Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Dartmouth Business Journal: Fall 2008
Dartmouth Business Journal: Fall 2008
Dartmouth Business Journal: Fall 2008
Published in Hanover, NH
Fall Edition
2
- Staying Afloat: Small Business’ Struggle to Keep its Head Above Water p. 3
By: Alex Gonzalez
- Japanese EVs p. 6
Giulia Siccardo
Published in Hanover, NH
Fall Edition
1
The burgeoning downfall of the credit market has brought the To be fair to the poli;cians, on the surface it looked like the
American economy and worldwide banks to its knees. Massive strategy was working perfectly. Homeownership was booming: up
cri;cism of corporate greed and misguided policies have le= many to 67% in 2000, well on its way to reaching the record highs seen
ci;zens wondering about the health of the once vaunted in 2007. However, the Strategy created three categories of
American capitalist system. borrowers. The first category was the one it was originally aimed
at: renters who could now afford their dream of homeownership.
The evolu;on of the credit crisis was a result of a set of growing
The two other categories, however, were abuses of the strategy.
trends in poli;cal and financial thought. Although there is
Some used the lax regula;on to misrepresent loans and defraud
considerable dissent among economists as to how large a role the
the system, showing that stricter oversight was clearly necessary.
subprime market played in the financial collapse, it was clearly
Perhaps more importantly, homeowners would use the financial
responsible for the failure of Bear Stearns’ hedge funds and the
leverage present in the new crea;ve financing tools to either
erosion of general business confidence that has led to current
supplement their income with a cash‐out refinance or trade up to
market vola;lity. Thus, an examina;on of the policies that the
a larger house before they could actually afford it. (Mason 2008)
Clinton and Bush presiden;al administra;ons set into place is
This trend was a large demand driver for the housing bubble that
cri;cal to fully understand the current economic crisis.
would form in the late 1990s and eventually burst in 2008.
In a recent ar;cle, Joseph R. Mason, a Senior Fellow at the
As demand for housing grew due to the availability of mortgages,
Wharton School, explained the poli;cal concept that drove pro‐
the housing sector boomed. When the Federal Reserve under
homeownership mortgage credit policies. For Bill Clinton, poli;cs
Greenspan further cut interest rates to avoid a deep recession
was all about “the economy, stupid,” and promo;ng
a=er the tech bubble burst, a first or larger home became an even
homeownership was the way to show Americans how hard he was
more appealing investment for many Americans. This massive
figh;ng for their standard of living. When President Bush came
growth in demand prompted innova;on in finance markets to be
into office, he brought along the ideological framework of an
able to supply capital to all of these homeowners, some of who
American “Ownership Society,” into which encouraging
were not exactly tradi;onal low‐risk borrowers (Goldfarb and
homeownership fit perfectly. Therefore, the poli;cal framework
Klein 2008). With demand outstripping available capital, along
for the housing boom was bipar;san in nature.
with lax regula;ons and the desire of lower‐income Americans to
Based on these poli;cal mo;ves, the Clinton administra;on began avoid down payments, the subprime market was born.
a policy push to increase homeownership. In 1994, the U.S.
The idea was to sell home loans to people at higher interest rates
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) under the
who would not be eligible for tradi;onal prime rates, then
direc;on of Secretary Cisneros, devised the “Na;onal
package large amounts of loans together and sell them as
Homeownership Strategy,” an unprecedented coopera;on
securi;es on Wall Street in order to raise the necessary capital.
between government and a myriad of par;cipants in the housing
Mistakes in the valua;on of these assets were partly due to a lack
market, including Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Its goal was to
of informa;on about borrowers, caused by looser regula;on, and
achieve “an all‐;me high level of homeownership in America
par;ally due to corporate conflicts of interests in the ra;ng
within the next 6 years” (Rosner 2001). A central component of
agencies. These mistakes along with lack of oversight led to
the strategy was “crea;ve financing,” which would allow
massive write‐downs when their values were corrected and the
borrowers to purchase homes even if they lacked income to make
market for subprime securi;es collapsed (Mason and Rosner
the payments. The strategy lauded recent strides to reduce down
2007). Since these securi;es leveraged other debts, lenders were
payments for low‐income homebuyers, who o=en had insufficient
le= with a significant amount of subprime mortgage backed debt
saving pa]erns impeded them from accumula;ng enough cash to
they were unable to valuate. Thus the hedge funds that invested
cover the down payment.
