I've been at Experian for the past four months. By virtue of being in a "rotational" position and initially working in an area like innovation, I have been lucky to have a great degree of latitude on what I work on and amazing access to key individuals at the company. Of course when many high level executives are aware of what we work on, our names may come up in management meetings. That is what happened to me and my colleague this week.
We have been working on one project that we are particularly passionate about. It was sort of an unofficial, underground project which, when the opportunity presented, we tried to make the most. I guess we have been raising awareness because we were surprised that the project was raised in a meeting that our North American CEO was sitting in.
In a funny sense of timing we were scheduled to meet with him the next day. It was meant to be more of a "how are things going" meeting. After the CEO's meeting the day before he decided to morph it into a project pitch meeting and invited our project sponsor. We discovered this a half-hour before our meeting.
Adding to the awkwardness of the situation was that we had yet to show our sponsor our updated proposal, so he walked into the meeting completely unaware of what we were going to say.
The meeting started with introductions, a couple of light jokes, and then the CEO looked at us and said "Go ahead." Four months in, working on an underground project, without input from our sponsor, and we have to deliver an impromptu presentation to our NA CEO.
Welcome to the business world MBAs.
It was a tough lesson that when you are playing at this level, raising awareness throughout an organization, you need to be prepared to advance your causes at any situation.
Sunday, November 09, 2008
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Economy's Getting Tougher
The market has been taking it hard the last few weeks. Obviously, the banks are hurting which doesn't help Experian, but to Experian's credit the last few years they have engaged in some very smart acquisitions that broadened their markets, geographical reach, and enhanced their data assets. This will serve them well over the next few years.
The market has made money tight in the company. Chris and I are trying to get the company to adopt a social networking platform. I think we built alot of support for the initiative, but we need to find a way through the belt-tightening to get the final approval. Belt tightening also affected our plans for the Synergy & Innnovation group. We had a grand vision to fuel our cross-business unit innovation, but budget cut into that idea. The good news is that our leader has given us his vision for the group, so we can charge right at making it a reality.
I hope my family member's retirement funds are alright in this down-market. If you are still in stocks, no matter how nervous you get, don't hide your investments in cash or gold. The market has dropped almost 50% from its last peak, so buy low. Buy and forget about it, don't read about the market, just tune it all out and revisit your portfolio in 5 yrs. If you are retiring before then, you should have already had your money in low-risk investments, so stay the course and enjoy retirement.
The market has made money tight in the company. Chris and I are trying to get the company to adopt a social networking platform. I think we built alot of support for the initiative, but we need to find a way through the belt-tightening to get the final approval. Belt tightening also affected our plans for the Synergy & Innnovation group. We had a grand vision to fuel our cross-business unit innovation, but budget cut into that idea. The good news is that our leader has given us his vision for the group, so we can charge right at making it a reality.
I hope my family member's retirement funds are alright in this down-market. If you are still in stocks, no matter how nervous you get, don't hide your investments in cash or gold. The market has dropped almost 50% from its last peak, so buy low. Buy and forget about it, don't read about the market, just tune it all out and revisit your portfolio in 5 yrs. If you are retiring before then, you should have already had your money in low-risk investments, so stay the course and enjoy retirement.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Hit the First Work Wall
It's Friday afternoon and I am listening to some musicians playing Jimi Hendrix on the beach. They are setting up for this weekend's annual Polynesian festival. There seems to be something going on right across the street every weekend.
I was lucky with traffic and able to get home before 5pm. I try to leave work around 4pm on Friday's as my reward for a week of work where I get in for 8am. This week was tough in that I am hitting my first wall. I don't know about everyone else, but I always seem to hit a period where I have taken in so much information that my head gets cloudy and my productivity drops. Normally this happens in week 6 or 7 (this is week 7 for me). I have grown to accept that this is the way I work, try not to be ridiculously unproductive, and let my head settle.
Work is going well. Chris (my team mate and fellow Merage grad) and I arranged to meet with the CFO next week to discuss our proposal to improve our innovation process. Our discussion paper is complete and sent to the CFO so he would know what we are talking about. The paper looks pretty good. We could have gone into more details with the specific numbers, but at this point we would be making pretty big assumptions and the numbers are only a small part of what we want to improve.
Improving the innovation process in a multi-national, muli-business line company is an incredible challenge. In business school we talk about how to fuel new ideas, good environments for creativity, how to commercialize ideas, but I don't think any school talks about how these wonderful theories can work in any incredibly complex organization. In a one business unit company, its easy to align priorities. In a multi-business line company you have competeting interests, infrastructure issues, political issues, and financial resources you need to structure properly before you can even think about creating that environment. So I am a bit lost for the moment as I try to understand this environment in 3 months which realistically should take me 5 years. This may have contributed to the head fog...
