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Calling all IMD Applicants: (2016 Intake) Class of 2017!!

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

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20 Jan 2016, 16:00

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FROM IMD Admissions Blog: A sneak preview at life before Microsoft

As bloggers already mentioned in their posts, we've had a "Life before Microsoft" evening, adn it was quite an experience!

Here's a preview of what our night, and life before Microsoft, looked liked!

As you see, a night to be remembered!

Fouad

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24 Jan 2016, 10:00

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FROM IMD Admissions Blog: Real world. Real learning.

I have to
be completely honest with you… I never quite bought the idea of Executive
Education being able to reproduce the real world. I believed one thing
definitely added to the other, but that both could not coexist.

So you
can imagine that the IMD slogan "Real World. Real Learning." was
intriguing to me…

Only 2
weeks into the program and IMD already proved me wrong big time!!!

In Ralf's
Economy classes we learn the concepts and fundamentals, the theories and
different approaches to any issue and then… we talk about how things really
happen in the real world. No BS, real stuff! Humans, mistakes, things we cannot
predict. And how to manage them in a realistic way. Refreshing! (and all of
that interspersed with his German humor that cracks me up all the time)

Last week
we were also divided into groups and met the Start ups we'll be working with
for the next 3 months in the Entrepreneurship stream. I was surprised with the
Swiss entrepreneurship scene. There are so many cool start ups here!

We cannot
say much about those projects, but I'll tell you this: just by meeting the
selected companies (15 out of 125+), I had a peek into life as we don't know it
yet for the following years. The future is being built here, and we'll have a
chance - and a duty - to make an impact on each of those companies. It doesn't
get more real world than that!

On a more
personal note, I started to feel the IMD load and got a bit overwhelmed with
the overlapping tasks! It sounds weird for someone who worked 14 hour days with
a large team and simultaneous critical projects. But it is a different type of
workload! I was surprised with how easy it is to get behind.

So, no
time to lose. Breathe in, breathe out… and GO!

Have a
great week everyone.

SS

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27 Jan 2016, 08:00

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FROM IMD Admissions Blog: Gravity

Learning from IMD professors
is sometimes trying to release our thoughts from gravity. In an attempt to think differently my
mind would ache, if it only could. We know a lot and we are experienced and “old”,
we are highly motivated to study and we spend nights preparing our assignments,
and then during a class we receive a simple question “why?” or “so what?”. It’s
not a problem of saying something superficial, but a challenge of “did I
actually find the core?”. No matter how cool we may be, we are actually
monotasking: big dive requires high concentration and dedication. In our class
we are all exceptional, yet it’s amazing how much we can grow.

Since the start of work in small
teams a week ago, we’ve got to know our peers and a bit disclosed ourselves.
Though, being to this program we have much in common, we already have seen
differences in perception and behavior. This week we are facing
our beautiful selves in a leadership experiential. I am a bit charged and I
will share my first grains of goldmine the next week.

For those of young mothers who
are preparing to apply for the next-year class here is a finding: indeed,
mothers are irreplaceable. But some of our features/functions are, well, substitutable,
sometimes in an unpredictable way. My daughter successfully leveraged her knowledge and networking skills through... my former colleague and a
good friend of mine (Olga, thank you!). So, here is a takeaway: we can give
more by letting others, even our precious children, solve their issues by
themselves. And as our feelings (should) have no gravity, our beloved ones would
always have our support. Let us explore!

Till soon,

Aysylu

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28 Jan 2016, 04:00

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FROM IMD Admissions Blog: The big jump

And they did it !

Fouad

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28 Jan 2016, 05:00

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FROM IMD Admissions Blog: Reflections - Guest entry by Neha

I thought you guys might want to hear different perspectives and so we managed to convince Neha to share some her perspectives with you! I hope you enjoy reading about Neha's journey through the corridors of IMD and beyond!

---------------------------------------------------

Bonjour à tous.

I am Neha Kabra, an Indian and a banker by profession with a wide experience across markets and functions. When the blog team invited me to do a guest entry, I jumped at the opportunity. Firstly, because I have been on a tremendous learning journey over the past three weeks, a journey that has been closely interlinked with 89 super-accomplished individuals and secondly, because I really wanted to share my perspective with my classmates and those hoping to join IMD.

