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04 Dec 2013, 11:01
| FROM Oxford Admissions Blog: Getting results |
We have just received results for our past few essays and, most importantly, our very first exam. And let me say this was not just any first exam, but an exam in Managerial Economics. I am very positively surprised by the score I got and immediately decided to think a lot more positively about my work next time. Our Professor advised us to write everything that comes to mind on the topics included in the exam, which is exactly what I did and it seems to have worked! But of course, 20% of the grade come from my super working group result, so thank you to the guys in my group – we did it again! I also finally managed to get a distinction for my essay. My fundamental problem is that I rarely get to prepare during the week, so that the weekend just before the Monday lunchtime deadline usually ends up being the only time to write. Mostly, I spend one or two days on an essay, but this time, I invested a couple of intense evenings plus the weekend. I think I will stick to this if I can because admittedly, getting a distinction, feels no less exciting than when I was at school. My respect to all who have kids, how do you guys do it? The October module was quite a special one for me. I hadn’t seen the class for almost two months, but it felt like much longer. Accordingly, long night talks followed throughout the whole week. By Friday, I was impressed that some people actually went out again – all I was able to do was pack and think of going home. Also, I missed Octoberfest in Munich, but others seem to have made it and let me say, well done on representing the class! Next year, we should all go and celebrate our graduation. We finished Financial Reporting during the October module and it was the most refreshing, brilliant class I have ever taken and I promise to watch out for overly handsome executives, as there clearly must be something wrong with them. Also, palm oil farms that pay dividends in the first year and IT companies deferring revenues to fake growth are all on my blacklist. I actually look forward to preparing for the November exam and already bore my friends with statements like: “I suppose the company next door will move into their newly built headquarters very soon – the moment they move in, they can start writing off the value of the property”. I also used my newly gained knowledge about deferred revenues in services firms during some client events, and by chance met a palm oil farm owner whom I had a great conversation with about suspicious British accountants taking on CEO jobs. Second half of the week was spent on Finance which pretty much meant confusion. We did some matrices and other complex things – don’t ask, that is all I can remember! Next up, we are supposed to submit a work group paper about Whirlpool and we have an exam in Financial Reporting later in November. Also, we get to present our Entrepreneurial Projects, which reminds me that I need to start preparing for that as well. |
04 Dec 2013, 11:02
| FROM Oxford Admissions Blog: Oxonian traditions |
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Oxford’s rich traditions are invaluable experiences that you won’t find on any other MBA program. Top business men and women have developed a network of contacts in and appreciation for diverse subjects and industries. Hence, the collegiate system allows me to dine in formal hall next to the world’s very best doctors, astrophysicists, and artists. All MBAs are keen to experience dining in as many college halls as possible. So, we have a tradition of inviting one another as guests. It’s a really great way to get to know others and experience Oxford’s charm at its finest. Each hall has its own unique charms, and there is something wondrous about each and every formal hall meal. I am a member of Merton College, which claims to be the oldest. We are commemorating our 750th anniversary with a white tie ball next week. Last month I literally got chills as all of the freshers (first year students) filed into our chapel for the college induction ceremony. Dressed in academic robes, we each became official members upon signing our name in an official book that will go down in history. I thought of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkein writing their names in the same book years ago, before going on to write their famous works at the table that inspired The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. It remains in our beautiful college garden today. Each time I step through the portal into Merton, I can easily understand how Lewis was inspired by the juxtaposition of escaping a busy and bustling city and stepping into a fantasy world. Matriculation was a very special event to mark our formal acceptance into the university. Dressed in sub fusc, or academic dress, we gathered in our respective college quads for class photos before being ushered into the Sheldonian. Therein, we participated in a brief Latin ceremony of welcome. The time ceremony is a quirky event unique to Merton. Google it. When we come off British Summer Time, we believe that time stops. An alum in the 1970s invented this concept and dictated that the time/space continuation would fall apart if we did not spend an hour walking backwards around the quad whilst linking arms and drinking port, dressed in academic dress, naturally. |
04 Dec 2013, 11:02
| FROM Oxford Admissions Blog: Two months in on the MFE! |
