Tag: Lisbon

Vroooooming in Lisbon…!

As the second semester came to an end, the fact that our MBA days are numbered, loomed above us. Time has come for one of the most critical aspect of our course – the Capstone project to commence, in which we are assigned in groups to consult both emerging and established companies in some of the real-time challenges that these organisations are facing presently. The first leg of the Capstone project was kicked off at the picturesque Lisbon, Portugal, one of the most beautiful cities of Europe. Fortunately, I had opted not to take the module in the week before the Capstone, therefore, I had arrived at this beautiful country a week before our project start date. I took a host of road-trips across the southern (Algarve) and the northern part of the country (Douro Valley, Porto, Braga etc.) before I joined my colleagues for a week in Lisbon. The entire team was put at up the very chic Sana Lisboa, which was close to the heart of the city and a walking distance to most of the major tourist trails.

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Me and my team of consultants (Ha! – we were working there, I swear..) were assigned to help GoCars – Lisbon, arrive at a go-to market strategy for new and probable destinations to expand into. The project had to be delivered in a strict timeline, therefore, the first three days were all hard work to assist the company by all tangible means. We believed that we were quite enterprising in coming up with a rank-based algorithm to help the organisation decide on new destinations, based on certain quantifiable metrics weighed along with finer qualitative factors. The company head was very interested in our suggestions and so were our module coordinator. But, the best part of this entire routine was driving around the tourist trails of Lisbon, in business attires, in a funnily enough yellow-coloured, two-seater GPS-enabled vehicle. The company were kind enough to offer us free test drive of their product and we made sure that we enjoyed our ride to the fullest and also being the centre of attraction to tourists, while we vroomed past them in our loud motorised cars. All in all, a satisfied beginning to our Capstone endeavours. Now back to Dublin for the next round.

Arnab Roy (FT MBA ’19)

International Consulting Project in Lisbon!

As part of the MBA program at UCD we had the opportunity to travel to Lisbon, Portugal for a 3 day crash course in consulting. The intent behind this trip was twofold. First, it offered us exposure to a culture that most of us were not familiar with, and second we had the opportunity to work closely with our Capstone team. This trip took place right after our finals, so needless to say we were all excited for the opportunity to have some hands-on learning exposure in a country with sun and pastel de natas!

We arrived on Sunday, and our project kicked off on Monday. This was a great way to settle in and bond with classmates before the real work began. It was sunny and hot, and we went on a tour of the city, had a great Portuguese meal, and just explored. Lisbon is a beautiful place, and I feel fortunate that we had the opportunity to see it from both a tourists’ eye, and from a business perspective.

On Monday we met our assigned companies. We worked in our Capstone groups with local start ups who had real business problems that they were looking for support on. While it was a school project for us, for them it was something that they were working on for years, and they expected true value from our time. It offered us an opportunity to work closely with a Portuguese company and put our MBA learnings to use. They were generous with their time and attention, and even took us out to some lovely lunches throughout the week. We spent 3 full days at the company speaking to employees while simultaneously researching and developing our proposed solution.

In the end we presented our solution to their leadership team, and they were grateful for our insights. It seemed to go very well for both sides. For them it was an opportunity to have a fresh set of eyes on a long-term problem, and for us we were able to get real world consulting experience on an issue that we could likely face in our future careers. It was a genuinely good feeling to get recognition from a company who was so enthusiastic about the work they were doing.

Once our ideas had been pitched we were able to fully relax. The program was set up so that we could book end our consulting project with some exploring and cohort bonding, and we definitely took advantage of that. We had a group dinner, a night on the town, and explored the top sites. All in all it was both a challenging and fun experience!

Alex Brown, FT MBA 2018-2019