International Management Masters student: Faye Ekong



Faye Ekong at Royal Holloway

My name is Faye Ekong and I work for an international humanitarian aid agency called Action Against Hunger. We provide live saving assistance for people affected by natural or man-made disasters in over 40 countries worldwide. One of the key elements in ensuring that we provide quality services to populations in need is through having a workforce that has the necessary capacity, knowledge, skills and attitude to carry out this important work. This is where I come in. As the Director of our Training Centre which is based in Nairobi, Kenya my job is to make sure we offer our staff training, capacity building and professional development solutions that are tailored to their needs and country context. 

As part of my work I get to travel…a lot. It’s not the glamorous kind of travel to Dubai and Hong Kong nor do I get to stay in swanky hotels. Over the past few years, I have visited so many countries that I have almost lost count.  Some of the favorites include:  South Sudan, Tchad, Somalia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Liberia, Ivory Coast and DRC. This year my list of countries include Ethiopia, Yemen, Haiti, Indonesia and Burkina Faso. Sometimes my accommodation in the field consists of a tent or mud hut, other times it does have some basic amenities such as running water and generator powered electricity.

Faye pictured with an antelope crown

With that having been said, I am perhaps not your typical profile for an International Management program. Working on some assignments and during exchanges with other students I certainly did at times find myself pondering to which extent ROCE, 6 Sigma or Porter’s 5 Forces may be applicable in my context. Nonetheless, I choose this program for several reasons and have found it to be the right fit for me.

Firstly, I believe the non-profit sector can learn quite a lot from the private sector in terms of approaches and strategies aimed at rendering services more effective and this was an opportunity for me to gain an insight into business workings.  Secondly, I wanted to ground some of my practical experience in management with the theories behind it.  Lastly, given the context I work in, the flexibility of the program really fits my needs.

Networking during summer plenary on campus

The best part of the course for me were certainly the plenary sessions in London as they gave me the chance to interact with fellow students and tutors which helped to boost my motivation, since much of a distance program involves working away alone behind a computer.

Consultancy presentation

During the plenary week 2 I don’t remember how many hours we poured over the final version of our group assignment checking for grammar, fonts, phraseology and cutting words. Similarly in preparation for our group presentation we must have done at least 50 dry runs to get it just right. A lot of my work involves giving presentations and conducting trainings.  So I would say I am quite accustomed to getting up in front of a group of strangers and talking.  However, this presentation was certainly a new experience for me, most notably because I was getting up to talk about a subject which a few weeks ago I knew absolutely nothing about. I really enjoyed the challenge though of working with the group, researching a new area and seeing the final product at the end.

Now I am working on my dissertation and grappling with the questions of how we can measure the impact of capacity building initiatives in the humanitarian world where “standard” business indicators such as increased sales, profit, turnover, market share or number of clients do not apply. I am sure I will be able to apply my learning form the course to date to this final step in my Master’s program.

Detailed Q&A with Faye

1. What was your career path to your current role? Can you tell us a bit about your career and education background please?

This is always a complicated question because the response is not such a straight forward one. But I will give it a shot. I am half British half Nigerian but grew up mainly in Germany and in Ghana. I have an undergraduate degree from the University of Bath in European Studies and Modern Languages. As part of my bachelor’s degree I did a one year work placement working for NGOs in Brussels and Rome. Once I finished my studies I moved to Kenya and worked for a Dutch training and consultancy firm focused on strengthening the management capacity of organizations, their projects and staff. One of my clients was, my current employer who hired me to work on a range of projects for them. When a permanent position opened up there in 2011 I applied, got the job and in February 2013 was promoted to director.

2. How did you hear about the International Management programme?

Once I decided I wanted to further my education with a Master’s degree, I did a lot of research to find a program that would sustain my interest for long enough, be beneficial and equip me with a range of practical skills for whatever future career path I choose but as well offer the necessary degree of flexibility during studies. I came across the RHUL MSc in International Management via the UoL website. RHUL is a prestigious university, the program is accredited by AMBA but more over I like the flexible study approach it offered, the fact that it had face to face plenary sessions and lastly I found the fees reasonable. So I decided to go for it. I know I made the right choice.

