Flying along on a current of hot air

INSEAD Singapore Review P2

2008-12-18T09:13:00.000-08:00

Thinking back this was a strange 8 weeks. I was disappointed with the academic experience – see below – but in terms of getting to know both the section in Singapore and bonding I suspect I will never have as much fun.

The positive side was the group dynamics in both your personal group and the sections as a whole. We got up to loads of things other than the studying, parting and travelling. We played “lyric” bingo in class where I heard (but do not expect to hear again) someone drawing an analogy in a Process Operations Management (POM) class between a bottleneck and their own personal needs - “…so can you describe this as something where I touch my self rather than….” However, the real genius was that the professor did not fully appreciate what was going on and began to use this analogy (managing to score some bingo hits himself) to make various points. Other episodes were walking in to an 8:30 am class all dressed in nightwear (for example some people only had a robe on, others half shaved while someone brushed their teeth as the lecturer walked in); having a glass of vodka each at 10am and storming the other sections amphi.

The climax was in a Leading Organisations lecture on cultural diversity where we managed to make the professor wonder if he had entered a parallel universe in which INSEAD students were the exact opposite of what they are meant to be. The Dutch attacked the Germans for their lack of cultural awareness; our US classmates got it big style but managed to respond by offending various countries (viva Freedom Fries); an American accented Indian managed to launch the ultimate put down to a Brit of Indian origin; a Brit commented that they could not believe they were being lectured on colonialism and cultural integration by a white South African; a black South African in turn piled in to defend his country man from the Brit. By this stage the lecture was watching on in horror as he tried to prevent this train wreck. There then followed a walk out by a Lebanese classmate before the professor was asked what date it was. He responded “April 1st” and smiled as he realised he had been. I have rarely laughed as much as I did in that class and thanks to Fabrizio for taking it so well. What that class proved was how close we had become as a group as the outline of an idea (discussed pre-class between 5-10 people) was taken up organically by the whole section and where everyone trusted their classmates/friends enough to make outrageous comments that no one would take offence at because they knew the person saying it did not mean it.

Unfortunately, the courses themselves were the least enjoyable of my time at INSEAD. In order of enjoyment:

1) LO – Professor Castellucci was a top guy who really tired to get us to understand the skills we will and do need as well as accelerate their development now.

2) CFP – the legendary Professor Pierre Hillion. The guy is a finance guru who can simplify the most complex concepts. After a period with him you realise the whole world is just a set of Options – in fact everything is an option. He also has the best French English accent in the world – all the native speakers spent the first lecture wondering what a “stack” was (perhaps a new financial instrument we had never heard of) only for it to later dawn on us that Pierre was talking about “Stocks”.

3) Strategy – Professor Constantini – an Englishman who according to my Italian friends speaks Italian with a Rome accent. The Prof was ex-Mckinsey and really knew his stuff. Perhaps an acquired taste for some I thought he was great.

4) Managerial accounting – Professor Jake Cohen (now Dean of the MBA). Certainly a prof who knew his stuff but one I did not gel with. Although he made the subject real world I did not appreciate his style or arrogance – but to be fair, others loved him.

5) Marketing – Professor Klein was trying a revamped syllabus with us that involved an about to be published book – “Momentum”. Unfortunately despite her best efforts the course did not work and a lot of us felt disappointed in the quality of the course and that we could have got far more out of the course were there better material.

6) POM – Professor Girotra was a star who had clearly done his best to make the course more interesting and valuable. However, for various reasons the course did not work, particularly in my case, and it was difficult to bring the lessons into the real world that many of us plan to inhabit post INSEAD. Having said that understanding a bottleneck is certainly a useful concept to have in my armoury.

