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FROM Financial Times MBA Blog: China’s businesses are ambitious but market dangers lurk |
The innovation of some of the Chinese business models was impressive but the country's financial landscape is volatile Read more |
FROM Yudanashi: Rankings Rundown |
So sorry that I’ve been absent for the past few weeks – its been a busy term! – A few things have happened that I want to touch on that my readers may find relevant. The biggest one is that (as many of you know) the FT posted its MBA rankings and SBS fell a few slots. Now I could get into a long rant about the methodology; how 47% is based on Salary 3-years out while only 4% is based on “Aims Achieved.” Or how INSEAD helped to develop the FT rankings in the first place and they happen to be #1 this year. But that doesn’t help anyone. Instead I’ve taken the past few weeks to look at and think about the accuracy of the ranking, its relevance, and what changes can (and are) being made to improve the school itself (regardless of rankings) in the long-term. First of all, I think that the rankings are more-or-less accurate if you are an MBA recruiter looking to slot Management Consulting or Finance candidates. We should probably be in the late-teens, but there is a lot to be said about our 1-year program (which starts late) and its ability to prepare our students for in those fields in the short-time frame that we have. This is a problem which can be fixed and in looking at the program for the next 2-3 years it will be addressed very quickly with a handful of initiatives designed to give students who know they want to do Finance or Consulting the tools they need to network, recruit, interview, and get placed at top firms. We already started this shift with our year, the first to offer a summer internship for credit which allows partnerships with Deloitte and Accenture (and many finance roles I know little about) which can parlay into jobs following the MBA. Second, as you may have guessed from the first part, I think that rankings are largely irrelevant. Really only Finance and Consulting recruiters care about MBA rankings. Tech, the next biggest recruiter, doesn’t really and the one that does (Amazon) just hired like 10-15 people from SBS. For all fields, when you move to your second job (typically within 2-3 years post-MBA) the recruiter doesn’t care about your MBA ranking but the brand recognition of your institution. In our case Oxford University carries significant weight. In the long-run, it shouldn’t have to; SBS should be able to stand on its own, but it is an undeniable fact that the school and students enrolled or incoming should lean into. We are a part of the broader University of Oxford – an institution 220 years older than the founding of the Aztec empire, 350 years older than the Gutenberg printing press, and only 42 years younger than the Greek Orthodox church which split from the Roman Catholic church in 1054. We are backed by amazing colleges rich with history, scholarships, and alumni networks that other business schools can only dream about – incoming students lean into your college network. Third, other schools are focused on building huge alumni bases and top salaries in a play for the rankings and to make up for what Oxford has and they lack. They recruit students who are sponsored by their consulting firms in large numbers and often they lack the ethnic, cultural, or gender diversity let alone the diversity of industry we have at SBS. In my section we have your standard 3Ms of an MBA (Mormon/Military, Male, McKinsey) but we also have leaders from Teach For America (a huge feeder into Google and other large Tech firms), master’s students in Data & Analytics, Mechanical Engineers, high-fashion experts, social entrepreneurs who built schools in Africa, and quite possibly a handful future Heads of State. SBS chooses to (potentially) sacrifice the rankings in favor of a more diverse student population and I feel that the discussion, and our global network is far superior to other schools because of it. Lastly, we are in the process of rapidly changing things but that takes time. We are going to on-board students differently, we have tapped a new careers director (announcement forthcoming) and are now looking at a replacement for the MBA director role that was vacated this past week. We have quadrupled the number of marketing electives this year and are poised to propel a new generation of digital-first marketers into Brand Manager roles at major firms. We hired a new careers lead for Social Impact and are looking at hiring another for Technology as well. Each day as class Rep I sit in one meeting or another with faculty or administration; day-in day-out I see how the sausage is made. Has the school messed up in a few areas? Definitely although