3. How did you overcome the challenge of working while studying?

To be honest I am still trying to overcome that challenge to date. Having a full time job with non-regular hours and a lot of travel to places where there is no access to electricity let alone the internet really makes it difficult to plan and schedule for study time. At the beginning I would take my books with me on the plane hoping I would find motivation to study during the long flights but surprisingly in most cases there was always something else more pressing to do such as watching a movie, having a glass of wine or sleeping.

In the end I found that there is no point in forcing things. Sometimes I will go weeks or even months without opening a course book and then all of a sudden the inspiration and motivation just hits me and I start typing away at my TMAs, reading and studying till late at night or during the early morning hours; books, highlighters, papers and colored cards all scattered out across the room. It may not be the traditional approach but this strategy has really worked for me.

4. Were there any particular course modules that you found particularly inspiring and interesting?

I have to say I found all course modules useful. However my top two would be 1) Finance and Accounting and 2) International Business Analysis. The Finance and Accounting module was a mandatory one and it was the last mandatory unit I took. I was quite worried about taking it since I have no background in finance and accounting at all and had always had a bit of a phobia towards numbers. When I started working on it, I really enjoyed it and found it to be quite straight forward. That inspired me then to venture a bit further and take the business analysis unit. Looking at companies’ shareholder reports, being able to interpret them, learning how to calculate different financial ratios and having a better understanding of how the stock market works was something I never expected to be able to do as it is so far removed from my line of

work. But my fear of numbers has since been cured and maybe in another life I will come back as an investment banker.

5. What are your ambitions for the future career wise?

The answer to that question really depends on the day. Sometimes I just want a job which has regular working hours, no tight deadlines, negligible stress where you finish your shift and that is it for the day. Though I am not sure to what extent that kind of a set up actually exists. For the immediate future I think I will remain in the field of Capacity Building, Organizational Development and Institutional Strengthening as it is quite a broad area. I am still learning new things and it has many different interesting angles to it.

However, at some point I do see myself venturing into the field social business as it would allow me to combine the use of business strategies and approaches to achieve sustainable social outcomes. Or to borrow a bit from the sub-title of Prof. Muhammad Yunu’s book, contribute in my own way to a “kind of capitalism that serves humanity’s most pressing needs”.

6. Looking forward – what do you particularly want to contribute to the humanitarian industry?

Looking at the humanitarian sector, I have to say we are quite a committed and passionate bunch. We work long hours in difficult conditions and often with great personal sacrifices. And lets me be clear there is no bonus pay out at the end of the year. However sometimes we get a bit stuck in our ways and lack some of the expedited decision making processes and innovation found in the private sector. Do I think I can change the sector single handedly, of course not. But I would like to walk way eventually knowing that I have contributed in a small way to us thinking outside of the box and approaching things in a slightly different manner at least in the field of capacity building.

Management "Roller Coaster" theme for College Science Festival

Aptly situated up the curved staircase, through a ninety degree right hander and in the lee of a slow left bend in the upstairs corridor of Royal Holloway's show case conference centre Windsor building, this years Management stand chose the theme of roller coasters to entertain children visiting this popular annual science outreach activity.

 

Families from around the area, school groups and even the uniformed 1st Egham High Cub pack came onto campus to engage with senior academics and students from the full range of science departments.  One school boy from Gordon's Sandringham house found the maths puzzle workshops particularly interesting. The Cubs have made an annual event of attending during the morning, able to access a wide range of activities for free as Royal Holloway seeks to encourage enthusiasm for studying science. 

 

The Harry Potter theme saw an interactive display of beautiful owls, whilst in the I-Robot room, live images of a miniature steam railway, using historic technology, were streamed into a seminar space that allowed participants get hands on with a range of 21st Century IT kit, including a raspberry pi mini-arcade pac-man game and a movement sensitive, mobile phone driven, mindstorms robot hill climb challenge.  With 'sold out' shows (tickets were actually free !) such as seamonsters in the 400 seater auditorium, an alternative village fete using a February friendly indoor location, a treasure hunt and access to the prized Victorian picture gallery (as featured in the most recent Christmas special episode of ITV's Downton Abbey) for talks and an art challenge there was more than enough interest to fill an entire day.

