Dearest reader,
A belated Happy Xmas to you! I hope you and your loved ones have both a healthy and a prosperous New Year.
I'll post in detail in the next few days and give you an update of P0 and miscellaneous items (...........I'm sure you just cannot contain your excitement).
Wednesday, 26 December 2007
Tuesday, 4 December 2007
Logistics "mini" rant
Dear reader,
I have no idea how long this post will be, I just needed to "let it all out."
A few comments:
a) Apologies for not posting in the recent past - its manic.
b) Housing in Singapore is astronomically expensive.
The favourite haunts for INSEAD students are very close to campus, but boy do you pay for the privilege. Also, the whole rental system is very different to North America and Europe in terms of what different definitions mean (fully furnished vs part furnished).
I think INSEAD students should make try to manipulate the market by grouping together and setting prices. Now this might start an Anti-Trust investigation in the US but if everyone agreed that this was the price for 2bdr or 3 bdr and offered only that we would all then benefit as landlords would be faced with getting no rent or a certain consistent rate. Of course this does bring into play the prisoner's dilemma (or so I'm told by a smarter person than I).
Alternatively, live a 20 minute bus ride away and reduce the rental by 20%. Some might suggest cycling - well a friend of mine emailed from Singapore and advised me that it was presently cold there "mind you its still 75 degrees Fahrenheit" -and given the humidity by the time you get to campus it will look like you just walked out of a sauna/shower combination, although with the added fragrance that heat and exercise bring.....
c) Banks are strange- they know you are going to do a top MBA and may offer pots of cash (at very commercial rates of interest), but then "cheese" you off by making silly, careless mistakes. If you travel a lot you could try the HSBC premier account (I'm looking at it right now - but the requirements could be (and are) beyond me!).
d) I love my laptop -highly recommend Toshiba - competitive price but (with all due respect to Necromonger) a better performance than the Lenovo.
e) Getting a flight to Singapore with Singapore airlines is nigh on impossible presently - its like there has been a run on the seats and everyone has booked one!
f) The potential summer internships with banks in Asia require preparation of CVs pre-mid December.
g) The to do list has hit over 30 items despite working solidly on sorting myself out for the last 2 weeks.
h) I have not read any of the pre-reading (unlike two of my class who began in October!!!) and have not done any work on my third language.
i) Blah, Blah, Blah....
I will try to blog more regularly (again how does Necromonger do it?)
Well , as Shrek said "better out than in" (a challenge for you - which number film and to which scene does this refer)
If you break your neck, if you have nothing to eat, if your house is on fire, then you got a problem. Everything else is inconvenience.
Robert Fulghum
I have no idea how long this post will be, I just needed to "let it all out."
A few comments:
a) Apologies for not posting in the recent past - its manic.
b) Housing in Singapore is astronomically expensive.
The favourite haunts for INSEAD students are very close to campus, but boy do you pay for the privilege. Also, the whole rental system is very different to North America and Europe in terms of what different definitions mean (fully furnished vs part furnished).
I think INSEAD students should make try to manipulate the market by grouping together and setting prices. Now this might start an Anti-Trust investigation in the US but if everyone agreed that this was the price for 2bdr or 3 bdr and offered only that we would all then benefit as landlords would be faced with getting no rent or a certain consistent rate. Of course this does bring into play the prisoner's dilemma (or so I'm told by a smarter person than I).
Alternatively, live a 20 minute bus ride away and reduce the rental by 20%. Some might suggest cycling - well a friend of mine emailed from Singapore and advised me that it was presently cold there "mind you its still 75 degrees Fahrenheit" -and given the humidity by the time you get to campus it will look like you just walked out of a sauna/shower combination, although with the added fragrance that heat and exercise bring.....
c) Banks are strange- they know you are going to do a top MBA and may offer pots of cash (at very commercial rates of interest), but then "cheese" you off by making silly, careless mistakes. If you travel a lot you could try the HSBC premier account (I'm looking at it right now - but the requirements could be (and are) beyond me!).
d) I love my laptop -highly recommend Toshiba - competitive price but (with all due respect to Necromonger) a better performance than the Lenovo.
e) Getting a flight to Singapore with Singapore airlines is nigh on impossible presently - its like there has been a run on the seats and everyone has booked one!
f) The potential summer internships with banks in Asia require preparation of CVs pre-mid December.
g) The to do list has hit over 30 items despite working solidly on sorting myself out for the last 2 weeks.
h) I have not read any of the pre-reading (unlike two of my class who began in October!!!) and have not done any work on my third language.
i) Blah, Blah, Blah....
I will try to blog more regularly (again how does Necromonger do it?)
Well , as Shrek said "better out than in" (a challenge for you - which number film and to which scene does this refer)
If you break your neck, if you have nothing to eat, if your house is on fire, then you got a problem. Everything else is inconvenience.
Robert Fulghum
Sunday, 18 November 2007
INSEAD pre-reading
Term starts on 7th January 2008 and the various items on the to do list are being ticked off. For example, accommodation is almost finalised and today I sent a whole a suitcase of stuff with a friend. This whole thing is starting to feel more real.
Some of my classmates are preparing for the business foundations course. This is for those students that do not have a "finance" background, to bring them up to speed in a four/five day course.
Part of the precourse preparation for all of us is to undertake the precourse reading. This involves reading chapters of two of the the three texts advised and the whole of the third accounting text.
The first challenge is obtaining the texts and at a reasonable price. The texts can be purchased from INSEAD for between €45 and €55, which is not unreasonable. As a matter of interest I checked the prices in London bookshops, when I was there last week. So if a book is €50, one would assume that given the present exchange rate that the book would be approximately GBP£34. Wrong - the actual price is GBP£47?! How does this work then? It just seems that the publishers feel that there is an opportunity to obtain a super profit and so go ahead and charge the maximum they can. Fortunately, Amazon.com charges a price that is much closer to the one would expect to pay and so I am awaiting free (thanks to Amazon's super saver service) delivery of my books.
For completeness pre-reading is :
ESSENTIALS OF ACCOUNTING - R. Anthony - L. Breitner
9th edition -Prentice Hall
MODERN FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT – S. A.Ross - R. W. Westerfield -
J. Jaffe & B.D Jordan 8th Edition - McGraw Hill
PRINCIPLES OF MICROECONOMICS – N. G. Mankiw
4th Edition – South-Western
Hopefully, I will do some work on this in the near future, particularly as some of my classmates volunteered that they had begun reading over a month ago. I guess this demonstrates how motivated some of my classmates are and how the forced curve class performance indicator could make life interesting.
Some of my classmates are preparing for the business foundations course. This is for those students that do not have a "finance" background, to bring them up to speed in a four/five day course.
Part of the precourse preparation for all of us is to undertake the precourse reading. This involves reading chapters of two of the the three texts advised and the whole of the third accounting text.
The first challenge is obtaining the texts and at a reasonable price. The texts can be purchased from INSEAD for between €45 and €55, which is not unreasonable. As a matter of interest I checked the prices in London bookshops, when I was there last week. So if a book is €50, one would assume that given the present exchange rate that the book would be approximately GBP£34. Wrong - the actual price is GBP£47?! How does this work then? It just seems that the publishers feel that there is an opportunity to obtain a super profit and so go ahead and charge the maximum they can. Fortunately, Amazon.com charges a price that is much closer to the one would expect to pay and so I am awaiting free (thanks to Amazon's super saver service) delivery of my books.
For completeness pre-reading is :
ESSENTIALS OF ACCOUNTING - R. Anthony - L. Breitner
9th edition -Prentice Hall
MODERN FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT – S. A.Ross - R. W. Westerfield -
J. Jaffe & B.D Jordan 8th Edition - McGraw Hill
PRINCIPLES OF MICROECONOMICS – N. G. Mankiw
4th Edition – South-Western
Hopefully, I will do some work on this in the near future, particularly as some of my classmates volunteered that they had begun reading over a month ago. I guess this demonstrates how motivated some of my classmates are and how the forced curve class performance indicator could make life interesting.
Saturday, 10 November 2007
Top 5 Films
Over a meal last week some friends and I were discussing what we thought were the best films we had ever seen.
Clearly given our age profile a lot of "classic" films were missing. For example, Citizen Kane (directed by and starring Orson Welles) is often rated as the best film ever made, but none of us had seen this and so it was ignored. With the exception of one film, all the films were from the 70s onwards and we tried to judge the films on our enjoyment as well as the acting/direction etc...
I am happy to confirm that no methodology or framework was applied - this was nothing more than a few friends spouting bilge over a long meal. Furthermore, none of us would claim to be film aficionados and so you could argue (quite correctly) that we were talking uninformed rubbish. And, as is always the way, we couldn't agree on any order, although we did agree that there were two films we all though should be in the top 5.
