It wasn’t until she actually stepped onto the port at Rotterdam that Apoorva Kumar (MBA ’20) fully appreciated the magnitude of the project she was working on.
From left to right: Dara Koleowo (MBA ’20), Apoorva Kumar (MBA ’20), Olawale Oyebanjo (MBA ’20) and Ivan Davydzenak (MBA ’20).
In the weeks leading up to the trip in the summer of 2019, Kumar and her teammates — fellow Rotman MBA students Ivan Davydzenak (MBA ’20), Dara Koleowo (MBA ’20) and Olawale Oyebanjo (MBA ’20) — had pored over annual reports, financial disclosures, news articles and other documents related to the Port of Rotterdam and other ports as part of their global consulting project.
Despite all the preparation, nothing would compare to seeing the locations in person.
“Rotterdam gave me a sense of what a crucial role ports play in the global supply chain network,” explains Kumar. “More than that, it gave me context for just how big the world is and how interconnected markets are.”
This type of epiphany is common for students who pursue global consulting projects. These international consulting engagements have students working for a client on a real business issue and travelling across the globe to complete an in-depth study of the issue they are tasked with solving.
It’s a transformative opportunity for many students. They take full ownership of the project by determining the objectives, scope and deliverables. As well, students get the chance to apply the knowledge, tools and frameworks they have acquired through the MBA program.
“It’s a completely unique experience,” says Oyebanjo. “Not only do you get to work on a real issue and make a real impact, but you get to take the lead. You have the freedom to pursue different lines of thinking to develop the best solutions.”
“This experience pushed me to think globally.”
—Dara Koleowo, MBA ’20
Getting to work
For this consulting project, the team worked with Export Development Canada (EDC), Canada’s official export credit agency, to study the country’s maritime ports system. More specifically, the organization wanted to better understand of the role of ports in the merchandise goods trade and explore how metrics for major Canadian ports compared with those for globally recognized leaders in relation to trade flows and overall economic competitiveness.
“It was a massive, almost overwhelming, project. For us, the wheels were in motion almost immediately,” explains Davydzenak.
The team decided to research two domestic ports (based in Montreal and Vancouver) and compare them to two international ports (in Rotterdam and Singapore) which operate out of the same bodies of water. Each member selected one port to focus on, and the group would meet regularly each week to combine their findings and share what they learned.
“Rotman identifies itself as a diverse school, and our team reflected that in every sense,” says Davydzenak. “Among the four of us, we had studied and worked in Canada, Colombia, India, Nigeria, South Africa and the U.S. Our group had acquired expertise working in finance, accounting, oil and gas, transportation and infrastructure.”
“Every team member had something unique to contribute to the project."
“Not only do you get to work on a real issue and make a real impact, but you get to take the lead.”
—Olawale Oyebanjo, MBA ’20
Taking their work abroad
In addition to analyzing reports and documents, they also reached out to experts and practitioners in port operations — discerning trends and practices that were common among high-functioning ports.
Within weeks, they were ready to make the trip abroad and study the international ports up close.
Kumar and Koleowo headed to Rotterdam while Davydzenak and Oyebanjo made the trek to Singapore. The team members conducted site visits and interviewed various experts, staying in close contact with each other and comparing notes online.
“I thought we’d done so much research that nothing could surprise us, but we learned so much by actually being on the ground and in the regions we had researched,” Koleowo. “Many of the practices we observed — especially around sustainability, innovation and technology — really inspired us to think about how Canadian ports could be improved.”
The team saw how significant sections of Singapore’s ports were impressively fully automated and how the Port of Rotterdam made a deliberate effort to support the development of new technologies for the maritime and logistics sectors through their involvement with an accelerator program. The students also noted how these ports maintained excellent labour relations and contingency planning practices.
While on site, they spoke with port authorities, executives who work with ports and other experts on their experiences and the most pressing issues facing the industry. These insights were captured in a comprehensive report they compiled for EDC.
“From our first meeting, I could tell that this group worked well together, were highly skilled, were well organized and maintained good work habits,” says Michael Borish, a senior analyst in the corporate research department at EDC.
“I was impressed by the well-structured report and informative dashboard they produced. Because the quality was good, I also happily circulated this document internally within EDC to managers who would find ports to be an important factor into their and EDC’s business activities,” he says. “I could tell that these students took in what they observed on site. It’s reflected in their work.”
“Rotman identifies itself as a diverse school, and our team reflected that in every sense.”
—Ivan Davydzenak, MBA ’20
While the travel was a highlight, it didn’t compare to the sense of accomplishment that came from producing solid work that would help EDC better understand the business environment for international trade. There were also personal lessons that came from the experience that proved to be transformative.
“This experience pushed me to think globally,” says Koleowo. “There are all types of innovations and new solutions being developed all over the world, and they are worth exploring.”
This global consulting project was completed in summer 2019, before the global pandemic emerged. Many Rotman students will be completing virtual global consulting projects during the 2020-21 academic year. The Rotman School looks forward to resuming the program when it is safe to do so.
Written by Rebecca Cheung | More Student Stories »