I was lucky with traffic and able to get home before 5pm. I try to leave work around 4pm on Friday's as my reward for a week of work where I get in for 8am. This week was tough in that I am hitting my first wall. I don't know about everyone else, but I always seem to hit a period where I have taken in so much information that my head gets cloudy and my productivity drops. Normally this happens in week 6 or 7 (this is week 7 for me). I have grown to accept that this is the way I work, try not to be ridiculously unproductive, and let my head settle.
Work is going well. Chris (my team mate and fellow Merage grad) and I arranged to meet with the CFO next week to discuss our proposal to improve our innovation process. Our discussion paper is complete and sent to the CFO so he would know what we are talking about. The paper looks pretty good. We could have gone into more details with the specific numbers, but at this point we would be making pretty big assumptions and the numbers are only a small part of what we want to improve.
Improving the innovation process in a multi-national, muli-business line company is an incredible challenge. In business school we talk about how to fuel new ideas, good environments for creativity, how to commercialize ideas, but I don't think any school talks about how these wonderful theories can work in any incredibly complex organization. In a one business unit company, its easy to align priorities. In a multi-business line company you have competeting interests, infrastructure issues, political issues, and financial resources you need to structure properly before you can even think about creating that environment. So I am a bit lost for the moment as I try to understand this environment in 3 months which realistically should take me 5 years. This may have contributed to the head fog...
Saturday, August 09, 2008
Working For a Living is Different
After 21 months of working on numerous projects, analyzing processes, making recommendations for a variety of topics and companies, it feels somewhat unusual to continuously focus all my efforts on a single company. The great thing about this is that I will have the chance to make a real impact on my company by gradually building influence for some of my ideas.
To date, my job has been incredibly enjoyable. No large company is perfect, but there are a number of things to admire about Experian. It is efficient, has a nice collection of strategic data assets that few can match, and quality people. They have allowed me to slowly settle in by giving me only one project to focus on. This has allowed me to spend some time getting to better know the business and the company.
I am working on my project with another Merage colleague. We were tasked with recommending and implementing better idea evaluation tools into Experian's innovation process (oddly enough a similar project to the one I did in my experiential learning class). Through discussions with executives we have taken it upon ourselves to also recommend changes to the innovation process. So far, we have received a lot of support for our direction, but I can see a number of barriers that we will have to delicately tip toe if we want to improve this critical process.
It's turning out to be a real exciting project. I am not sure if many MBA's straight out of school get the opportunity to lead a project with such impact across a billion dollar multiple business line company. That makes the challenge fun.
Other than that just enjoying our appartment. On certain days the commute can suck (50+ minutes), but I get home on that patio and look at the ocean, a sense of relaxation comes over me (oh yeah, and its nice to see my wife too).
To date, my job has been incredibly enjoyable. No large company is perfect, but there are a number of things to admire about Experian. It is efficient, has a nice collection of strategic data assets that few can match, and quality people. They have allowed me to slowly settle in by giving me only one project to focus on. This has allowed me to spend some time getting to better know the business and the company.
I am working on my project with another Merage colleague. We were tasked with recommending and implementing better idea evaluation tools into Experian's innovation process (oddly enough a similar project to the one I did in my experiential learning class). Through discussions with executives we have taken it upon ourselves to also recommend changes to the innovation process. So far, we have received a lot of support for our direction, but I can see a number of barriers that we will have to delicately tip toe if we want to improve this critical process.
It's turning out to be a real exciting project. I am not sure if many MBA's straight out of school get the opportunity to lead a project with such impact across a billion dollar multiple business line company. That makes the challenge fun.
Other than that just enjoying our appartment. On certain days the commute can suck (50+ minutes), but I get home on that patio and look at the ocean, a sense of relaxation comes over me (oh yeah, and its nice to see my wife too).
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Some Additional Questions
I recently had a discussion about Merage on my professional blog. I wanted to reproduce the discussion here because I answer a number of questions about Merage that you might be interested in.
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Friday, July 11, 2008
Our California Dream Apartment
Here's our building
I just sat on the patio. Isn't is awesome.
We're up on the upper level - See there's Lindsey!
Here is the inside. Lindsey got the Landlords to put in new flooring before we moved in. Lindsey did a good job of decoraing.
I just sat on the patio. Isn't is awesome.