So without further ado my top 5 films:
1) To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
This film starred Gregory Peck and is the adaptation of the book on racism in the Southern USA by the American author Harper Lee. The film is quite simply brilliant, one of the few book adaptions to do justice to the original book.
http://www.filmsite.org/toki.html
2) The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
This film stars Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman and is also an adaption of a book. Its about a man's wrongful conviction for murder and how he survives prison. Most of you have probably heard of this film, as, although it was not successful on its cinema release, its reputation has grown over the years. A film I have seen many times and each time it gets better.
http://www.filmsite.org/shaw.html
3) The Godfather (1972)
Francis Ford Coppola directing, Marlon Brando and Al Pacino starring and a great book by Mario Puzo. The other two parts are also superb and I cannot think of anything that I can write that has not been written before, so enough said.
4) Star Wars - The Empire Strikes Back (1977-1983)
Perhaps a surprise but I remember watching this as a child (in fact all three of the original films) and just being amazed and transfixed by the film. You could argue about the dialogue and the complexity of the plot but the scene when the the link between Vader and Luke is revealed is pretty amazing. Also the special effects stand up almost 30 year later demonstrates how amazing these films were.
5) Lord of the Rings (2001-2003)
Having been a fan of the books I never thought that a film could do the books justice - how wrong I was. The vastness of Tolkien's world is communicated beautifully, and the acting and directing, together with the special effects, make this a brilliant set of films. Again films you can always watch again.
The key to the above film selection is that they all left a lasting impression on me (and my friends) and we would happily watch them again. Obviously, there are lots of other films that were considered e.g. Terminator 2, Pulp Fiction.
Also there are personal favourites, purely because you can enjoy a couple of hours of watching them and be entertained e.g. Back to the Future (the entire trilogy is a lot of fun), Indiana Jones (the trilogy), Ocean's Eleven (the recent one). Perhaps not the most critically lauded films but still a lot of fun.
So what about your top 5?
Clearly given our age profile a lot of "classic" films were missing. For example, Citizen Kane (directed by and starring Orson Welles) is often rated as the best film ever made, but none of us had seen this and so it was ignored. With the exception of one film, all the films were from the 70s onwards and we tried to judge the films on our enjoyment as well as the acting/direction etc...
I am happy to confirm that no methodology or framework was applied - this was nothing more than a few friends spouting bilge over a long meal. Furthermore, none of us would claim to be film aficionados and so you could argue (quite correctly) that we were talking uninformed rubbish. And, as is always the way, we couldn't agree on any order, although we did agree that there were two films we all though should be in the top 5.
So without further ado my top 5 films:
1) To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
This film starred Gregory Peck and is the adaptation of the book on racism in the Southern USA by the American author Harper Lee. The film is quite simply brilliant, one of the few book adaptions to do justice to the original book.
http://www.filmsite.org/toki.html
2) The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
This film stars Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman and is also an adaption of a book. Its about a man's wrongful conviction for murder and how he survives prison. Most of you have probably heard of this film, as, although it was not successful on its cinema release, its reputation has grown over the years. A film I have seen many times and each time it gets better.
http://www.filmsite.org/shaw.html
3) The Godfather (1972)
Francis Ford Coppola directing, Marlon Brando and Al Pacino starring and a great book by Mario Puzo. The other two parts are also superb and I cannot think of anything that I can write that has not been written before, so enough said.
4) Star Wars - The Empire Strikes Back (1977-1983)
Perhaps a surprise but I remember watching this as a child (in fact all three of the original films) and just being amazed and transfixed by the film. You could argue about the dialogue and the complexity of the plot but the scene when the the link between Vader and Luke is revealed is pretty amazing. Also the special effects stand up almost 30 year later demonstrates how amazing these films were.
5) Lord of the Rings (2001-2003)
Having been a fan of the books I never thought that a film could do the books justice - how wrong I was. The vastness of Tolkien's world is communicated beautifully, and the acting and directing, together with the special effects, make this a brilliant set of films. Again films you can always watch again.
The key to the above film selection is that they all left a lasting impression on me (and my friends) and we would happily watch them again. Obviously, there are lots of other films that were considered e.g. Terminator 2, Pulp Fiction.
Also there are personal favourites, purely because you can enjoy a couple of hours of watching them and be entertained e.g. Back to the Future (the entire trilogy is a lot of fun), Indiana Jones (the trilogy), Ocean's Eleven (the recent one). Perhaps not the most critically lauded films but still a lot of fun.
So what about your top 5?
Winds of Change
As some of you will know my fellow blogger Nomad (aka Youseff) has just given up his place at INSEAD because of an opportunity at a start-up in California.
This change demonstrates how quickly your life can change direction. One minute preparations for a move to France,with the attendant hassle of raising finance and then suddenly you are off to misty San Fransisco, to join a new enterprise. Given the effort required to get in to INSEAD, the business must be really amazing and I hope it goes really well for Youseff.
However, this means that some lucky person may be coming off the waitlist and joining the rest of us - although they now have a manic 2 months to sort out a whole welter of tasks. Good luck if you are the chosen one, as the rest of us have found it difficult to get the tasks done even with an additional 2 months.
Oh and welcome to the club.
Take me to the magic of the moment
On a glory night
Where the children of tomorrow dream away
In the wind of change
Scorpions (1989)
This change demonstrates how quickly your life can change direction. One minute preparations for a move to France,with the attendant hassle of raising finance and then suddenly you are off to misty San Fransisco, to join a new enterprise. Given the effort required to get in to INSEAD, the business must be really amazing and I hope it goes really well for Youseff.
However, this means that some lucky person may be coming off the waitlist and joining the rest of us - although they now have a manic 2 months to sort out a whole welter of tasks. Good luck if you are the chosen one, as the rest of us have found it difficult to get the tasks done even with an additional 2 months.
Oh and welcome to the club.
Take me to the magic of the moment
On a glory night
Where the children of tomorrow dream away
In the wind of change
Scorpions (1989)
Thursday, 1 November 2007
Evelasting Regrets - addendum
This post by Wim (link http://wimdebruyne.blogspot.com/2007/10/very-sad-news.html ) confirms the sad news I mentioned below.
My deepest condolences to their family and friends.
My deepest condolences to their family and friends.
Everlasting Regrets
Unfortunately (that word seems so inadequate) its seems that there has been a death at INSEAD. I hope I'm wrong but both Necromonger and Strawberry Tints have intimated this in their recent posts.
Even though its no-one I know, I found myself strangely effected by the posts. Why? Well, I guess it was partly picking up on the emotion conveyed in the blog entries. But partly it was a feeling of regret that a dream has finished and that a person's potential was never fully explored. And perhaps, selfishly, its a case of "there, but for the grace of God, go I".
I assume that most of those reading this are applying to, have applied to or are attending INSEAD. There are plenty of blog entries on the work/dedication required to get in and our motivations for applying/joining. With so many aspirations, you could argue that its optimism gone mad and unrealistic expectations; but I would argue this is what makes applying and getting in so good - to look forward with a smile at an infinite set of possibilities; to know that you can do anything; to meet people and explore your own boundaries and hopefully break through the self imposed inhibitions/fears that you never realised were there.
I'm lucky, I'm in P0, I am getting a chance to "live the dream"(hopefully). And that is where the sadness seeps in. One person also had this dream and grasped the opportunity, and yet, before they could fulfill their dreams, they were gone.
When someone "departs" who has had a long and fulfilling life, the regrets are tinged with the recognition that they may have fulfilled their dreams, they lived a long and full life. The tragedy of "early" deaths is that so many aspirations go unfulfilled, so many lives remain untouched and so much potential for good is lost.
Tragedy is possibly one of the most abused words in the English language. Too often events relating to entertainment, sport etc... are classified as tragedies. However, a true tragedy is the death of someone, whether child or adult, "before" their time.
As Necromonger so eloquently puts it:
October 29, 2007
In memoriam
Of a dearest friend. A wonderful human being.A fellow participant in dreams, hopes and fears.Will always be missed. Forever.
Accipiter
Even though its no-one I know, I found myself strangely effected by the posts. Why? Well, I guess it was partly picking up on the emotion conveyed in the blog entries. But partly it was a feeling of regret that a dream has finished and that a person's potential was never fully explored. And perhaps, selfishly, its a case of "there, but for the grace of God, go I".
I assume that most of those reading this are applying to, have applied to or are attending INSEAD. There are plenty of blog entries on the work/dedication required to get in and our motivations for applying/joining. With so many aspirations, you could argue that its optimism gone mad and unrealistic expectations; but I would argue this is what makes applying and getting in so good - to look forward with a smile at an infinite set of possibilities; to know that you can do anything; to meet people and explore your own boundaries and hopefully break through the self imposed inhibitions/fears that you never realised were there.
I'm lucky, I'm in P0, I am getting a chance to "live the dream"(hopefully). And that is where the sadness seeps in. One person also had this dream and grasped the opportunity, and yet, before they could fulfill their dreams, they were gone.
When someone "departs" who has had a long and fulfilling life, the regrets are tinged with the recognition that they may have fulfilled their dreams, they lived a long and full life. The tragedy of "early" deaths is that so many aspirations go unfulfilled, so many lives remain untouched and so much potential for good is lost.
