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FROM Yudanashi: Sport at the Oxford MBA |
https://blog.davidbbaker.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/12249800_10153820891439090_8007573611012789132_n.jpgWhen you think about an MBA program, usually the last thing you think of is professional collegiate sport. (Yes American’s I’m going to use the British Sport instead of the American Sports … Yes I do realize it makes me sound like Mitt Romney …. No, I don’t care … Cheerio!) I don’t know how it is at US programs, but at Oxford, Sport is everywhere. Perhaps its because we are embedded within the wider university, but a large chunk of my classmates are representing Oxford as they fight against other schools. In the US there is the NCAA, and in the UK its BUCS – British University & Colleges Sport. In our class of 340 students, easily 25% of the them are involved in a university sport. A lot of them row in teams of 8 for their college or for the wider university. If you remember the movie The Social Network really well you might recall that the Winklevoss twins ended up at a rowing regatta. They were rowing for Oxford and in fact were Oxford MBA students at the time. We have 2 olympic swimmers, the head of the boathouse, half of the university hockey team, a university archer, a crew of table tennis players, and much much more. Myself? I fence Foil & Sabre for the University and this weekend had a “Quint” – a small tournament with 5 schools. It lets us pack most of our matches for a term into a single weekend instead of being on the road each week. I fenced against Cambridge (Beat them!), Warwick (Their fencers were just as hot as their infamous rowing team), and Nottingham (like the Sheriff). I’ll have at least two more of these next term before the big varsity rivalry match against Cambridge again on 12 March. Getting back into Fencing after so many years off has been exhaustingly exhilarating. I hadn’t thought about getting back into collegiate sport for my MBA, and especially not in a 12-month compressed intensive program. However it has been an energizing experience. Not only am I more active to help fight off those MBA 15-pounds, I have another network of friends, another tie to the wider university, and more generally, more energy (if less time). As we have been learning about managing for energy not time this is an important experiential learning exercise that hopefully I’ll find a way to continue after I leave Oxford. If you are thinking about coming to the Oxford MBA and used to play a sport in college, reach out because I’m certain we have an MBA involved on some level you could talk to. |
FROM Financial Times MBA Blog: You do not learn from failure |
Every Monday morning, Professor Gibbons walked into the lecture theatre with a smile on his face. Read more |
FROM Financial Times MBA Blog: Year End |
What a long year. First year classes are now behind us and only one exam stands between me and a nice relaxing beach holiday. Read more |
FROM Financial Times MBA Blog: Relaunching the Oxford Seed Fund |
Providing the perfect opportunity to invest in real companies, the fund's pool of money can be distributed to current students, alumni, faculty and staff who are working on interesting for-profit projects Read more |
FROM Financial Times MBA Blog: Seven lessons for business, and life |
Entrepreneur Bryan Morton, he gave me some interesting things to ponder. Here are some of his top tips, which I think all businessmen should think about Read more |
FROM Financial Times MBA Blog: Live Q&A: European Business Schools 2015 |
Given the political and economic crises in Europe, what is the future for European schools - and is it a good place to study? Our experts will answer your questions from 2 to 3 pm GMT on Wednesday, December 9. On the panel are: John Board is dean of Henley Business School, UK. Previously, Prof Board was director of the ICMA Centre at the University of Reading - a training alliance between the securities industry and various organisations. Marion Debruyne is dean of Vlerick Business School, Belgium. Prof Debruyne has worked in various industries such as healthcare and financial services. She was also a visiting doctoral fellow at the Wharton School. Danica Purg is president and founder of IEDC Bled School of Management, Slovenia. Prof Purg is also chair of the 2013 steering committee of The Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME). Della Bradshaw is the FT business education editor. She manages all our business education coverage. Ms Bradshaw also devised and launched the first FT business school rankings in 1999. Read more |
FROM Yudanashi: Balance & Peace During the Oxford MBA |
Any MBA is an intense program, you uproot your life & routines at your job & hometown and purposefully put yourself into uncomfortable environments with people who all have a different perspective. It is painful the way a deep-tissue massage is painful. It hurts so good. However, just like any massage you need to take a break from the pressure. Weekends aren’t helpful unless you take-off and disconnect from the MBA program entirely and sometimes you need one of those weekends. At Oxford that might mean taking a trip to Bath to use their Roman Spas after your exams (Next week’s adventure!) or it might mean taking a cheap RyanAir flight to wherever is cheapest for a few days. This term I have neglected this advice and it built up. I was getting homesick and stressed out and realized that I needed a mini-break. In looking at the options I found a cheap flight home to DC and realized that this weekend was my friend’s annual over-the-top christmas party and my old chorus’ holiday show. So I did what any crazy person would do, bought the ticket for 60 hours back in DC two nights before my flight. I am so grateful that I did, even if it took away some time from my favorite class and time to study for my exam on Tuesday. I am already feeling more energized and invigorated for the week to come. You see I am the type of person to operate at 150% otherwise I’m start to get unhappy. I take on a lot of things that I make certain I get done but leave no time