And here is the view. This sealed the deal on us picking this place.
It makes for a pretty good party place too!
It makes for a pretty good party place too!
Friday, July 04, 2008
Quick Props to My Polaris Investment Competition Team
I want to say thanks to my Polaris teammates and Chuck Martin, the sponsor of the competition. For those who don't know, Polaris is one of Merage's unique competitions where teams of students are responsible to invest $250K of Chuck's money in the stock market over the course of a year.
This year was a tough year for investors (the S&P return was negative). 5 teams competed and 4 delivered positive returns (the top 2 teams were over 30%!); killing the market and probably beating most professional investors. Our team came 4th with a return in the area of 11% (earning each member a scholarship of $1800). We started the competition like we were shot out of a cannon leading the competition for almost half a year, but the market caught up with us. Timing definitely had a big impact on our portfolio, but we took away great lessons about team work, decision-making, taking market gains, attention to detail, and trusting our analysis. For a team with no investment experience, I am very proud of our efforts.
Credit must go to my teammates Girish Simon, Priyanka Saxena, and Craig Young. Special thanks goes to our team leader Petra Neumayr who kept us on track. Below, my team - The Intangibles:
This year was a tough year for investors (the S&P return was negative). 5 teams competed and 4 delivered positive returns (the top 2 teams were over 30%!); killing the market and probably beating most professional investors. Our team came 4th with a return in the area of 11% (earning each member a scholarship of $1800). We started the competition like we were shot out of a cannon leading the competition for almost half a year, but the market caught up with us. Timing definitely had a big impact on our portfolio, but we took away great lessons about team work, decision-making, taking market gains, attention to detail, and trusting our analysis. For a team with no investment experience, I am very proud of our efforts.
Credit must go to my teammates Girish Simon, Priyanka Saxena, and Craig Young. Special thanks goes to our team leader Petra Neumayr who kept us on track. Below, my team - The Intangibles:
Thursday, June 19, 2008
My Final MBA Thoughts
Here are a few of my parting MBA thoughts for anyone thinking about taking an MBA.
- The Merage School is a top notch MBA program for Marketing, Finance, Strategy, Real Estate, and Information Technology Management, but I think the big differentiator is how it exposes students to concepts of Strategic Innovation. Strategic Innovation adds an entire new dimension to an MBA education that will grow in demand as companies mature.
- Work a few years before pursuing an MBA. I see a trend of many students jumping from undergrad to the MBA. I may be biased here, but a great deal of the MBA learning experience is translating the lessons into previous work experiences. I believe this enriches your learning experience and adds value to your investment.
- If you have a specific company you want to work for after your MBA make sure they regularly visit your selected school. I am not saying it is impossible to work for them if they do not, but it will present you with many more opportunities.
- Your MBA program is a 21 month job interview. Everything you do in this program will be remembered by your classmates who will be one of your most valuable assets in your career. So to make the most of this experience, you must always represent yourself with integrity, motivation, and respect. If you are not ready, then do yourself a favor and wait until you are ready.
- Be prepared to work more than you are used to. Days, nights, weekends are more than cell phone plan terms. This will not be like your undergrad.
- Prioritize. At times you will be overwhelmed with the work. Your key will be identifying what work will give you the greatest return.
- You will learn much more than your brain can absorb. I still have a wealth of lessons floating around in my brain, waiting to processed and categorized. I hope to be able to do this before I start working, but I doubt it.
- Extra-curricular activities are just as important as the academics. I think this hard for some internationals to understand, but in a U.S. program these extra-curricular activities are incredibly important because 1) they are great opportunities to network and bond with other students; and 2) recruiters look at these to see that you exposed yourself to experiences beyond the classroom and use them as great interview questions.
- Get to know your classmates. This should go without saying to an MBA applicant, but there will be students who you will rarely see in your program. In my opinion, this is a waste of an MBA education (you should be seeing a theme here that the true value of an MBA is outside of the academics). You will forget most of your class lessons; you will never forget the classmates who shared the experience and invested themselves in getting to know you.
- Get to know your teachers. This is an area of weakness for myself, but your teachers can be great resources to you in your career. Build a great relationship with them now, in order to make it easier to contact them in the future.
- Orange County is a pretty nice place to go back to school.
End of the Road - Graduation
Twenty-one months comes pretty quick. Graduation was held last Sunday at UCI's Bren Events Center. The ceremony was only 2 hours, but had to show up at 7:30am in order to have class pictures. Of course 7:30am is California MBA code for we are taking pictures at 8:30am, but if we don't say 7:30am you would not show up until after convocation started.The ceremony made everything official - I have now earned my MBA from a top U.S. university. It was a nice opportunity to thank all of my classmates and wish them luck.