Tragedy is possibly one of the most abused words in the English language. Too often events relating to entertainment, sport etc... are classified as tragedies. However, a true tragedy is the death of someone, whether child or adult, "before" their time.
As Necromonger so eloquently puts it:
October 29, 2007
In memoriam
Of a dearest friend. A wonderful human being.A fellow participant in dreams, hopes and fears.Will always be missed. Forever.
Accipiter
Tuesday, 30 October 2007
Update on logistics
I thought it might be interesting to update my dear reader as to some random facts and comment on INSEAD logistics.
Diversity
In terms of diversity we are up to 70 nationalities for the class of Dec 2008. There are representatives from all the major continents. It is interesting to note that there are large number of students from North America (Canada and USA), perhaps indicating that INSEAD's profile in the US is rising?
Language Requirements
INSEAD requires you know 2 languages to get in and a basic knowledge of a third language before you exit. Also your English must be fluent as demonstrated by TOEFL or a University education in English. Presently a large chunk of "my" class are attending language courses to certify that they have reached the required level for their second language. Others are working on their third language so that they can clear the third language requirement during their first week at INSEAD. I think its fair to say a lot of people are working on their language skills.
Financing
There are a lot of scholarships available at INSEAD - most of which will help provide considerable financial help to the recipient. Some scholarships are industry specific, others region specific (e.g. Africa) and a large chunk of them are country specific. Additionally, there is a needs based scholarship fund. INSEAD is undertaking a large drive to raise funds such that they can provide more scholarships to more students, thereby ensuring that funding does not act as a barrier to entry to capable applicants/students.
The deadline for applying for scholarships was in mid September. Let us say a large number of students submitted a lot of essays and cashflow statements to try to get some additional funding.
Otherwise most people are borrowing from banks (international or domestic), parents and using up all their savings. The only (minor) complaint I, and other students, have so far against INSEAD, is that INSEAD does not have a deal with a major bank to ensure that all students are guaranteed funding. For example, something similar to the deal LBS has with HSBC.
My understanding is that this is causing the most headaches amongst us. I think those students not based in their "home" country are facing real problems in getting the funding, or having to go through multiple hoops to be granted the funding. You could argue that its just a fact of life or view it as preparation for the mad rush of challenges at INSEAD, but its something that the school may want to review. Of course the school may already be taking steps, and if so I apologise to AdCom.
Logistics
As mentioned in an earlier post, there is a large to do list involving multiple form filling and document gathering, as well as immigration and medical issues. Then there is the finding of accommodation, wiring of funds and sorting out the affairs in which ever country you are in. On top of this is the packing and trying to work out what you are going to take, then packing this and then arranging freighting it to either Fonty or Singapore. Of course given shipping times, you might be sending things without yet knowing the final destination address!?
Socialising
A fair number of the class seem to already be travelling having left their jobs. So as they travel this gives more reasons for people to get together - so there are, from a quick skim of NV (the INSEAD student intranet) currently get togethers planned for New York, Tel Aviv, Milan, London, Beijing and Kuala Lumpar. Yes, we do seem to be a bunch of networking social butterflies.
Hope this helps those applying and those who just got in (congrats Bluey).
Diversity
In terms of diversity we are up to 70 nationalities for the class of Dec 2008. There are representatives from all the major continents. It is interesting to note that there are large number of students from North America (Canada and USA), perhaps indicating that INSEAD's profile in the US is rising?
Language Requirements
INSEAD requires you know 2 languages to get in and a basic knowledge of a third language before you exit. Also your English must be fluent as demonstrated by TOEFL or a University education in English. Presently a large chunk of "my" class are attending language courses to certify that they have reached the required level for their second language. Others are working on their third language so that they can clear the third language requirement during their first week at INSEAD. I think its fair to say a lot of people are working on their language skills.
Financing
There are a lot of scholarships available at INSEAD - most of which will help provide considerable financial help to the recipient. Some scholarships are industry specific, others region specific (e.g. Africa) and a large chunk of them are country specific. Additionally, there is a needs based scholarship fund. INSEAD is undertaking a large drive to raise funds such that they can provide more scholarships to more students, thereby ensuring that funding does not act as a barrier to entry to capable applicants/students.
The deadline for applying for scholarships was in mid September. Let us say a large number of students submitted a lot of essays and cashflow statements to try to get some additional funding.
Otherwise most people are borrowing from banks (international or domestic), parents and using up all their savings. The only (minor) complaint I, and other students, have so far against INSEAD, is that INSEAD does not have a deal with a major bank to ensure that all students are guaranteed funding. For example, something similar to the deal LBS has with HSBC.
My understanding is that this is causing the most headaches amongst us. I think those students not based in their "home" country are facing real problems in getting the funding, or having to go through multiple hoops to be granted the funding. You could argue that its just a fact of life or view it as preparation for the mad rush of challenges at INSEAD, but its something that the school may want to review. Of course the school may already be taking steps, and if so I apologise to AdCom.
Logistics
As mentioned in an earlier post, there is a large to do list involving multiple form filling and document gathering, as well as immigration and medical issues. Then there is the finding of accommodation, wiring of funds and sorting out the affairs in which ever country you are in. On top of this is the packing and trying to work out what you are going to take, then packing this and then arranging freighting it to either Fonty or Singapore. Of course given shipping times, you might be sending things without yet knowing the final destination address!?
Socialising
A fair number of the class seem to already be travelling having left their jobs. So as they travel this gives more reasons for people to get together - so there are, from a quick skim of NV (the INSEAD student intranet) currently get togethers planned for New York, Tel Aviv, Milan, London, Beijing and Kuala Lumpar. Yes, we do seem to be a bunch of networking social butterflies.
Hope this helps those applying and those who just got in (congrats Bluey).
Monday, 29 October 2007
Leadership and Sport - Part Deux
Seeing as I am presently in a "sports" kind of mindset, another potential case study would be the recent handling of the management change at an English football club.
Before we continue, I can confirm that I have no interest in this team (other than abusing close friends who support the team for the team's lack of success) and have no particular axe to grind. Its just reading about this recently, it did lead me to wonder whether this is classic material for a case study on how not to manage change.
For those of you not interested in football (i.e. 260 million North Americans (I am talking about the continent and, so that this is very clear, not bracketing Canadians with Americans in order to avoid a diplomatic faux pas) and some Australasians) the most commercially successful football (soccer) league is the English Premier League. Its watched by millions in the UK and ridiculous numbers in the rest of the world. The aim in this League (apart from winning) is to finish in the top 4 positions in the League, thereby qualifying for very a lucrative intra-Europe competition. Hopefully, the above makes sense.
One of the major clubs is Tottenham Hotspurs (aka Spurs). Spurs are an old established club who have not had success in years - think Miami Dolphins (for the last 20 years) or Boston Red Sox (for about 70 years). Spurs regularly change managers (head coach) (6 in 12 years?) unlike more successful clubs (Manchester United same coach for 21 years (?), Arsenal same coach for 11 years (?). However, in the last 2 years their coach got them to 5th in the League twice in a row, way better than they have done for about 15 years - and had they not had some very bad luck they may have finished 4th. So this summer they spend GBP£40 million (approx €60m or $80m) and look ready to become a really powerful club. Looking good, things progressing on an upwards trajectory, right?
Fat chance.
A couple of days before the season kick- senior Spurs directors are seen in Spain having dinner with a very successful coach. The directors say its a coincidence, the Spanish coach says he has been offered a job (but then back tracks), the club administration "leaks like a sieve" with all leaks agreeing the Spanish coach was offered a job and the press have a field day.
The incumbent coach, behaving with admirable dignity, says that the directors are behind him, while the Chairman of the Directors initially gives the coach very little backing, followed by "total support". Surprisingly enough the club makes a very poor start to the season and any chance of a top 4 position is out of the window. Could it get better?
Well the club continues to leak like a sieve that the coach is on "borrowed" time and will be sacked. The players perform even more badly. Then prior to an important game last week, the radio/tv press report the manager is to be sacked at the end of the game - or in fact has been sacked but is still in charge for this game. the players are even more rubbish, the crowd support the manager by chanting songs for him and abusing the directors. After the match it is confirmed that (despite, I believe, their being a requirement for the UK Stock Exchange to be notified first) that the coach has been sacked. A few days later, the Spanish coach mentioned above is appointed head coach. If it was a soap opera you would not believe it.
This is surely brilliant management in operation? You wait until the last moment and then undermine/humiliate your manager/coach. Then you support him and finally sack him. All the while, the team tipped to do well, are losing lots of games and so have lost any chance of achieving the stated goal.
If you think this all seems pretty incompetent management by a board of directors, well........you join a lot of people.
It is irrelevant whether you think the original coach was good or bad. Its all about how you manage the situation. If the directors thought they wanted someone else, why not do it in May/June when the season is over? Why wait until days before the season begins to approach a new coach? By changing coaches in the summer, the new coach has time to settle in. Also by handling it so badly, you undermine the coach's authority, in effect, making him a lame duck, such that the players could ignore him. Not surprising that the players do not perform, thereby ensuring the main aim for the season cannot be achieved.
