Prior to arriving in New York, Bilal worked with Rai on GSK projects in Asia.
Please provide example(s) that illustrate why you believe Bilal will find success in the Master’s classroom.
Bilal supervised the team that I delegated to understand the rationale behind declining market share in Malaysia for Horlicks brand. We were facing a massive issue in terms of volume and value decline across the nutritional segment of the GSK's portfolio and wanted to understand the underlying root causes and remedies that could be taken to fix it. Bilal supervised the team which led the effort to understand why the market share was declining for Horlicks brand in Malaysia. With his help we were able to figure out that the market share decline primarily was due to the overall decline in the powder segment which most of the players in Malaysia played in. These players were shifting their focus to liquid drinks which is a growing segment and is preferred by the local growing affluent community of Malaysia. This resulted in less people purchasing powder as it was perceived as less efficacious and effortful. Bilal analyzed the data by looking at the past year consumption of Horlicks and comparing it with the consumption of other powder brands and figured that there was a general decline across the brands. He then worked with the local media agencies to understand the advertising spends for each of the brands and their share of voice relative to the market share. This showed a clear indication that the majority of the players were moving them spends from powder format to RTDs. Third, he delegated his team of MBAs to understand what would be the strategic fix to the problem. His team gave a sound conclusion of focusing on development of new NPDs like RTDs and also to focus communication towards older adults who are aware of the brand heritage and harken them to a familiar space. Overall, these findings were implemented by the GSK team which are now leading to fruitful outcomes and have resulted in a turnaround for the brand in the last year. I am confident that Mr. Bilal will not just find success but will excel in the master classroom as he is extremely good in analytical and problem-solving skills. This results in him understanding the root causes of the problems and proving optimal solutions, which can be implemented by the organization.
How do Bilal’s performance, potential, background, or personal qualities compare to those of other well-qualified individuals in similar roles? Please provide specific examples.
Bilal's differentiating factor as compared to other individuals in similar roles is Grit. I have not known a person which is grittier as Bilal. This grittiness results in Bilal focusing on the problem at hand and working on a singular goal of trying to find a solution despite obstacles and setbacks. Bilal demonstrated Grit by providing a workable solution to find the right suppliers for Eno brand when the team was unable to find one themselves. The task set to Bilal was to figure out the key players for liquid digestive solutions in SEA markets and help us in identifying exiting manufacturer who would be willing to partner with GSK to relabel their brands as per GSK guidelines. Bilal's team flew to Thailand, which was our main market to understand the local dynamics and to find suppliers who would be willing to work with GSK. After identification, Bilal presented his findings to me. Unfortunately, none of the sites that were based out of TH met the GSK Quality requirements, which results in GSK not being able to sign off on an agreement to produce a liquid format of Eno under their names. Bilal showed grit by not giving up and he kept on trying to find a new supplier not just in TH but also in other countries. He successfully was able to share a couple of suppliers in MY who were not just willing to produce liquid Eno but also met the GSK quality standards. This led to a successful business plan for Eno Liquid to be manufactured by an external supplier and the new liquid format is growing 10X the market. I highly recommend Bilal to be a part of the MBA program at your school because I am confident that Bilal will be able to not just complete his MBA program successfully but he will also be able to give back to the school and its alumni network.