for anything else. A coach once told me that that’s how I’ll end up dying 50% early … I’ll work my heart to death. This weekend was a practical & valuable lesson that I need to take care of myself if I as a leader am going to take care of others. It is up to me to discover the balance, slow down and in doing slow be better at the 150% of things I choose to do. Another amazing part of this trip was that it served as a confirmation of what my old DC friends told me when I left and what I haven’t acknowledged as truth until now. When I needed a break and was feeling homesick I went to DC. I didn’t go to Utah where my Mom & Brothers are. I didn’t go to Dallas where my sister and one of my favorite nephews live. I didn’t go to some exotic location because I am an unrooted traveller on this planet. No, I went to DC to feel at home. It might not be the first job after my MBA (it certainly might) but I now know that DC is home. That I have roots in DC. That when I am in DC I feel a little more at peace. Something about the insanity of that city resonates with my soul and I know that I’ll end up back in DC soon. I have to catch my flight and actually do some studying for my exam on Tuesday so I’ll sign off and board my flight back to the UK where tomorrow I’ll be more rejuvenated and more centered at the Oxford MBA. |
FROM Financial Times MBA Blog: Be prepared for a business world driven by ‘big data’ |
As MBA candidates, we are here to develop those skills – not necessarily as technical experts doing the analytical work ourselves, but to gain confidence and comfort around the necessary language and interpretation of data science and management. Read more |
FROM uwengdori - Current Student: Interested in Rotman? |
So finally half of 2nd year MBA is done, and I just said hi to Rotman forum on gmatclub.com, but I was like I might as well say the same stuff here as well. Greetings, everyone. This is Josh, class of 2016 and currently in my 2nd year Rotman MBA student. I just finished my Fall term and just wanted to say hi. gmatclub helped me tremendously with my gmat and understanding more about MBAs in overall. Congratulations to everyone who got in, and congratulations to those who are considering MBA as well even if it might not be Rotman. In terms of school experiences, there are abundant resources to get you familiarized with Rotman. 1. Student blogs Yes, we have current student blogs who write their school experiences and I have one too, which was featured on gmatclub as well. https://www.rotman.utoronto.ca/Degrees/MastersPrograms/MBAPrograms/FullTimeMBA/StudentLife/StudentBlogs.aspx 2. Ambassadors Many current MBA students have volunteered their time to help incoming students with advice about Rotman and MBA. https://www-2.rotman.utoronto.ca/sitecore-facultybio/wizards.aspx You can sort by field of interest and send them an email for questions. I am considering of doing a podcast on this lol. If you have any questions, I’m also more than happy to answer them by email or through my blog. Cheers, Josh |
FROM Financial Times MBA Blog: Teamwork eases personal and professional insecurities |
In both business school and medical practice, being part of a team provides invaluable support - everyone can help each other Read more |
FROM Financial Times MBA Blog: The changing nature of philanthropy |
Social entrepreneurship and philanthropy may be different but as the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative shows the two are becoming more connected Read more |
FROM gmat4IMD: Final prep before the big trip! |
Got an email confirming the approval of my wife’s Swiss visa. All major tasks done. Just brushing up my excel and quantitative skills for the next year. Bags almost packed. 17 days to go!!! |
FROM Financial Times MBA Blog: Mark Zuckerberg and the changing nature of philanthropy |
Social entrepreneurship and philanthropy may be different but as the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative shows the two are becoming more connected Read more |
FROM NandoParrado: End of the first quarter! |
I cannot believe that the first quarter is already over! It has been quick and intense… so intense, that I have not managed to keep updating the blog on a monthly basis. (I will fix this over the next few … Continue reading → |
FROM Yudanashi: Embracing my new culture |
A few weeks ago I wrote about adapting to the English culture. In the past two weeks I’ve realized important lessons that are critical to success in the UK and likely useful back in the states as well. At their core, these lessons are to do with politeness and understanding the levels of politeness required to accomplish key tasks. The first lesson took me a while to realize given my background in the Tech industry but should have been self-evident from my time in politics. If you want something done, don’t send an email talk to the person as directly as possible. If you can only give them a call then call them. If you can add video-chat like we had at the click of a button at Google, then do it. However if you really want to get something done, politely invade someone’s personal sense of space and time. They cannot get upset with you as helping you is part of their job, but they also cannot ignore you because you are right there ready to have a polite, calm conversation with them. I re-iterate, have a polite conversation. You don’t deserve a solution, you are doing this in person to help speed up the process, eliminating back-and-forth that email creates. You being there in person is a gift to whomever you need something from as then they can quickly get it finished. Being there in person means they can’t ignore you but it also means they can complete the task and move on. In the past few weeks I’ve applied this dozens of times and in the UK especially it is critical. Relying on email slows things down, saying “Hiya, how’s your day going?” in person gets **** done. The second lesson is to couch everything negative (and I mean EVERYTHING) in a polite ****-sandwich. Personally I prefer just the criticism straight-up so I know where to get better. Maybe its the East Coast blood in my veins (Mom & Granny were born in NYC) but this is the more effective way to couch things. A fantastic Brit articulate this to me in the clearest way possible with the following example. She told me, to deliver a critique simply say the following “The meal you cooked me was brilliant! … The-sex-was-**** LOVE your kitchen.” Complete with saying the middle section fast and moving onto the 2nd compliment almost without taking a breath. Since that moment I’ve begun to couch any criticism I have in a ****-sandwich only to see it eaten quite handily. Apparently this means I am becoming more british but I think that these lessons apply back in the states as well. Its an important lesson to learn and the Brits have definitely helped me internalize it! |