they may not admit it. Do the operations and communications need tuning and improvement? Absolutely, which is just one reason why Dina Dommett was hired 9 months ago and you can see the improvement she has been. Does the school know where their challenges lay and how they are going to address them? Mostly (and where they aren’t its more because of bandwidth, not institutional inertia). Is this a perfect school? No. Is HBS? Wharton? Kellogg? LBS? – In talking with my friends at those schools they have similar complaints across the board. Can we be a much better school? Yes, and I have complete confidence in the long-term value of an Oxford MBA from SBS. This degree is going to be immensely valuable – despite what the FT rankings might lead you to believe. As always if you want to talk about any of this reach out to me (a few incoming students already have) – email: blog@davidbbaker.com and I’ll get to you as soon as I finish a couple of assignments! |
FROM Financial Times MBA Blog: Networking lessons: an MBA does the Sundance Film Festival |
Selling anything is hard, but selling yourself can be the most difficult thing of all Read more |
FROM Arnabm2007: Being an International MBA - Part 1 |
Hi there. I am writing this post after a really long gap but I thought this might help aspiring MBA candidates to get a better insight into the life of an International MBA, not confined to SMU COX but in general. In my experience through interaction and exposure, I have realized a few aspects which I have put in here. Hope this might help. 1. The cultural differences: I guess this is majorly the first challenge that all internationals have had to face while making a choice of stepping out of their own soil. Just like in cricket, you go to Australia and face the bounce and skid, in England you face the swing and in India, its majorly about exploiting the cracks, it is similar for an MBA student tuning himself up with the culture of the new place. About USA, its very framework is built on people drawn from various parts of the world and Asia today contributing to 40% of its growth. USA accepts you as you are. Well ! It might take some time but just be there, you will be fine. As one of the instructors very well put it down, it follows a curve where there is a crest and then a trough but the wave stabilizes in some time. 2. Communication barrier: One of the things that will help you overcome this is your allotted study group. A few of my friends in my study group have helped me understand their style of communication better. The words that you write in your thank you notes to professionals, the words that you speak while talking to people around you and how you design your cover letter and resume, it is a very different ball game. The faster you learn that, the better you will be. I am still learning and my friends are helping me in that. Having said that, you can always reach out to your colleagues from the US and be open to learn and rectify the mistakes that you might be making. 3. Put weight on your work experience: Hunting for a job is a tough ask for an international MBA student here, especially with the policies of H1B and STEM degrees. It is a serious factor while considering where to put in your application. Secondly, the companies do put in a lot of importance to the skills that you carry forward. Some of the skills that all of you will carry forward in case you are from an engineering background are- technology, analysis, manpower management, data. It is important to identify what sets you apart. For internationals, numbers and statistics in your resume play a major part in showing the visibility of your work experience. In simple words, a guage to measure performance. Concentrating and putting your efforts early in your job search is important. 4. Networking: One of the jargons you will hear a lot about is "Networking". I am still trying to figure out the fundamentals of this word as many others are. Communication engineers can relate some of it. Just replace the machines with people and probably it will sound much better. Personally, I have seen the ones who are driven by passion for an industry and spending hours behind expressing his passion through effective communication to have not even get to an interview room. On the other hand, there are the ones who have done nothing and failed. I put my thrust behind finding the right people to talk to and an effective communication. Besides, if you are driven by passion, you can't hold your tongue back. So, I guess I am not the right candidate to answer this. 5. Finding the right companies: One, not all companies sponsor for internationals. This will come as a setback to all those who are interested in automobile industry but hardly a few companies do hire internationals. Some of them are Tesla motors and Harley