Carnegie Mellon University MBA Program Application Essay – Example

Carnegie Mellon University MBA Program Application Essay – Example

A.What are your reasons for undertaking graduate study at the Graduate School of Industrial Administration?

Please describe how your experience, your education and your graduate training at this school and your future career plans relate to each other. Describe your short-term and long-term objectives and how you plan to achieve them.

In 2007, I might be in the middle of wrestle with my brain in terms of purchasing conditions such as local buyer, price, and market in the Bulk cargo-trading firm.

I might have to decide how the change in the market will happen and also how the decision-making procedure should vary. My short-term goal is to conduct the business as a trading manager who can analyze current situation of market, grasp the tendency of future, and make accurate decision as well as to maintain and develop the flow of efficient business with all the partners in East Asia including Korea. My long-term goal is to establish a professional trading company, introducing new selling technique based on a cutting-edge mechanism such as Internet Web Site. After graduation in 19xx, I was granted job offers from big 4 enterprises including xxx.

Nevertheless, I entered the xxx, one of the leading companies in Korea in the field of international marketing. I was stationed at the export department in charge of xxx. Despite the mandatory period of time for about 3-4 years to become a person in charge of one item in the trade department, I have visited xxx, xxx in Japan in order to check the data after I had worked for three months. That’s because I was highly recognized for my outstanding ability to conduct the business for standardized price variable and controls over the exchange rate fluctuation in order to reach the rational conclusion in an objective manner when I made a decision on the international oil price fluctuation and announced the research on the case of position deal such as xxx and xxx, which are the materials of xxx. After all, it became to be a source of research in the company. Based on my outstanding job performance, I was officially appointed as a person in charge of exporting the cargo of xxx, xxx whose annual turnover came up to x million dollars on the average. As a result, we were placed at the top in terms of sales in Korea because the sales in xxx sector revealed the increase of xxx% in 19xx compared to that of last year.

Therefore, I became the main source of jealousy from my seniors and fellow workers. In addition, on May in 19xx, we were awarded about x million dollars worth of Tender under my supervision, which xxx Authority under xxx Government started in the process as World bank loan was made, beating xx companies such as xxx, xxx and Japanese companies. Therefore, I was selected as the employer of the year in the trade department by achieving net profit of about xxx$ by delivering pre-positioned cargo from domestic industries. Since the January of 19xx, I have been in charge of collecting and analyzing the data on the Asian insurance market for the most part of x years, moving into the department of international marketing, which was newly built in xx Co. During that time, I was able to enhance the capability related to the decision- making procedure through data analysis and the establishment of follow-up measures.

Meanwhile, I helped the executives, who were stuck on the concept of traditional decision-making procedures, face the changes in business environment more positively by serving up continuous analysis on the business policy of advanced companies such as xx bank, xx Co., which were world leading companies. Due to high recognition of my vigorous efforts, I was able to develop the negotiation skill and the global way of thinking by participating in the ‘xxx Seminar’ held in xxx in April 19xx. In addition, I learned the role of a team member and a coordinator in the sense that we can create synergy effect that might go far beyond the ability of each member based on the teamwork. I strongly believe these experiences will be great basis for me to participate in the international trading company in the short term as well as manage one of the international trading firms in the long term. The primary reason why I apply for GSIA is the courses related to the establishment of the company that will serve as the most important basis for the build-up and management of specialized trading firm with a specific focus on the Asian market, which is my long-term aspiration. The courses that GSIA provides in the worldwide context are as follows:

the way of setting up the business plan, the way of collecting fund from investors, the detailed knowledge on the production of the commodity, the marketing skills, and so forth. Secondly, I think highly of the quantitative approach on which GSIA focuses. This methodology is considered a great strength compared to other schools in the sense that it can systemize a series of process in an objective manner to recognize and solve the problem. In particular, your school is one of the most prestigious universities in the field of computer science and information system. Now that I figure your school is the first school that introduced the information system into the Business Administration, I believe it will be great help to apply the information system to the E-commerce in the field of international trade in which I am greatly interested. Given the opportunity, I would like to explore the field of E-commerce in detail as one of independent studies at your graduate school.
B.Because GSIA students work closely together, we would like to understand what there is about your background and your experiences that would make a contribution to the diversity of the entering class and the educational experience of the other students.

