| On April 29th, twenty-four students from Fordham University,
and twenty-four students from the City University of London met at Chase Manhattan Bank in
London. In its second year, Chase Bank along with Fordham and City University offered MBA
students the opportunity to participate in a field study. Last year's field study with
Chase on the Euro was so successful that the opportunity presented itself again, offering
students to work as consultants on a different topic. This year Chase's focus is
E-Commerce. What can E-commerce do for Chase, how can it expand its different businesses?
These are questions that the students must research and answer to the Chase board of
directors in June. The first day in London was an exciting one for most of the students. Though the whole project at this point seemed vague and unstructured, the students from both schools met and got to know each other. The different groups were then defined and the members split into the relevant teams. Each group also participated in a team building workshop. This workshop was to help identify the group's dynamics. Later in the evening the students continued getting to know each other at a dinner and drinks reception. Throughout the rest of the weekend, there were individuals that presented different topics to the students. Some of these individuals were from Chase; others were Professors from both universities. All the materials presented adhered to the topic in question, E-Commerce. The professors that were in London included Professors Hoenig, Jurison, Werner, Goswami from Fordham, along with Dean Scalberg. Professor Chatterjee is also part of the field study along with Prof. Schiff but were not in London. From City University David Edelshain and Carol Vielba were there to answer any questions. By Sunday afternoon, most of the groups had created some type of outline and plan for the next two months. Certain issues had to be understood as time goes by quickly and for this project to succeed there needed to be communication and structure. What Holly Logan found is that this project could be seen as an exercise in project management. "Capitalizing on the team's strengths and weaknesses and coordinating time zones will enable a successful end result." Chase also provided the students the use of their facilities in New York to place conference calls between the two counterparts. On June 25th the City University students will come to New York through Tuesday the 29th, when the groups will present to Chase the end product. Though the weekend did require a lot of work and preparation for the final project, spending time with the London counterparts was the most fun. Going out to the local pubs and restaurants and having that chance to meet face to face has created a great rapport and working relationship. These new friendships have allowed for us to brainstorm and exchange ideas more openly and effectively on E-Commerce. Many of the Fordham students taking part in this project are part of the GP (Global Professional) program. We were able to experience first hand some of the concepts we learned about in our cross cultural electives. As Matthew Parkinson (City University student) stated "this field study is a unique opportunity to learn from and share experiences with students from such a wide professional background and varying cultures." I personally have found this whole experience intriguing because I am working with students with different cultural backgrounds, however we are all focused on producing a great solution for one of the biggest banks worldwide. To have such an opportunity is amazing. As time gets closer to the due date of the project, now it is our turn to welcome our new friends to New York and hope they have a great time here as we did in London. |