Davidson. But if you are open to explore the financial side of the automobile industry, Toyota Financial Services and Mercedez Benz might be the choices. Speaking to the Techies out there, it might not be the best choice for you to be at Dallas and think of a dream job in the Silicon Valley. First, Silicon Valley doesn't see if you are an MBA or not. They put more weight on your skills to build. Second, Silicon valley puts weight on your relative work experience for international MBAs. Facebook might have been the place where I would have gone to but come the final round and I was facing the chin music against experiences of 7-8 years. For people from Asia, Tech consulting should be interesting but you might prefer to try other fields as well. Honestly, I have not seen many consulting firms hiring for technology consulting roles from Cox. In this article, I have touched over a few points and I will continue this thread with highlights on Marketing and Finance which is a major concentration in SMU COX and you have a lot many companies in the campus recruiting for these roles. Talking about Happy Hours and social life, I may not be the right person to write anything on that but I will try finding the write person to talk to you over it. Cya then until the next article ! |
FROM Arnabm2007: Being an International MBA- The Conferences |
While reading this article, the first and foremost thing that I would like you to do is: Do not expect a job out of any of these conferences. On the leeway side, what I would like you to do is: attend these conferences (at least one of them) because these are the pathways to a huge reservoir of network that you potentially can exploit for your career goals later on. NBMBA: Most of the internationals prefer the National Black MBA Conference which is huge. It is grand, it is magnanimous. You will walk a lot and tire a lot but you can potentially make good contacts during this conference. Most of our batch mates, especially internationals did make their presence felt and one will also find students from all different colleges across the United States. So, it is not just an opportunity to connect with corporate but also an opportunity to get to know your counterparts from other colleges. Speaking about the companies, one can find them all- from Coca Cola to Mercedez Benz to Microsoft- they are all out there. What I loved was the energy in the environment. We were totally soaked in that and really did not want to come back to college. In each of these company booths, there will certainly be people from each department. So, you like marketing, go and talk to the marketing guy in the booth. You strike a chord with them and they keep your resume which usually goes to a dustbin later, you may ask for their email id or a business card (which half of them will deny not carrying one) , go back home and send a small thank you note to all of these people with whom you have ideally spend 5 minutes or so, same as thousands of other candidates must have and they too must have sent their thank you notes. God save the poor guy whose inbox will be bombarded with all the thank you notes and tons of requests to help them get them the job ! Apart from the NBMBA, there are the National Hispanic MBA, the Asian MBA and the National Women MBA. While one can find similar gamut of companies in the National Hispanic MBA and quite a lot in the Asian MBA, the National Women MBA was a tad disappointing as there weren't many firms in the conference this year. Besides, the energy levels were not awe inspiring. However, for just a $25 registration, one can't ask for more. The paradox: Think putting yourself in that seat. Are you even going to look to those thousands of emails? Some of them may reply to you and if you have a different kind of spark, the connection might just work out. One valuable contact is worth of an effort. It is not about just making the contact, it is about maintaining the contact. Concepts similar to acquisition rate and repeat rate in business. What drives you then ? One of the two things: 1. Rehearse your elevator pitch again and again so that you look confident to present yourself properly to those executives because your first impression does matter. 