 

The management stand, staffed by academic and administrative volunteers Laura, Marie, Helen, Sameer, Andy and Justin, offered a big 5 of roller coaster activities designed to appeal to a range of age groups.  For the younger ones, designing a poster to show how it feels to be on a roller coaster and on a corner blanket to use Lego bricks to build coaster trains.  One boy suggested eating ice cream before a ride, because it tastes the same going down and coming up !!   Rather surprisingly many of the images created by children on the feeling of roller coaster comprised of  big, wide grins. (see image right)  Pre-teens were attracted to the laptop based simulators.  Inbetweeners were invited to design a roller coaster theme and offer up ideas for partner Thorpe Park on what children would like to do whilst waiting in their new virtual queuing system. 

 

A wide range of ideas were collated, such as watching TV, playing with toys (e.g. Lego, Play Doh, Soft Play, puzzle games), eating (pick n mix, coffee, snacks), a ride simulation screen, visiting other rides, benches for sitting down, playing on mobile phones, singing, visiting the toilets, and a live video feed of riders faces. Ideas which will be shared with Education facilitator and Royal Holloway alumni Jack Du Pile. 

 

MBA Director, Justin O'Brien, who co-ordinated the management stand, said "It was fantastic to see the School of Management join the Super Science Saturday event again.  Volunteering with colleagues to help Royal Holloway offer a free family day out based on stimulating interest in learning underscores the strong sense of community that permeates our campus."

Student Profiles

Royal Holloway Full Time MBA International Management student profile links:

2014/15

Amanda Chen Wei
Prashob Vellalath 
Cohort in photos

2013/14

Bolour Gharibi
Rashak Maini
Amy Sharath
Srinath BR
Kelliann McDonald
Pritsana Wasana
Amy Sharath
Shrenik Shah

2012/2013
Ibou Barry 

Royal Holloway Distance Learning MBA/MSc International Management student profile links:

• Xenia Borissova-Demidova
• Dimitar Filipov
• Alessandra Theuma
• Faye Ekong
• Elena and Albert Hetherington-Jones

This Digital Marketing project from three 2013/14 MBAs offers some interesting personal insights from a number of female MBA (& other post grad) students.

Building a beer brand through social media: Windsor and Eton brewery case study

Windsor and Eton Brewery field trip for Royal Holloway MSc Entrepreneurs

Located just off the railway arches on an aesthetically average industrial estate in the foothills of Windsor castle in Royal Berkshire you will find a remarkable entrepreneurial business.  The intrepid group of MSc Entrepreneurship students from Royal Holloway set out to feel their learning in action hosted by one of the four company founders.  

Founding partner Paddy shares entrepreneurial insights with students

Our host was founding partner Paddy, a mid-fifties ex-corporate professional, who had been operating in consulting but found the work unfulfilling.   Having had some experience in the brewing industry early in his career, Paddy had wanted to set up a brewery near his home in Manchester, but the proliferation of competitors put him off.  

Top side view of the fermenting vessels

Surprisingly the London area, which has "a lot of chimney stacks" and many pubs keen to offer customers a variety of guest beers, possesses relatively few mircro-breweries.  Sambrooks is a rare example.  A conversation with a friend soon sparked into a business plan, two additional ex-professional directors brought together a powerful blend of brewing, manufacturing and marketing skills and, in record breaking time with pension funds and savings raided, a brewery was operational within 6 weeks of receiving planning permission for an industrial shed that was really 'a bit too big'.  

Tasting the product:  a different kind of learning experience

Reluctant to borrow for funding and with a clear focus on building a long term business based on effective trade relations, the Windsor and Eton brewery (W&E or URL webrew.co.uk)  restored the craft of brewing to the population of Windsor with a remarkable customer response.  Not the function of an expensive marketing campaign, although one of the owners does have a marketing pedigree, but because one of the founders wives insisted on using Facebook to develop a social media following that charted the journey through planning permission approval and brewery kit out to the eventual St. Georges day launch.