The worst part of P2 was the end as a lot of people decided to head off to Fonty. Suddenly, these brilliant people who in 4 months you had become so close to were heading off and you may not see them again in 2008. I think this is where the strength of INSEAD i.e. its intensity and pressure, becomes a liability in that if you had another period together then perhaps you could truly explore the full boundaries of friendships and become a far more effective network as well as a close set of friends. Either way it gave a very good example of what P5 would be like…

The Return of the Jedi

2008-12-18T09:11:00.000-08:00

In terms of my plan to blog more regularly, well as they say “the best laid plans of mice and men….”

So having ignored my blog, and the occasional pang of guilt that accompanied any thought of blogging, I promised myself that I would update the blog to reflect what happened in P2 to P5 and in between. This is a herculean task but it is my own fault.

Here goes…….

The Sound of Silence

2008-07-12T00:09:00.000-07:00

It has been a while but I'm back.

The reason for the hiatus is simple - work overload and (more honestly) other priorities. The blog is/was important to me, but I found that whenever I made a to do list in my head the blog was put off for another hour/day/week and this became 4 months. Doesn't time fly when you are having fun?

So the plan is to write a few entries over the next few days reviewing P2 and P3 and general comments about the experience so far.

First things first - Congrats to the July '08 class on graduating.

Secondly, good luck to all the potential Dec '09 applicants, that are/will be having their fun interviews. Previous posts have covered this, but the key is can you convince the interviewer that you will add to the class and would they want to be sitting next to you in a lecture / class / group etc.. Simple advice is be yourself, although the caveat is to avoid venting controversial views and avoid charged political or religious issues. Why be yourself? Its simple, the alumni are, in my opinion, looking for fit, pure and simple, and even if you "fool"them and get in you are likely to not enjoy nor get the real benefits of INSEAD. Better to be honest and see where it takes you. But hey, your smart enough to know to do what works best for you.

Thirdly, to the July '09 enjoy the last few weeks doing whatever you are doing and get ready to have a blast.

Well, that is enough pontificating (see WW, I've still got it).

One final goodbye. To the bloggers of July'08 Res, Necro, D.T.L.F - thank you and may all you wish for come true.

Accipiter

PS By the way DTLF - apologies for not including you in the list of most favoured INSEAD bloggers - its more I always viewed you as less an INSEAD blogger and more a commentator on the weirdness in all of us. Not sure that will make you feel better. Anyway, best of luck and I look forward to seeing you on the switch side.

INSEAD Singapore - Review of P1

2008-03-08T11:25:00.000-08:00

" 'Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.' We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we subconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we're liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

(Marianne Williamson, author, from A Return To Love, 1992. Ack C Wilson and J Cooke.). Also attributed to Nelson Mandela in his inauguration speech in 1994.

Being pretty mellow after an interesting day, a good meal, excellent company and decent conversation, I thought that a missive to my dear reader would top the day off nicely.

As the more astute of you will have noticed – yes you at the back - I like to delude myself that people read this blog when researching INSEAD. To be perfectly honest, if you want a much better understanding of an INSEAD MBA, you should use the link to Necromonger – it is about the best MBA blog you will ever read – or the fine blogs of alumni, Halloman and Zanot.

Having said that, while not in the league of Necromonger (by the way Necro, how is Fonty?), one likes to feel that one is, in one’s own humble way, contributing to the development of the business leaders of the future (BLOF). So, after that outpouring of pomposity (I just wanted to see if I could copy WW’s style), I thought that I would review P1.

The academic experience has been challenging, to say the least. The volume of information thrown at you and that they expect you to process, evaluate and respond to is phenomenal. There is plenty of pre-reading for each lecture, lots of cold calling, multiple assignments (including group assignments) and exams. Each professor brings their own unique style, and its down to personal preference as to whether one prefers one style or another. Also it takes time to adapt – for example it took me a while to “get” our P&M tutor (in case you are reading this - Aloha Brett, hope Hobbit land is fun), but once I adapted, his were some of the best lectures. Others you appreciate straight away, particularly when they demonstrate the value of UDJ by winning money and then donating to the champagne fund, analysing the distribution of M&Ms or even that fifteen sided dice have uses, step forward Ilia.