heavily in subprime debt had to be bailed out by their investment
Those who formulated the plan realized the possibility for the banks. For Bear Stearns, this sapped its cash cushion to the point
abuse of its s;pula;ons. Therefore, they created a list of over a that lenders became fearful. Its credit ra;ng was downgraded and
hundred ac;on items that contained prerequisite warnings of investors made a run on the bank, promp;ng its sale to J.P.
possible ill effects and advice on preventa;ve measures to combat Morgan with a government guarantee on its debt (Goldfarb and
them. Unfortunately, the coali;on of public and private firms that Klein 2008).
finance, service and sell mortgages ignored these sugges;ons.
The impact the housing bubble had on segng off the crisis of
Despite the warning of poli;cians, the “siren song of
business confidence that stopped the flow of capital into the
homeownership” and its poli;cal benefits seduced the lenders
economy remains a point of debate, but the subprime crisis is
into ignoring the safeguards (Mason 2008).
Published in Hanover, NH
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undeniably largely responsible for the current economic problems understand the loans they were taking, the root cause of the
and financial meltdown. While many people can be blamed, from subprime crisis traces back to the Clinton era “Na;onal
unscrupulous lenders to Greenspan to borrowers who did not fully Homeownership Strategy,” and Bush’s con;nued support for it.
Published in Hanover, NH
Fall Edition
3
Staying Afloat: Small Business’ Struggle to Keep its Head Above Water
By: Alex Gonzalez
Today’s headlines are dominated with news of the collapsed four staff members, but says “I’m taking it day by day” (AFP).
housing market, an auto industry in shambles, and the death of Banks have used bailout money to bail themselves out, but have
some of Wall Street’s most famous investment banks. Investors been unsuccessful thus far at using that money to rejuvenate
have grown nervous, with a mass sell‐off of assets as a result, small businesses.
causing the stock market to take a record‐breaking plunge. Even
The financial problem that small businesses face has been further
ins;tu;ons with large endowments, such as Dartmouth College,
exacerbated by the $700 billion bailout. Although the bailout was
are feeling the impact of this crisis, and are cugng spending
intended to s;mulate banks into gran;ng new loans, it has largely
where possible. With so many large companies and banks failing,
failed to do so. For small businesses that are not able to a]ain
there is one sector that has been almost completely neglected in
necessary loans, any increased taxes on the businesses’ exis;ng
the media: small businesses.
assets are remarkably painful. For example, a developer may have
Small businesses, by defini;on, have fewer than five hundred bought several pieces of land before the financial crisis with the
employees, but represent approximately 99% of all employer inten;on of building homes or a mall. Now, with the economy in
firms and create more than half of nonfarm private gross domes;c recession, banks won’t give money to fund the building projects
product (GDP). Such small companies are also responsible for on the land because they know that fewer people will be spending
paying nearly 45% of the total U.S. private payroll. With over 27 on new homes and luxury items. This presents the developer with
million small businesses in this country, their importance to our a significant problem: he/she cannot develop the investment, but
economy is cri;cal, but right now many are teetering on the verge at the same ;me must pay significant property taxes on the land.
of bankruptcy (SBA). Instead of the land genera;ng profits, it now faces taxa;on and
thus nega;ve cash flow. Eventually, the developer may choose to
Due to their extreme abundance, the failure of a single small
sell his land at a loss and close his small business to avoid losing
business rarely makes headlines. However, the financial crisis is
more money.
having an enormous impact on the way that they operate. These
businesses rely heavily on bank loans for financing, and have A development firm is just one example of a small business type
therefore suffered deeply as credit has ;ghtened severely. Many strained by the current financial crisis. Restaurants, retail stores,
of these banks have failed, or are in danger of failing, making it architecture firms, hotels, and entertainment venues are all
much harder for business owners to acquire the capital they need suffering, or even failing, due to the severe drop in consumer
to grow. Banks have grown hesitant to extend credit to such small spending. Nick Economos, owner of the Fishbone Grille in Fort
customers due to heightened risks, which makes it very difficult Mill, NC had to close his restaurant because, “People just quit
for small businesses to pay exis;ng loans. coming.” He said, “People just got scared with their 401(k), and
during that ;me it was just bad news… [the] stock market dropped
If small businesses do not have sufficient funds to operate, they
like a rock and here we couldn’t get gas. That was everyone’s first
may be forced to operate on low profit margins, and may
priority. It added to the anxiety” (Fort Mill Times).