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The modules on the MFE programme are getting more and more challenging – I have to review lessons of linear algebra and calculus. I regret not bringing my old textbooks with me! It takes time to get used to the English terms, such as vectors, as I studied them in Chinese. A lot of concepts are ancient history for me. For example, I studied linear algebra at 18, calculus at 19. I have forgotten about most of the theorems and methods. Now I understand the importance of math, as it is the basics for economics, asset pricing, corporate finance, and financial econometrics. To me, corporate finance is the easiest, and the most interesting module. When I was in Tsinghua, I took case study courses, and enjoyed cracking cases. With corporate finance, I did my first ‘big assignment’ in Oxford, and used the practical work database. It was such an enjoyable event. Financial econometrics is the hardest…I feel discouraged from time to time, although I have studied statistics and econometrics before. Again, I need to translate the English terms into Chinese from my previous knowledge. The Matlab course is relaxing, though. The teaching assistants are nice and patient. I could only use Stata one year ago; now I have basic knowledge of Matlab. The finance modelling lab is interesting too. I had a chance to communicate with MBA and MSc in Law and Finance people. They give me another perspective of Said Business School and Oxford. Apart from my studies, I engage myself in activities and clubs. I have made friends and enjoy eating and chatting with them. We have tried several restaurants. However, I cannot eat red meat, so I only eat seafood and watch them eat pork, lamb or beef. When we talk we have a lot of fun, I learn that everyone comes to Oxford for a reason. The reasons vary, but they are all amazing. Sometimes I miss Beijing, my family, my cat and my friends, but I tell myself I should be strong and carry on. I have friends here. I love my friends, my teachers and my classmates. I should do whatever I can to enjoy myself, to be happy every day, and live my life to the fullest. |
04 Dec 2013, 11:02
| FROM Oxford Admissions Blog: The top 5 things about being a DPhil at Oxford |
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I just had a call today, as I frequently do, with an acquaintance thinking of applying for a DPhil at Said Business School. The call reminded me of all of the things I love most about being a DPhil student here. Sometimes it’s easy to take for granted how wonderful this place is, and how lucky we are to be a part of it. So, here are my top five things that I enjoy most about being a DPhil student at Said: 1. Oxford, of course The most beautiful college town in the world. The dreaming spires, the Thames, the fantastic angle of light that beams down on us in the late afternoons, the walks in the University Parks in late November through the yellow-leafed trees with the crisp air blushing our cheeks, the dozens of cafes, each with their own personality. A street called Logic Lane. Mysterious corridors. Dinner in Hall. Candlelight through a window at night on a snowy street. 2. The academic scholarship Said is an innovative spirit in an ancient place, allowing students to take new, hands-on approaches to academic work, and to begin our careers with innovative research techniques and topics of passionate interest. The focus on scholarship that makes a difference, on interdisciplinary studies, and on drawing from a set of diverse resources, makes research here exceptionally rewarding. 3. The mix of cultures and backgrounds Being a DPhil student means that we get to meet many classes of MBAs and EMBAs in our years here, and to get to know the faculty on a deeper level. My fellow DPhils come from Greece and South Korea and South Africa, bringing their cultural riches with them. Said’s international focus allows us to work and study and teach with each other’s cultural differences and make them part of us. 4. The access Oxford is home to world-class academics in every field, and hosts events nearly every night that you would never want to miss. As Oxford students, we can approach anyone in the world for research opportunities, collaboration efforts, or professional connections, and have the opportunity to be heard. It’s often exhilarating, often humbling. 5. The opportunity to make a difference Said gives us the time, space, resources, and guidance to become excellent researchers but also to make an impact on the world. Professors take academic approaches from mathematical sociology to anthropology to history, and allow us to create projects that reflect our interests and goals. Read through the thesis topics of past students, and you’ll probably get hooked like I did. If you are considering studying for a DPhil, this is the place to do it. |
04 Dec 2013, 11:02
| FROM Oxford Admissions Blog: Labels and meanings |
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Here in Oxford, traditions are important. That is why, among other things, we wear gowns for formal examinations, we say grace at dinner in Latin, or we refer to fall/winter, spring, and summer terms as Michaelmas, Hillary, and Trinity. When something has survived for 800 years, it is not that easy to change. These labeling traditions also affect our doctoral programme. For example, we call DPhil what everyone else calls a PhD. But labels carry their own meanings, and if we call it DPhil instead of PhD it is probably for a good reason. In this case, I would say that it is to emphasize the distinctiveness of the Oxford approach to doctoral studies, and to university education in general. Here the ‘tutorial’ experience is very important, where faculty often have one-on-one meetings with students to review relevant papers or to discuss the next steps of their research. Similarly, there is a tradition here for students to say that they ‘read’ instead of ‘study’ a degree. For example, I am reading a DPhil in Management Studies. Again, it could be just a label, but in fact it also reflects that reading is usually the main task in most of the degrees here. While in