This an example that, I think, can be applied to any business on how not change senior management. If you do not show public support for the the Chairman/CEO/director/manager you might as well fire her/him. Also timing and confidentiality are key points.
As for Spurs, who knows if the new coach will meet the directors' aim? What we do know is that the directors look less credible and that the team has "failed". Oh, and they allegedly paid GBP£4m to the sacked manager (his remaining contract for 2 years), compensation to the new managers club and have increased the salary proposition to the new manager (allegedly GBP£4m per year). *
Genius.
*Please note that these numbers are as alleged in the UK papers and I cannot confirm the veracity of these figures.
Before we continue, I can confirm that I have no interest in this team (other than abusing close friends who support the team for the team's lack of success) and have no particular axe to grind. Its just reading about this recently, it did lead me to wonder whether this is classic material for a case study on how not to manage change.
For those of you not interested in football (i.e. 260 million North Americans (I am talking about the continent and, so that this is very clear, not bracketing Canadians with Americans in order to avoid a diplomatic faux pas) and some Australasians) the most commercially successful football (soccer) league is the English Premier League. Its watched by millions in the UK and ridiculous numbers in the rest of the world. The aim in this League (apart from winning) is to finish in the top 4 positions in the League, thereby qualifying for very a lucrative intra-Europe competition. Hopefully, the above makes sense.
One of the major clubs is Tottenham Hotspurs (aka Spurs). Spurs are an old established club who have not had success in years - think Miami Dolphins (for the last 20 years) or Boston Red Sox (for about 70 years). Spurs regularly change managers (head coach) (6 in 12 years?) unlike more successful clubs (Manchester United same coach for 21 years (?), Arsenal same coach for 11 years (?). However, in the last 2 years their coach got them to 5th in the League twice in a row, way better than they have done for about 15 years - and had they not had some very bad luck they may have finished 4th. So this summer they spend GBP£40 million (approx €60m or $80m) and look ready to become a really powerful club. Looking good, things progressing on an upwards trajectory, right?
Fat chance.
A couple of days before the season kick- senior Spurs directors are seen in Spain having dinner with a very successful coach. The directors say its a coincidence, the Spanish coach says he has been offered a job (but then back tracks), the club administration "leaks like a sieve" with all leaks agreeing the Spanish coach was offered a job and the press have a field day.
The incumbent coach, behaving with admirable dignity, says that the directors are behind him, while the Chairman of the Directors initially gives the coach very little backing, followed by "total support". Surprisingly enough the club makes a very poor start to the season and any chance of a top 4 position is out of the window. Could it get better?
Well the club continues to leak like a sieve that the coach is on "borrowed" time and will be sacked. The players perform even more badly. Then prior to an important game last week, the radio/tv press report the manager is to be sacked at the end of the game - or in fact has been sacked but is still in charge for this game. the players are even more rubbish, the crowd support the manager by chanting songs for him and abusing the directors. After the match it is confirmed that (despite, I believe, their being a requirement for the UK Stock Exchange to be notified first) that the coach has been sacked. A few days later, the Spanish coach mentioned above is appointed head coach. If it was a soap opera you would not believe it.
This is surely brilliant management in operation? You wait until the last moment and then undermine/humiliate your manager/coach. Then you support him and finally sack him. All the while, the team tipped to do well, are losing lots of games and so have lost any chance of achieving the stated goal.
If you think this all seems pretty incompetent management by a board of directors, well........you join a lot of people.
It is irrelevant whether you think the original coach was good or bad. Its all about how you manage the situation. If the directors thought they wanted someone else, why not do it in May/June when the season is over? Why wait until days before the season begins to approach a new coach? By changing coaches in the summer, the new coach has time to settle in. Also by handling it so badly, you undermine the coach's authority, in effect, making him a lame duck, such that the players could ignore him. Not surprising that the players do not perform, thereby ensuring the main aim for the season cannot be achieved.
This an example that, I think, can be applied to any business on how not change senior management. If you do not show public support for the the Chairman/CEO/director/manager you might as well fire her/him. Also timing and confidentiality are key points.
As for Spurs, who knows if the new coach will meet the directors' aim? What we do know is that the directors look less credible and that the team has "failed". Oh, and they allegedly paid GBP£4m to the sacked manager (his remaining contract for 2 years), compensation to the new managers club and have increased the salary proposition to the new manager (allegedly GBP£4m per year). *
Genius.
*Please note that these numbers are as alleged in the UK papers and I cannot confirm the veracity of these figures.
Friday, 26 October 2007
Leadership and Sport
Over the last few weeks I've been in Europe a lot and been exposed to a lot of sport.
The biggest event has been the Rugby World Cup. For those of you wondering what Rugby is, imagine American football, with less stoppages, less padding, more creativity and less ferocious "hitting" of each other (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/default.stm). It is a game that is both fun and mental, and can be amazing on television.
The final was played in Paris last week between England and South Africa. SA won a very tight game 6:15.
But, what was more interesting was the England team's "Lazarus" like recovery. Before the knockout games SA had destroyed England 36:0 and no-one thought England had a chance. Then they go win 4 (or 5?) on the trot, including beating more highly regarded teams Australia and France (in Paris). So what happened?
Well, we do know that the entire squad (coaches, players et al) sat down after the first SA thrashing and cleared the air.
However, on one side the story says that senior players took control and said this is what we are going to do, you the coaches will follow this and there we are. The other side is that the English coach was strong enough to ask for the player's opinions and adapted the game plan to what they said. So which version is correct?
As with all these things the truth probably lies in a mixture of the two. The coach is known as a believer in getting players to think for themselves, so perhaps this was just the coach getting buy-in and commitment from a hard core of committed, experienced veterans. Having said that, there probably is truth in the assertion that the SA hammering was because of the players not fully understanding what the coach wanted and hence the need to speak out.
For me this illustrates how leadership can be learnt from all manner of fields e.g. business, sport, politics, charity. You could move this example to any other industry/field and the lessons /issues for analysing a "leader's" actions/responses would fundamentally still be the same. For example, a question raised from this example is when does delegation of responsibly by a leader go from empowerment of subordinates to the abdication of his/her duties?
Is this what makes INSEAD so committed in its push for diversity - so that you can learn from so many unexpected experiences and transfer that learning to almost all other fields? That is certainly one of my reasons for choosing INSEAD.
So if anyone from INSEAD is reading this I look forward to a case study on the Rugby World Cup and the performances of various teams (England, Fiji, France, Ireland, New Zealand, Portugal and South Africa) and why they were successful or unsuccessful.
The most dangerous leadership myth is that leaders are born -- that there is a genetic factor to leadership. This myth asserts that people simply either have certain charismatic qualities or not. That's nonsense; in fact, the opposite is true. Leaders are made rather than born.
Warren G. Bennis
The leaders who work most effectively, it seems to me, never say "I." And that's not because they have trained themselves not to say "I." They don't think "I." They think "we"; they think "team." They understand their job to be to make the team function. They accept responsibility and don't sidestep it, but "we" gets the credit. This is what creates trust, what enables you to get the task done.
Peter Drucker
The biggest event has been the Rugby World Cup. For those of you wondering what Rugby is, imagine American football, with less stoppages, less padding, more creativity and less ferocious "hitting" of each other (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/default.stm). It is a game that is both fun and mental, and can be amazing on television.
The final was played in Paris last week between England and South Africa. SA won a very tight game 6:15.
But, what was more interesting was the England team's "Lazarus" like recovery. Before the knockout games SA had destroyed England 36:0 and no-one thought England had a chance. Then they go win 4 (or 5?) on the trot, including beating more highly regarded teams Australia and France (in Paris). So what happened?
Well, we do know that the entire squad (coaches, players et al) sat down after the first SA thrashing and cleared the air.
However, on one side the story says that senior players took control and said this is what we are going to do, you the coaches will follow this and there we are. The other side is that the English coach was strong enough to ask for the player's opinions and adapted the game plan to what they said. So which version is correct?
As with all these things the truth probably lies in a mixture of the two. The coach is known as a believer in getting players to think for themselves, so perhaps this was just the coach getting buy-in and commitment from a hard core of committed, experienced veterans. Having said that, there probably is truth in the assertion that the SA hammering was because of the players not fully understanding what the coach wanted and hence the need to speak out.
For me this illustrates how leadership can be learnt from all manner of fields e.g. business, sport, politics, charity. You could move this example to any other industry/field and the lessons /issues for analysing a "leader's" actions/responses would fundamentally still be the same. For example, a question raised from this example is when does delegation of responsibly by a leader go from empowerment of subordinates to the abdication of his/her duties?
Is this what makes INSEAD so committed in its push for diversity - so that you can learn from so many unexpected experiences and transfer that learning to almost all other fields? That is certainly one of my reasons for choosing INSEAD.