Laura's favourite drop

The market for real ale peaks from Easter to early summer (warm weather sees colder lagers favoured) and Paddy tells one story of the kind of luck that is often needed when a new business is being established.  A minibus load of real ale 'knights' from Cheltenham, in full St. George fancy dress, arrived at a Windsor pub asking "Do you serve Guardsman ?" the first commercial brew that had been launched at 1200 that day.  The clever marketing stunt (in reality a serendipitous unplanned occurrence) saw locals and American tourists clamour for 'some of what they are drinking' and within a thrice, two casks were emptied and the happy landlord was on the telephone to the brewery ordering some more for the following day.  

Licking your palm to taste

 the essential oils from 

the hops: a bitter experience

In fact local publicans were persuaded to stock the unknown local brew by aspiring consumer inquiries during the week prior to the launch, locals who had followed the development of the new craft brew brand, some even particularly keen to take the first pint pulled at 1200.  The sales team at Windsor and Eton compete hard to sell their wares, with average publicans called 20-30 times each week being offered traditional cask beers from around the country.  A variety of cost effective marketing activities are undertaken including group factory tours, a retail outlet,  and hosting rugby games using a big screen on the wall of the brewery to allow 100 fans  enjoy an unusual community experience that emanates authenticity.  The odd banner, limited advertising in magazines and beer mats are nearly the full extent of the advertising mix, thus positive word of mouth, creative use of social media and strong business-to-business relationships are crucial for the enduring success of the company.  The first weeks production of 23 casks were all sold, the foundations of a great new business had been laid.

Tasting malted barley: think Horlicks and Maltasers

From a marketing perspective the brewery has creatively leveraged a B2B push and B2C pull strategy that utilises personal relationship heavy telephone selling to place casks of guest beers into pubs (which do not benefit from automatic and regular reordering that established, national brands can rely on thanks to their powerful marketing support) whilst generating word-of-mouth interest and ultimately B2C demand using social media.  Targeting the fat sausage catchment spreading 25 miles north and south and 40 miles east and west of Windsor, regular deliveries are made in the Thames Valley that includes 'all of London'.

Imperial casks: Red Metric kegs

Blue and purple are 

'stand out' beverage colours 

The Windsor Knot brand was developed to celebrate the wedding of local celebrities, Will and Kate, with the iconography of the label using Royal Windsor swans, beaks touching to form a heart and surrounded by a golden tie boasting a Windsor knot.  Clever visual puns that are designed to grab the attention at the bar.  





My chum Peter, who worked at drinks giant Diageo, stated that consumers are very open to suggestion as they approach a bar, with as many as 50% undecided on what they would purchase - no wonder the point of sale paraphanalia in the form of drip mats, handle labels, ice buckets, pump clips, bar towels, glasses and swizzle sticks is so over loaded with heavily branded visual cues.

Students benefitted from a full tour of the brewing process, including tasting the raw ingredients that include smoked, caramelised and lightly toasted malt to licking the bitter tasting essential hop oils from the palms of their hands.  Paddy explained that the operation might be thought of as a fungi factory that has a nice tasting by-product (beer !), explaining the various processes required to create the optimal conditions for the yeast to grow and to transform malt into beer.  

Students also got to ask questions about the motivations of the entrepreneurs, their strategy to grow the business and to understand the kinds of risks and returns taken by the founding investors.  Unlike BrewDogs the fast growing, City financed international brand that looks primed for a brand optimisation approach, the team at Windsor and Eton are comfortable with their organic growth strategy that relies on internal sources of investment, a common shared passion for brewing and building long term business relationships.  Paddy said the personal trade-off rigour required for agreeing and deciding to invest in the business (perhaps with extra storage space or a bottling line) or alternatively using the funds to take family holidays, results in extremely well thought through financial decisions.  The business has grown much more quickly than expected and W&E are keen to find more space to continue to grow organically and, because they are beholden to no one, they are happy to chase bank managers off the premises. This appears to be a very liberating approach, judging by Paddy's rhetoric and body language.  

Seeking to whet the appetite of, to cite a rather trite marketing cliche', "ever more demanding customers" the Webrew.co.uk team used All Black Rugby legend Zinzan to develop his own drop, naturally presented as an all-black bitter using New Zealand Redback malt and Waimea hops from the South Island for a 6 Nations only sales period.  Treetops is another limited edition brew of African Stout that uses sorghum syrup, roasted millet and toasted yams.  W&E import raw materials from around the world to create a range of sustainability friendly, super local brands (e.g. Knight of the Garter, Eton Boatman and Conquerer) whilst linking international dimensions (Queens Jubilee Commonwealth) to allow for more exotic ingredients to be used, such as cardamom, coriander and jasmine petals.  