FROM gmat4IMD: MBA Consort!!! |
Hey guys, visit mbaconsort.com for information on the partners program of IMD. Thanks to Marcella Rispo for her time and photos. A lot of important information even for us who are looking forward to the next year at Lausanne… |
FROM Financial Times MBA Blog: Learning to love financial markets |
Financial management courses inspire Brenden Sheehan to master the intricacies of financial concepts Read more |
FROM gmat4IMD: 10 Apps to have before you start your MBA journey |
I’m about to start my journey at IMD from January 2016. Before the journey starts, I wanted to finalize the list of apps that a business school graduate must have on the first day of the business school. These 10 apps will definitely make your business school life easier. If you do think of other apps that need to go on with this list, please share. Swipes: A clean, fast and intuitive task hub to keep tabs on all your upcoming tasks and meetings. The app is free for now. The app is available across various platforms from iOS and Android to web. Alternatives: Wunderlist, Todoist and Any.Do Producteev: Though Wunderlist is a good option to share lists and for assigning tasks, we need to pay for the unlimited access to Files, assigning and subtasks. This is where producteev fits in. For a business school graduate to work in teams and ensure all the members of the group are on the same page, producteev could be one of the best apps. The free version has unlimited access to most of the tasks we are going to perform at business school. Apps for iPhone, Android, iPad, Mac & Web are available. Evernote Though it hardly needs an introduction, it is a must have for anyone. It can just nullify the use of various other apps for lists, group tasks and even reminders. It can record audio. Though it could do absolutely everything, if you are not game for the subscription service, you will be in for a paltry 60 MB monthly upload limit. The Evernote plus with its 1 GB monthly upload limit and the Evernote premium with its 10 GB upload limit could be game changers with all the additional features. If you do not want to cough up for the Evernote, then you could use the above mentioned apps individually. Alternatives: Super Notes (iOS), Asus SuperNote (Android) Good Reader This is an amazing tool for reading PDFs, highlight, markup and even do free hand drawings. Fill up and sign PDF documents. It handles huge PDF documents with great ease. It comes with a small price. Alternatives: Xodo PDF reader and Editor (iOS and Android) Roambi Analytics Take data from excel, google spreadsheets and similar environments and create stunning visuals easily. You can even access the visualizations offline. The power of desktop analytics tools squeezed into an app so simple, fun and easy to use. All this for free. Bloomberg Business The most important financial and business news, with the added advantage of market data and portfolio tracking from one of the most trusted sources available out there. I really like the idea of having all information under one roof and without the hassle of expensive subscriptions. Alternatives: WSJ, CNBC Business News and Finance and Market watch One Drive Though there are many worthy competitors in the cloud storage business, I chose One Drive as the best option as you get a 1 TB storage option with Office 365 which is a must buy especially if you combine with 4 of your cohorts to buy the home plan for 99$ or even cheaper (In effect, you end up paying 20$ for the whole Office Suite and 1 TB of cloud storage). Every one gets 1 TB storage capacity which is more than enough for the entire year. The app is fast and easy to use. The cheapest version if you go without an Office 365 would be a 50 GB limit for 2 dollars a month. The free storage though is only 5 GB from January 2016. The second favorite or if you are not into OneDrive would be Dropbox. Drop box is useful especially if use a lot of different devices. The free storage limit though is just 2 GB. Alternatives: Google Drive (Free storage - 15 GB), Mega (Best free & encrypted storage – 50 GB) & Copy (Free storage - 15 GB) BA Financial Calculator Pro Just in case you forget your financial calculator for the class. An exact replica of the BA 2 plus Texas instruments calculator. Might be a real value addition to your app collection. Mind Node One of the best mind mapping apps out there with an intuitive and clear interface to help users brainstorm and be more creative with little effort. It comes for a nominal one-time fee rather than some of the other more expensive options with subscription services. Pocket Schedule Last but not the least, the Pocket schedule lets you keep a track of your courses, classes and assignments. This app will show the classes/lectures you have for the week in the week-view. You remember the feeling of forgetting the important lectures for the day during your school/college days. Now, you don’t have to anymore with the help of Pocket Schedule. |
FROM Financial Times MBA Blog: What does business school recruiting look like? |
There are many routes to getting the job you want, says Harvard MBA student Marta Szczerba Read more |
FROM Financial Times MBA Blog: Attending climate change events and the future |
As we finished the end of the MBA specialisation period, the COP21 Climate Change Summit reached a deal here in Paris. Read more |
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