Christina Chong, GMBA Class of 2016

China Lab has always been a very popular module at the GMBA program. Not wanting to miss the opportunity to work with world class companies and students from MIT, I submitted the application for the AXA project with no hesitation, knowing that I was up against very strong candidates, and I was proud to be selected to work on the project with my fellow classmate, Tanya He.

The project started with a kick-off conference call with the AXA top management team from France, China and Korea in late January 2016, then a video conference with our fellow team members from MIT, Lawrence Wei and Michelle Shih in February. The Tsinghua and MIT team worked closely together with routine conference calls, and took advantage of the time difference between Beijing and Boston to form a round-the-clock efficient working partnership and carried out extensive research for the first stage of the project.

China Lab's Team AXA during its on-site consulting assignment.

In mid-March 2016, the team flew to Shanghai and spent two weeks working full-time at AXA Tianping’s office. During the on-site period, we worked closely with AXA’s multi-cultural teams from various departments and AXA Lab team to analyse the existing AXA Tianping auto insurance operation model and came out with a series of recommendations targeting each step of the customer journey process, starting from the pre-purchase period through to the renewal period, in order to develop its online marketing strategy focused on WeChat and enhanced customer experience. During the evenings, the team was happy to explore the vibrant Shanghai food and nightlife.

The project entered into the final stage as the team met again at MIT in late April. We worked with AXA Tianping to identify the final focus of the project recommendations, and developed the prototype of the WeChat interface. During the one-week on-site period in Boston, we put together the final presentation materials for AXA, and were excited to showcase our project outcome at the MIT action learning event along with 24 other MIT China and India Lab teams. Besides working on the project, we also attended different classes, such as, “Managing in Adversity” by Professor Peter Kurzina, “Global Branding of Chinese Companies” by Professor John Grant, “Session on Blockchain (Cryptocurrencies)” by Professor David Birnbach, and “Session on Social Enterprise” by Professor Charles Kane. The lectures were truly insightful and it felt great to be learning with the MIT students. An evening watching a Red Sox game at Fenway Park made our MIT experience complete.

It has been my great pleasure to work with such amazing team members from Tsinghua and MIT. We have not only formed a great working partnership and friendship but were also able to learn from and empower each other. I am so thankful to have this project opportunity and have enjoyed every moment of it. China Lab has provided an invaluable experience for me and a great way to mark the end of my two years in the GMBA program.