2. The passion that you have for a particular job or an industry so that you can talk over it for hours together if required. Read a lot because knowledge helps here. And the last thing. Now, do not get disappointed when I say this but it is very practical. If you are an international, you will get to hear this 9/10 times, "Sorry we do not sponsor internationals" and you will walk away. The good part is that- you will have tried hard and learnt a lot. It is a different kind of an experience from the recruiting process in Asia. The difference: The thing that we find here different as compared to Asia is that back in our home country, when you are graduating from good colleges, companies will line up for you. It does not matter if you know finance or operations, a candidate will apply to all job openings and companies will then filter you out based on numbers. If you hold a 8.5+ GPA and a GMAT score of 740+ and are you from IIT ? you make it to the interview room and get pounded with "are you IIT top 100 or top 1000" or an "IIT Kanpur or IIT Roorkee" and bumps into you a question with all puzzles and numbers. Ethical questions and Pressure cooker scenario. It is all out there. In the end, it does not count if your background in a power major operations, you can still make it to the Finance world or a marketing paraphernalia. Here, you will have to make the moves to understand the company, understand the job that you are interested in. Talking to people in that company and that role thus helps. Yes, most of us (like me) are shy. But then, this is MBA and shyness is not an excuse. Do understand one thing- relationships are not made in a day. One needs to be in touch through days and months. You may have to talk with no reason (personally I have never done that and still feel awkward) but when time comes, be ready to deliver value and material in what you speak. Knowledge is important but more important is your intent to learn about the job and purpose of your application. Again, what guides you is your passion and quality and what gets you the final offer is your connection with the panel. Be more open: There are ways in which one can have a positive energy around themselves and connect well with people. In my batch, I probably am the most silent fellow but there are others who do a lot of different and interesting stuffs. Student life is good in here and I am sure you will love it. Come and explore, exploit opportunities in sports, club activities etc. and be open to learn and discuss. I believe one will be great. We have happy hours every week. If you are a soccer fan, you can try out the indoor soccer stadium here. Night life is cool in Dallas and there are a number of places to go to. Just be open and I believe, you will have the best time of your life. To end with: Finding a job is the most difficult part and especially coming from a different culture altogether, it gets a bit more tougher. It is important to make the right connections with the right people in the right role in the right firm. Backed by an inherent passion and an approved interest, thoughtful insights and a deep knowledge will help you get a long way in your job search and your life as a whole. I will be back next time with a small article by someone who can speak well about "inside the financial world" at SMU COX. Till then, Thanks ! |
FROM Financial Times MBA Blog: Sick man of Europe: food poisoning and the MBA |
Being sick during an MBA is really not great, especially during an intensive one-year programme Read more |
FROM Financial Times MBA Blog: How I decided to do an MBA |
An old friend from high school helped to realise a business school dream Read more |
FROM gmat4IMD: Roller coaster ride! |
Since the last blog, it has been a roller coaster ride. It was a relief to see some snow fight. But, the last week was very busy with so many case studies, materials to read, submission of leadership essay and the preparation for the industry analysis. To add to it we had start-up meetings as well. It’s better for anyone to get used to a lot of reading before starting the MBA journey. The pre-class preparations required are enormous. And then the post class follow up readings. Weekend mornings seem like heaven as we get to sleep for 8 to 9 hours instead of the usual 5 hours or less. But, then we hear the professors saying that we haven’t yet seen the difficult days yet at IMD. What are those going to be like if these are the easier days. What is the better way to learn about Entrepreneurship than working with real startups who invest real money? What is better than hearing a real-life entrepreneur share his own experience or an angel investor with immense experience in the field talk about how each and everyone of us have that entrepreneurial instinct in us. Every passing day is making it harder to complete the 6 hour sleep required. More than anything, I even had my first session with the Psycho analyst today. |
FROM Financial Times MBA Blog: The business of diversity |
The issue is top of the agenda of today’s business leaders and schools, so how do they address it? Read more |
FROM Financial Times MBA Blog: The time has come to think about careers |
I know what I want in a job, but I am still struggling with where I can make sacrifices to achieve it Read more |
FROM Ambitiousbusinessguy: Teaching sustainability in the business school: Challenging Business As Usual? |