The thing that strikes me the most about IMD MBA is the sheer brilliance surrounding me coupled with the intense and fast paced environment that hit me from Day 1. As I learnt about the accomplishments of my classmates, I had the privilege of working with high-performing teams on critical projects and experientials. Right now the entire class seems to be “profoundly” absorbed in a series of high impact projects: The Startup project, The Industry Strategy Audit and The Leadership Experiential.

I chose the IMD MBA program for its “legendary” Leadership track and today I patted myself for my decision. The class has been divided into two large Cohorts. My Cohort just emerged from two power-packed days of the first Leadership Experiential.

Looking back, the experiential was incredibly challenging as 48 of us navigated through a series of testing, goal oriented situations. We had our ups and downs, heated exchanges, broken noses (just a metaphor !!!) and introspection, sometimes we led and sometimes we followed – in the process we helped each other improve, we became more self aware, trusting and cohesive as a group. My biggest learning from the experiential can be well summarized in this quote by Mother Teresa – “You can do what I cannot do. I can do what you cannot do. Together we can do great things.”

Finally, I am glad to report that we have all survived the first of the many bases we hope to conquer over the year.

Btw, here’s the look from the last few weeks. As they say, change is the only constant J

Till the next time,

Neha

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31 Jan 2016, 13:00

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FROM IMD Admissions Blog: What you give is what you get

So… the
famous leadership experiential took place last week! Our class was split in two
Cohorts and switched between regular classes and the 3,5 days full on
experiential.

I was
impressed by the quality of the entire experience and especially our coaches.
Really great, top-notch global professionals that were there with us full time.
IMD MBA is the most junior group they coach, all of them are used to working
with global leaders in the C-level, not to mention military, government, etc…
Outstanding staff!

The focus
of this stage was to understand ourselves in a group setting (self in group)
rather than going into group dynamics, which is the next step.

I believe
any leadership or self knowledge experience is a "what you give is what
you get" experience.

If you
want to stay locked into your safety armor or don't want to be exposed to your
own "darkness", it won't have as much impact… No one can do it for
you except yourself!

For me
personally, the key lesson was that suppressing who we are is never a good
idea. I was trying to do things differently than I would naturally (sort of
trying to write with the wrong hand) but in the process I left also my own
personality and my strengths behind… My
group was great in pointing that out and giving me an important wake up call
for the entire year.

I realize
it's not by changing who I am that I'll evolve. It is by being myself in a more
conscious, polished and balanced way! So let's aim for that

After the
experiential it was time to dive back into our Start up Project and Industry Analysis… It was great to see how our group already started working together in
a different and more open way.

One thing
I was super curious before I came to IMD was about life in the
"dungeons" and the study rooms. So here is a little peek into our
group life when we were all super concentrated in finding data to support our
assumptions about the future of Transport Infrastructure

Group 8 clockwise: Me, Luca Gianaschi, Nicolas Martinez, Philipp DeAngelis, Roraj Pradhananga, Vladimir Petrenko

An
amazing week to y'all,

SS

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01 Feb 2016, 16:00

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FROM IMD Admissions Blog: My takeaways from the leadership experiential

As is evident from two fantastic
entries by Sylvia
and our guestblogger Neha, leadership experiential is clearly the flavor of the week. Let
me carry the baton forward and share with you what I thought about it.

It was intense, at times
discomforting but always insightful. In a way I am a bit sad that the
experiential is now behind us but I am glad that it prepared us for what lies
ahead. When I came back from the experiential it took me a while to assimilate
all that had taken place over almost 3 days. In fact at some point the whole
purpose of the exercise just dawned on me. The “experiential” was meant to make
us experience things – simple, Isn’t it? But what does that really mean “experience
things”?

