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18 Sep 2015, 04:01
| FROM Financial Times MBA Blog: Team-Bonding Abroad Before Classes Start |
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Over the years, I’ve noticed an increased emphasis on the role company culture plays in an organisation’s success. Read more |
18 Sep 2015, 08:01
| FROM uwengdori - Current Student: relax |
  take a break from all the computers, work, and get some sunshine and green.  
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20 Sep 2015, 04:01
| FROM Financial Times MBA Blog: Reflections on my MBA experience |
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His MBA journey started with hopes, ambition and expectations. Now blogger Sam Peters is on the verge of making them reality. Read more |
20 Sep 2015, 07:01
| FROM Yudanashi: Keeping an Open Mind |
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I have now spent two weeks in the UK and have been loving every minute of it. Sure I miss home and probably need to call my family more often, but the time I’ve spent here has been incredible. In the past two weeks I have visited the pub C.S Lewis, JRR Tolkien (and the rest of the Inklings spent every Tuesday) at least 5 times. I have spent countless hours with my classmates and have started to get past the initial greetings portion of any new relationship. I spent 3 days in London including a wonderful date with the cute flight attendant. We went to one of the oldest pubs in London and to an amazing tapas restaurant in central London. After 3 years of DC “tapas” this was phenomenal as a full meal for two was less than $40 and the food was incredible, fast, and beautiful. The date went nicely and we are scheduling another (for those interested). I also had a chance to attend an gathering of LGBT leaders, both under 30’s who are shaping the consulting, financial, and legal realm and senior executives of BP, HSBC, Credit Suisse, and Forbes, Inc. Finally I spent a day helping canvass for London mayoral candidate Syed Kamal (if anyone is interested in meeting & helping out with the race let me know!). It was awesome to notice the similarities and vast differences in campaign tactics and techniques in the UK vs USA. What has been truly amazing is the mental transformation I have been going through as I continue to seek an open mind. Let me tell you, it is hard! However, one instance gives me hope that I can keep growing in this capacity. I am going to be vulnerable here so please forgive me my failings. After bussing back up from London late one night, Matt and I went to the housing complex right behind the business school where a large crew of our Indian classmates were still having a party (it lasted 9 hours in total). We joined for the last 2 hours and for whatever reason I was expecting to walk into a very-foreign environment, one where Matt and I were the only white guys. To be disappointingly honest my gut reaction was one of semi-superiority. “I’m coming from the states”; “I have had some amazing experience;s”; “I have a unique perspective.” … yada yada … prejudiced BS that was coming from somewhere inside of me. HOW WRONG I WAS and how glad that I am aware of it now and also feel comfortable enough with my classmates to share this vulnerability. I met amazing people that night who come from highly successful and remarkable backgrounds; but at the end of the day we are all, above everything else, human. Regardless of country, race, gender, sexuality, religion, creed, or any other barrier. We are homo sapiens. And beyond that, what we share in common unites us. Nothing made this more clear than 2 key items. The first was the power of dance regardless of music and culture. We all danced to Indian music and Hip Hop alike and shared a connection in the dance that help shatter my ridiculous, pretty-naive mentality. The second was the connections we shared in growing up as evidenced by the loud group of 15 people singing the theme songs from Ducktails, Tailspin, and The Lion King.  The biggest lesson I learned in the past two weeks was the continual need for me to have an open mind, as free from pre-conceived notions as possible and baring that a constant recognition that in the end, we are all human. The things that divide us are as consequential as someone having blond hair or red hair, right handed or left handed. We can choose to make a hullabaloo about them, but in all semblance of the reality that at our core, we are all the children of the stars and our differences are utterly immaterial. With so much that connects us, being biased based at what divides us is a waste of time. I hope that my candid expression of ridiculous thoughts will be taken in the spirit they were written, one of humility and in a place of growing understanding. To my Indian friends in particular reading this I sincerely apologize for any absurd thoughts I have had and hope you will forgive me in the future as I continue to fail (although hopefully with far less frequency and obviousness.) |
