Author: Wenzhao Bi
June 06, 2016
It’s hard to believe that three weeks have come and gone. This last week in country at Barclays in Botswana has been full and exciting. We have been working hard to pull together our findings and recommendations into a deliverable that can be left with the client so they can begin to implement some of our recommendations. In the first few days of this week, we held meetings with several stakeholders to review our findings and recommendations with them in order to build buy-in and to correct any assumptions or add information that we may have missed. These were gre
June 06, 2016
This week, we went out to dinner to a local African chain called Spur. Spur is very similar to the US chain Chilis and serves basic staples such as burgers, steaks and ribs. Our server suggested that we try the burgers. Being that we were hungry and looking for something easy and quick, we agreed. Note the word "quick"!About 30 minutes later, we heard a bell ding and noticed our order sitting in the window, waiting to be collected by our server. She, however, did not notice, and we waited another five minutes before she finally brought our food.
June 05, 2016
We continued our work in the conference room this week, engaged with several more shareholders, including meeting with staff from HR and legal, and attended a new business committee meeting. We also had the opportunity to meet with Reinette van der Merwe, Managing Director of Bank of Barclays, Botswana. She was eager to meet with us and learn about our backgrounds and our project, and she was kind enough to provide us with her own insights and guidance.
June 05, 2016
We are now in day five of being on site with Barclays Bank for continued work on Project Firefly in Gaborone, Botswana. The week has gone by very fast at times, with lots of information being gathered through meetings with many of our new colleagues at the bank. We are on track with our timeline, and our client is content with our progress thus far.We have been given a ‘war room’ which we have fully dedicated to our process. We have posted the current-state process flow, as well as the value stream map on the walls, and walked our colleagues through it.
June 05, 2016
Our time in Botswana has been enjoyable. Our University of Botswana colleagues gave us a tour of their school—one of the best in the country and currently ranked 32nd in Africa. Their semester is coming to a close and students were busy with final exams and getting ready for their three months of summer vacation. While the universities are completing their semesters, other schools (elementary/middle/high schools) are just beginning—adding to morning traffic. In Botswana, MBA programs typically last 2.5 years and students must submit a dissertation for graduation.