The thing the professors do well is demonstrate the relevance of what they are saying to what you are likely to be doing in the future. While you may not do the full algebraic calculation of “Cournot” equilibrium or a full regression analysis, understanding the concepts makes you a far smarter observer of business and user of data. My feeling from P1 is that they are trying to make you “think smarter” while simultaneously attempting to make you observe your own behaviours as well as the behaviours of others, all from a different perspective. I would put P&M, UDJ, Fin. Accounting as more of the former (i.e. think smarter), and LPG more in the latter (think you, me and relationships). Financial Markets and Valuation is just a boot camp to bring everyone up to speed.

Obviously, the benefit of each subject depends on the background of the individual. However, a totally biased and non-random sample indicates that most people have 2 subjects that they have got a lot out of. Personally, all have benefited me to some extent, whether adding a new perspective, reminding me of something I should know, or making me aware of my own propensity for cognitive dissonance (i.e. be a fool). For me LPG was a case of preaching to the converted, but even then the professor’s skill in linking the subject to our experience at INSEAD caused some serious re-evaluation of personal priorities.

It says a lot about the calibre of my classmates that everyone seems to take this in their stride. My classmates are a collection of incredibly gifted people (and WW). Whether, giving a brilliant analysis of financial performance, summarised with a snappy soundbite leading to a round of applause from the class, to a heated debate as to whether there is ever justification for bribery, you are constantly learning. Add to that their phenomenal ability (and I mean absolutely bona fide genius abilities) to organise parties, bars of the week, job treks, summits, speakers and international trips and you have an idea of the people.

As examples, in the week prior to exams i.e. when you are working flat out : a) for the last P&M lecture everyone managed to get hold of “Aloha” Hawaiian shirts and attended the lecture in these shirts. Brett, the professor, was, pre-lecture, walking around the campus shaking his head in amazement. Of course this was only the beginning, as the first section hired an Obi Wan Kenobi Jedi outfit for Brett– including lightsaber - and made him dress up to do the lecture as the Jedi master. There then followed the “Microwars” video see http://alex-lili.blogspot.com/, which was put together in 24 hours by a few of my classmates. Absolute genius – nice one Lili and Alex! The other section followed this by, en masse half way through the lecture, dancing a coordinated traditional Hawaiian dance, with accompanying music;

b) Furthermore, in the follow up UDJ lecture, the professor found himself receiving a presentation on an analysis of the qualities INSEAD students regard as being the key to a professor’s success. The presentation starred Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt and Ilia, and included a phone call to Ilia from Angelina. The fact that both professors enjoyed the “set-ups” and requested copies says a lot about the INSEAD spirit.

If that sounds intense, well it is.

I recently read the posts by Le blog de Hog and Res I(p)sa about the INSEAD experience. Given my P1, their view on the intensity of the course, and the lack of time was pretty interesting. To be fair, I did share much of Le Blog’s viewpoint for a while. I thought that the course was too intense and there was not enough time to explore areas in depth and that we sacrificed quality for quantity. However, I have changed my view on this – although the caveat is that I have started in the Singapore campus with a smaller number of classmates than you do in Fonty.

I think that INSEAD forces you to make tough choices and really reflects what you are about to face in the real world. You are forced to realise that you cannot do everything and you have to prioritise, make hard decisions and make mistakes. Do I wish I had more time? Yes. Do I want to spend more time with my classmates and on some courses? Yes. BUT, the reality is that I am being pushed very hard (perhaps to the extremes of my ability – a bit of a concern as P1 is meant to be the warm up for P2) and am, for the first time in a long time, being forced out of my comfort zone to really develop as an individual, both personally and professionally. In approximately 10 months we are covering 80-90% of what most MBAs cover in 2 years. So, as a rhetorical question, which MBA school do you think pushes you harder, makes you develop faster and perhaps makes you more likely to fulfil you potential?

