mba career essay

1. #1: What career are you targeting immediately following the MBA, indicating function, field,
target company/companies, and region of the world? Similarly, in detail, how does your career
path continue in the medium term and long term?
Over the last 7 years at Must Garments Corporation Ltd, I have worn several different hats and
played an important role in the organization's growth story. My journey at MGCL has taken
me to several different countries and provided me with a wide range of opportunities. From an
academic background in Manufacturing and International fashion Supply chain management
to working on Greenfield projects in 4 countries and setting up factories with CAPEX of more
than $50 million, while overseeing design, budgeting, sourcing, recruiting, and execution of
the overall project, I have gained unique and diverse experience. My keen focus on optimizing
resources, a creative outlook, and analytical and data-driven problem-solving skills, has helped
me achieve the designation of Project and Sustainability Head of the MGCL's Jordan and
Bangladesh units. Along the way, I have learned the finer aspects of Sustainability and become
well acquainted with the trends, challenges and opportunities in this domain. However, the
fashion manufacturing Industry's focus is limited only towards carbon footprint reduction
initiatives and not making it a part of the company's operations.
My long-term goal is to establish a Sustainability and Project management consultancy for the
International fashion Supply chain industry. I am a very future-oriented person and I want to
do my part in bettering the world. My ultimate objective is to help the companies in pro-actively
embracing and incorporating Sustainability into their core structure and operations,
understanding its advantages as well as maintain the ecological balance, rather than perceive it
as an obligation needed to maintain industry standards.
I want to play a leading role in bringing about this change by taking on a leadership position in
the area of Sustainability and Operations and, within the next 5 years, envision myself as taking
on the role of the Chief Operating/Sustainability officer for the MGCL.
As a stepping stone to my long-term goal, Post-MBA, I want to return to Must Garments
Corporation, my current employer, to take on the role of Senior Operations Manager in the
Hong Kong head office and work with the managing director and Global senior management
team. My organization has already welcomed this decision and offered me to join them back.
In this role, I envision managing the entire Operations of the organization and put into place
sustainable business practices. To transition to this role, I need to gain a comprehensive

2. understanding of every facet of business and obtain a view of the bigger picture. An MBA will
help me gain these skills - Positioning me better from where I would be able to relate
Sustainability and Operations in a Fashion Manufacturing Industry.

3. #2: Please give an example of when you created positive change within an organization,
highlighting elements of teamwork, leadership, creativity, and inter-culturalism, where
applicable.
As the head of Projects and sustainability at Must Garments, I am striving towards attaining
the goal of making energy-efficient practices a fundamental part of the Organization's operating
model. Towards this end, last year, I launched and led an energy awareness campaign among
the employees.
We began by analyzing the challenges and defining the end objectives clearly. Our analysis led
us to conclude that we needed to make both organizational as well as behavioral changes to
accomplish our end goal. Towards this end, working with the CEO, I assembled a Green team
to manage the initiative. The series of steps we took to reach our target were as follows:
To get this idea off the ground, we took the following steps:
1. Structure: We began by creating a clear plan outlining roles and responsibilities.
Towards this end, we divided the entire factory into smaller zones. We entrusted the
general managers with the responsibility of managing each of these zones and the
processes that fall within the purview of that zone. Further, each departmental Manager
was assigned a set of blue-collar workers who would collectively take responsibility for
the performance of that zone.
2. Data Collection: To measure and gauge each zone's performance, we monitored and
collected data of the "As-is" state and the existing processes.
3. Set baselines: We then defined the "To-be" state by setting benchmarks, objectives,
and goals, and outlined the steps to achieve them. I frequently used the five whys
technique to encourage more questions and generate more ways of achieving our goals.
4. Communication and Training: I then prepared a communications plan to raise
awareness of environmentally friendly energy-efficient practices and educate the
workers on the steps they can take to increase energy conservation. Towards this end,
we created multi-lingual posters, delivered presentations highlighting strategies that can
be followed, conducted training sessions, seminars and workshops to communicate our
ideas with the workforce.

4. 5. Implementation: Once we had identified the gaps, we began implementing a slew of
measures including installing energy-efficient lighting, upgrading the HVAC systems,
installing solar panels, introducing emerging technologies such as IoT to provide real-
time insights on energy usage.
Initially, we faced resistance from senior and middle management, stating that these efforts
wouldn't make any differences. But once we started sharing the results and showed significant
changes, they were convinced that this was an important initiative. The results were terrific;
We had 2% (4,000 US$) savings in the first month, which has grown to around 5% (7,000
US$) in 6 months and is growing consistently.
Over the course of this initiative, I have realized that sustainability and profitability are not
mutually exclusive. In fact, they are two sides of the same coin and go hand-in-hand. Also,
sustainability doesn't need to happen at the expense of profitability. Instead, it is a business
strategy that can help companies achieve their financial objectives by optimizing processes,
eliminating waste and enhancing operational efficiency.

5. #3: Please briefly describe an important, current issue in your home country, and how strategic
leadership at organization or government level could address and solve this issue.
India’s Housing crisis for Migrant workers: Pandemic leaves millions stranded as
Policy makers fail to find a solution
In India, The Coronavirus pandemic has bought into the forefront an often-neglected issue of
migrant workers’ living conditions. The Sudden nationwide lockdown stopped most migrant
workers’ income and left them with no option but to be stranded in public places with nowhere
to go and no money to survive. The Virus highlighted the policy planners’ apathy towards one
of the economy’s most crucial yet weakest link.
India, a developing nation of more than one billion people, has around a hundred million
Migrant workers. These are the backbone of the Indian workforce, constituting eighty percent
of it. They are the sweat and hands behind the glorious office towers rising in India’s bustling
cities and the massive revenues from the manufacturing sector.
Every year millions of men and women leave their homes and come to cities to provide
financial security for themselves and their families because they cannot make a living in their
villages. They earn in cash, are rarely documented, and remain an invisible part of the Indian
workforce, which strips them of any contractual benefits. Their agents and employers also
neglect their basic needs. Further, they are even scowled upon by the neighborhoods where
they migrate to work. Mostly, these poor souls earn lesser than needed to survive, let alone
meet the basic needs of hygienic food and shelter. They cannot even afford accommodations
in the slums and often end up living in the open, with some lucky ones being able to share
wretched rooms with tens of others.
Circular Migrant workers never appeared to be of significant concern for the Indian
Government. It does have plans for the well-being of people below the poverty line but has
nothing, especially for the migrant workers. Recently, the Government announced a new
scheme to build around four million houses for the poor in the cities. However, the migrants
will hardly be able to reap any benefits of these policies as they are not residents of the towns.
These plans are only available to natives of the region based on their National ID card

6. registrations. These policies continue to be non-tangible to the rural-urban migration issue,
where millions of migrants are directly affected.
Possible strategies and policies that the Government can follow to mitigate the problem-
1. The Government should allow special zones to develop dormitories which can be used
by the labors working in the zones to allocate the workers.
2. We have a worldwide accepted standard for per capita electricity and water
consumption per person and these standards can be used as baselines for providing
subsidized rates to these facilities
3. Subsidies on rental rates for these dormitories and the possibility of sharing rents by the
organizations can vastly help improve the living conditions for the migrant workers.
4. The Government should make it a policy that the city planners include residential
complexes near upcoming Industrial zones.