That evening Lindsey, myself and my parents went out to Laguna Beach to celebrate. First we had a drink on the rooftop patio over Hotel La Casa del Camino which has an incredible view of the Pacific Ocean. After the drink, we headed downstairs to the K'Ya Restaurant for a nice dinner. The K'Ya is great because it offers small plate versions of their dishes allowing us to sample and share many different dishes. It was pretty good food and reasonable prices.
Now that the MBA is officially over this blog will transition to more of a family update blog. I will post two more posts on some final thoughts about doing an MBA and a comparison of the MBA to Law School. In the future, I will post about some alumni endeavors as they arise. If you are interested in following my views from a career perspective, I started a professional blog at www.mytechnologycompany.com.
Sunday, June 08, 2008
We Got That Funk!
Last Wednesday, Lindsey and I got funky by going to see George Clinton and P-Funk Band at the Anaheim House of Blues. It was alot of fun and just a big party. They would be the ultimate band for a house party as they know how to keep everyone grooving.
Their band is enormous. It is really funny - you watch a band member play for awhile then walk off stage - another band member strolls on stage plays a little bit, then walks off - A man in a pimp costume comes out and high fives the audience, then leaves
the stage. It was like one of those clown cars where the clowns keep coming out, just here you continually saw new band members.
George was a cool cat and acted like the conductor of the band. He would gage the audience and decide what funk they needed to keep the party going, then got the band to deliver. It was fun to see the funk legend in action.
Look Ma, All These Colorful Ropes!
We had our graduation banquet where we handed out the program academic awards. I earned the designations as a member of Beta Gamma Sigma (top 20% of business majors) and Dean's Scholar (top 12% of class). As part of the awards I got some colorful ropes to wear with my grad robes for graduation next Sunday. I don't remember us in Canada using fraternity names and colorful ropes to signify academic achievement, so I think it a U.S. thing. I still have no idea how to wear these ropes.I'm not big for these kinds of achievements, but I am glad I sort of justified the school's fellowship they granted to me by meeting their academic expectations. If there is one thing I was proud of, it was that I accomplished it without specializing in one area. My electives were widely spread out among Marketing, Finance, Strategy, and OB.
Last thing to note is that the Merage women dominated the academic awards despite being a relatively smaller proportion of the class. This did not surprise me because from my experiences the women were generally more motivated and driven than the men. They definitely earned their achievement and I hope the men took notice of what it takes to succeed in this world.
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
Yeah, I'm Distracted Too
After that last post, I have to admit I am distracted too. Now with a job offer in hand, I am going through the stress of having a thorough background check conducted on me (I don't think there should be any issues, but who knows what would raise a flag for them) and a drug test (American companies are pretty big on this drug test concept). I have a pile of paperwork to sign and I am trying to decipher the various medical, dental and vision plans - what they cover, how much they will cost.
Last week was dedicated to Lindsey and I looking for new places to live. Lindsey put a lot of work in walking areas and contacting landlords. This past weekend, we put a deposit on a place, have been approved, but now need to sign the lease. I don't want to say anything for fear of jinxing it, but the place is frick'in amazing! I will post more once it becomes a reality, but I can say if all works out Lindsey will no longer be an Orange County housewife.
But anyways, last week was exhausting and stressful viewing all these places and figuring out which one is best for us. The good news was that there were a wealth of places and we are ideal tenants (professional, no pets, no kids), so we had a great selection of places to chose from. Now, we can embrace the stress of preparing to move.
Last week was dedicated to Lindsey and I looking for new places to live. Lindsey put a lot of work in walking areas and contacting landlords. This past weekend, we put a deposit on a place, have been approved, but now need to sign the lease. I don't want to say anything for fear of jinxing it, but the place is frick'in amazing! I will post more once it becomes a reality, but I can say if all works out Lindsey will no longer be an Orange County housewife.
But anyways, last week was exhausting and stressful viewing all these places and figuring out which one is best for us. The good news was that there were a wealth of places and we are ideal tenants (professional, no pets, no kids), so we had a great selection of places to chose from. Now, we can embrace the stress of preparing to move.
MBA Final Quarter Blues
It is really hard for an MBA to stay focused and motivated during final quarter. Generally, finding that new job takes precedence over class work. Even once you find a job, you get a whole new set of distractions: preparing new employment paperwork, background checks, drug tests, preparing for the new job, and finding a new apartment (that may be in a new city). Additionally, as you think about your new career you come to the realization that right now may be the last time for awhile that you will have some flexible time to enjoy life. So, class work gets further pushed down the priority ladder.