20 Sep 2015, 19:02
| FROM mybjourney: Lets do this! |
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The day for which countdown begun 290 days back (literally), is now hardly 11 hours away! I’m going to take a moment to let that sink in. I moved in to my accommodation at Rewley Abbey Court last night and my flatmate and I are happy with the location of my flat. The view from our bedrooms is of the magnificent school campus, and on the other side our living room makes for a nice hangout place with the Castle Mill stream flowing by. It feels good to have a nice cozy place to come back to at the end of the day.  I took some time out from my unpacking to meet a few batchmates and also grab a quick dinner with some of them at a joint closeby. From the looks of it, I have a fantastic batch with a great mix of people, almost everyone I met so far has been warm and welcoming. It was great to finally have faces to all the names I had been interacting with over social media in the past.I was quickly filled in with stories of the previous evening’s invasion of the the Turf Tavern by the batchmates (a rite of passage for the incoming MBA class, I gather). This evening I also got a chance to attend the introductory session on the Oxford Women Leadership (OWL) community by the outgoing chairpersons and a co-founding alumna. The room was abuzz with women (and a decent representation from the men as well) from diverse backgrounds. There is so much to learn from each person and her story – one thing I am incredibly proud of for being in an international cohort. I went for dinner to Jericho Tavern with an alumnus who also happens to be a senior from my undergrad college. It was interesting to hear about his experience of the program and the university as a whole. One thing that I strongly agreed with him was on making a conscious effort to explore the university and get involved with activities outside of the business school that interest me. While walking back towards my accommodation, I was mentioning to him about how awed I am of the place and intend to make the most of the time that I have here. He patiently heard me out and what he said to me in the end left me thinking about it for long. He told me – exactly in a year from today, you will look back and realise how it would seem like it was only yesterday that it all began, yet you will find a completely different person in you. If the first day is any indication of the times to come, I can assuredly say that this is going to be a phenominal year. Said Business School, Class of 2016 – let’s do this!  
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21 Sep 2015, 00:02
| FROM Financial Times MBA Blog: Europe vs. America |
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Stephen Morse justifies his decision to study in the UK for a one-year MBA Read more |
21 Sep 2015, 10:02
| FROM Financial Times MBA Blog: Detroit, concrete jungle where dreams are made of |
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It is fitting that the last place I stopped before heading to the UK to start my MBA at Oxford’s Said Business School was Detroit. Read more |
23 Sep 2015, 10:02
| FROM Financial Times MBA Blog: On to the other side of the world |
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Monica Dee swaps the busy life of Hong Kong for a business school in the US Read more |
24 Sep 2015, 21:01
| FROM uwengdori - Current Student: Clubs Fair…once again from last year…except that I’m on the other side of a table |
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It was just about a year ago when I posted my excitement about attending the Rotman clubs fair and how I had no idea what each club was. View my last year’s post here and before realizing, I am now already a 2nd year and I am now where they were on the other side of the table!   2nd years had a welcome-back brunch and had chances to catch up.    There was a feeling of nostalgia when I was quietly walking inside the empty Desautels Hall. Sometimes there is so much excitement here and sometimes it’s quiet. So much time had been put into this by all the 2nd year students.  and all of a sudden, the hall is jam packed.  Some snacks we gave out as Rotman Health and Wellness club.  At least in the present, you might be thinking what the value of clubs is, but perhaps after a few years, maybe 5 or 10, or even 20, when you recollect your memories from MBA, it is my hope that you have something to take away from and can say that you were very busy, but learned a lot through clubs. Join the club.  