In my opinion much of the
leadership training is about enabling us to look at ourselves and the world around
us in slow motion. It is as simple as that. When we are genuinely able to
observe our behavior and that of others around us then we are able to formulate
an appropriate “response” to situations as opposed to “reacting” to them. After
this experiential I believe that most people who are studying at IMD or any
other MBA college for that matter and those who aspire to be here have all the
elements of leadership in them – and the discovery journey is really about
bringing out those tenets to the surface. Anand Narasimhan, professor of
leadership at IMD, said something that really resonated with me. He said that in
any multilateral situation there are two things happening, one is the
communication between the parties and the other is generation of enormous data
in terms of body language, stances, response times etc. that results from that communication.
Too often we are so busy with assimilating what is being said that we miss out
on all the other useful data. Given my engineering background this thought isn’t
very intuitive to me. I always believed that data is something I create and use
during the preparation phase of any interaction, and often behind the computer
screens, and once I am called upon to be in a group my job is to present that
data or perform that is. So you see, often there is a tendency to separate the
preparation and performance phase of any interaction with data relegated to the
back chambers of preparation. The “experiential” however was an opportunity to
challenge that paradigm and test this hypotheses of using “in-situ data” to
make informed and thoughtful decisions. With the tools that we picked up in the
experiential we realized that we have the ability to be sensitive to minute
details during our interactions and use them skillfully to enhance our
performance in the very situation. And that in turn helps to bring out the best
in us.

Having done it once is no
guarantee of being able to repeat it but with practice and patience we should
be able to enhance our ability to be sensitive to the situations and more
thoughtful in our actions. Simulation is always the first step in bridging the
gap between theory and real life and this experiential was one great example of
that. I think it is safe to say that many lessons learnt in this experiential
will serve me well for a long time and hopefully will help me become a better
leader.

Kunal

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03 Feb 2016, 18:00

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FROM IMD Admissions Blog: It’s a kind of Magic

Remember Harry, Hogwards school? Magic is at the IMD!

We study from early mornings till late at nights. Our class is very
supportive and fun; the only problem is lack of time. So much to learn, accomplish
and change in just a year. Here I want to thank those partners, family members
and friends, who support us. One evening I saw a couple in the schools’ coffee
zone: she, who brought a home-made dinner, and he, pulling himself together
prior to the next battle with readings, writings and excel-sheets. Patient moms
quiet their joyful kids, waiting for dads to accomplish their school assignments.
Other partners and family members are far away. While we grow,
you care and support – thank you for this magic!

This week we started with finance
and operations. I witnessed issuing and trading of bonds and participated in a
public decision-making assembly. I realized, that an unfocused question may
create a lot of useless work and improvements must be reasonable in terms of
marginal cost and profit. Industry analysis – just during the first month here
we’ve already done it from several perspectives; I came to the IMD having an
extensive background, but now I need to change my magnifying glass to a
helicopter pilot’s chair (no broomsticks). What is the key difference among key
market players? Not former colleagues, working for competitors. What are
strategic differences among top players, pros and cons? It’s not about product
features, brand perceptions or distribution channels. Dig deeper to get higher
and let financial statements guide yourself.

My blog mates expressed quite
different, but very relevant views on the leadership experiential. I guess I dared
to dive and suddenly found myself flying. Clarifying my drivers and patterns let
me open a white and crispy double-page of my life-book, and I also can see my team
differently. We are on our way to find a secret formula of leadership and
working together: be it a wizard or a magic powder, or something in between… Yeah,
we are at the IMD!

Till soon,

Aysylu

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04 Feb 2016, 04:56

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Whoa... deadly quiet here!! Only newsIMD seems active and doing its job. :wink:

Alright guys... Hope all R1 applicants have submitted their apps and waiting for the good news. Good luck to everyone!! Feel free to share your admission updates, application experience, any questions, with fellow applicants here. If anyone wants to become a ThreadMaster for this forum, please let me know.

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Location: Singapore

Concentration: Operations, Technology

Schools: Cranfield '17 (A) Oxford'17 (M) IMD '17 (A) ESADE '18 (A) MBS '18 (A) IE Sept'16 (A) Kenan-Flagler '18 (A$)

GMAT 1: 690 Q48 V37 Verified score

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Schools: Cranfield '17 (A) Oxford'17 (M) IMD '17 (A) ESADE '18 (A) MBS '18 (A) IE Sept'16 (A) Kenan-Flagler '18 (A$)

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Submitted last week and no news so far.
One qs: is it really true that all applicants need to travel to the school for interview or the ad-com arrange interviews in other cities

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06 Feb 2016, 11:49

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Preparing for R2 application. Nice to see the FT ranking bump for 2016 20 >>13

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07 Feb 2016, 09:00

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FROM IMD Admissions Blog: They call them... the dungeons

This week, we spent a lot of time there. This is what they look like, on a good day

Fouad

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07 Feb 2016, 16:00

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FROM IMD Admissions Blog: Game on!