My father used to address, “ Gain as many experience as possible. The knowledge based on experiences is highly useful to work out the problem.” According to my father’s lesson, I have tried to gain a wide variety of experiences since I was young. Even in the work, I have striven to obtain as many experience as possible in my field through a number of overseas business trips and workshops. I would like to hand over my peculiar experiences to my colleagues as follows.
First of all, it is the xxx marketing that I went through in the xxx (xxx) trading. It is not commonplace but essential in international marketing to figure out the demand of buyer, predict the supplier’s market of supplier and price fluctuation, utilize xxx at reasonable price, and minimize the financial cost. I would like to have my colleagues realize the idea and the means of comprehending the market in macroeconomic perspective, which I have learned from the past x years of working experiences. Secondly, it is oriental way of self-discipline that I want to hand over to my colleagues. I have trained my body and mind mainly through paduk and meditation for the past 20 years. In particular, paduk is the primary recipe that I am eager to deliver to fellow students in GSIA. The heart of paduk is to figure out the intention of counterpart, which is one of leading qualities that competent managers should have.

As a matter of fact, I was able to take a favorable position over several negotiations through ‘mind reading’ that I had learned from paduk. According to the Chinese literature, famous generals in China such as Jo Jo in ‘the story of the three powers’ trained themselves to grasp hidden intention of adversaries in advance through paduk, which led to numerous triumphs in many battles. I would like to hand over meditation to the fellow students in GISA in the sense that it makes people generous and serves as a efficient means of keeping one’s temper. I believe those who can keep control over their emotion will be part of competent managers. My favorite oriental meditation enables me to get indulged in the world of self-effacement and control every single emotion, resentment included. This kind of meditation encourages people to be more generous, not to involve trivial things. In effect, I escaped the danger from burglar with the help of lofty manners derived from the meditation during the business trip to the xxx in November 19xx. Kidnapped by armed cab robber for 2 hours, I was able to get out of the incident thanks to my wisdom. I firmly believe that this sort of loftiness is based on the self-discipline of both body and mind through oriental meditation, which will serve as great help for my colleagues, the potential managers.

C. Please describe an ethical issue that you have faced, how you dealt with the situation and what the outcome was

On December 1th in 19xx, I had serious conflicts with a general manager in our department as hard as I should consider the resignation as a last option when our xxx heading for the xxx with x million dollar’s worth of xxx was caught on the rock. Through this experience, I realized the important fact that the role of leader is basically the coordination of the group rather than the implementation for the purpose of obedience. In this case, I also experienced the fact that leadership is derived from the fairest judgment by collecting and analyzing information after the accurate evaluation of the situation. At that time, I had conflicts with my general manager in terms of the benefit in the future and the cost at the present. This experience put me into an ethical dilemma between the ethical responsibility of the company and the pursuit of interest.

During that time, the team head and I had conflicts in various aspects such as potential gain, present loss, the commitment to the integrity in terms of contracts The net profit in a xxx trading was about xxx$ worth, whereas it required xxx$ worth of expense to pay for the repair in place of missing ship owner after declaring general average. In the situation in which there was more possibility for ship owner to declare bankruptcy, I powerfully insisted on managing all business in the burden of our company because I judged that there was grand anxiety to lose long-term customers and moral commitment to conduct the contract with due integrity if we spent more time. General manager, however, avoided making a decision which could serve as major damage in his career.

Therefore he was wasting lots of time by ignoring my opinion although I was in charge of the matter. As a consequence, we were able to deliver the xxx to the buycer in xxx after refilling the xxx under the instruction of the boss who recognized the seriousness of situation through the interview with me around 5 months later. Since then, however, Buyer in xxx got our firm to disqualify in the same bid in 19xx, which produced serious conflicts as to who was to blame inside the firm. It is self-evident fact that the enterprise is in pursuit of its interest. Therefore, the team head has good reason to emphasize the aspect of Profit & Cost in decision-making process. Yet, it is much more important to enhance the credibility in the long term and secure the long-term contractors by accomplishing the commitment rather than pursue the short-term profit.

No matter what is big or small problem, we are always in the situation where to find out the solution, and meet a great turning point in life by what decision we make. I found the important lesson from this case in the sense that the decision was not performed by the same fixed standard in every situation. In addition, it required accurate judgment of situation, the rational assessment of one’s own capability, and the bold determination for the purpose of more desirable decision-making procedure.