I think you need to keep that in perspective when you look at your final quarter group experiences. It is incredibly difficult to be part of a team where one, two, all members are not motivated and/or distracted. In that situation you need to set your expectations low to avoid frustration. While it is great to have the team commit to a group goal, it is very hard for MBAs to admit that they will likely do the minimum or less on this project. So you will end up with everyone saying they will do their best, but their actions will reveal their other priorities. So, the message is even when group goals are set, adjust your expectations downward to reflect the realities of MBA final quarter.
Now you may wonder if there is an Org.Behavior lesson on how to manage a team in this situation? And I think there is, but it is not a pretty answer. If you have an unmotivated and/or distracted team, there will be little you can do unless you can find their motivation and eliminate their distractions. In this situation, you can't eliminate an MBA's life distractions; and motivation really depends on the individual - how interested they are in the project versus other things they could be doing.
I think you need to keep that in perspective when you look at your final quarter group experiences. It is incredibly difficult to be part of a team where one, two, all members are not motivated and/or distracted. In that situation you need to set your expectations low to avoid frustration. While it is great to have the team commit to a group goal, it is very hard for MBAs to admit that they will likely do the minimum or less on this project. So you will end up with everyone saying they will do their best, but their actions will reveal their other priorities. So, the message is even when group goals are set, adjust your expectations downward to reflect the realities of MBA final quarter.
Now you may wonder if there is an Org.Behavior lesson on how to manage a team in this situation? And I think there is, but it is not a pretty answer. If you have an unmotivated and/or distracted team, there will be little you can do unless you can find their motivation and eliminate their distractions. In this situation, you can't eliminate an MBA's life distractions; and motivation really depends on the individual - how interested they are in the project versus other things they could be doing.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Achievement: Job Before Graduation
Career search for an MBA is a full time job. As great as my program is, we do not get the parade of major companies recruiting on-campus like some other schools. We get a number of the local majors, but we do not get the Googles and Amazons of the world. That is the challenge of being part of a building process. No doubt in my mind, Merage is moving in the right direction, but attracting major companies will be a long process for this school.
In hindsight, as a international, I may have more aggressively pursued a major MBA program to make my career search easier. Internationals have enough hurdles to cross as it is. I strongly believe Merage is the best educational fit for me, but if you want to go to a big name company you will need to do alot of networking as you will see below.
The good news is that I accepted a position this week with Experian; and it is a really fantastic position. I will be a Synergy & Innovation Manager. I am part of a 4 person team led by an EVP who reports directly to the Americas CEO. Our task is to help Experian's 16 business lines improve their cross-communication and collaboration to spur innovation and revenue growth for the company.
As a company grows it naturally forms groups who solely focus on their business idea. While focusing on their idea, they not really interact with the other lines. That is needed for the business to excel, but there comes a point when the revenue growth from those business lines slows down to a level below what is demanded from a successful company. New ideas must be spawned. Sharing information is the first step.
The next step for our team will be to identify great opportunities that arise from this information sharing and help build them into strong business lines in their own right. Huge challenges and a great opportunity with a great multi-national company that would not have been possible without Merage.
My job search process took alot of time. Internationals not only must demonstrate that they are the best candidate for the job, they must demonstrate they are worth the extra trouble over the next best candidate (a difficult proposition in this slowdown period that is seeing more candidates in the job pool). I classify my search in three categories: 1) Opportunities arising from Merage; 2) Opportunities from networking; and 3) Generic job board opportunities.
Opportunities that flow through Merage are prime opportunities. Those companies know about Merage's great program and are looking for people trained in that manner. We get a number of great companies coming to Merage like Yum Brands, Experian, Mervyn's, and Walt Disney. I credit our career center. They have made dramatic improvements and I am sure the quality of incoming companies will only improve.
The second way to drum up job opportunities is to network. This is incredibly important for all MBAs, but critically important for internationals. After the companies that come to your career center, these opportunities will be your best ones. Personally, I contacted alumni at my target companies, leveraged LinkedIN to find people in my extended network at these companies, and attended trade shows in my industry to make contacts. At the time I accepted the Experian offer, I was 2/3 the way through the interview process with Amazon. I got the opportunity to interview with Amazon by attending the Web2.0 trade show where I introduced myself to an Amazon recruiter and followed up with an email indicating my interest in a specific position.