The motto “work hard play hard” is often misapplied, but in this case it is true. If you are not ready to be pushed to the extreme of your abilities, endure a brutal academic experience, explore your personal and professional goals, all while meeting a host of gifted people (classmates, alumni and faculty) and partying like mad, then INSEAD is not for you.

For me, while there have been some “very very bad” days, where I thought INSEAD may be a big mistake, the reality is that, on reflection, I am, in a partially masochistic way, enjoying this experience. Of course you would expect me to recommend the school, but I hope that the above gives you a flavour of why I am glad I chose this school.

If this is not for you, well there are some superb schools out there and I hope you get in and enjoy your choice.

You’ll note the two quotes at the beginning of the entry and at the end. They are personal favourites - I hope they help.

And there endeth the sermon.

The Guy In The Glass

When you get what you want in your struggle for pelf,
And the world makes you King for a day,
Then go to the mirror and look at yourself,
And see what that guy has to say.

For it isn't your Father or Mother or Wife,
Who judgement upon you must pass.
The feller whose verdict counts most in your life
Is the guy staring back from the glass.

He's the feller to please, never mind all the rest,
For he's with you clear up to the end,
And you've passed your most dangerous, difficult test
If the guy in the glass is your friend.

You may be like Jack Horner and "chisel" a plum,
And think you're a wonderful guy,
But the man in the glass says you're only a bum
If you can't look him straight in the eye.

You can fool the whole world down the pathway of years,
And get pats on the back as you pass,
But your final reward will be heartaches and tears
If you've cheated the guy in the glass.

©Dale Wimbrow, 1934.

ps WW: Is that game or 15:40?

The end of P1

2008-03-08T11:23:00.000-08:00

Amazingly, P1 is already over. The last 8 weeks have passed so rapidly that it has been like being in the centre of a whirlwind.

The last week was exams - Monday to Wednesday i.e. 3 days for those of you who cannot count (aka Worldly Whys (WW)), 5 papers, 15.75 hours of exams and definitive proof that I will not be troubling the Dean when it comes to his “happy list”. On the other hand, the Dean may be calling me to discuss how I can improve in P2, much like the conversation he will no doubt be having with WW.

Anyway, to give you a flavour of how intense it is, according to our stats professor we have, in 7 weeks, covered the first year of a Phd students course. Or, according to a classmate, we have covered his entire microeconomics syllabus for the first two years of his Economics degree.

Wednesday evening was spent at the Double 00 bar, with most of us flying out to either Vietnam or Cambodia the next day although a few have gone to Thailand, Hong Kong, China etc… I’m not sure where WW has disappeared to, although given that he/she has already been kicked out/rejected by so many countries (see first WW fist blog entry), another deportation should not be an issue.

After this mammoth holiday break of 4 days (including weekend), P2 kicks off on Monday. So having retaliated to the unprovoked blog aggression of my classmate WW (really, we’re all one happy family), I’m back off to hit the tourist trail…

ps WW: That’s 15 30.

4 week summary, Consulting here I come

2008-02-16T09:28:00.000-08:00

Its clear from the BCG presentations and general consulting overload since beginning INSEAD (we've had, at last count, "personal" letters, cds, sponsored parties (kudos to Bain), corkscrew (wine bottle) openers of the expensive kind and books....) that the "famous" consultancy firms value brevity.

So on that basis (and with one-off overdose of bullet points) here is a KPI of P1 (not fully in context, but hey it’s my blog).

Courses:

FMV (aka finance): Our professor is the former dean of INSEAD (he has the garden on the campus roof named after him), who is very knowledgeable and pretty funny. He likes shouting, boy does he like shouting, but he makes the subject more interesting and watching him move across the amphi waving his arms is not unlike watching John Travolta showing his moves in Saturday Night Fever.