eventually fail. The $700 billion bailout and the subsequent
lowering of interest rates was expected to s;mulate lending and Because small businesses employ so many people and are
increase liquidity, but so far has failed to achieve those goals. John responsible for such a large percentage of our GDP, the failure of
Hole, the 32‐year owner of John’s Tile Center, is worried that he these companies will only con;nue to hurt the economy. Un;l
may have to use his personal savings to keep his business from consumer confidence returns, many small businesses will con;nue
failing. He said, “At my age, the last thing that I want is to be to spiral downward toward bankruptcy.
injec;ng funds into my business,” he said. He hopes to keep his
Published in Hanover, NH
Fall Edition
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Due to high gas prices, consumers have paid more a]en;on to the does not charge interest, they do share in the profits and
price per barrel of crude oil, as well as the Islamic communi;es successes of the entrepreneur, similar to venture capital. The
that are reaping the benefits. The massive amounts of wealth second technique is called Wadiah. With this technique, Islamic
stemming from the high price of oil have tremendously impacted banks u;lize depositors’ funds at their own discre;on, and will
Islamic communi;es. Places like Dubai and Abu Dhabi have come o=en reward the depositor with gi=s of cash payments for
to epitomize the explosion of available capital within the Middle allowing the bank to use the funds. These cash gi=s are similar to
East. As Islamic communi;es begin to use their capital to invest interest payments, but are not always guaranteed and do not have
with other non‐Islamic communi;es, principles of Islamic law a set rate of payment. Recently, there has been some controversy
come into play and issues become much more complicated. in the Islamic community over the issuance of these Sharia‐
compliant Islamic bonds, as some religious scholars ques;on
In 2007, es;ma;ons reported that the American Islamic
whether these bonds adhere to the religious laws outlined by the
community, the Muslims living in the U.S. who govern their
Sharia. Consequently, the issuance of Islamic compliant bonds has
investments according to the laws of the Sharia and the Quran,
plummeted recently, falling to “$14 billion this year from up to
“had over $170 billion in purchasing power” (Elshinnawi). This
$50 billion last year” (sukuk.net). The third technique is called
niche in American society has recently become a major player in
Ijarah. This prac;ce essen;ally rents an asset that corresponds to
the world of banking and finance due to this enormous wealth.
the principal and interest that conven;onal Western financing
While firms are scrambling to access this largely untapped would use. In other words, Ijarah is a sale‐leaseback, where the
resource, they must first overcome Islamic laws that restrict the seller begins leasing the asset back and makes rental payments
usage of their capital. Islamic banking operates with the same that correspond to the Western concepts of interest payments.
inten;ons as standard Western banking,
Islamic banking is s;ll in its infancy and has yet to
except for one caveat: finance must follow
be fully refined. The vast amount of available
the rules set forth by the Quran. Under the “The combined power of each
capital throughout the Islamic communi;es has
laws of the Quran, Muslims are prohibited
of the over 27 million small created a niche in the banking world that will
from collec;ng any form of interest. The
problem this created for the tradi;onal
businesses in this country is con;nue. Large banking firms and even countries
like Japan, England, and Malaysia, are catering to
banking world has led to the introduc;on massive, and right now many
these communi;es by pledging Islamic‐
of Islamic banking techniques into the are close to failure.”
compliant‐banking‐services. Banks will certainly
Western world. The following is an
not forego the opportunity to enter into this
examina;on of three techniques used
compe;;ve market, as the wealth held by oil‐rich American
today to help avoid the zero‐interest‐payments rules of the Quran.
Islamic communi;es is a perfect target for Western banks looking
The first of these techniques is called Mudharabah. This to u;lize their available capital. Islamic banking should con;nue to
technique u;lizes the principle of profit sharing. While the lender be a major factor in the world economy in the future.