The last way is a long shot for internationals, but we have nothing to lose: Follow job boards at specific companies and websites such as Monster.com. For this strategy, I recommend the shotgun approach - create a few generic resumes and cover letters for certain jobs and send them out to as many jobs that fit your interest. The resumes and cover letters should have as many key words as you can fit in them without sounding stupid (I call it recruiter keyword bingo). Don't expect a high response rate (maybe 1-2%), but just look at any response as a new networking opportunity. My experience saw 3 responses in an estimated 80-120 applications.
All three methods are important. You never know how or when you will resonate with a company. Even if you are rejected at one company, you should strive to build relationships with that company (I was rejected for another position at Experian). Finally, persistence and aggressiveness will win over talent any day. Call your alumni and extended networks in the companies your are interested in, create online profiles (I am sure my professional blog helped my manager better understand what I offered Experian), and keep applying. It is not easy, but it can happen if you make opportunities for yourself.
I am grateful for Merage focusing its curriculum on innovation. I think it has given me a number of tools that will improve the chances of success at this new position. I am nervous about going into a large, more political company. While I believe I have dramatically improved my diplomatic capabilities as a management consultant and at this program, I have not been true tested in this kind of environment. I am looking forward to the challenge and working with a small team dedicated to an incredibly important goal that I whole-heartedly believe in. Most of all, I am glad that Lindsey and I will have the opportunity to stay in Southern California a little longer. To everyone that supported us, we thank you and will keep you informed as we extend our California MBA Adventure.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Mobilizing to Help Great Causes
In my final quarter of my MBA program, I have the great honor of participating in a project that uses web2.0 tools to generate awareness and financial support for fantastic charitable and non-profit projects. My group's project is dedicated to support aspiring women in emerging countries. These are women entrepreneurs who require loans to expand their businesses or young girls from Africa who need education and safety in order to improve their lives and communities. We ask that you rally around these great causes. You can make an immense difference in the lives of these incredible women with just a little bit of effort!
What You Can Do
- Buy Articles You Normally Buy At Amazon.com: We have set up an Amazon WebStore, CaringMBAs.com, where you can buy articles that you can buy at Amazon.com at the same prices. The only difference is that all of the commissions we receive go to giving scholarships to promising young girls in Mozambique.
- Let Other People Know: Make a brief blog post about our cause. Use the text above and link to our caringmbas site!
- Let Us Know: If you shop at our WebStore, give directly, or simply want to let us know you support what we are doing, we ask that you let us know by leaving a comment below.
Thanks for your support. If you have any great ideas on how we can spread the message about this great cause - leave a comment.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
E.T. Outdoors
This past Tuesday, our family housing community hosted an outdoor movie night. People gathered on an inclined grass area and watched E.T. Lindsey and I bundled up in sweaters and blankets (it was a cold 16C that night), brought our hot chocolate, and watched the show. It was kind of neat watching a movie that takes place in the hills of California in those hills. I kept looking up to see E.T.'s spaceship in the clear sky.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Course Updates
Final quarter is moving through quickly. I only have 2 classes plus an independent study for my internship at Silverpoint Investments. Forecasting is a numbers class; any numbers class comes very easy to me. The other class is Merage's Edge course. Edge is a very interesting course that encourages students to use web2.0 tools to mobilize action whether in your company or your customers or your suppliers. I was part of the student advisory committee to help set the course syllabus. I was asked to give a quick presentation on how I use blogging to build professional value (see my professional blog here), but my main contribution has been pushing the class to adopt Twitter.
Twitter is a new web2.0 technology that, in over-simplified terms, is the most efficient means of communicating to your network. Think of a more active and constantly used facebook update that you can access online and through cell phone text messages. It is still in early adopter phase, but I am highly confident it will go mainstream like blogging has. I am proud to say that Merage is probably one of the few (if not the only) MBA school that is using the technology in one of its classes. A blogger recently posted that he gave a presentation to Stanford MBAs and was disappointed to discover only handful knew of the technology. So I pushed the Edge prof to have the class experiment with it. Many students use it to have a side commentary to speaker presentations. We used it in our last class to formulate more relevant questions to steer the speaker to topics that interested us. This is bleeding edge for MBAs and I am excited to drive its adoption.
We have a pretty interesting project for our Edge class. It is to set up an Amazon store and raise funds for special charitable/non-profit projects. My team had a very good learning lesson early. I have worked with most of them in the past and our traditional method of working was to divide up the project into little pieces to work on individually. When due, we assemble our parts, polish, and usually we get a very good grade. This project has proved to be very difficult to use this method. Many of the individual assignments did not get done or were done very poorly. I hypothesize that this is due to the interconnectedness of the individual tasks and the need for creativity.