P&M (aka Microeconomics): We have a surfer dude professor from Hawaii. He has a penchant for Hawaiian shirts, shorts, flip flops, the words "Awesome and Aloominum" and Tiger beer. But he knows his stuff and whilst I am not sure I totally get it, the real life element is refreshing. Just in case you are wondering, he is clearly incredibly clever and was smart enough to leave HBS, Stanford, Kellogg et al and head off for a quality of life in Hawaii most of us can only dream of.......I hate him.

UDJ (aka Statistics) : Imagine the stereotypical smooth Russian from a cold war movie or the sports stars of the USSR and you have our stats professor, including a brilliant accent. However, this man is a bona fide genius because he makes a 1.5 hour lecture fly by and actually makes statistics fun (yes I do hold my head in shame at that confession). The use of articles, M&Ms and cold calling has been inspired.

Financial Accounting : To be fair, this is less about the mechanics of accounting (although we have covered this) but more about understanding the accounts enough to decipher what the hell a company's management team are up to and how well the company is doing. I'm not the biggest fan of this professor - but he knows his stuff, can be amusing and cold calls mercilessly.

LPG (aka knowing me, knowing you as ABBA would say). This is mix of trying to understand yourself, while trying to understand your impact on others and trying to understand them. The professor varies from boring to insightful and the whole range in between.

Week 2 and 3

Lots of career counselling, finance presentation, getting to know each other (i.e. parties and barbecues) and our professors. Oh and we are travelling like mad each weekend - Malaysia and Thailand with the P1/P2 break looking like a choice of Cambodia or Vietnam. Oh and the potential IBers are working around the clock on their CVs and covering letters as European IB internships deadlines are now.

Week 3

This was Iberia week and it was good. The amphi storming was funny with the bull fighter scoring extra points for smoothness and clever use of socks. The party was excellent, t-shirts were cool and the drinks flowing - these national weeks are going to be a lot of fun.

Week 4

Mid-term tests - now my view on these is that you do a bit of work and then walk in and do the test. However, it seems that the professors do not see it that way - oh dear.......

Interviews for the IBers are coming in - mostly video conference call interviews with London staff -oh the joys of the 21st Century. To be fair the poor buggers and bugerrettes are being really stretched and to some extent the famous "INSEAD community spirit" has kicked in with non IBers stepping in to help out. As one man, who could be described as a larger than life human happiness machine says "two teams, one dream." (copyright NH-L)

Week 5

3 day week due to Chinese New Year. Most people just used the break as an opportunity to travel or just relax in Singapore. (I refer you to my fellow bloggers Phathu and Wordly for more details).

Week 6

Workload is reaching insane levels with pre reading being an interesting concept that is ignored. Assignments are coming from all directions and then there is the P&M game. I will not tell you more but it’s interesting to bring the theory to life, as well as prove some of my classmates really need the P2 class in strategy.

But still time to arrange valentine’s night poker and invite our P&M prof. A lesson to be learnt is that if your prof attends poker, then make sure you have done the pre reading for the next morning in case he cold calls anyone (perhaps anyone who he played poker with?)

I am back in the saddle, but let's see how long this lasts....

INSEAD Singapore

2008-02-03T17:03:00.000-08:00

13 January 2008

(See three posts below for explanation for the strange chronology)

So week 1 of my life at INSEAD is over.

First impressions? Well, for once the hype may well be justified. So, as any good potential MBA graduate should do (other than a top power point presentation or excel wizardry), I will comment on various elements of the INSEAD experience.

Classmates

My classmates are, as expected, as diverse a bunch of people one is ever likely to meet. We have backgrounds ranging from the traditional (Consulting and Investment banking), to the different (Entrepreneurs and NGOs) to the way out there (a monk).

The best thing is that everyone seems to be friendly, witty and quite happy to laugh at themselves. A promising beginning.

Also the P3s (i.e. those that joined in August 2007) have been remarkably friendly and have really made an effort to make us welcome.