Published in Hanover, NH
Fall Edition
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Published in Hanover, NH
Fall Edition
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Japanese EVs
Giulia Siccardo
Green cars that are widely available, reasonably priced and recharge ;me of just 8 hours (AutoWeek). Automo;ve Energy
profitable to build? A Tokyo dealership is where to find them. To Supply Corp, a joint venture set up by Subaru, Nissan and
meet the demand for clean‐air vehicles, Japanese car companies electronics mogul NEC Corpora;on, will provide the ba]ery pack
across the board are accelera;ng produc;on of their fully electric to power the car. Nissan officials have high aspira;ons for the car’s
concepts. The goal: electric vehicles available to the public by success, hoping that its release will bring them “zero emissions
2010, just over a year away. vehicle leadership” (Interna;onal Herald Tribune).
Over the past few years, the increase of consump;on in the The automo;ve designers of Subaru share a similar vision. Subaru
emerging economies of China and India, combined with higher has scheduled the release of Stella, a four‐seat lithium‐ion ba]ery‐
extrac;on costs, have contributed to skyrocke;ng prices of fossil powered electric for 2009 (AutoWeek). This vehicle, traveling only
fuels in the US and abroad. There are a few diverging opinions 50 miles on an 8‐hour charge, is much less heavy duty than its
about the concept of “peak oil,” but everyone agrees that oil rival counterparts and caters most directly to the needs of city
produc;on will decrease steadily over ;me. Even taking into commuters. However, Subaru currently has no plans to market the
account the recent drop in crude oil prices, the cost of fuel has car outside Japan (AutoWeek). The ba]eries for this EV will also
grown more than 560% over the past ten years (Energy be provided by Automo;ve Energy Supply Corp.
Informa;on Administra;on), which has le= consumers itching to
find a be]er, budget‐friendly alterna;ve to current transporta;on
(Interna;onal Herald Tribune). Clearly, every car company wants
to be the first to provide a solu;on. The race to an ideal state of
energy efficiency has begun, and at the moment, the contenders
at the forefront are all based in Japan.
The idea of the fully electric vehicle, or EV, is not a new one in
Japan. In fact, Keio University has been experimen;ng with
electric technology for several years. The university’s work
culminated in the development of Eliica, a fully electric concept
car powered by a long‐las;ng ba]ery, which can reach speeds up
to 240 mph (EV Laboratory of Keio University). The Eliica was
introduced at the Tokyo Motor Show in 2005 as the first “high
performance” fully electric vehicle. At the ;me, the Eliica team
saw their work as a step towards the crea;on of a commercial line
of similar vehicles.
Mitsubishi is clearly one of the major players in the push for
electric vehicles. The company is working on comple;ng their Lastly, Toyota is also preparing for the release of its own version of
“iMiEV,” a fully electric model reminiscent of a Smart Car, on track an electric vehicle. The ultra‐compact E‐Com which has been on
for the projected launch date of 2010 (AutoWeek). Ini;ally, the the drawing board since 1999, will seat only 2 passengers and
release will be limited to the Japanese market, but Mitsubishi has feature a small gasoline engine to recharge the ba]ery. According
plans to sell the car in the US and Europe as well. The price for this to Toyota President Katsuaki Watanabe, the car will be adequate
vehicle, which runs 93 miles per charge and reaches a top speed for limited distance travel only.
of 90 mph, will be equivalent to roughly 19,000 USD (MSNBC). The
technology and lithium ion ba]eries used to power the car will be With so many Japanese companies producing electric vehicles, it
supplied by Lithium Energy Japan, a joint venture set up by is easy to see that anyone who demands an energy‐efficient car
Mitsubishi itself (J‐Cast Business News). worldwide will look to Japan. But why is Japan, of all places, the
birthplace of this new market?
Nissan, also at the forefront of the race to spearhead the EV
market, plans for fleet sales of its car in the US and Japan to First of all, strong economic mo;ves will encourage consumers to
commence in 2010, with worldwide marke;ng beginning in 2012. consider the purchase of an EV. In a country where gasoline pump
“The first produc;on vehicles will be for regional areas like prices average 150% higher than in the US, a $19,000 MiEV will be
California," Nissan's Manager of Advanced Vehicle Engineering in high demand.