Yeap. The
insanely busy, long days have definitely arrived (and I don't think they plan
to leave anytime soon).

The past
days were super intense juggling the new classes of Finance, Operations and
Marketing with the Entrepreneurship and Economics group assignments. The whole
week felt like just one very long day, with quick pit-stops at home. I don't
think there was anyone I spoke to this week that didn't reply my "how are
you?" with: "tired". I know I did it many times! Haha

But I'll
tell you something… it's a different kind of "tired". It's tired with
a smile and sparkling eyes. It's bursting curiosity. It's not wanting to be
anywhere else. It's always having an extra 5 minutes when you're on your way
home to help a classmate with the last exercise or just for sharing some good
laughs.

I hear it
gets worse. Much worse, some say.

At first
I didn't believe it (How can we be busier than this?). Then I was just scared (I won't be able to make it!).

Now, all
I can say is: I'm sure we'll be stronger by then. Much stronger!

Bring it
on.

Best,

Sílvia

P.S.:

Found that self-reminder on my phone from the MBA decision making days. Nobody ever said it was gonna be an easy year… :)

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09 Feb 2016, 15:00

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FROM IMD Admissions Blog: Beyond leadership

IMD MBA has become synonymous with leadership but that is not to say that it is only about leadership. In fact the last couple of weeks were about many other subjects such as finance, operations, marketing and accountancy. For me operations and marketing were completely new subjects and I thoroughly enjoyed being exposed to new concepts. Since IMD MBA is targeted at people with significant experience ( avg. 7 years) who are looking to move into leadership roles shortly after graduation, the approach to all subjects is very "managerial". This means that every time we are taught a new concept we are given an opportunity to apply those in a real world situation. This "learning by doing" approach is an effective way to learn. Another characteristic of the program is that it is highly integrated. The professors are continuously talking to each other and therefore are easily able to make for us the connection between different subjects. In fact we have already been assigned month long projects which serve as the laboratory for applying several concepts picked up in different classes. For instance, the start-up project which began as an entrepreneurial project has very quickly also become a testing ground for "customer focus" concept learnt in the marketing class. So we are constantly flexing our muscles looking for opportunities to apply our new found knowledge. The program encourages us to go beyond our comfort zones, try things out and fail. As Professor Benoit of entrepreneurship puts it, "failing is not bad as long as you can fail fast and recover". And so we are not afraid to fail, in fact if anything we look forward to making mistakes because we have come to realise that our successes after the MBA will be built on our failures during it.

We, therefore, plough on through sleepless nights and chilly mornings and hope you are following closely behind.

Kunal

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11 Feb 2016, 06:00

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FROM IMD Admissions Blog: Learning curves

I like sounds of sea: billions of wave
melodies blend to form universal harmony. Individually we might be able to
distinguish only a few, but in sharing with others – listen to symphonic music.
This is what I see in our class: perspectives of my classmates enlarge my
comprehension. At the same time, our IMD experience can be compared to that on an
ocean cruise, so intense, full of uncertainty, versatile and multilayer, and
absolutely impossible without support and input of each of us. Guys, with you I
am more.In reflecting on in my leadership
journey I caught myself thinking, that while my initial objective was in my personal
development, I actually invest in others, meaning that I will harvest only a small
peace of it. I as a leader, ideally self-aware, efficient, humane, courageous,
respectful, caring, supporting and so forth, I am being baked at IMD to serve others.
And it has nothing in common with psychology of a bee or an ant. It calls me to
respect and endeavor, to enjoy and nourish team environment. No dominating,
rather freedom to contribute, discover and inspire – this is what IMD gives me
at this stage. What is happening to me in a team environment, how I influence
the team, how its dynamics shapes the work that we do? I came as an ego and I
am now an ego in a context and I am in transformation...

Thanks to intensive studying I
start to reevaluate importance of various business functions within
organization. Viewing business from a marketing window for several years made
me believe that nothing was more important than my function. And today, for
instance, I appreciate more impact of supply chain on a business. I’ve never
viewed it as a human function – forecasting, analyzing, dealing with channels
seemed to be demanding high responsibility and concentration, very technical. However
today through a new integrated perspective on operations I reevaluate my relationship
in a broader and structural context.