Reflecting on low barriers to entry ("Anyone can buy this equipment from Burton-on-Trent and set up a brewing process with a bit of nous") Paddy suggested that competition from the regional, national and global brands was intense, with many larger companies buying up micro-breweries to satisfy strong consumer demand for variety.  Interestingly,  several craft brew outfits, including Windsor and Eton with its Czech inspired Republika, are looking to the lager market, using bottom fermentation processes, to offer a craft lager experience that benefits from a wider market demographic and to stretch their production capacity into the hot summer months when refreshing chilled drinks top the tables.  

Our group of international students (many who were not big beer drinkers) thoroughly enjoyed the visit and we highly recommend the experience.  Link to tour page

Sitting down is not so easy, Jet-set Mike Robinson shares complexities with Royal Holloway MBAs

Never thought too hard about sitting down before ? Royal Holloway MBA students were taken to another level recently by aviation industry consultant Mike Robinson, who jetted in from Geneva to give a master class on how consumers cope with complexity and particularly choice.  

Royal Holloway MBAs pondering customer behaviour complexity in seat selection

First up really was; Where to sit ?  The traditional rows of desks and chairs were replaced by an aircraft simulating 3x3 seating plan, with a single, central aisle.  MBA Director, Justin O'Brien, predicted correctly that the front row would be the least popular area and the cool crowd would fill up the back row.  Unlike a plane, where seats 1A and 1H are much sought after and there is a general preference for the front rows over those down the back.  

Ever wondered why you end up driving around an empty car park, not quite able to decide which space to take.  Which is really the perfect one ?     My wife certainly finds this behaviour very difficult to comprehend.  But multi-storey car parking has become a bit of a taboo subject in our house, so best to leave this one alone.  Mike suggests it is a function of too much choice and cites a variety of examples that indicates that giving too many options can enhance customer choice satisfaction, but decrease actual purchasing behaviour.  Great data, wrong question, just like new Coke - one to chew over with colleague Sameer next week ! To example this assertion Mike highlighted the huge product range offered by leading supermarkets, but the much narrower, one choice per category offered by discounters like Aldi and Lidl.  

15E the least chosen seat ?

Sharing key insights from his time heading up the commercial arm of the management consultancy practice at IATA (the de facto global airline membership body) in Switzerland and drawing on a wide experience on projects undertaken around the globe, Mike encouraged the Royal Holloway MBA group to attach great importance to customer insight and devoting material time and resources to ensure that real behaviours of real customers is integral to all commercial decision making.

Mike highlighted, by way of case study example, the entrepreneurial 50+ strong retail chain that sells healthy soup targeting the needs of one particular group of Japanese customers, women who like nutritious soups and want to feel safe eating alone in a smoke free environment.  

Mike Robinson at Royal Holloway

Research for a leading European point-to-point airline identified the importance of toilets in the decision making of female and older customers, young people it seems have strong bladders.  Proximity to or access to facilities being a key seat choice factor, and its importance growing with increasing flight duration.

Travellers were also prepared to pay a significant premium for pre-allocated seating in the front of the aircraft and most were happy to pay a notional figure to allow choice at the point of booking and avoid the rugby scrum melee that can occur during a free boarding process.  Crucially the charging framework under investigation failed to optimise the full value of additional fees travellers would have been prepared to pay, underscoring Mike's key tenet that more focus on customer insight is often needed and it can drive the bottom line. 

During the Q&A Mike Robinson explained to the engaged and curious Royal Holloway MBA group that the front of an aircraft was a more popular choice for a variety of reasons including; speed of entry/exit access, lower engine noise and a smoother ride.  

And the answer to life, universe and everything is 15E, the seat most likely to be vacant on a typical short haul aircraft, so choose D or F in that row to optimise your own elbow room.  

Fun Learning at the Entrepreneurial Chocolate Factory

Learning REALLY can be FUN !  Just ask the Royal Holloway MSc Entrepreneurship students, they know. 