The level of interconnectedness means that my work product can impact my partners work product or shift my perception on how my partner should do his project. This means that as we do our work our perception of the project as a whole continually changes. Therefore, when we reconvene it creates frustration because people's views have changed since we last met and results in the desire for constant changes. By forcing people to work in teams of two or three on these interconnected tasks, while the team's perception may change it is easy to share that new perception as they work on other tasks because they are group not an individual. I think this theory could be a post of its own.
I am becoming a strong believer that creative projects are done best in a collaboration of a small (read 2-3 people) teams. Most MBA's are analytical in nature and not necessarily the natural creative types. Thus, if you send us off on our own to come up with creative solutions, it may produce mixed results. But, when two or three work together and build off their each other's ideas, I feel the creative product is dramatically improved. This EDGE project demands some creativity. Therefore, when we work on our own, the quality of our creative product is very mixed.
We are trying to adjust how we work, but I am finding that we are very set in our ways. Even when we agree to collaborate more on the smaller project tasks, we generally resort to dividing the task up into smaller parts and again working on our own. So, I am not sure how well we will do on this project.
Twitter is a new web2.0 technology that, in over-simplified terms, is the most efficient means of communicating to your network. Think of a more active and constantly used facebook update that you can access online and through cell phone text messages. It is still in early adopter phase, but I am highly confident it will go mainstream like blogging has. I am proud to say that Merage is probably one of the few (if not the only) MBA school that is using the technology in one of its classes. A blogger recently posted that he gave a presentation to Stanford MBAs and was disappointed to discover only handful knew of the technology. So I pushed the Edge prof to have the class experiment with it. Many students use it to have a side commentary to speaker presentations. We used it in our last class to formulate more relevant questions to steer the speaker to topics that interested us. This is bleeding edge for MBAs and I am excited to drive its adoption.
We have a pretty interesting project for our Edge class. It is to set up an Amazon store and raise funds for special charitable/non-profit projects. My team had a very good learning lesson early. I have worked with most of them in the past and our traditional method of working was to divide up the project into little pieces to work on individually. When due, we assemble our parts, polish, and usually we get a very good grade. This project has proved to be very difficult to use this method. Many of the individual assignments did not get done or were done very poorly. I hypothesize that this is due to the interconnectedness of the individual tasks and the need for creativity.
The level of interconnectedness means that my work product can impact my partners work product or shift my perception on how my partner should do his project. This means that as we do our work our perception of the project as a whole continually changes. Therefore, when we reconvene it creates frustration because people's views have changed since we last met and results in the desire for constant changes. By forcing people to work in teams of two or three on these interconnected tasks, while the team's perception may change it is easy to share that new perception as they work on other tasks because they are group not an individual. I think this theory could be a post of its own.
I am becoming a strong believer that creative projects are done best in a collaboration of a small (read 2-3 people) teams. Most MBA's are analytical in nature and not necessarily the natural creative types. Thus, if you send us off on our own to come up with creative solutions, it may produce mixed results. But, when two or three work together and build off their each other's ideas, I feel the creative product is dramatically improved. This EDGE project demands some creativity. Therefore, when we work on our own, the quality of our creative product is very mixed.
We are trying to adjust how we work, but I am finding that we are very set in our ways. Even when we agree to collaborate more on the smaller project tasks, we generally resort to dividing the task up into smaller parts and again working on our own. So, I am not sure how well we will do on this project.
Friday, April 18, 2008
Natural Food Results
We finished our natural food experiment last Sunday. The final total was that we spent $406 over four weeks. I will deduct $20 from the total because Lindsey spent about $80 for a dinner party last Saturday. So lets say $386 over 4 weeks. We traditionally spend about $350 in the same period. So that means going natural and organic cost us an additional 10% - alot less than I expected.
We weren't sure about any immediate health benefits, but we were definitely eating better by being more aware of what we ate and controlling portions.
As for taste, Lindsey swears that the natural chicken tastes better. I really like the organic bbq sauces and salad dressings. We found some really good organic snacks. Kettle makes some amazing chipotle bbq organic potato chips. The big challenge was in soft drinks. There are organic and all natural carbonated drinks, but they generally cost about $1/bottle (Hansen's has some all natural cans for about 50c). I decided to buy sparkling water and big jugs of unsweetened organic iced tea and mix the two. It's actually quite refreshing. If I really need a sweet fix, I could add organic sugar.
