(Please note: re-applicant essays are for those who applied during the application cycle in 2007-08 or 2008-09 only. Re-applicants from 2006-07 or earlier are to complete the first-time applicant essays).

Re-Applicant Essay 1 – (1000 words)

As a leader in global business, Wharton is committed to sustaining “a truly global presence through its engagement in the world”.  What goals are you committed to and why?  How do you envision the Wharton MBA contributing to the attainment of those goals?  How has your candidacy improved since the last time you applied?

During the last decade, automakers have sought to reduce the environmental impact of their vehicles by improving fuel efficiency. However, automobile supply chains are far less “green”—operational inefficiency and environmentally destructive vendors both contribute to the industry’s huge hidden carbon footprint, especially in circumstance of global sourcing. As an expert in auto supply chain management with a deep commitment to environmentally sustainable business practices, my vision is to lead China’s auto industry into the 21^st century by improving efficiency and reducing environmental impact.  

After earning undergraduate degrees in economics and business, I began my career at Shanghai GM, the leading automaker in China. I have quickly grown from entry-level engineer to section manager in three years, beating the average promotion rate at Shanghai GM by one year, and my outstanding performance in supply chain and inventory management has been recognized by my firm: in 2007, I was chosen from 500 employees to receive the Excellent Employee Award, and was the youngest of 8 winners. 

At the same time, I continue to extensively research the development of the auto industry. Most recently, I have observed that increasingly fierce competition in the Chinese market as well as the vast and fragmented suppliers along the auto supply chain have combined to escalate the price war, all at the expense of the environment. Even as a pioneer in the development of a green supply chain, by the beginning of this year Shanghai GM had certified only 48 of its 450 first-tier suppliers as “green” suppliers; worse, only 5-6% of China’s over 8,000 auto vendors have acquired an ISO14001 certificate indicating their compliance with basic environmental standards. I firmly believe that the vast and fragmented supply chain can be consolidated, positioning the automobile industry to increase its influence over suppliers and comprehensively invest in environmental protection.    

After completing an MBA, my short-term objective is return to the auto industry by joining a leading global automaker, either in business development or strategy, to fine-tune strategic planning of global sourcing to establish an eco-friendly global supply chain. In the long term, I aspire to serve as the general manager of a leading automaker in China, a position that will leverage my experience and expertise to lead innovation in the auto industry while reducing its environmental footprint.  

Five years of experience at Shanghai GM have helped me acquire technical and managerial expertise and establish close-knit networks in China’s auto industry, but I still lack the theoretical knowledge and international experience I need to create a meaningful impact. Already one of the best performing managers in my field, my learning curve would plateau if I continued my current career path. An MBA program will accelerate my progress; Wharton is my top choice because its strengths perfectly match my education goals, which include improving my knowledge sets of general management and environmentally sustainable leadership, honing my skills as a leader, and gaining international exposure. 

First, Wharton offers amazing academic resources, including outstanding faculty, diverse courses, and an engaged learning environment, which together will help me improve my general management capabilities. Specifically, my plan is to enhance my knowledge of finance and marketing, then pursue a major in Strategic Management for deeper learning. In particular, the activities and research associated with the Initiative for Global Environmental Leadership will expose me to best practices in developed markets and expand my horizons regarding the relationship between business and the environment.  

Second, Wharton provides extensive opportunities to enhance and hone my leadership skills through experiential learning. In particular, I will join Leadership Ventures such as Caribbean Voyage to fine-tune my anticipatory thinking, risk awareness, and rapid decision-making skills. Further, I intend to join the Wharton Leadership Lectures series to interact with and learn from world-renowned business leaders.  

Third, the international community at Wharton will provide the ideal context for me to shape my global perspective; crucial, since transforming the auto industry is not a single-country endeavor, but requires global cooperation. By participating in the Wharton International Volunteer Program, I will apply new theoretical knowledge in a real business setting while helping promote a balance between economic development and environment protection in developing countries. During my second year, I plan to join the Global Consulting Practicum to further improve my analytical thinking and interpersonal skills. Wharton’s massive global alumni network of more than 80,000—including the largest MBA network in China—will serve as allies and fellow-travelers. 

As a re-applicant, I have improved my candidacy by taking initiative to simultaneously reduce costs and plastic waste at work while extending my knowledge of environmental management outside of the office. In 2008, the economic downturn slowed down our car sales dramatically; as a result, our Navigator DVD, a factory-installed GPS system, couldn’t keep up with rapid road developments. Our task was to dispose of the old DVDs and install new ones with updated road information. Concerned about the enormous waste involved, I initiated and led a team to redesign our manufacturing process so that we could delay DVD installation from the factory to the vehicle warehouse to reflect road conditions as timely as possible. My endeavor paid off by slashing $1.5M cost in DVD updates, but I was even more proud that it reduced plastic waste by 80%. 

On my own time, extensive reading of business publications—particularly Daniel Esty and Andrew Winston’s book Green to Gold—has convinced me that “green” business strategy can dramatically enhance a company’s core competitive advantages while protecting the environment. I attended the Fourth Eco-Fortune Forum, where I interacted with industry experts and practitioners and learned about such best practices as a “green sales network” from peer companies. Meanwhile, the recent US House’s passage of the Carbon Cap-and-Trade Bill, as well as China’s $221.3 billion stimulus package for the green GDP, both make my goals more realistic. I eagerly look forward to the opportunity to join the students and scholars at Wharton, where I will gain the tools I need to lead sustainable change in China’s auto industry. 