Tasting warm chocolate-which to choose dark, milk or white ?



Pick your decorations YUM !

Experiential learning is a central tenant of MBA Director Justin O'Brien's approach to bringing alive the theoretical concepts taught in his Entrepreneurial Marketing module on the Royal Holloway MSc Entrepreneurship.   

  

Looking for innovative ways to bring across not only the important, traditional elements of marketing Justin sought to introduce this years cohort of students to Keith from The Chocolate Factory, a new business start up situated in the heart of Windsor's pedestrianized shopping precinct.    Keith is a serial entrepreneur with interests in a number of business. 

Keith explains how to make chocolate

During the hands on workshop he explained to the students that his inspiration for this particular business idea had been enjoying a similar offering whilst on holiday in Spain with a group of family and friends. Whilst a keen foodie (he appeared in the BBC series 'masterchef' a few years back) with a self-acclaimed palette for flavours, Keith knew little about the serious business of chocolate, although he has hired two chocolatier/pastry chef professionals.

Food hygiene rules require fashionable head gear to be worn by everyone

Co-ordinated Popping Candy - great fun !

Rosie's winning design

Those of you of a certain age may remember 'space dust', we were given a large container full of industrial quality popping crystals.  What fun as we all popped a small handful in our mouths and listened to an orchestra (of sorts) as popping sounds came out of our mouths.


Having explained the history of chocolate consumption, which dates back to Mayan times, Keith showed students how to make their own 100g chocolate bars, using three bar moulds and a variety of colourful ingredients. 

'520' in Mandarin means "I Love You"

The part retail, part experiential 'factory' attracts a variety of customers, including walk ins looking to enjoy a hand made chocolate experience, special orders (a 2kg Darlek was waiting for one of the series writers) including bespoke company Easter eggs, childrens parties on the weekends and evening workshops for adults, a concept that is also popular for Stag and Hen parties.  Sometimes they even allow University students to participate !

Owner Keith's winning bars

Thanks to Keith for sharing his entrepreneurial insights -

why not check out his experience ? 

A very Japanese approach to marketing a Kit Kat

Regulars to this blog will know my interest in all things Japanese, marketing and confectionary, and particularly the recent trend to reinvent (I would say 'sex up' but that does not have a very academic chime to it ?)  long standing stalwart brands, such as the Snickers bar and even old faithfuls from days gone by like the traditional custard cream biscuit.  

I have an inkling of looking into retro sweets, you know, those old fashioned boiled sweets you used to buy loose from a big jar, like strawberry bons   bons, pontefract cakes and mint imperials.  It seems sales of these products grew significantly last year (nothing to do with Wolworth's demise I suppose ?).  My old favourite 2p priced liquorice stick is now retailing at an eye watering 25p, supposedly because suppliers are hard to find according to our local olde worlde sweet shop.  

Imagine my delight when Hayata-san, over to visit Royal Holloway before putting in an application for the full time MBA programme, presented me with a gift set of unusually tailored Kit Kat special editions.  Since my last visit to Japan, when we picked up sakura, green tea and wasabi flavoured gift packs using our last Yen currency at Narita airport, the clever marketing people in Nestle' Japan have taken the ideas further and developed a wider range of options.  Some leverage an interesting flavour, so chilli draws from the ancient Aztec {savoury} dish that sees chilli and chocolate blended together for the adventurous palette. Strawberry cheesecake uses a white chocolate coating and biscuit infused with red goo.    Both have got to be winners with a clear appeal of dare and hedonistic pleasure.  Others that purport to regional Japanese differences allow for a Tokyo product to boast its own geographic credentials, and fit effectively in the Japanese gift giving culture that seeks to venerate an element of the local culture.  

Hurrah ! say I.  In a world that is increasingly homogenious, seeing a global brand localise in such a manner is genius innovation and that just has to be congratulated.  

Not forgetting that the simple and relatively cheap, packaging adaption (four large bars are wrapped together using a four colour, gloss printed, cardboard sleeve) repositions a generic and ubiquitous fmcg item into a bundle that makes it suitable to give as a gift for family or in a business context.  Added value, marketing premier league style !

Arigato Hayata-san !