Campus

The campus is superb. It has been open about seven years and the design has created a modern, open and comfortable facility that has a very warm/positive ambience. All the staff are incredibly friendly and helpful (except, perhaps, the IT staff - although they may suffer because of the ridiculously high standard set by the other groups). Oh and the canteen is inexpensive, tasty and provides a variety of dishes.

The location is good with an MRT (metro/subway/train/underground station - choose your language) station a 15 minute walk from campus and a 15 minute taxi ride to central Singapore. Also the two main residences of choice for INSEAD students (more details later) are a 10 minute walk from the campus.

We also got given a very nice personalised gift from INSEAD - a small, but very nice gesture.

Academics

This has been an induction week, so while full of lectures, its been mostly about informng us about the next 12months and helping s to adjust to Singapore an INSEAD.

We did have a one day case study described as an "Intro to General Management" which was utterly brilliant. It encapsulated everything I hope that the INSEAD MBA is going to be about. A fantastic professor guiding us through a complex case, challenging us, drawing out a wide range of class experiences and then beginning to teach us how to approach and deal with problems. Just a very good day at school.

One interesting angle is that there was a quite focus on "Ethics" and the challenges we will face when we graduate. The professor raised some testing issues and elicited a debate that was surprising in the wide range and vehemence of views expressed. People are always aware that there are large personal and cultural differences between us as classmates, but this debate brought home the magnitude of those differences. Also, perhaps most troublingly, it made you look at yourself and wonder how much you will compromise your personal ethics in the future.

Singapore

I shall devote a whole post (well its more likely to be a eulogy based on how I am feeling at the moment) to describing Singapore. As an indicator, the climate is lovely (well sure beats a North America and European winter), the place is green, safe, efficient and welcoming.

Activities

There is no shortage of opportunities to do things at INSEAD. Whether its professionally driven, social (the social scene here is mental - parties, bars and travelling) or personal, this year is going to be packed.

My Fonty classmates have gone through an almost identical week - the only difference being that we are all walking around in shorts, t-shirts and sandals in a tropical climate, while they are in sub-zero temperatures in the French countryside. It’s a tough life……

Wish you were here......

"If I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning."

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

Yet more INSEAD and ranking tables

2008-02-03T14:00:00.000-08:00

8 January 2008

(See two posts below for explanation for the strange chronology)

Given the obsession with rankings (see previous posts) I thought, dear reader, that you may be interested in the below.
http://rankings.ft.com/exportranking/european-business-school-rankings/pdf

How rankings are put together:

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/fa44d838-9ef1-11dc-b4e4-0000779fd2ac,dwp_uuid=ca0d89c8-9f5d-11dc-8031-0000779fd2ac.html

World rankings

http://media.ft.com/cms/9753d360-a6ee-11db-83e4-0000779e2340.pdf

The latest FT rankings come out at the end of the month and I am sure that will be another excuse to re-visit this.

As a final caveat, rankings should be taken as a guide and are no substitute for serious research on the individual school, its culture and its unique selling point. For example, for me if you are serious about working internationally, then INSEAD should be near the top of your list.

Have fun.....

"Asked about the power of advertising in research surveys, most agree that it works, but not on them."

Eric Clark

MBA Delusions of Grandeur......

2008-02-03T12:22:00.000-08:00

5 January 2008

(see below post for explanation for strange chronology)

As part of my ongoing research (and my tendency to over analyse), I was drifting around the FT.com and found the below.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/7ed1600a-b174-11dc-9777-0000779fd2ac,dwp_uuid=02e16f4a-46f9-11da-b8e5-00000e2511c8.html

I do find this amusing and I like its honesty; but what else would you expect from an INSEAD alum (ah....the reflected glory of being at INSEAD).