So if anyone from INSEAD is reading this I look forward to a case study on the Rugby World Cup and the performances of various teams (England, Fiji, France, Ireland, New Zealand, Portugal and South Africa) and why they were successful or unsuccessful.
The most dangerous leadership myth is that leaders are born -- that there is a genetic factor to leadership. This myth asserts that people simply either have certain charismatic qualities or not. That's nonsense; in fact, the opposite is true. Leaders are made rather than born.
Warren G. Bennis
The leaders who work most effectively, it seems to me, never say "I." And that's not because they have trained themselves not to say "I." They don't think "I." They think "we"; they think "team." They understand their job to be to make the team function. They accept responsibility and don't sidestep it, but "we" gets the credit. This is what creates trust, what enables you to get the task done.
Peter Drucker
Insead blog Genius
I have just read the latest blog entry by Le Blog De Hog http://lebloghog.blogspot.com/2007/10/sex-mba.html
I have not laughed this much in a while - Le Blog is definitely braver than me - anonymity or no anonymity.
Brilliant, absolute genius.
I have not laughed this much in a while - Le Blog is definitely braver than me - anonymity or no anonymity.
Brilliant, absolute genius.
Monday, 22 October 2007
INSEAD to do lists...
I admire, and to some extent, am envious of those who are "naturally" organised. They get up in the morning and know what they are going to do, when they are going to do it and how they are going to do it. They possess a permanent mental to do list with a click for more details option built in. It would be nice if I could count myself as falling within this category. Unfortunately I cannot.
I like to think I am organised, and to be fair, at work, I know what is going on. Yes there are days when it all goes out the window, but even then I seem (luckily?) not to miss anything too important (please excuse me while I touch wood and try to convince fate that I am not, in fact, tempting it to prove me wrong). But this is more down to being trained by and working alongside highly talented, driven individuals, whom drilled into me what a "good professional" should aspire to. So while I do have the occasional (daily) lapse in the office, overall, I've got away with it.
My private life is more akin to organisation deriving from chaos theory. I want to be organised. I know its important to be organised. but when I get home I am too lazy to be organised. This means that letters lie in a drawer for weeks, deadlines are missed (thank God for direct debit for credit cards), lottery tickets not checked for so long that you can no longer claim a prize (fortunately not costly yet), enough paper is hoarded to stop acres of Amazonian rain forest being destroyed, expensive flights and hotels are the only option as all cheap options are gone because it is being done in a rush with a few days to go...... I'm sure you get the idea.
I normally get through this by sitting down every month or so and, once I've stopped castigating myself for being so stupid again, sort through everything, dumping or filing papers and writing a to do list. I then action the to do list.
However, on getting in to INSEAD I decided to set a new precedent for my private life and do a to do list at the beginning. The result? Surprisingly, I am doing ok! Trust me this is a wonderful surprise for me - and long may it continue. I find that a large chunk of important INSEAD admission procedures have been completed, while other minor issues (such as getting loans to fund this 12 month "jolly") are also progressing - again I'm hoping fate is not being tempted by the above.
Of course this does not mean that all is light and rosy in my nest. I am finding that my lack of motivation and effort at work ( i.e. zero) is slipping into my private life, such that items on the to do list are looked at 6 pm in the evening i.e. well after office hours so that a number of the items cannot be dealt with. I also spend an inordinate amount of time on the internet and the more time spent reading pointless, enjoyable rubbish*, the more my motivation and will power drain out of me. Call it an internet induced vegetative state.
I deal with this by re-visiting my to do list frequently in order to scare myself into doing something about the aforementioned list. So far this is working - although I really need to get cracking on my third language revision and I need to submit the language declaration form and...
"Science is organized knowledge. Wisdom is organized life."
Immanuel Kant
*(why did I read the entire wikipedia entry about the Hindu Elephant god and summaries of all the "Alias" episodes when I've never watched the programme?)
I like to think I am organised, and to be fair, at work, I know what is going on. Yes there are days when it all goes out the window, but even then I seem (luckily?) not to miss anything too important (please excuse me while I touch wood and try to convince fate that I am not, in fact, tempting it to prove me wrong). But this is more down to being trained by and working alongside highly talented, driven individuals, whom drilled into me what a "good professional" should aspire to. So while I do have the occasional (daily) lapse in the office, overall, I've got away with it.
My private life is more akin to organisation deriving from chaos theory. I want to be organised. I know its important to be organised. but when I get home I am too lazy to be organised. This means that letters lie in a drawer for weeks, deadlines are missed (thank God for direct debit for credit cards), lottery tickets not checked for so long that you can no longer claim a prize (fortunately not costly yet), enough paper is hoarded to stop acres of Amazonian rain forest being destroyed, expensive flights and hotels are the only option as all cheap options are gone because it is being done in a rush with a few days to go...... I'm sure you get the idea.
I normally get through this by sitting down every month or so and, once I've stopped castigating myself for being so stupid again, sort through everything, dumping or filing papers and writing a to do list. I then action the to do list.
However, on getting in to INSEAD I decided to set a new precedent for my private life and do a to do list at the beginning. The result? Surprisingly, I am doing ok! Trust me this is a wonderful surprise for me - and long may it continue. I find that a large chunk of important INSEAD admission procedures have been completed, while other minor issues (such as getting loans to fund this 12 month "jolly") are also progressing - again I'm hoping fate is not being tempted by the above.
Of course this does not mean that all is light and rosy in my nest. I am finding that my lack of motivation and effort at work ( i.e. zero) is slipping into my private life, such that items on the to do list are looked at 6 pm in the evening i.e. well after office hours so that a number of the items cannot be dealt with. I also spend an inordinate amount of time on the internet and the more time spent reading pointless, enjoyable rubbish*, the more my motivation and will power drain out of me. Call it an internet induced vegetative state.
I deal with this by re-visiting my to do list frequently in order to scare myself into doing something about the aforementioned list. So far this is working - although I really need to get cracking on my third language revision and I need to submit the language declaration form and...
"Science is organized knowledge. Wisdom is organized life."
Immanuel Kant
*(why did I read the entire wikipedia entry about the Hindu Elephant god and summaries of all the "Alias" episodes when I've never watched the programme?)
Wednesday, 17 October 2007
Mutual Support
Since my last missive there seem to have been references to my blog by those doyens of the INSEAD blogerati Necromonger (a direct link) and Res I(p)sa (my previous post).
I would not be honest if I did not admit to a small amount of gratification to have been noticed by these bloggers. However, what was nice was that Res, in her blog, commented that:
".....be afraid, be very afraid (and be sure to practice your not-sleeping, speed-reading and multi-lingual-costume-wearing-alcohol-consuming skills before you get here). You're going to love it." http://resipsainsead.blogspot.com/2007/10/contagious-panic.html
So, why do I appreciate this comment? Well, apart from the fact that Res took the time to comment (and judging from the J'08 blogs time is the scarcest commodity in Fonty), its funny and positive (as always), and, in a very weird way, the comment encapsulates my (and others') emotions while in P0. This emotion is a kind of an incredible excitement (frisson, even) together with mild panic at what the hell have we got ourselves into.
But also there is an anticipation as to the people your going to meet. I've had the pleasure (and it really has been) of meeting and corresponding with a whole bunch of future class mates over the past 6 weeks and they are just a bunch of (Americanism alert) "Awesome" people. Already you can see what the big deal about MBAs (and INSEAD in particular) is. You are sharing information/experiences, helping each other and not necessarily waiting for something in return. The key is sharing.
Of course when I get there, the reality may be different. And my more cynical side is fighting back. But at the moment I'm going to give it a whirl and look forward with unfettered optimism.....
See the world in green and blue
See China right in front of you
See the canyons broken by cloud
See the tuna fleets clearing the sea out
See the Bedouin fires at night
See the oil fields at first light
And see the bird with a leaf in her mouth
After the flood all the colors came out
It was a beautiful day
Don't let it get away
Beautiful day
Beautiful Day - U2 (2000)
I would not be honest if I did not admit to a small amount of gratification to have been noticed by these bloggers. However, what was nice was that Res, in her blog, commented that:
".....be afraid, be very afraid (and be sure to practice your not-sleeping, speed-reading and multi-lingual-costume-wearing-alcohol-consuming skills before you get here). You're going to love it." http://resipsainsead.blogspot.com/2007/10/contagious-panic.html
So, why do I appreciate this comment? Well, apart from the fact that Res took the time to comment (and judging from the J'08 blogs time is the scarcest commodity in Fonty), its funny and positive (as always), and, in a very weird way, the comment encapsulates my (and others') emotions while in P0. This emotion is a kind of an incredible excitement (frisson, even) together with mild panic at what the hell have we got ourselves into.
But also there is an anticipation as to the people your going to meet. I've had the pleasure (and it really has been) of meeting and corresponding with a whole bunch of future class mates over the past 6 weeks and they are just a bunch of (Americanism alert) "Awesome" people. Already you can see what the big deal about MBAs (and INSEAD in particular) is. You are sharing information/experiences, helping each other and not necessarily waiting for something in return. The key is sharing.
