“Casablanca; the city with the biggest mosque of Africa, is our destination.” Our team: five guys from varied backgrounds, ranging from finance, supply chain, marketing to strategy. Little did we know at that point what an amazing journey we were about to embark on to bridge the phosphate and battery market. Learnings, challenges, trials and tribulations. These all resulted in our eventual gratification of successfully delivering something of value to a satisfied client. In my opinion, it is mission accomplished!
The Project
Our client: one of the biggest companies in Morocco. The task: to make a strategic analysis regarding downstream value chain integration. A particularly tricky part of the challenge was to gauge the level of threat from some Chinese competitors. We then needed to devise a strategy for the same. To start, we developed an understanding of the industry and the opportunity potential. Next, we dove into a capability assessment, and finally we built a solid set of recommendations. After a gruelling two-hour presentation, the client was pleased with our deliverable. Receiving the words of appreciation made it all feel worth it.
The Experience
Our trip started with an element of nervousness as one of us was detained at the airport for two hours. After the initial scare, our time in Morocco was smooth and exciting. We had some enriching experiences and exposure to a culture that is a mix of tradition and modernity. We visited the “Souk” (market) where we bought traditional dresses, olives and argan oil. Another memorable day was when we visited the biggest mosque of Africa and were treated to a traditional Moroccan breakfast. Our trip concluded with a great wining and dining experience. This was our chance to taste great local Moroccan wine and Tajine; typical Moroccan dish.
All in all, it was an experience that we will surely cherish for a long-time to come. Our team benefitted from the support of our Faculty coaches, Professors Omar Toulan and Tawfik Jelassi. In addition, we are deeply thankful to the staff of our client for their hospitality and the time that they devoted to us.
Nikolaj and the rest of the team: Laurent, Franck, Yoshiki and Times