We are on a learning curve.

Till soon,

Aysylu

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14 Feb 2016, 08:00

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FROM IMD Admissions Blog: The year of the Monkey

Last week, we entered the year of the Monkey according to Our chinese friends.

Our social committee organised a great night for us to celebrate!

Fouad

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14 Feb 2016, 15:00

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FROM IMD Admissions Blog: What do you mean by busy?

We're at
that stage in the IMD MBA where there's no escaping the lack of time and sleep.
Friends and family start to miss us and wonder if we lost our phones or were
taken to another planet

I
remember asking some alumni about what it meant to be busy here because I could
not really grasp the concept of not having time even on weekends. I went to all
of those time management courses (I guess we all did) and wasn't it just about
choice and planning? At that point I was working 14 hours every day and doubted
it could ever be as busy.

Talking
to some classmates we thought it might be a good idea to make prospective
students (and why not friends and family?) understand how and why is it that we
get so busy.

Here it is:

The IMD MBA is not a one-year
MBA. It is a two-year MBA done in 11 months. (perhaps this is enough)[/*]
It is also frontloaded,
meaning we get a lot more study load in the first semester so that we can
use it in the second semester with our ICP, Discovery trips, etc.[/*][/list]

We have classes Monday to
Friday from 8 am to 5 pm. All classes have required prior readings of book
chapters, cases, exercises, etc that can take from 1 (oh, those happy
days) to 5 hours to prepare every day. If you don't prepare, you will not be able to follow at least 80% of the session. [/*]

Every Friday one of the
groups present a mandatory repetitorium of the past week until 8pm.[/*]

We often have extra sessions
on weekends or after class. I'd say about once every 2 weeks.[/*]

Our groups have 2
simultaneous large projects that take at least 12-16 hours of group work a
week.[/*]

[/list]

Do the
math, but don't be scared. Everybody survives it and even say they miss it!

Bottom
line is that the life of a C-level executive or entrepreneur will never be easy
to manage. This way we also get a crash course on how to function on limited
resources (like sleep) and allocate our time and energy.

This week
will be especially busy. Wish us luck and stay tuned!

Sílvia
Simões

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16 Feb 2016, 07:00

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FROM IMD Admissions Blog: Is China triggering a global crisis?

Nuno Fernandes is the Finance Professor for the IMD MBA Program. Always dressed with fancy suits, Nuno guides us through business cases about the global financial market. I find his classes very relevant and the lessons learnt transferable to the real world management decision making process. He is able to take a complex situation and break it down into a simple but compelling rendition and creates an atmosphere in the class that encourages students to roll up their sleeves and dig deep into the discussion together with him. His class is a perfect example of what an interactive case discussion should be like.

Here is a recent article he wrote about China.

Cheers

Gary (Chinese)

The recent steep slides on global stock markets have been a long time in the making. As early as two years ago, it was becoming obvious that China’s rapid rise was coming to a screeching halt and leaving excessive debt in its wake. In recent weeks, the Chinese market experienced its biggest weekly fall in 20 years, tumbling more than 15%. This volatility serves as a further warning: China is still an emerging market, and it has an immature financial system.

Excessive debt is infecting every sector of China’s economy. Most large companies in China were on a roll for a number of years, in large part thanks to subsidies from the government. But, at the same time, they were not accruing capital because their activities were so dependent on subsidies. Chinese banks, which are mainly controlled by the Communist party, compounded matters by giving credit at artificially low interest rates fueling excessive debt in all of the country’s sectors.

Many of China’s largescale development projects are perfect examples of how excessive debt has piled up. Infrastructure projects, funded by subsidized loans with low interest rates, yield low profitability and weak capital productivity. Much of this credit is given through a system called "shadow banking", meaning it does not go through normal bank loans; credit products are sold directly to individuals.

Public sector debt, particularly at the local and regional levels, has been enormous. They have gotten in their current predicament by over-relying on infrastructure projects. This cannot last forever as there are only so many roads one can build.

China also has a number of other problems. Due to the one child policy being in place for so long, its massive elderly population will have to be sustained by a much smaller working population. Social spending by the state will only increase exponentially, especially on education and health. The Chinese government also has a very high budget deficit. It is officially estimated to be at 3% or more in 2016, but how high it will really climb is anyone’s guess.