Masahiko Tabe explained. "We will later expand the EV all over In addi;on, Japanese companies are known to have a strict
the world." This tall, boxy four‐seat vehicle, modeled on the reverence for customer sa;sfac;on. In recent years, this
gasoline‐powered Nissan Cube currently for sale in Japan, will conven;on of serving the customer in the best possible way has
have a daily range of 100 miles, a top speed of 75 mph and a become closely associated with “having a developed sense of
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social responsibility and valuing environmentally friendly environmentally conscious lifestyle have created the perfect
prac;ces.” (The Economist). For instance, the Daily Yomiuri situa;on for the rise of the EV market. This cons;tutes a posi;ve
reported in July that Toyota was publically funding reforesta;on step for Japan and the world as a whole, but are EVs really the
endeavors in the Philippines to augment its image as a “green” ideal answer to pollu;on that environmental advocates play them
business (Japan Environment News). up to be?
Another important factor that has contributed to Japan’s primary First of all, if a large frac;on of the cars that used to run on
role in the budding EV industry is the availability of the complex gasoline start running on electric power, power systems might not
technology required to efficiently manufacture lithium‐ion be able to cope with the addi;onal demand for energy, especially
ba]eries for automo;ve use. This technology, which was largely if the switch happens too quickly, and the capacity margin for
referred to as “untested” and “unproven” as recently as five years electricity genera;on might disappear (Global Dashboard).
ago, was assumed to be expensive and imprac;cal (Wall Street
Secondly, electric cars are only as green as the kind of genera;ng
Journal). Today, however, each major Japanese car company has
capacity used to charge them up. If the power does not come
its own in‐house produc;on of EV ba]eries, with the excep;on of
from wind or nuclear sources and instead comes from oil or coal,
Subaru and Nissan, which share the same technology.
then EVs might be even bigger pollutants than gasoline cars. So if
Lastly, the Japanese people and market have a profound electric cars do result in increased demand on power grids,
willingness to accept the electric car into their lifestyles. With the governments and power companies will need to focus on crea;ng
knowledge that fully electric cars will be launched in Japan as low carbon genera;ng capacity in order for these cars to be a
early as 2009, Japanese supermarket chain Aeon Co. is preparing blessing rather than a curse (Global Dashboard).
to install car‐charging ports at prime loca;ons in its shopping
The world will have to wait a few years before the true effects of
malls. The ports Aeon plans to set up will be powerful enough to
the EV can be fully observed. What is clear today, however, is that
charge EVs in just an hour, a frac;on of the ;me employed using a
the electric car’s debut into the global market is as much a
household socket (The Japan Times).
ques;on as an answer.
Together, high fuel prices, Japan’s cultural mores, the availability
of advanced technology and the enthusiasm for a more
Published in Hanover, NH
Fall Edition
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Published in Hanover, NH
Fall Edition
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Biography
Interview
Why did you choose to go into business and consulNng? How did What does an average day in the office entail for you? If your job
you break into the field? doesn't really have an average day, what would be examples of
projects that you work on?
I've always been an analy;cal‐quan;ta;ve person and so I wanted
to work with numbers. I like the problem solving aspect of I was working on a case for a client in the for‐profit educa;on
business in general, and the strategic nature of it as opposed to a industry (e.g., University of Phoenix or Princeton Review) in which
career like law, for example. The world of business is constantly we helped them revise their pricing strategy, increase revenues,
changing: there are always problems to deal with and there is and become more profitable. We found that there really wasn’t an
always a need for people to solve them. Although my tenure at established pricing strategy in the industry, so no one had a grasp
Liberty Mutual involved less of a strategic role than Parthenon, it on how to set pricing and no one really knew what students were
did have strategic element in seeing how the market is changing, willing to pay to a]end different schools. We conducted a big
or how we approach something differently versus a compe;tor. research study among prospec;ve students for the school and
through it we gauged how students viewed price when choosing
A=er gradua;ng college, I started work as an R & D actuary for the
to a]end a school. One result we found that was striking was that
Liberty Mutual Group, where I worked on managing new pricing
students viewed the cash they had to pay out of pocket at a much
structures for auto insurance, which was basically a technical role
higher rate than they will value loans: a dollar of cash today is a lot
with a strategy element. A few years went by and I realized I didn’t
more valuable than a dollar of loans they have to take out. We
want to be in insurance forever, so I applied to business school
were able to quan;fy the consumer tradeoff between cash and
and ended up coming to Tuck mainly because of the small size.
loans, with those numbers we were able to turn to our client and
For business school, I wasn’t just interested the classroom stuff
tell them how to restructure financial aid packages in order to
but also wanted to develop my leadership and teamwork skills as
improve how a]rac;ve they were to students.
well.