other universities students attend many lectures or group seminars, at Oxford the norm is to read, read, and read – and then of course discuss those readings with your tutors, colleagues, and supervisors. A final label that is especially important for me these days is that first-year DPhil candidates are known as Probationary Research Students, and it is not until after they submit and successfully defend their research proposal that they are proper DPhil Students. I just applied for my Transfer, which I will defend soon in front of two assessors/examiners, so hopefully I will tell you about that experience in future posts. Again, although being called ‘probationary’ did not feel that good at the beginning, I certainly think that after this first year I am a much more mature and complete student (still with a loooong way to go), so the label has made sense to me after all. At least, if the assessors say that they are looking forward for Hilary, I will know that they are eager to start the new term, and not expecting Mrs Clinton to be the next US President. |
04 Dec 2013, 11:02
| FROM Cambridge Admissions Blog: MBA 2013 — never lose the why |
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Monday marked the beginning of Orientation and the MBA school year for almost 140 MBA 2013s. The programme for the first day comprised a welcome session by the new Director of the MBA, Simon Learmount, introduction sessions within the two streams and a welcome reception for new students, partners and their children. As the Head of Admissions, the first day is always a strange day for me. It marks the end of a journey that started more than a year before when we held our first open days to recruit the new class. During that time, my team has met many prospective candidates, organised webinars, and addressed their queries regarding the admission and enrollment process. Now it is time to step back and refocus on recruiting the new class while the Programme, Careers and Projects teams work more closely with MBA 2013. By sheer coincidence, today, I came across an illustration by Hugh MacLeod that he calls Never Lose the Why. He draws inspiration from Simon Sinek’s TedX talk on How Great Leaders Inspire Action. Sinek argues that great leaders and companies (eg Martin Luther King, Apple) do not communicate by saying what they do, how they do it and why they do it. Instead, they inspire action by starting with the why, moving to the how, and the what they do will come naturally. His belief is that people do not buy into features and benefits, they buy into ideas which come from a leader or organisation’s purpose. This got me thinking about my advice to MBA2012 when I spoke to them this time last year. I told them to think about why they were here in Cambridge. I pitched the talk towards the fact that everyone of them was in that lecture theatre because someone in Cambridge had spotted some potential, but also had taken a risk on them because no one had submitted a perfect application. And I encouraged them to remember this point when, during the course of their MBA, they face episodes, when they could be consumed by self-doubt, or frustrations with their fellow classmates. Always remember that they are not perfect but look for the potential that someone in Cambridge had spotted in them. Looking at Hugh MacLeod’s illustration and listening to Sinek’s TedX talk, I now think I should have emphasised the Why and asked our students, “Why are you here?”, “Why do you do what you do?” ” Why should anyone care?” Definitely some ideas for future questions for our admissions process. |
04 Dec 2013, 11:02
| FROM Cambridge Admissions Blog: MBA class 2013 |
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It has been three weeks since the Cambridge MBA class of 2013 first came together on the opening day of Orientation. This year, we have 141 MBAs from 44 different nationalities. Once again, we have a good, even mix of nationalities, unlike other schools where one or two nationalities comprise the overwhelming majority. This even spread of nationalities works in our favour to create a vibrant learning environment and a truly global MBA class. Because I have been travelling the last week and a half, I’ve not actually spent that much time with MBA2013 students compared to previous years. There are still several students, who were interviewed over the phone, whom I have yet to meet personally, but I hope to do so in the next few weeks. |
04 Dec 2013, 11:02
| FROM Cambridge Admissions Blog: What a so-called Oops moment tells us about MBAs |
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I recently came across an article that describes the reaction to what I can only describe as a process errorcommitted by McKinsey when communicating with unsuccessful MBA applicants. In brief, McKinsey sent an automated email to rejected MBA applicants. Nothing unusual there, but the email still showed the field name %Preferred when it should have had the name of the rejected applicant. What struck me as more interesting than what I think is a simple process error, is the reaction from one of the rejected applicants. The article has a quote from an second-year MBA student from ” a top two business school” who said that “I am so shocked that recruiters can come to campus and get away with stuff like this” and “if they do this here, just imagine what it would be like at other schools?” Now, I am the first to recognise that this is just one quote, from an MBA who chose to remain anonymous. One can’t generalise and say that these quotes reflect a large swathe of opinion from MBAs. But it does, once again, raise the issue of MBA hubris and the sense of entitlement that I deserve different treatment because of the school/company/MBA that I went to. It is in this context that, on the first day of the