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25 Sep 2015, 09:01
| FROM Financial Times MBA Blog: The difference a year makes |
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On entering the second half of her MBA, Kristina Koch analyses how things change Read more |
27 Sep 2015, 14:01
| FROM Yudanashi: MBA Launch begins – A Year of Opportunity (MT -2) |
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This week has been intense and honestly felt like a month. We have had many parties and pub nights, LONG lectures filled with all 340 of us; some terrible sessions and some astoundingly amazing ones including Sue … Sue Tonks and Simon Bucknell. Simon’s session on executive presence was by far my favorite and I gained a lot of lessons from his time with our class. The biggest lesson is that story-telling is a missed opportunity in business and that is one reason it is so successful. When Simon told us this, it resonated with something a McKinsey partner told me at an event a couple of weeks ago in London. The partner said “Strategy is differentiation.” Think about that for a minute. Strategy is differentiation. Perfect strategy is doing something that your competitors in the space aren’t doing instead of merely copying their tactics. Strategy is about taking the opportunities that everyone else misses. I firmly believe that this is a fundamental axiom of business, that being different from your competition gives you a strategic advantage and because of this I am starting to think about what differentiates us as a class from our competitors. What opportunities are in front of us that we could miss if we aren’t careful? As I spent the week thinking about our class in action each day and wondering what opportunities we have I realized our biggest one. On Monday we were told that Derek Walker the director of our careers center is quitting. We will be without a careers director for some time and while there will be coverage from department leads, this is a potential set-back for many of us. For others it is a crisis. I  f DC has taught me anything useful it is to never waste a good crisis. I chose to see this “crisis” as an opportunity for us to define our class. We have a choice to either compete with our classmates for jobs or to support each other in getting the best job for us and for those in the class. I believe that just as storytelling is a missed opportunity in business, supporting each other’s ambition is a missed opportunity for MBA students. If we can support each other and put all competition aside we will end up a much strong class because of it, both now and long-term. Let us not be like HBS, Wharton & LBS and draw our long-knives ready to cut down our competition for a limited number of SBS slots for key employers. This *may* help someone get the initial offer more than their classmates (no guarantee) but it does a disservice to them in the long-run. Instead Supportive Ambition, helping each other prepare for case interviews even if there is only 1 slot for SBS, is what can set us apart. Why? Not because I believe in some utopian existence, but because I believe it provides the most value, long term. How? If you are short-term greedy and focus on getting yourself the top slot you might get it, but you miss an opportunity to build close relationships with your future peers in the industry. If you instead work with a group to prepare for the same role then the odds of you getting the role goes up (more applied practice) and there is always a possibility with these employers that they open up space beyond their target for each school. Lets pretend for a moment that you help your classmates and don’t get the job. Would you rather that job go to someone you don’t know from LBS, someone you have have been competing against at SBS, or the buddy you spent 20 hours working on interview prep with? Which is best for the lifetime value of your network? This strategy is also backed-up not just by hypothetical situations, but also by John Nash whom we should be discussing this year. His work on group dynamics and game theory prove that the best outcome for us is to do what is best for *both* ourselves and the class as a whole. If you don’t know who John Nash is or haven’t seen A Beautiful Mind then at least watch this short clip and realize that Supportive Ambition is an opportunity for all of us to finish this year in an astounding way. I hope that each of us continues the power of this first week and supports each other. I know that I am willing to talk with anyone looking at marketing roles as I craft my personal brand and story. |
28 Sep 2015, 10:02
| FROM Financial Times MBA Blog: First impressions of Durham |
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Exchanging Italy for the UK, Luca Sabia settles into his new home Read more |
30 Sep 2015, 12:01
| FROM Financial Times MBA Blog: From Imperial to MIT Sloan |
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Michael Wieder reflects on his final project and his time at MIT Sloan Read more |
30 Sep 2015, 14:01
| FROM Ambitiousbusinessguy: Meeting a record-breaking group of classmates |
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It’s a statistic that has floated around since orientation and pre-term, but I think it bears repeating: the Kellogg class of 2017 has a record percentage of female students, and at 43% of an incoming class of 492, those students are poised to make a big impact. I had a chance to feel this impact quite viscerally when I walked into the Allen Center a few weeks ago for the first annual Women’s Welcome Event hosted by the Women’s Business Association (WBA). https://kelloggmbastudents.wordpress.com/2015/09/29/meeting-a-record-breaking-group-of-classmates/  