Sustainability has become an increasingly fashionable concept in management education as business schools seek to respond to growing social criticism of business activities. Unfortunately, much of what passes for sustainability teaching involves co-option of the concept of sustainability within existing neoliberal discourse. So, is teaching sustainability in a meaningful way possible in the business school, […] https://climatepeopleorg.wordpress.com/2016/02/23/teaching-sustainability-in-the-business-school-challenging-business-as-usual/ |
FROM Financial Times MBA Blog: Chinese New Year and the making of a business mindset |
While missing her family during the festival, Sunny Sheng reflects on why her MBA is worth the money and the hard work Read more |
FROM Ambitiousbusinessguy: LGBT BUSINESS SCHOOL STATS [2015 – Summary] |
Every year Reaching OUT works with their LGBT MBA Club Affiliates to track changes in terms of LGBT young professionals pursuing their MBAs at any given them. From this data, it is known that on average, approximately 3% of MBA students identify as out gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or queer. * Click Image For a Larger View […] https://lgbtbizhub.com/2016/02/01/lgbt-business-school-stats-2015-summary/ |
FROM Ambitiousbusinessguy: The GMAT Prep |
A 580 is what I got on my first GMAT practice test. I knew I could do better, actually I knew I HAD to do better if I wanted to get in to any of the schools I was targeting. My question was how would I do that, and the first decision I needed to […] https://mba2018.wordpress.com/2016/01/26/the-gmat-prep/ |
FROM Financial Times MBA Blog: So, here we go! A leap into the unknown. |
So here we are, a couple of weeks before my Executive MBA kicks off with Warwick Business School at the Shard in Central London. The thought occurs, and not for the first time, “What the hell am I doing!?”. I’m 44 years old for God’s sake. What’s the benefit? Will I even have enough time to reap the benefits? I’ll be 46 when I graduate let’s remember (or 47,or 48, let’s hope it doesn’t get to 50!) we’ve got two young boys (6 and 7 at the time of writing). Incidentally, despite the age of the boys we’re pretty new to parenting having adopted in mid-2014, so we’re only really learning the ropes on that front too. More on that to follow no doubt as I juggle those priorities… I’ve actually got a job, a good job. I really don’t think the resultant statistical 3,000% increase in salary applies to me, though it would be nice to think it did. I’m actually already a statistical outlier according to the FT MBA profiler: already older than almost every student, earning more, more senior… Read more |
FROM Financial Times MBA Blog: A leap into the unknown as my Executive MBA begins |
What's the benefit of doing the course at the age of 44? It will give a different challenge outside the day job and family life Read more |
FROM Ambitiousbusinessguy: The Key to Business School |
In my quest to prepare for business school I recently read a book by three graduates of a top US MBA program. I’m glad I did because Mastering the MBA changed how I’ll measure success at business school. That revelation is the subject of this week’s post. *** By the time you sit down at your first MBA […] https://efessays.com/2016/01/25/the-key-to-business-school/ |
FROM Ambitiousbusinessguy: LGBT MBA Profile: Rosanna Fugate, Andrew Martinez & Brian Rocha from Harvard Business School |
Published on Dec 18, 2015 Reaching OUT is a 501(c)3 organization dedicated to educating, inspiring and connecting current and future LGBT MBAs and professionals through year-round programming. This programming includes the annual Reaching Out LGBT MBA & Business Graduate Conference (ROMBA Conference), the national LGBT MBA Fellowship, providing scholarship and leadership opportunities for LGBTQ and […] https://lgbtbizhub.com/2016/01/22/lgbt-mba-profile-rosanna-fugate-andrew-martinez-brian-rocha-from-harvard-business-school/ |
FROM Financial Times MBA Blog: Why did I come to China to do my MBA?… |
The conversation that continues to resurface is not so different from China itself Read more |
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✅ UVA Darden : Mar 13, 2024 ✅ Dartmouth Tuck : Mar 14, 2024 ✅ Michigan Ross : Mar 15, 2024 ✅ IESE: Mar 15, 2024 ✅ Johnson (Cornell): Mar 15, 2024 ✅ Georgetown McDonough : Mar 18, 2024 ✅ Emory Goizueta : Mar 20, 2024 ✅ UT Austin McCombs : Mar 21, 2024 ✅ Chicago Booth : Mar 21, 2024 ✅ UC Berkeley Haas : Mar 21, 2024 ✅ UCLA Anderson : Mar 22, 2024 ✅ Yale SOM : Mar 26, 2024 ✅ Wharton : Mar 26, 2024 ✅ Kellogg : Mar 27, 2024 ✅ HBS : Mar 27, 2024 ✅ Stanford GSB : Mar 28, 2024 ✅ UW Foster : Mar 29, 2024 ✅ USC Marshall : Mar 31, 2024 ✅ MIT Sloan : Apr 5, 2024 ✅ Cornell Johnson : Apr 5, 2024
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