school year, our Director of the MBA talked about the death of the idea of the Superhero leader. This idea that a leader, who almost possess a different DNA from the followers, could swoop in and make meaningful changes before flying away. It is a model that does not work anymore and what is needed now is more empathy to go with the analytical skills that are so honed through a traditional MBA curriculum. But at least one company has turned this MBA hubris on its head. Again, our Director showed this videoon the first day of the school year. Hopefully, our MBA 2013s took that message of humility to heart amidst the excitement of the first day of term. It also reminded me of what a Cambridge alum told me, about how even though he was a former Citi management associate who worked in the CEO’s office, he was not above turning up at a warehouse in the early morning to help colleagues of the fast-growing startup which he was CFO of, to pack merchandise for shipping when orders started to pile up. That’s the type of leader we want. |
04 Dec 2013, 11:02
| FROM Cambridge Admissions Blog: BW looking at ways to revamp and re-energise rankings? |
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A recent articledisclosed the departures of the two top editors of Bloomberg Business Week’s business education team. I have no way of verifying whether this news is accurate and, unlike the author of the article, I am in position nor care to speculate. However, I did respond to one person who asked in the comments section about the absence of CJBS from the Business Week ranking and I thought that it would be useful to reproduce my comments here. “ “We were not included because of a low recruiter response rate. We sent BW a list of 30 recruiter contacts but the way the rankings work is that BW does not necessarily approach these recruiters. Instead, they will approach one person from that organisation who is on their database. Given that we are a small school with a geographically diverse student body who work all over the world, it is possible that the person BW approaches might not be aware of the number or quality of our students who work in that organisation, especially if the organisation has a decentralised recruitment process. To take a concrete example, at the moment, one of the top strategy management consulting firms is one of our top employers from last year’s class. And I will be upfront to say that because of our small class size, our top employers don’t hire large numbers of our students. But because the students are placed in offices with separate recruitment processes, I am not sure whether putting them down as a recruiter is such a good idea for next year’s BW rankings if BW is going to approach someone in that organisation, say based in the US, who was not involved in the recruitment process. It is quite frustrating to be excluded from the rankings because our employment stats are strong. In the 2013 FT rankings, 97% of our students were employed three months after graduation which is one of the highest among the top 50 schools. It is also frustrating given the resources needed to complete the BW rankings survey. I am encouraged that BW is looking to revamp and re-energise the rankings and I would be happy to share my views with BW.” |
04 Dec 2013, 11:02
| FROM Cambridge Admissions Blog: A change of name — a shift in twitter strategy |
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Followers of our twitter account @CambridgeMBA would have noticed a subtle but significant change that occurred about three weeks ago. I used to tweet under the @CambridgeMBA handle but I now tweet under the handle @conradchua16. The marketing team now tweets using the @CambridgeMBA handle. When we first started on the social media journey some four years ago, we were frankly, unsure about what we were getting ourselves into. Instinctively, we thought there was great potential here because what students liked about the Cambridge MBA was the personal transformation that they had experienced, something which we thought could be best conveyed through social media. We were lucky that there were people in our team who had already taken the initiative and started using social media for work purposes. James Barker had written an excellent blog about our admissions work and he was also the first to try his hand at twitter (@JamesAdmissions). Given our starting point, we decided to try little first steps and not commit to any KPIs in the beginning just so that we would not be pre-determining our behaviour when we did not fully understand the potential of the technology. So, I started this blog and started tweeting, while our Marketing team started to co-ordinate astudent blog and revamped our Facebookpage. So far, it has been an exciting journey. I cannot praise the marketing team enough for growing our fan base on facebook to more than 15,000, which is even more impressive when you consider that this is just for one programme. To me, that strong growth in fans was achieved when we re-oriented ourselves from thinking about how to get people interested in our MBA, to thinking about what content could we generate that would be useful to our audience. Of course, we are a marketing team and it is still important to keep our focus on marketing the MBA, but instead of the linear paradigm that was prevalent during the pre-social media era of advertising, we now realise that the gains to the MBA will be more oblique and, if we get things right, could be exponentially greater than the admittedly non-trivial task of getting top candidates interested in the Cambridge MBA. This was also the thinking behind the New Game blogthat we started last year. It is against this backdrop that we decided it was time to rethink our approach to twitter. When we started, it did not matter that much