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01 Oct 2015, 05:02
| FROM Financial Times MBA Blog: Case studies & cocktails |
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I realised this evening that my life now epitomises b-school as captured in the title of Shuchart and Ryan’s business school survival book Case studies & Cocktails. Read more |
02 Oct 2015, 05:01
| FROM Financial Times MBA Blog: Leaders vs soldiers |
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Stephen Morse says it is the choices one makes that distinguishes a leader from a follower Read more |
02 Oct 2015, 11:01
| FROM Financial Times MBA Blog: The beginning of a great, shared journey |
 My inaugural two weeks of MBA life can be summed up in three words; exciting, challenging and fun. Read more |
02 Oct 2015, 15:01
| FROM Ambitiousbusinessguy: KWEST 2015 #TBT |
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Last week, hundreds of first-year and second-year students traversed the globe as part of KWEST: Kellogg Worldwide Experience and Service Trip. Kyle Burr, one of the student-run KWEST executive committee members, wrote about the KWEST experience in the run up to this year’s trip. As Kellogg’s first-year students continue their Complete Immersion in Management (CIM) week, take a look back at some of the photo highlights from their trips as part of Throwback Thursday. https://kelloggmbastudents.wordpress.com/2015/09/03/kwest-2015-tbt/  
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04 Oct 2015, 18:01
| FROM NandoParrado: Weeks 0-1-2 |
I am completing today my third week at the GSB, and time is already a very constrained resource. So I will post here a comprehensive update for the month of September, and I will aim for one update a month from … Continue reading →
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04 Oct 2015, 18:01
| FROM Yudanashi: Vulnerability – MBA Launch Week 2 (MT-1) |
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This week as an MBA was focused on setting the stage for our year here at the Oxford MBA. We started the week with GOTO (Global Opportunities & Threats at Oxford) a module designed to get us thinking about global scale challenges and how diversely we can start to define them let alone solve them. From the 60M displaced migrants globally, to the shortage and scarcity of water, to the impact of big data on privacy & cybersecurity. This module provides the context for our classes in the broader world and looks like it will be the highlight of our year. We spent a day hearing from the careers department about various career paths that we can take from our MBA and I got some 1:1 time with a sector advisor to talk through my story and where in marketing I want to end up down the line. We started our lectures in Analytics (really just statistics), Business Finance, and the “Global Rules of the Game” which really was about building coalitions and working within the global legal frameworks of the EU, UN, and US governments, coalitions, and NGOs (I felt right at home). Lastly this week (and the subject for today’s post) was our days spent looking beyond Money, Blue-chip firms, and Fame at what really drives us. What gets us out of bed in the morning. What our passion truly is and how in looking at our own diverse narratives we can find those things which motivate us. It also was a lesson in unconscious bias and the dangers that lurk there. In talking with our class it received mixed reviews, but for me it was the most powerful session we have had in the past two weeks. Coming from Google my manager and our leadership team focused a lot on similar aspects so much of this wasn’t new, as such it made me truly think about where I stood in the world and what motivated me each day. Ultimately I came to terms with the fact that “I don’t know” what motivates me. And that that is okay. I’m still looking for my mission, my cause, my quixotic quest. I am definitely motivated by many things (I don’t think anyone who gets into the OxfordMBA program isn’t) but my true motivation eludes me. I spent this week getting to a space in which I am okay with that fact for now. What is so phenomenal about our program are the people. I said this in an earlier post but after meeting so many of my classmates this is absolutely the truth. I say this because had it not been for a handful of my classmates I would have had a completely lousy week. But we have gotten to know each other well enough that I felt comfortable enough to be vulnerable with a handful, letting them know that I needed help.  It is an incredibly difficult thing to do, ask for help, but in doing so I was able to forge closer relationships with people whom I now know will always have my back. I made myself vulnerable to my classmates in a program known generally for its competitive nature. Instead of using my weakness against me classmates have helped me become stronger. As I look at our class and the year ahead of us I hope personally to continue making myself real and vulnerable with each and every one of you. I hope that members of the class who are reading this know that I am happy to be a listening ear; a friend who will help in times of need; a part of your support here during our year abroad. In the coming weeks I want to talk more about opening up to others (hopefully with more examples from my own life), but in all reality it is late and I have an Analytics class in a few hours. More to come next week. |
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Hi Generic [Bot],
Here are updates for you:
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Tuck at Dartmouth
AGSM at UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE
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