Of course when I get there, the reality may be different. And my more cynical side is fighting back. But at the moment I'm going to give it a whirl and look forward with unfettered optimism.....
See the world in green and blue
See China right in front of you
See the canyons broken by cloud
See the tuna fleets clearing the sea out
See the Bedouin fires at night
See the oil fields at first light
And see the bird with a leaf in her mouth
After the flood all the colors came out
It was a beautiful day
Don't let it get away
Beautiful day
Beautiful Day - U2 (2000)
Friday, 28 September 2007
I can feel it coming in the air tonight.....
I had some free time over the last 24 hours, hence the flurry of blogging.
Part of my inspiration to blog came from present INSEAD bloggers such as Res I(p)sa, Necromonger, Le Blog de Hog, D.T.L.F and Million Dollar Spatula. So with this free time I have also caught up with these blogs.
Unfortunately, while the blogs are all witty, informative and wide ranging, the recent posts are beginning to inspire the beginning of a mild concern (aka panic); hence the genuflection to the (ahem....) "master" songsmith known as Phil Collins in the blog heading.
P1 seems intense, manic, stressful, even overwhelming, as well as fun. The workload seems designed to be impossible, without factoring in company presentations, parties, networking and "me" time. Then there are the practicalities of life such as eating and sleeping.
The term "nightmare" springs to mind.......
"Only after disaster can we be resurrected"
Fight Club (1999)
Part of my inspiration to blog came from present INSEAD bloggers such as Res I(p)sa, Necromonger, Le Blog de Hog, D.T.L.F and Million Dollar Spatula. So with this free time I have also caught up with these blogs.
Unfortunately, while the blogs are all witty, informative and wide ranging, the recent posts are beginning to inspire the beginning of a mild concern (aka panic); hence the genuflection to the (ahem....) "master" songsmith known as Phil Collins in the blog heading.
P1 seems intense, manic, stressful, even overwhelming, as well as fun. The workload seems designed to be impossible, without factoring in company presentations, parties, networking and "me" time. Then there are the practicalities of life such as eating and sleeping.
The term "nightmare" springs to mind.......
"Only after disaster can we be resurrected"
Fight Club (1999)
Thursday, 27 September 2007
Business School Rankings - Do they matter?
This topic seems to obsess multitudes of people throughout the world. People seem to have nothing better to do than to spend hours, days, week s arguing as to the veracity of a ranking quotient for business school. The question of whether HBS, Stanford or Wharton is the number one ranked school in the US (or the world) causes rational people to blow a gasket and produces verbal (or written/typed) diarrhoea.
Add to this mix INSEAD and all hell breaks loose. I was referred to a BW forum discussion about INSEAD and whether it was a good school based on a particular ranking. Someone was arguing that a school in Hong Kong was a superior school. It caused something verging on an international diplomatic incident with the proponent of this argument being "launched" upon by an alliance of nationalities - as George Dubya would put it "a coalition of the free/willing" - and proved...well absolutely nothing.
I start from the belief that all formal ranking methodologies are imperfect and have in built bias. You can put a case for the Businessweek rankings, but they have an inherent bias towards the US and the FT, EIU rankings etc... all have their own flaws.
I think the rankings debate distracts from the truth that the perception of students and more importantly employers is the key in determining ranking and attractiveness of a school. From that point of view HBS, INSEAD, Stanford, Wharton are head and shoulders above the rest. One only has to examine the published statistics for employment post MBA to see that the "blue chip" companies are swarming all over these schools. For a detailed analysis see Necromongers analysis in http://onwardtomba.blogspot.com/2007/06/insead-career-report-2006-stanford-and.html
Yes, rankings do matter, but only with the understanding that beyond a certain point the ranking is irrelevant. Whether INSEAD is ranked higher than Chicago or Columbia or LBS is unimportant. All that matters is that most employers recognise these schools as producing the people they want.
For what its worth I would rank business schools (on a worldwide basis, not just US) as :
1) Stanford
2) HBS
3) Wharton
4) INSEAD
5) LBS
6) Chicago
7) MIT
8) Columbia
9) Kellog
10) IMD
You should note that this is my perception and it is based on mostly intangible factors. A further caveat is that I chose INSEAD over some of its rivals and so I am likely to have an inherent bias. Finally, ranking is an art not a science.
Ranking is a brand, an intangible aura, established over decades, self perpetuating, sustainable and as such has its own power. And therein lies the truth that if the top companies concentrate their recruitment on these schools, then these schools are the top schools.
As such the exact ranking is not such a big deal because of the simple fact that if you went to any of the above schools you should walk out and be a serious candidate for the employers of choice whether conglomerates, consultancies, IBs or PE houses.
And surely that is the point of rankings - helping you identify the group of schools you want to apply to because that is where the employers of choice visit and recruit.
Add to this mix INSEAD and all hell breaks loose. I was referred to a BW forum discussion about INSEAD and whether it was a good school based on a particular ranking. Someone was arguing that a school in Hong Kong was a superior school. It caused something verging on an international diplomatic incident with the proponent of this argument being "launched" upon by an alliance of nationalities - as George Dubya would put it "a coalition of the free/willing" - and proved...well absolutely nothing.
I start from the belief that all formal ranking methodologies are imperfect and have in built bias. You can put a case for the Businessweek rankings, but they have an inherent bias towards the US and the FT, EIU rankings etc... all have their own flaws.
I think the rankings debate distracts from the truth that the perception of students and more importantly employers is the key in determining ranking and attractiveness of a school. From that point of view HBS, INSEAD, Stanford, Wharton are head and shoulders above the rest. One only has to examine the published statistics for employment post MBA to see that the "blue chip" companies are swarming all over these schools. For a detailed analysis see Necromongers analysis in http://onwardtomba.blogspot.com/2007/06/insead-career-report-2006-stanford-and.html
Yes, rankings do matter, but only with the understanding that beyond a certain point the ranking is irrelevant. Whether INSEAD is ranked higher than Chicago or Columbia or LBS is unimportant. All that matters is that most employers recognise these schools as producing the people they want.
For what its worth I would rank business schools (on a worldwide basis, not just US) as :
1) Stanford
2) HBS
3) Wharton
4) INSEAD
5) LBS
6) Chicago
7) MIT
8) Columbia
9) Kellog
10) IMD
You should note that this is my perception and it is based on mostly intangible factors. A further caveat is that I chose INSEAD over some of its rivals and so I am likely to have an inherent bias. Finally, ranking is an art not a science.
Ranking is a brand, an intangible aura, established over decades, self perpetuating, sustainable and as such has its own power. And therein lies the truth that if the top companies concentrate their recruitment on these schools, then these schools are the top schools.
As such the exact ranking is not such a big deal because of the simple fact that if you went to any of the above schools you should walk out and be a serious candidate for the employers of choice whether conglomerates, consultancies, IBs or PE houses.
And surely that is the point of rankings - helping you identify the group of schools you want to apply to because that is where the employers of choice visit and recruit.
INSEAD, HBS, Stanford, Wharton et al....What are my chances?
The most frequent questions you see posted on blogs, forums and admission director interviews is "Should I apply to school X" and "What are my chances of getting into school X". The following are my thoughts in response to these questions.
Stating the obvious, the reason you apply to business school is to get in. So, given that getting into business school involves a massive investment of time, you might as well invest that time wisely. This for me, means targeting the schools you want to go to and ALSO have the best chance of getting into.
I have already commented on the application process and particularly the emphasis on variables you control i.e. essays and GMAT. However, the key drivers that get you into the top business schools are often those that you cannot change i.e. where you did your degree from, your undergraduate grades (GPA in US terms), family who are alumni and the organisation you work for. According to Sandy (in the BW forums) the "dirty little secret" for HBS and Stanford is the GPA, with the second factor being the organisation you work for, the third being your essay execution and fourth your age.
Do not be misled by the outpourings of the Admissions Directors as to its all about the "individual" and they are looking at your essays. If you do not have the metrics for the top US schools i.e top undergraduate university, high GPA, well known company and below 30 (preferably below 28) then you have not got "a snowball's chance in hell" (for those unfamiliar with this colloquialism the appropriate translation is "no chance"). They use the metrics to gauge whether the applicant is already successful and, in this case, "past performance will be a guide to future performance". The schools want successful alumni in order to maintain their reputations and alumni and fund raising networks ensuring a virtuous circle that keeps them "profitable" - business school is a business - never lose sight of this fact.
The only way around the metrics is to add to the diversity of the school, thereby improving the statistics. To do this you need a "special" angle e..g military, charitable, Non Govermental Organisation (NGO), medical. If no special angle, and even if you know your brilliant and would be perfect for the school, then, if the metrics do not fit, its unlikely, if not impossible.