I think the most interes;ng part is when we conducted focus
I wanted to work on management consul;ng because it would
groups with students at the school, and put together a guide of
give me a feel for different industries so I would get a be]er sense
different ques;ons and informa;on based on the groups. It is
of what I want to go into in the long‐term. A=er my first year at
interes;ng to look at numbers but there is more credence behind
Tuck, I went through recrui;ng and ended up accep;ng an offer at
them when you are talking to someone face‐to‐face.
the Parthenon Group for many of the same reasons that I chose
Tuck ‐ an in;mate, entrepreneurial environment and a great How would you respond to criNcisms of strategic consulNng firms
culture. that they are o>en too rigid and dependent on frameworks and
models in analysis?
Are you planning to pursue this as a full‐Nme career or are you
tesNng the waters in a variety of different opNons? When I was interviewing, I was a li]le turned off by the
frameworks that strategy consul;ng firms follow and I personally
Right now, I expect to be at Parthenon for about 5 years. At that
feel that that does inhibit thinking out of the box. Structured
point, I'll decide whether I like consul;ng enough to stay there
frameworks aren’t always the best ways to approach things‐
long‐term, or whether I'd rather move into a general management
especially a new type of problem. At Parthenon‐, we tended not
career. If I choose the general management route, I expect to
to use many rigid frameworks, which was good, although it could
move into a fairly high‐level management role in an industry that I
have been the uniqueness of the project we worked on. We laid
am interested in.
out a general layout of the project based on projects and pricing in
Published in Hanover, NH
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How has the credit crisis affected you and your day‐to‐day work, Parthenon tends to have less travel ‐ about two days a week for
and if it hasn't, how has it affected your colleagues? In light of the Full‐Time Principals. As opposed to other consul;ng firms,
crisis, do you think students would be be?er served working in Parthenon (and Bain) consultants are working on 2 cases
another field for a few years before trying to break into financial simultaneously, so you need to balance needs of two different
services? clients, so you travel only when you need to because you need to
be in the office for the two clients.
The banks coming to campus are taking fewer people, so there are
a lot more people are looking for other jobs like consul;ng, so it Many of my friends have expressed that Dartmouth is doing
made compe;;on a lot greater and harder for people to find students a disservice by emphasizing consul;ng and finance as the
posi;ons. There are a decent number of people who tried at most desirable paths out of college at the expense of other fields
gegng a consul;ng job but were unsuccessful. There are s;ll a lot like non‐profit, environmental sustainability, poverty allevia;on
of general management, venture capital, and private firms and development, educa;on, art, etc. How do you feel about this
recrui;ng here. It is too early to tell if my colleagues are going to issue, and why do you think so many students want to break into
struggle for a job generally but they may not be gegng their first these two fields when many don't even know exactly what the
choice now. work entails?
How do you think Obama’s recent elecNon will impact the financial I've heard the same feelings from people at Tuck as well, and I
situaNon? think the truth is that banking and consul;ng firms have the
money to spend on very comprehensive recrui;ng efforts, so they
I get the sense that people are excited for the change aspect that
are more than willing to be up here on campus as much as
he brings, and the hope is that the new administra;on can calm
possible because they have the resources to do that and it pays off
the financial crisis. Tuck students are op;mis;c, and the majority
in the end. From the point of the students, I understand that
of students are suppor;ng Obama. The ques;on is whether that
those who don’t want to go into consul;ng or banking might
will happen in ;me for the people who will be searching for jobs
become a bit overwhelmed and I think it would be great if
next summer. Personally, I don’t think any changes he brings to
something Dartmouth could do to increase the prominence of less
the administra;on are going to have a whole lot of impact by the
popular tracts. However, it is tough to get other firms and other
;me we enter the job market. The Street and investors out there
industries to spend the money on recrui;ng efforts because they
think that he will bring changes to the industry. If vola;lity calms
don’t have quite the resources of banking or consul;ng firms. I
down, that will send a signal to the banks and especially VC and PE
think that gegng other op;ons on campus involves gegng alumni
firms that the environment is gegng be]er and they may return
in other fields to help out, get up here on campus, tell students
to their normal hiring capacity. Overall, there are s;ll
how to pursue these strategies and tracks, and step up the
opportuni;es but they require that much more work. If you want
visibility of some of the other industries.