that @CambridgeMBA was an account where I overlaid my personality on corporate tweets. But now with more than 1000 followers, it is now more difficult to mix very factual tweets about events or deadlines that we are organising, with stories about the accomplishments of our students or alums, and my own attempts to engage with people who had an interest in MBA-world. So we have now relaunched @CambridgeMBA to be a strictly corporate account, where our marketing team will tweet about events, deadlines and also content about our students and alums. I will continue to tweet about the school and the Cambridge MBA but under @conradchua16 handle. I am fully confident that our Marketing team will be able to convey the CambridgeMBA personality through @CambridgeMBA, and over time, we will have a corporate account with a strong voice, while also having individuals in the school who have their own clear points of view through their personal twitter accounts. I wanted to end off by plugging the twitter accounts of several people in the school. I have already mentioned James Barker (@JamesAdmission) in the admissions team. You can also follow Michael Kitson, the deputy director of the MBA @MichaelKitson , and of course the school account @CambridgeJBS. I have also created a list of MBA alums who are on twitter (Cambridge MBA alums) that you can subscribe to. |
07 Jan 2014, 02:00
| FROM Cambridge Admissions Blog: Musings on Japan |
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I have turned this post over to James Barker (@JamesAdmissions on twitter) who writes about his first trip to Japan last year when he met prospective CJBS candidates. “In my role as an admissions officer for the Cambridge MBA programme, I am fortunate to be able to travel to some of the world’s most fascinating cities. Last year I was captivated by the atmosphere, culture and business practices of Japan and was therefore delighted to be able to return recently for a repeat visit. Disembarking from the airport bus, it was comforting that, for all its frenetic energy and chaotic streets, Shinjuku felt familiar and I moved on confident that the visit would be a success. My first engagement was with a selection of potential Cambridge MBA candidates at a dinner arranged and co-hosted by some of our highly engaged local alumni. Pleasingly, we were able to welcome a diverse group of people from finance, consulting, science and technology – some of whom were going to be sponsored by their firms, others seeking to forge their own MBA path. To make this distinction is crucial, for I believe that the Cambridge MBA can offer advantages to each of these two subsets of applicant. Whilst the concept of shushin koyo (lifetime employment) is perhaps starting to die out, it remains a key facet of Japanese business culture. For those who are seeking to return to their firms, an international-focussed programme such as the Cambridge MBA will offer the opportunity to develop a more global mind set. Learning from a varied range of peers will allow the individual to affect change in business environments that remain inherently conservative in nature. Where the rules of succession have begun to become more blurred and promotion is not solely based on seniority, the MBA can aid competitiveness when being considered for advancement opportunities. As major Japanese corporations struggle to reinvigorate themselves following on from the so-called Lost Decade(s), the skills developed on an MBA programme can only further be of benefit to firms that seek to reward and retain loyal employees. Of course many of the impactful aspects of undertaking an MBA will also be relevant to self-funding candidates looking to use the experience to accelerate or change their career. I was particularly struck by the numbers of candidates that I met who were drawn to Cambridge for its entrepreneurial expertise. This is perhaps a reflection of the ‘Abenomic’ principles (those of current Prime Minister Shinzo Abe) that are currently being implemented to try and rejuvenate the country’s economy after the years of decline. Through policies such as those which make it easier and less risky for individuals to obtain bank loans and the implementation of ‘Special Economic Zones’, entrepreneurship is positioned more centrally in Japan’s economic strategy than ever before. It will take time to boost confidence – after all, as reported in the Economist, a recent Global Entrepreneurship Monitoring survey rated Japan least active of all developed nations when it came to entrepreneurial activity. Significantly, only 9% of survey respondents felt that they had the skills required to succeed as an entrepreneur (the figure in France was four times higher). An MBA then, particularly one with such a strong focus on entrepreneurship and innovation as Cambridge, may help those who aspire but fear that they lack the skills to succeed. As ever, the MBA fair that I attended saw a strong flow of candidates to the Cambridge MBA table, the majority exceedingly well-prepared and researched which allowed for good quality discussions. The strength of the Cambridge MBA alumni network in Tokyo was evidenced here: as always former students came out to assist at our stand and to share their experiences with prospective applicants. Afterwards, and showing great hospitality as always, they were keen to hear the latest news from the Cambridge community over sashimi until late – great fun, but made the 4.30am start to catch my flight to Hong Kong more of a challenge! In all, I am hopeful that these events will see us continue to receive a strong pool of applications from Japan, but also one which will reflect some of the changing business culture that I was able to observe during this brief visit.” |
12 Jan 2014, 23:29
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