So when you start the application process you make your wish list....... and I'm assuming the 4 schools listed in the title are on the list. The next step is to decide how "ambitious" is this application. So :
a) There is the "Hail Mary" where you apply and hope for the best - you know its a long shot but its like a lottery ticket, unless you buy a ticket you can't win;
b) there is the "Ambitious" where you know its a stretch but you have a chance; and
c) there is the "Competitive" where you have a good chance of getting in.
Once you rank your schools under these three heading then you factor this into the overall decision on where to apply.
Ultimately it boils down to whether you agree that logic suggests to get the best return you target the schools where you calculate you have the best chance. Alternatively, you take the Accipiter view and add a dose of emotion - and hope for the best.
"Life's a box of chocolates, Forrest. You never know what you're gonna get."
You have to do the best with what God gave you."
Forrest Gump (1994)
As usual, my standard disclaimer applies to all the above.
Stating the obvious, the reason you apply to business school is to get in. So, given that getting into business school involves a massive investment of time, you might as well invest that time wisely. This for me, means targeting the schools you want to go to and ALSO have the best chance of getting into.
I have already commented on the application process and particularly the emphasis on variables you control i.e. essays and GMAT. However, the key drivers that get you into the top business schools are often those that you cannot change i.e. where you did your degree from, your undergraduate grades (GPA in US terms), family who are alumni and the organisation you work for. According to Sandy (in the BW forums) the "dirty little secret" for HBS and Stanford is the GPA, with the second factor being the organisation you work for, the third being your essay execution and fourth your age.
Do not be misled by the outpourings of the Admissions Directors as to its all about the "individual" and they are looking at your essays. If you do not have the metrics for the top US schools i.e top undergraduate university, high GPA, well known company and below 30 (preferably below 28) then you have not got "a snowball's chance in hell" (for those unfamiliar with this colloquialism the appropriate translation is "no chance"). They use the metrics to gauge whether the applicant is already successful and, in this case, "past performance will be a guide to future performance". The schools want successful alumni in order to maintain their reputations and alumni and fund raising networks ensuring a virtuous circle that keeps them "profitable" - business school is a business - never lose sight of this fact.
The only way around the metrics is to add to the diversity of the school, thereby improving the statistics. To do this you need a "special" angle e..g military, charitable, Non Govermental Organisation (NGO), medical. If no special angle, and even if you know your brilliant and would be perfect for the school, then, if the metrics do not fit, its unlikely, if not impossible.
So when you start the application process you make your wish list....... and I'm assuming the 4 schools listed in the title are on the list. The next step is to decide how "ambitious" is this application. So :
a) There is the "Hail Mary" where you apply and hope for the best - you know its a long shot but its like a lottery ticket, unless you buy a ticket you can't win;
b) there is the "Ambitious" where you know its a stretch but you have a chance; and
c) there is the "Competitive" where you have a good chance of getting in.
Once you rank your schools under these three heading then you factor this into the overall decision on where to apply.
Ultimately it boils down to whether you agree that logic suggests to get the best return you target the schools where you calculate you have the best chance. Alternatively, you take the Accipiter view and add a dose of emotion - and hope for the best.
"Life's a box of chocolates, Forrest. You never know what you're gonna get."
You have to do the best with what God gave you."
Forrest Gump (1994)
As usual, my standard disclaimer applies to all the above.
INSEAD and Diversity
INSEAD makes a great play of having the most diverse class of students amongst all the top business schools. Based on my pre-starting experience this strap line is, to use an Americanism, "right on the money".
Here are some class (December 2008) statistics :
Here are some class (December 2008) statistics :
- Presently 59 nationalities;
- Students from 6 Continents;
- Some of the Industries within the class: Aerospace, Architecture, Biotechnology, Charity, Crisis Management, Financial Services, IT, Law, MC, Manufacturing, Public Affairs, Retail and Travel and Tourism.
The above only hints at the diversity. The real diversity lies in the range of experiences that each individual brings with them and this manifests itself in their interests, opinions, approach to problems and view of life. Having had the pleasure of meeting some of my class, I can happily confirm this.
It does seem strange that one can meet a group of strangers and because of one commonality have so much to share. Even at the most basic level there has been an openess to help each other in dealing with the various logisitical problems that all of us face. There are countless meet ups, whether for drinks, picnics or meals, being organised across various continents. People are leaving their jobs to travel and are arranging to meet up with classmates on their travels. There are daily messages on the INSEAD intranet (NV) updating plans or creating new plans. The energy displayed is inspiring and you want to get started at class now.
Perhaps this is an insight as to why "we" all chose INSEAD and why you hear such positive views about the alumni network.
Wednesday, 26 September 2007
Blogging......
As my devoted reader will see, my blogging has, at best, been infrequent. I could make a number of excuses e.g. busy at work, trying to organise myself for INSEAD, meeting future classmates. However, the reality is that I am both lazy and uninspired.
Lazy is, hopefully, self explanatory. I would much rather amuse myself through a myriad of different media or distract myself though endless musings about the future rather than actually do something practical. However, as a caveat, if I enjoy something I tend to be quite energetic.
Uninspired? This is, on reflection, an unexpected discovery. Normally I have an opinion about everything and am more than happy to share this with anyone. Therefore, the opportunity to spout forth about anything I like would seem to be an ideal role for me. However, I have found coming up with topics/experiences to blog about very challenging. Why? Well, I have found there is a surprisingly large amount of effort in maintaining my anonymity both for the present and the future and this restricts the events/items that I can write about. This is proving a challenge that I am having difficulty in overcoming.
As with most things in life, I am going to give this a go and see what happens.
Lazy is, hopefully, self explanatory. I would much rather amuse myself through a myriad of different media or distract myself though endless musings about the future rather than actually do something practical. However, as a caveat, if I enjoy something I tend to be quite energetic.
Uninspired? This is, on reflection, an unexpected discovery. Normally I have an opinion about everything and am more than happy to share this with anyone. Therefore, the opportunity to spout forth about anything I like would seem to be an ideal role for me. However, I have found coming up with topics/experiences to blog about very challenging. Why? Well, I have found there is a surprisingly large amount of effort in maintaining my anonymity both for the present and the future and this restricts the events/items that I can write about. This is proving a challenge that I am having difficulty in overcoming.
As with most things in life, I am going to give this a go and see what happens.
Tuesday, 11 September 2007
Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more.....
Getting into Insead was a challenge that required countless hours of work, reviews, research, frustration, perseverance (not necessarily in that order) and luck.
Hopefully, in order to lessen the "admissions" related pains of the dear, benighted souls who read my ravings, I have summarised my advice below. Now, given my preference for gliding along on the warm air of success, I'm going to practice my management skills and delegate upwards.
I therefore suggest, dear reader, that you read the Insead MBA website thoroughly (for convenience, and by no means an attempt to insult your intelligence, the link is http://www.insead.edu/mba). This should be supplemented with this posting on my fellow future classmate's blog "Nomad" http://nomad-insead.blogspot.com/2007/08/how-to-get-into-insead_29.html. This is about as honest an analysis as you will get. Another useful blog is that of "Necromonger" (see top of page and the Admissions link on the left hand side of Necromonger's page).
However, in my experience, "management" do like to add their "voice of experience" (note I did not advise as to the standard of the aforementioned "management") and so I shall, reluctantly, follow suit.
You should note that the following is, and remains, only my opinion and should not in any way taken as constituting formal advice (yes I have dealt with lawyers). Furthermore, this is only based on my experience and through talking to fellow admits and alumni.
GMAT
This is purely a marker to see if you meet a basic standard in English and Numeracy. My belief is that you should aim to get a score of 700 or more. Why 700? Well, its purely a personal feeling that this crosses a psychological barrier and helps tick a mental box for the Admissions Officers.
It helps if the score is balanced i.e. not a strong numerical (above 90%) weak verbal (below 70%) or vice versa. Also, if your score is near 700 and balanced, I suggest that you accept the score and concentrate your efforts on the rest of the application. Insead itself does not stipulate a score but the majority of people I have met/spoken to/read advise that anything above 650 puts you into play.
In terms of how to prepare for GMAT, just do as many questions and tests as possible. It is that simple.
(ps personally, unlike Nomad, I would not ignore the essays - but its your choice.)
Essays
The key to making you a competitive candidate is the quality of your essays. You can obtain plenty of information about essay writing for MBAs from the internet and so, rather than waste your time attempting (and failing) to summarise the work of others, I shall make three observations.
a) make it personal (i.e. something that only you could write relating to your experience and your view of your experience - not generic waffle that anyone could write);
b) make it active (i.e. use examples that demonstrate what you did - do not just say this happened - try to explain your thoughts and the actions they triggered and the results achieved); and
c) make it pertinent (i.e. focus on the mantras of the school and demonstrate your fit to the school's goals though your essays).
Interviews
The interview is an opportunity for Insead to discover whether alumni would want you to be a fellow classmate and a fellow alumni. The "alumni" may not get you in but they can keep you out.
So, follow the rules of any interview and take onboard the advice offered by Nomad and Necromonger.
Anything else?
Finally, by reading this far, I believe I can assume that you have done your research and you know what Insead "specialises" in and, far more importantly, that you feel you will "fit" Insead.