to go into these industries you need a lot of work but also a plan
b. I think that students want to go into consul;ng or banking
because they aren’t sure what they want to being doing a few
ConsulNng/finance tends to have a reputaNon as a very stressful
years from now. I think all alumni of consul;ng or banking firms
and Nme‐consuming career path. How have you balanced your
would agree you get a lot of exposure to a variety of different
work and social lives?
industries. These careers are basically a plazorm to the business
It was pre]y difficult ‐ it was definitely a demanding summer and I world, and it allows people to put off the decision of what they
was working long hours. Fortunately, Parthenon also made sure want to do specifically. A=er working in finance or strategy
we had a good ;me ‐ I had a number of friends from Tuck working consul;ng, you can go into a lot of different industries, whether its
at Boston but I didn’t see them as much not only because I was financial services, consumer packaged goods, or anything else.
Published in Hanover, NH
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Biography
Mr Giacomo Sonnino is currently a MBA '09 candidate at the Tuck School of Business. Hailing from Rome, Italy, he holds a Master of Science
in Engineering from the University of Rome "La Sapienza". There, he rowed on the crew team and conducted research on Internet wireless
networks. A=er college, he worked for three years in the strategy and internal consul;ng department at the Italian aerospace, defense, and
energy conglomerate, Finmeccanica. At Tuck, he is studying general management and spent his last summer as a Summer Associate at the
consul;ng firm McKinsey & Company, where he will return a=er comple;ng his ;me at Tuck.
Interview
Why did you choose to go into business and consulNng? two days there with the client company. Either Thursday or Friday
I was flying back Rome for Friday in the office. Usually, McKinsey
At Finmeccanica, I worked on corporate strategic planning,
consultants spend most of their ;me on the client side.
mergers and acquisi;ons (M & A), and internal consul;ng. During
my tenure, I was able to work constantly with high‐level directors, I was working on a high‐level team with two directors, one
managers, and C‐level execu;ves. This exposure to leadership led partner, two associate principles, one engagement manager, and
me to look into business and management. one associate ‐ me. Two to three ;mes a week I was working with
the team on problem solving. Probably the most thrilling part of
When I came to Tuck, I wanted to go into consul;ng because I was
working here was that a=er only month in the firm I was expected
looking for a dynamic, fast‐paced career with opportuni;es to face
to challenge directors and partners. They were asking me for
very different and diverse business problems in different
advice in my field, and I was as important as they were.
industries. I applied to a bunch of consul;ng firms, and I ended up
choosing McKinsey at their Mediterranean office. In terms of the work, I was doing performance transforma;on,
which is a strategic review and cultural review of the corpora;on.
Are you planning to pursue consulNng as a full‐Nme career or are
The client went through drama;c changes in the last few years,
you tesNng the waters in a variety of different opNons? What are
when the plant doubled from 2000 to 8000 employees in two
the usual exit opNons for management consulNng?
years. They had a huge intake of workers who hadn't assimilated
Looking back at my summer experience, I would probably do it for into the corporate culture and the fric;on among old and new
two or three years. I want a family in three to four years, and four works were impac;ng the ability of the companies to deliver
to five days on the road is not always sustainable. When I was solu;ons. We came in to analyze company strategies, pick the best
working at Finmeccanica I had a more balanced life and most one and looks at the cultural obstacles that were threatening its
projects were based in Rome, where I lived. It was easy to balance implementa;on.
work and a social life because I was home four or five nights a
Did your college educaNon help you in your day‐to‐day acNviNes in
week. However, when I worked as a consultant I was on the road
your job?
four to five days a week. You can only have a life over the
weekend, and that is the reason why the average turnover rate in Absolutely. When you study engineering, you learn how to solve
consul;ng is three years. problems in a structured way, so how to take a big problem,
decompose it in smaller problems, and solve them one by one in
Most consultants follow two main paths a=er their s;nt ‐ internal
terms of priority. This approach goes beyond technologies or
work for a corpora;on, such as a management or vice president
math‐ you basically learn how to address problems and this
posi;on, or private equity, which is less travel‐based but requires
applies to any job, and I think that’s why engineering is helpful in
more risk. It basically depends on what skills you develop, and
so many careers.
most of the ;me you will end up working for a client that you did
consul;ng for. Going into consul;ng, I was exposed to many A downside to engineering is that engineers are o=en too rigid
corporate func;ons from marke;ng to opera;ons to finance so and don’t think out of the box, but that’s why we go to business
I'm aiming at specializing in one of the func;ons in the future. school.