Chinese authorities face some very tough choices ahead. China is currently exhibiting many “rich country” problems while it has the budget of a “poor country”. A structural reform of its tax system is now clearly needed. If China wants a market economy, it must learn to accept the volatility that comes with any open market economy.

In the coming years, China will most likely go through a very similar scenario as Europe has in the years after financial crisis. Serious restructuring in Chinese business models and banks’ balance sheets. China’s sheer size and role on the global stage means that its problems will create risk for the global economy.

Question: How do you think companies should react to the slow down and transformations in the Chinese economy? - Please share your thoughts and comments.

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17 Feb 2016, 15:00

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FROM IMD Admissions Blog: Let's start-up

IMD MBA program is well known to have produced many leaders and managers but it can also boast of a long list of the "third kind" that have developed their best ideas and skills in it's corridors - the entrepreneurs. Entrepreneur is a french word and literally means someone who organizes a business. Entrepreneur is also the etymological root of the word "enterprise" and if we come to think about it, indeed entrepreneurs form the foundation of any large enterprise. Most big corporations started as an entrepreneurial venture, even those formed with government support required entrepeneurial mindset, grit and perseverance.

So essentially, it is impossible to become a complete business leader without having experienced the entrpreneurial journey in some ways. The last few days at IMD were dedicated to just that - giving us a flavour of entrepreneurship. Through myriad cases we vicariously experienced the ups and downs of starting a new company. And not just any cases, these cases were of the companies that Professor Benoit has had close association with. True to the "real world" element of IMD, Benoit brought these cases to life by sharing some of his first hand experiences with these companies.

We also heard from one of IMD's home grown entrepreneurs who shared in great detail his 8 year long journey. A journey of sweat, blood and tears, of uncertainities that can put weather predictions to shame and of human perseverance in the face of all challenges. Such inspiration can last a lifetime and I am sure some of us will use this inspiration to take the plunge into starting our own enterprises.

Our journey doesnt end here, if anything it begins here. As mentioned in an earlier post, all 90 of us have been assigned to work on real start-ups and in the beginning most of us were a bit tentative about how to go about these projects. But after what we have learnt in the class we cannot wait to go out and apply these learnings in our start-ups. In fact earlier this week we already had an opportunity to get some expert feedback on our plans for the start-up project and it was reassuring to know that many of our ideas can actually be a valuable proposition for these start-ups.

Many of us may never chose entrepreneurship as a career, some of us might do so but I am convinced that regardless of the path we choose the skills and mindset built in the entrepreneurship stream will serve us well in dealing with complex business challenges.

Kunal

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18 Feb 2016, 16:00

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FROM IMD Admissions Blog: Depending on a viewpoint

The last days were tough: studies,
projects, essays, emotions, challenges, and just a couple of hours for sleep… Can
I endure more? A great training for perfectionistsJ! Some say that life is stripy, if you move across, or, if lengthwise,
just an endless, black stripe. I disagree – from now on my days are either good or perfect.
I can’t structure yet what IMD gives me, but definitely I am enjoying changing.

We had guests speakers. One is an IMD MBA
alumnus, a successful entrepreneur, who gives an impression of a happy
person. He seems to get drive from all his incredible ups-and-downs in
business. He is looking for change and change is looking for him. His
enthusiasm and desire to make the world better are contagious. And I feel proud of belonging to the IMD community. Another guest speaker is a
business angel. According to him, there is nothing to be afraid of in
uncertainty - it’s everywhere. People and organizations approach it differently:
some structure it slowly unless they get a comfortable result, which by
that time becomes obsolete. The others just jump in, but those who have a
secure base, reduce risk and stress. And another valuable observation is that
change itself is useless – it can bring added value when it relies on values of
people and organizations. If you want to make change, devote yourself
completely, partial trial worths nothing.

Like a Jerome K. Jerome’s medical
student, who found in himself symptoms of all known diseases (MDs know that well), except for a housemaid's knee, I started dreaming “what would I be if I worked in operations, in finance, in accounting
or as a CEO?”. We get a very hands-on education, in which school-reality
boundaries are squeezed and erased.

Till soon,

Aysylu