The above may sound like emotional drivel, but if you are not committed the chances are that the Admissions Officers will see through the application......
In peace there's nothing so becomes a man,
As modest stillness and humility;
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger:
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood.
Follow your spirit, and upon this charge....
(Shakespeare Henry V Part III)
Hopefully, in order to lessen the "admissions" related pains of the dear, benighted souls who read my ravings, I have summarised my advice below. Now, given my preference for gliding along on the warm air of success, I'm going to practice my management skills and delegate upwards.
I therefore suggest, dear reader, that you read the Insead MBA website thoroughly (for convenience, and by no means an attempt to insult your intelligence, the link is http://www.insead.edu/mba). This should be supplemented with this posting on my fellow future classmate's blog "Nomad" http://nomad-insead.blogspot.com/2007/08/how-to-get-into-insead_29.html. This is about as honest an analysis as you will get. Another useful blog is that of "Necromonger" (see top of page and the Admissions link on the left hand side of Necromonger's page).
However, in my experience, "management" do like to add their "voice of experience" (note I did not advise as to the standard of the aforementioned "management") and so I shall, reluctantly, follow suit.
You should note that the following is, and remains, only my opinion and should not in any way taken as constituting formal advice (yes I have dealt with lawyers). Furthermore, this is only based on my experience and through talking to fellow admits and alumni.
GMAT
This is purely a marker to see if you meet a basic standard in English and Numeracy. My belief is that you should aim to get a score of 700 or more. Why 700? Well, its purely a personal feeling that this crosses a psychological barrier and helps tick a mental box for the Admissions Officers.
It helps if the score is balanced i.e. not a strong numerical (above 90%) weak verbal (below 70%) or vice versa. Also, if your score is near 700 and balanced, I suggest that you accept the score and concentrate your efforts on the rest of the application. Insead itself does not stipulate a score but the majority of people I have met/spoken to/read advise that anything above 650 puts you into play.
In terms of how to prepare for GMAT, just do as many questions and tests as possible. It is that simple.
(ps personally, unlike Nomad, I would not ignore the essays - but its your choice.)
Essays
The key to making you a competitive candidate is the quality of your essays. You can obtain plenty of information about essay writing for MBAs from the internet and so, rather than waste your time attempting (and failing) to summarise the work of others, I shall make three observations.
a) make it personal (i.e. something that only you could write relating to your experience and your view of your experience - not generic waffle that anyone could write);
b) make it active (i.e. use examples that demonstrate what you did - do not just say this happened - try to explain your thoughts and the actions they triggered and the results achieved); and
c) make it pertinent (i.e. focus on the mantras of the school and demonstrate your fit to the school's goals though your essays).
Interviews
The interview is an opportunity for Insead to discover whether alumni would want you to be a fellow classmate and a fellow alumni. The "alumni" may not get you in but they can keep you out.
So, follow the rules of any interview and take onboard the advice offered by Nomad and Necromonger.
Anything else?
Finally, by reading this far, I believe I can assume that you have done your research and you know what Insead "specialises" in and, far more importantly, that you feel you will "fit" Insead.
The above may sound like emotional drivel, but if you are not committed the chances are that the Admissions Officers will see through the application......
In peace there's nothing so becomes a man,
As modest stillness and humility;
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger:
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood.
Follow your spirit, and upon this charge....
(Shakespeare Henry V Part III)
An apology....
Well I'm back and I better start with an apology.
My apology is to all Insead bloggers whom I thought should have updated their blogs more often. This despite reading numerous July '08 blogs (particular thanks to Halloman) and realising that the moniker for Insead could well be "sleep is for wimps, as is breakfast and lunch or any other meal". Judging from the missives of Res I(p)sa, Necromonger et al, time is an almost extinct specie at Insead.
Additionally, and perhaps a tinge shamefacedly, I look in the calendar to find that it been about 2 weeks since I updated this blog. This despite not having to relocate, actually attend any classes, meet new flat/chateaux mates, network, study, sleep or party.
I have been reminded that humble pie is a dish best served with a hint of irony and a dose of self awareness.
So my sincere apologies to all Dec '08 bloggers.
My apology is to all Insead bloggers whom I thought should have updated their blogs more often. This despite reading numerous July '08 blogs (particular thanks to Halloman) and realising that the moniker for Insead could well be "sleep is for wimps, as is breakfast and lunch or any other meal". Judging from the missives of Res I(p)sa, Necromonger et al, time is an almost extinct specie at Insead.
Additionally, and perhaps a tinge shamefacedly, I look in the calendar to find that it been about 2 weeks since I updated this blog. This despite not having to relocate, actually attend any classes, meet new flat/chateaux mates, network, study, sleep or party.
I have been reminded that humble pie is a dish best served with a hint of irony and a dose of self awareness.
So my sincere apologies to all Dec '08 bloggers.
Wednesday, 29 August 2007
Just a hint of turbulence
As my devoted reader will know this blog is largely about my adventures at Insead. At a later date I shall, dear reader, post my observations (the bird's eye view as it were) of the admissions process and the odd white feather that this caused.
Now, while getting the confirmation of a place from Insead is almost as good as diving a 1000 feet to nail a luscious wood pigeon, it does lead to some "minor" air turbulence and the necessity for some flapping.
So what does this mean? Well there is a huge amount of information to read, digest and act upon, money to be spent, numerous forms to be filled, people to be contacted, accommodation arranged, money to be spent, my knowledge of a third language to be brought up to scratch, the radical departure to join all manner of online communities, lots of gadgets to be researched and purchased (yes more money to be spent), meet up with fellow non-avian future class mates, domestic matters (bills,rents etc...) to be arranged, money to be spent and oh yes arranging funding so that (you guessed it) money can be spent.
As an aside, I hope, dear reader, that you do not find my mentioning of money to be in poor taste - it is simply that even a fine figure of a hawk, even if I do say so myself, needs money (and plenty of it judging from Insead blogs) to survive.
This is then allied to the realisation that in 4 months I might have to actually stop drifting along. Hence, the slight drop in altitude while I contemplate this.
In fact I'm reminded of Churchill's quote, albeit in a very different context, as it perfectly describes the place one finds oneself:
"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."
Nevertheless, I suppose that rather than contemplate the world from this height, although the view is spectacular, I ought to get flapping.
Time to fly.....
Now, while getting the confirmation of a place from Insead is almost as good as diving a 1000 feet to nail a luscious wood pigeon, it does lead to some "minor" air turbulence and the necessity for some flapping.
So what does this mean? Well there is a huge amount of information to read, digest and act upon, money to be spent, numerous forms to be filled, people to be contacted, accommodation arranged, money to be spent, my knowledge of a third language to be brought up to scratch, the radical departure to join all manner of online communities, lots of gadgets to be researched and purchased (yes more money to be spent), meet up with fellow non-avian future class mates, domestic matters (bills,rents etc...) to be arranged, money to be spent and oh yes arranging funding so that (you guessed it) money can be spent.
As an aside, I hope, dear reader, that you do not find my mentioning of money to be in poor taste - it is simply that even a fine figure of a hawk, even if I do say so myself, needs money (and plenty of it judging from Insead blogs) to survive.
This is then allied to the realisation that in 4 months I might have to actually stop drifting along. Hence, the slight drop in altitude while I contemplate this.
In fact I'm reminded of Churchill's quote, albeit in a very different context, as it perfectly describes the place one finds oneself:
"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."
Nevertheless, I suppose that rather than contemplate the world from this height, although the view is spectacular, I ought to get flapping.
Time to fly.....
Tuesday, 28 August 2007
I'd like to thank......
In time honoured tradition, I will try to remain unemotional (please note Gwyneth and Halle) and thank those that have helped me....
"I'd like to thank my family, without whom I would have achieved nothing (glistening eyes);
my friends (both of you) ;
my agent (oops sorry, wrong speech);
a special thanks to Paddy, for allowing me to create the concept of being "Paddied" - a rare and wonderful event that all Insead applicants crave;
and
last and definitely least, my rock (or should that be tree?) Dorothy - after all without your neurotic ramblings I might have actually achieved something in the past 3 weeks.
A final thank you to my fans.....
Thank you all - I love you"
And that sums up my Insead Oscar speech
Time to fly.....
"I'd like to thank my family, without whom I would have achieved nothing (glistening eyes);
my friends (both of you) ;
my agent (oops sorry, wrong speech);
a special thanks to Paddy, for allowing me to create the concept of being "Paddied" - a rare and wonderful event that all Insead applicants crave;
and
last and definitely least, my rock (or should that be tree?) Dorothy - after all without your neurotic ramblings I might have actually achieved something in the past 3 weeks.
A final thank you to my fans.....
Thank you all - I love you"
And that sums up my Insead Oscar speech
Time to fly.....
Taking off
Well, the basics are that this is a blog of my experience at INSEAD, it will be anonymous and it maybe a bit random. But hey I'm flying along on a gentle breeze.....
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