MBA Personal Statement

Taremeredzwa Samuel Chipepera

ABSTRACT A personal statement relating a progressive journey towards new technology solutions and innovation through fanatic discipline and experience

Taremeredzwa Samuel Chipepera MBA Personal Statement

Growing up around IT professionals, from my father and 3 other closely related family members a career in technology seemed tailor made for me. The years preceding my tertiary education saw a growing passion for new gadgets and everprogressing devices in the world of Computers. With this background I got nurtured to become a young man with much curiosity in Sciences and Technology. From a High School Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry combination I moved to The University of Zimbabwe to further my passion for new technology. I received my undergraduate degree in Computer Science and Mathematics from The University of Zimbabwe in 2006 August. After completing my undergraduate degree, I started my career in IT training with Sutherland Computer Services during which I interacted with most cooperates and executives. During this time I realized the major gap in Technology knowledge and the advantages of its use. I identified a strong need for training in the general personnel in the then business community. I moved to Education as a Computer Science Teacher/ IT Administrator at Rusununguko High School. It is here where I managed to create a training program for the school community during my extra hours, which significantly impacted on the staff and community as everyone now had a basic understanding of the computer. After a short stint in Education I then moved to SFG Insurance as a Database Administrator. While working with this company I was able to learn different aspects of business and explore new horizons. Some of my duties included providing functional business consulting to fulfill extensive business related needs, providing business support in business areas such as ERP functionality and technology, Disaster Recovery and System maintenance through development of new products and data extraction through report writing. I was also exposed to strategy formulation and took charge of the department in a company with 4 branches across the country. It is here that I realized a strong need for a good foundation in Business Administration and Management. I later joined Africansun LTD as a Graduate Trainee in the Business Information Systems Department in February of 2008 on an 18-month program. Due to my performance and extensive experience in the field I got an early appointment to The Victoria Falls area as a Systems Support Analyst in December of the same year. In this region I had under my arm 4 of the groups major hotels to support. Due to the nature of my work, I got the opportunity to travel to different client locations to provide and cater to their both short and long-term business needs while also gaining a different industry sector experience. I am currently working as a Technician with Solution Centre and this has given me a deeper understanding of the Mac and all related products. As a Certified Apple Machine Technician I now have in my arsenal of certifications another edge to creating relevant solutions seeing the direction in which business is driving towards. Apart from the several certifications in Apple, I have also embarked on Adobe certifications that will find my expertise reaching out to the Design community and Media professionals. For a wider reach in current Technology I have also attained a CCNA certification giving me the baseline requirements for any Networking project I get on my lap. With close to 5 years experience in user support all the above have developed my knowledge to an extent where I can fit into the shoes of the consumer on the street and create or lead a team of developers to create a relevant solution that meets their exact need. However, from my walk in this business arena I have found a

Taremeredzwa Samuel Chipepera MBA Personal Statement

need on my profile to understand better Business Administration and Strategy formulation. Working as a business professional, I have realized the importance of a Post Graduate degree. The Business Strategy and Change Management aspect of an organization has always intrigued me. After working for a few years, I have understood that the amount of knowledge that can be gained is endless. Therefore, I would like to continue my education and pursue an MBA. Getting this degree would help me immensely to better compete with the fast-paced business world. If I were given the opportunity, I would reach closer to achieving my goals of applying my knowledge to develop the business sector and make technology the chief corner stone of an economy as all else rests on how information is manipulated. At the top of my quality list is Discipline. From Jim Collins in his book Great By Choice Discipline in essence, is consistency of action consistency with values, consistency with long-term goals, consistency with performance standards, consistency of method, consistency over time, this has been my guide over the years in service to the community through innovation and creativity. Over the years I have learnt the art of fanatic discipline, which relates to self-discipline, the perseverance to stay the course and not jump to quick fixes. Excellent project and time management, and strong communication skills are some of my strengths. I also excel working in a team environment, which has always been commended and recognized very well by my superiors in various instances. My ability to get along with people also makes me a likeable person in any kind of environment. However, I would like to develop greater strength and enhance my abilities in the field of Strategic Business Management. I am always hungry for more knowledge and I believe that more finance and administration knowledge is going to take me further in my career. Therefore, to be able to compete with the world by dealing with more complex business related issues I would have to make myself stronger by obtaining more knowledge. I believe that obtaining a Masters Degree in Business Administration would help me to do so. While I was searching for graduate schools, my search ended with The University of Zimbabwe not just because it is where I obtained my first degree but also due to the extensive experience in Business Development the institute has grown to become evident with its products worldwide. Some of the biggest challenges to business in the 21st century are communication, diversity and technology. With globalization and advent of the Internet, the world has become smaller. Nonetheless, communication still persists as a huge problem to businesses. If proper means of communication between employees and executives within the office branch and global branches are maintained effectively, many business objectives could be easily met. Diversity is another major challenge faced by businesses worldwide. Proper knowledge and intercultural sharing are the remedies for diversity related issues in businesses. Today technology is moving at a fast pace and it has become very hard for businesses to keep up with it. With the advent of cloud computing managers and business owners alike are investigating the ways in which a move to cloud computing could potentially benefit their organizations. In essence, this represents a departure from onsite IT solutions such as file servers and temperamental email platforms in favor of always-on, secure

Taremeredzwa Samuel Chipepera MBA Personal Statement

platforms that are able to grow and shrink according to business requirements. Understandably, businesses are wary of hosting sensitive information within a cloud environment. Data security is a large focus area for every organization let alone with very shaky SLAs from local service providers. However, the promise of security and guaranteed uptime within the virtual private cloud environment is far more reliable. As SLA implementation matures so are the standards that govern them as they become more stringent giving users greater peace of mind when opting for this new phenomenon for application-based public cloud services? Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) opens up to the business community an opportunity to reduce capital expenditure whilst ensuring data security. Such solutions at their core aim at reducing the hassle associated with on-premise IT while reducing costs. It is evident that the business world today is going through a huge economic downturn. Lots of businesses worldwide are facing difficult times right now due to the global economic crisis. Focusing more on their own business with an eye on what competitors are doing, monitoring day to day activities, fully documenting every major business steps taken are some of the things that might help these businesses to emerge out of this hardship. It is intuitively clear that the ability to solve problems is greatly enhanced if you can effectively handle all the information you're getting. On the other hand, extracting information from data coming in from different sources may become a nightmare if you try to do it on your own, with only the help of miscellaneous tools. Business Intelligence comes to the rescue here, ensuring that the extraction, transformation, and consolidation of data from disparate sources become totally transparent to a decision maker. Business Intelligence consolidates information from disparate sources so that you need not concern yourself with it. Business Intelligence is used to provide a business-centric view of data, eliminating as much of the technology-specific logic as possible. However such a solution may take a business back to creating a whole team of analysts working on data capture, consolidation and analysis. It is here that I have seen great opportunity in local business for providing such a concise and relevant solution to local businesses. With the strengths I have amassed over the years in Database management and support, Network Security and a wide platform experience from insurance background to financial and hospitality industry sector, Business Intelligence is my next solution to the business community. As a Service, Business Intelligence can be coupled with cloud technology where enterprise tools like Oracles OBI can be rendered as a service giving access to the customer all analytical reports they require on the fly. All data will be stored and securely accessible with the infrastructure cost burden on the service provider, leaving the business owner to worry only on the day-to-day decision-making. Reducing cost and risk whilst at the same time increasing profitability and productivity. Lastly, I am hopeful to get an admission into the MBA program at The University of Zimbabwe and be able to learn more regarding the complexities of the business world.