I suspect the sections about people not believing that they are the Global business leaders of tomorrow is very accurate. Most of us have healthy egos (although perhaps what makes INSEAD special is that most people realise this and are willing to laugh at themselves) and believe that business school will help mould us into what we aspire to be. However, based on meetings with my class over the past few months, another factor that unites us is uncertainty as to where we are going in our careers and the need to make a change. Nevertheless, part of the make-up of a graduating from a top MBA is to believe that you can succeed and that is a very dangerous assumption if not allied to a a healthy dose of private cynicism and self-awareness.

Of course, when applying to the MBA make sure that your career essay says the exact opposite of the above and instead lays out a credible, achievable and reasonable career plan. They are not testing your honesty, more your ability to put a credible career plan together so that they have the raw materials to work with. Call it the "bluster successfully" test (acronym "BS").

Only by much searching and mining are gold and diamonds obtained, and man can find every truth connected with his being if he will dig deep into the mine of his soul.

James Allen from As a Man Thinketh

Catching up.....

2008-02-02T10:55:00.000-08:00

I seem to spend half my time on this blog apologising for not posting and so I am proud to maintain this tradition by, again, apologising for not posting.

In fact I have commenced a number of posts that I then leave in draft with the express intention of returning to complete the post "later that day". As with all the best intentions something generally goes awry and of course what is a day, week or month between friends? Therefore, I am now faced with 3 draft posts that were commenced on various days in January, but have yet to be published. So in order to assauge my conscience (which conveniently is very small in this matter) I have decided to publish them now with the date they were originally created.

On a more serious note, when researching INSEAD I know that "delayed/incomplete" blogs used to be a tad frustrating, and that is partly why I started this blog. So its doubly galling to realise that I have been much worse at this than many of those I quietly criticised for their lack of organisation. Any one wish to join me for humble pie?

Apologies again

Accipiter

It is very easy to forgive others their mistakes; it takes more grit and gumption to forgive them for having witnessed your own.

Jessamyn West

Its life Jim, but not as we know it....

2008-01-17T08:41:00.000-08:00

I'm alive. I'm busy and I promise to post properly this weekend.

Short and sweet - unlike my workload......

Merry Xmas

2007-12-26T11:18:00.002-08:00

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).

Logistics "mini" rant

2007-12-04T17:58:00.000-08:00

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

INSEAD pre-reading

2007-11-18T15:04:00.002-08:00

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.

Top 5 Films

2007-11-10T14:31:00.000-08:00

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?

Winds of Change

2007-11-10T14:27:00.001-08:00

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)

Evelasting Regrets - addendum

2007-11-01T07:24:00.000-07:00

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.

Everlasting Regrets

2007-11-01T05:24:00.000-07:00

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

Update on logistics

2007-10-30T10:16:00.000-07:00

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).

Leadership and Sport - Part Deux

2007-10-29T09:33:00.000-07:00

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.

Leadership and Sport

2007-10-26T03:22:00.000-07:00

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

Insead blog Genius

2007-10-26T03:15:00.000-07:00

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.

INSEAD to do lists...

2007-10-22T09:54:00.000-07:00

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?)

Mutual Support

2007-10-17T08:24:00.000-07:00

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 can feel it coming in the air tonight.....

2007-09-28T03:52:00.000-07:00

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)

Business School Rankings - Do they matter?

2007-09-27T16:32:00.000-07:00

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.

INSEAD, HBS, Stanford, Wharton et al....What are my chances?

2007-09-27T13:15:00.000-07:00

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.

INSEAD and Diversity

2007-09-27T07:56:00.000-07:00

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 :

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.

Blogging......

2007-09-26T09:08:00.000-07:00

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.

Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more.....

2007-09-11T09:42:00.000-07:00

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)

An apology....

2007-09-11T08:55:00.000-07:00

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.

Just a hint of turbulence

2007-08-29T06:16:00.000-07:00

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.....

I'd like to thank......

2007-08-28T11:39:00.000-07:00

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.....

Taking off

2007-08-28T11:15:00.000-07:00

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.....