects when returning to our home country. As future leaders, we must learn to champion and implement sustainable practices in order to affect change on a larger scale.

Day 7Today we visited several companies in Bangkok. We met with Bombardier in the morning. It was great to see how a Can...
03/08/2019

Day 7

Today we visited several companies in Bangkok. We met with Bombardier in the morning. It was great to see how a Canadian business could have such a large impact on the world. We were impressed to see how Bombardier adapts their business to a larger population in Asia with innovative technologies to move bigger groups of people around. After the meeting with Bombardier, we met with BCG and learned about the consulting practice in Thailand. We learnt about how China has an affect on BCG and how the consultants operate differently based on the various cultures in South East Asia. Finally, we visited Shopee and learned that Thailand’s internet and social media usage is one of the highest per capita in the world. This is linked to their 135% mobility rate which means that a large proportion of the population has more than one cell phone. Shopee was able to grow rapidly because they developed their company through a mobile phone application before creating a website. Tonight we are having a group dinner before heading off to Hua Hin

DAY 6:We began the day with our first meeting at Deutsche Bank where they providinged valuable insights into the Thai ma...
03/07/2019

DAY 6:
We began the day with our first meeting at Deutsche Bank where they providinged valuable insights into the Thai markets and economic landscape. Following meetings with Norton Rose and L’oréal, we spent the day sightseeing and ended off with a great boat cruise dinner which gave us the opportunity to get to know the locals so as to better understand the Thai culture through experiencing the delicious cuisine.

Day 5 marks the end of our stay in Japan, and we are excited to continue our journey in Bangkok! We began the day with a...
03/06/2019

Day 5 marks the end of our stay in Japan, and we are excited to continue our journey in Bangkok!

We began the day with a very informative presentation from Walmart x Seiyu, where we learned about the specificities of operating in the Japanese market. In fact, we were told that Japan is the third largest retail market in the world, and is evolving based on key macroeconomic trends. This includes the country's aging/declining population, its high rate of urbanisation, strengthening competition, the development of e-commerce and technology in general, and and increased focus on health from consumers amongst others.

One of the speakers particularly emphasized the development of private brands as a way of differentiating Walmart x Seiyu from competitors, increasing profitability, and building consumer trust and loyalty. Their pe*******on rate within the Japanese market is currently significantly lower than in the Canadian one, for example, and is lower than the global average. Our hosts attributed this to consumers' strong loyalty to national brands as well as a relatively risk averse culture. Despite this, Walmart is outperforming competitors and plans on pursuing efforts to develop the local market for private brands.

Finally, our speakers discussed Walmart x Seiyu's efforts with regards to their social and environmental performance. Despite the company's emphasis on sustainably sourcing and accountability, progress still needs to be made in terms of packaging. In fact, in light of the upcoming Olympic games, Japan is actively trying to reduce the amount of plastic produced and consumed within its borders.

After our meeting, we were offered delicious snacks from some of Walmart x Seiyu's very own private brands, which we were grateful to have for our flight later in the afternoon. We cannot wait to see what Thailand has in store for us, so stay tuned!

DAY 4: Confronting Japanese conservatism. Today, the Hot Cities cohort had a jam-packed schedule of meetings with intern...
03/05/2019

DAY 4: Confronting Japanese conservatism. Today, the Hot Cities cohort had a jam-packed schedule of meetings with international companies operating within Japan. From the lavish Hermès showroom to the high-rise offices of BNP Paribas, McGill undergraduates and alumni had the opportunity to learn the nuances of running a successful Japanese operation as a foreign-based firm. A common theme emerged quite quickly; how do these firms confront the traditional conservatism of Japanese clients and customers?

The perspectives we heard today could easily be grouped into 3 buckets; enabling the traditionalists, enabling the “mould-breakers,” and lastly, avoiding social influence altogether, instead offering products grounded in company tradition rather than consumer sentiment.

1. Enabling the traditionalists - BNP Paribas and Deloitte were among the traditionalist mega-firms on the list of meetings today. As professional services firms, BNP and Deloitte are in the business of providing top-notch solutions for their clients, and the Japanese market is no different. As many of their clients are large, traditionalist multinationals, they enable the growth of these firms through traditional means. As the potential for intra-Japanese growth slows due to an ageing and dwindling workforce, firms are drastically increasing their inorganic growth through M&A, where BNP and Deloitte are seen as quality advisors.
2. Enabling the “mould-breakers” - Dropbox, Edelman & Coca-Cola were the contrarians in today’s cohort. Instead of tailoring their products primarily to Japanese traditionalists, Dropbox, Edelman, and Coca-Cola market to the new age of millennial consumers and entrepreneurs. Fighting against the Japanese “job-for-life” standard, Edelman & Dropbox’s offerings are meant to enable the growing start-up and entrepreneurial movement sweeping across the country, helping innovators innovate and mould breakers break. Coca-Cola similarly tailors their products and branding to the new generation of innovative Japanese having launched a mobile app, produced edgy campaigns, and developed new product portfolios to support that claim. Coca-Cola’s Japanese business is so progressive that the company’s Atlanta headquarters claims that all of KO’s profit centres should imitate the Japanese model. Not to mention that Coca-Cola’s Japanese operation is the 2nd largest behind the US and was the first to enter the alcoholic segment.
3. Grounded in tradition - in stark contrast to the previously mentioned firms, Hermès’ business model sticks out like a sore thumb. Instead of tailoring their operating model in the face of Japanese conservatism, they’ve simply focused on the traditions and values instilled 6 generations ago by Thierry Hermès himself. Still a family-owned business and producing all SKUs by hand, Hermès never worries about the social sentiment of the Japanese people, they simply let their timeless products speak for themselves.

Today was a whirlwind of meetings, but throughout the chaotic schedule, a clarity emerged. Japan is in the midst of an unconscious social reform; large traditional conglomerates are seeking new ways to stay competitive during the quiet, albeit prevalent emergence of new-age entrepreneurs. Some companies are frantically trying to stay relevant amid the movement while others, like Hermès, are sticking to their French roots, unfazed by Japan’s evolving consumer sentiment.

The day concluded with a dinner at the Canadian Embassy in Tokyo where we met with the Canadian Ambassador to Tokyo along with a group of McGill MBA alumni. Career discussions confirmed our suspicions about shifting Japanese social sentiment. Many traditional firms are sticking to their roots and finding new solutions to emerging problems while young startups are breaking the Japanese conservative mould, pushing the envelope for innovation through Asia.

Address

1001 Sherbrooke West
Montreal, QC
H3A1G5

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Hot Cities by McGill's Desautels Faculty of Management posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share