Re-Applicant Essay 2 – (500 words)

Describe a failure that you have experienced.  What role did you play, and what did you learn about yourself?

When I was promoted to team leader in 2006, my team welcomed our first female member. My initial excitement was quickly replaced by frustration about her poor efficiency. Even worse, she showed little sense of ownership in her work, even during our busiest time of the year: she frequently left work while other team members were working overtime.  

Since she was referred by our department director, I could not request that my boss replace her. Instead, I deliberately initiated a “cold war” to isolate her and requested that other team members not talk to her or respond to her requests. After three weeks, she quit.  

I was initially glad to see her go, but soon witnessed the negative impact on my team. After her departure, we were branded as “unfriendly to women.” All available employees in our department were female, and none wanted to join us. As a result, our workload soared 30%-35%, and we each had to work late into the evening every day, dramatically damaging our team morale. The painful period didn’t end until we finally acquired a new male member one month later. My good intentions had only produced failure.  

After serious self-reflection, I determined that my approach to the situation was both hasty and confrontational. Impatience toward a lagging-behind colleague simply made the new teammate feel even more intimidated in a male-dominated team. My decisive action suggested intolerance, which discouraged other women from joining our team. As a first time team leader, I should never have made important decisions on behalf of the team without including everyone’s input. Failing to engage my team by listening to their concerns and discussing possible options, I missed the opportunity to identify better ways of handling a tricky situation.  

From a big picture perspective, I realized that as a leader, my responsibility is not only to produce results, but also to encourage everyone to realize his or her potential. In the future, I will serve as a coach to my team members and help them grow professionally and personally. Furthermore, I will try to provide opportunities for them to leverage their talents: for example, my new teammate enjoyed working with people more than data, and I could have easily assigned less quantitative work in favor of projects requiring excellent communication skills, potentially benefiting the entire team.  

The experience was an important leadership lesson for me and helped me realize that a mature leader should not treat the team as simply a tool to achieve results, but rather as a partner in mutual growth. Since then, I have been more inclusive in team decisions and actively encourage my subordinates to grow. I’m proud that as a result of this new approach, I have developed three subordinates to team leaders in my two-year-tenure as supervisor.  

Re-Applicant Essay 3 – (500 words) Choose one of the following:

1. Give us a specific example of a time when you solved a complex problem.

In Shanghai GM, we had adopted a tri-angle sourcing structure for many years. Under such a model, auto parts suppliers sent their products to Shanghai GM, then our sub-assemblers would retrieve the parts from us and deliver the finished modules to us. Although we had better control in the process, it required separate warehouses to store parts and extra resources to manage both parties. 

So, in 2006, frustrated with its inefficiency, I proposed a new outsourcing model that the parts suppliers would ship products directly to the sub-assemblers for module production, and sub-assemblers would then deliver the finished modules to us. This way, we wouldn’t need a warehouse to store parts for the sub-assemblers and we wouldn’t need to pay auto suppliers until we received the finished modules, which would dramatically simplify our process and reducing costs.  

However, my proposal immediately encountered objections and the issues were far more complex than I initially thought. First, the new model extended the account receivables for auto suppliers and required sub-assemblers to manage many more parts suppliers, so they had little incentive to follow. Second, the new arrangement required both parties to work together in the absence of a binding contract, which would potentially blurr their responsibilities and cause disputes. My supervisor was so concerned that the initiative would evoke strong resistances from both parties that he doubted its feasibility and discouraged me from pursuing it.  

Believing it could make big contribution to my company, I decided to push for the change. In the following months, I led my team to hold regular brainstorming sessions with the parts suppliers and sub-assemblers to share our idea and seek their feedbacks. We articulated to them that the new model would enhance their abilities to better manage their projects and improve their efficiency and flexibility throughout the supply chain. To comfort them, I proposed a benefit sharing scheme where they would receive a rebate up to 20% of the cost savings to offset their potential losses. To dismiss their concerns about unclear responsibilities, I formed an internal cross-functional team to draft a Memorandum of Understanding that stipulated their respective responsibilities and rights and positioned Shanghai GM as the arbitrator in case of disputes.  

My efforts gradually gained their buy-in and changed my supervisor’s views to be more supportive. With his support, I launched a three-month pilot project, which proved that the new model had huge potential for cost-saving and capital efficiency improvement and had no problem getting our sourcing partners to work together smoothly. The great success of the pilot eventually convinced our senior management to approve my proposal. Ultimately, the new model achieved phenomenal success: it reduced our annual logistics costs by $7M and extended our accounts payable for two weeks.  

This was my first success in driving a strategic innovation that had big impact on my company. Just as importantly, I learned how to navigate through complex situations to achieve great results and how to develop win-win solutions to address partners’ concerns.  

b.      Tell us about something significant that you have done to improve yourself, in either your professional and/or personal endeavors.

Re-Applicant Essay 4 (Optional) – (250 words) 
If you feel there are extenuating circumstances of which the Committee should be aware, please explain them here (e.g., unexplained gaps in work experience, choice of recommenders, inconsistent or questionable academic performance, significant weaknesses in your application).