At McKinsey, what did an average day in the office entail for you? Describe some of the most challenging projects that you have
If your job doesn't really have an average day, what would be worked on.
examples of projects that you work on?
At Finmeccanica, I worked on one project I enjoyed a lot, in which
At McKinsey, I worked in the Rome office, where I was working on we basically built a mobile operator (something like Verizon or
a project in Istanbul, Turkey with a Fortune 500 company. During Unicel) from scratch. We had to implement a network, access it,
the week, I was flying out Sunday nights to Istanbul and spending establish a marke;ng plan, a phone plan, and basically launch a
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business from the ground‐up. I was signg with the CEO of the What advice would you give for students who are interested in
company at a table, and discussing how to launch a business that breaking into consulNng, finance, or related fields? What do you
was targe;ng 2 million consumers. It was crazy because I was only want to tell them about the work that you didn't know but would
25 years old. have appreciated knowing going into the field?
How has the credit crisis affected you and your day‐to‐day work, In the recrui;ng process there is really no room for margin of
and if it hasn't, how has it affected your colleagues? Do you think error, so students need to prepare very carefully for the interview,
as a result more/less students will try to enter your field? In light because compe;;on is tough and the bar is set very high. You may
of the crisis, do you think students would be be?er served working not get many opportuni;es so you need to take advantage of
in another field for a few years before trying to break into those that you are given.
investment banking, trading, private equity, or hedge funds?
For McKinsey, I applied through the website in which I had to send
I think this crisis is absolutely affec;ng everybody, both in a resume, a cover le]er, and fill out an online applica;on. In 2‐3
consciously and unconsciously. It has really reduced working weeks, you either receive a rejec;on or an invite to the first‐round
opportuni;es and career prospects. Right now, I think I was very interview. I was invited for the first round, which is 2 interviews,
lucky to have a job and most of my colleagues are struggling to usually with an engagement manager or an associate principle.
find a job when most companies are Each one is 45 minutes long and is divided
looking for one or two new people and into background ques;ons and a case.
they are going through a stack of resumes. “I was expected to challenge McKinsey cases tend to be a bit more
It is higng banks the hardest right now, but
directors and partners. They were structured than other consul;ng cases. In
24‐ 48 hours you get feedback on your
the crisis will start to affect other asking me for advice in my field, and
performance, and if you make the second
businesses, including consul;ng. For I was as important as they were.”
round, the firm will fly you to the office and
example, Finmeccanica has reduced hiring
you will have two to three interviews with
and investments and other firms are doing
partners of the office. These tend to be
the same. This will affect their ability to invest in other new
longer ‐ about an hour ‐ but are similar to the first round
projects as well. It will take one or two years for the market to get
interviews otherwise. A=er that, the company either extends you
be]er.
an offer or politely declines you.
I recommend to juniors and seniors who can't find a job in finance
My advice for nailing an interview is just be yourself, because at
or consul;ng now to try to look for alterna;ves that are
the end of the day they are evalua;ng who you are, and you are
construc;ve towards one in the future. For, example if someone
evalua;ng them. The important ques;on to ask yourself is
wants to enter an investment bank an alterna;ve would be
whether or not you will have a good ;me working with them.
working for a private equity firm or in the corporate finance
When I worked at McKinsey, I had an amazing ;me ‐ the people
division of a company. Someone interested in consul;ng should
were very approachable. The McKinsey stereotype is that they
look at working for strategy with a corpora;on, or try to start their
tend to be more rigid personali;es, but I didn't find that at all. I
own entrepreneurial project. A crisis doesn’t mean the world is
had a lot of fun working there and I developed a really good
stopping ‐ there are opportuni;es to build up your opportuni;es
rela;onship with my co‐workers.
and skillsets.
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Interviews
Shanel Balloo
Paola Murcia
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