Going forward, Lindsey and I decided to always try to buy organic within reason (We will not pay double the conventional price). If organic is not feasible, we will look for "all-natural" products. Where the price difference is too high for both organic or all-natural, we will just use the conventional products (or not buy at all).
Some Definitions:
Organic - Organic has a very specific meaning about how it must be grown in absence of some defined pesticides on land that has been pesticide free for 3 years prior. For products composed of ingredients, it must consist of 90% organic inputs and not use certain defined substances. For meats, this means the animals were raised in a very specific way (free to move about and graze) and are fed only organic products.
All-Natural - For meats, this means that the animal must have been fed vegetarian grains and not subject to hormones or antibiotics. For products composed of ingredients, all-natural means that there are not preservatives or chemicals used , but the ingredients may be non-organic.
We weren't sure about any immediate health benefits, but we were definitely eating better by being more aware of what we ate and controlling portions.
As for taste, Lindsey swears that the natural chicken tastes better. I really like the organic bbq sauces and salad dressings. We found some really good organic snacks. Kettle makes some amazing chipotle bbq organic potato chips. The big challenge was in soft drinks. There are organic and all natural carbonated drinks, but they generally cost about $1/bottle (Hansen's has some all natural cans for about 50c). I decided to buy sparkling water and big jugs of unsweetened organic iced tea and mix the two. It's actually quite refreshing. If I really need a sweet fix, I could add organic sugar.
Going forward, Lindsey and I decided to always try to buy organic within reason (We will not pay double the conventional price). If organic is not feasible, we will look for "all-natural" products. Where the price difference is too high for both organic or all-natural, we will just use the conventional products (or not buy at all).
Some Definitions:
Organic - Organic has a very specific meaning about how it must be grown in absence of some defined pesticides on land that has been pesticide free for 3 years prior. For products composed of ingredients, it must consist of 90% organic inputs and not use certain defined substances. For meats, this means the animals were raised in a very specific way (free to move about and graze) and are fed only organic products.
All-Natural - For meats, this means that the animal must have been fed vegetarian grains and not subject to hormones or antibiotics. For products composed of ingredients, all-natural means that there are not preservatives or chemicals used , but the ingredients may be non-organic.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Natural Food Experiment
My work with Silverpoint Investments has exposed me to the growing trend of organic or all-natural foods. Essentially, many meat products feed the animals hormones or antibiotics to make them grow better. For produce, we all know it is common to use chemical pesticides to protect the crops. The theory behind the trend to all-natural or organic food products is that these hormones and chemicals are not good for us. While there are no conclusive studies that links these practices to ill health effects, one can certainly understand the simple argument that if these hormones are not good for me to take myself, why would they be good for my food that I ingest? Further, it easy to see that as pesticide and hormone use has increased over the past 30 years, we have seen rises in cancer and obesity rates.
It is these thoughts and my work's interest in the organic movement that led me to propose a 3 week challenge to Lindsey, where we strive to eat only organic or all-natural products. The goal would be to evaluate if we noticed any immediate health effects and how it impacts the budget.
We have just completed our second week or the experiment. Our awareness of food ingredients has improved tremendously. It is obvious that we are spending more money, they key is how much more. In this experiment we have discovered that some product areas actually have comparable prices for all organic ingredients (salad dressings, bbq sauces, meat marinades). I think the big benefit of this experiment has been our raised awareness of the quality of the food we eat. At the end of this we may not move to a complete all-natural/organic diet, but we will likely shift our consumption to many of these products. After all, if you have the choice between an all-natural or a chemical-filled product, which would you consciously choose?
I will post our findings at the end of the experiment. We may extend it to 4 weeks because Lindsey has been stocking up on all-natural meats when she sees good sales.
It is these thoughts and my work's interest in the organic movement that led me to propose a 3 week challenge to Lindsey, where we strive to eat only organic or all-natural products. The goal would be to evaluate if we noticed any immediate health effects and how it impacts the budget.
We have just completed our second week or the experiment. Our awareness of food ingredients has improved tremendously. It is obvious that we are spending more money, they key is how much more. In this experiment we have discovered that some product areas actually have comparable prices for all organic ingredients (salad dressings, bbq sauces, meat marinades). I think the big benefit of this experiment has been our raised awareness of the quality of the food we eat. At the end of this we may not move to a complete all-natural/organic diet, but we will likely shift our consumption to many of these products. After all, if you have the choice between an all-natural or a chemical-filled product, which would you consciously choose?
I will post our findings at the end of the experiment. We may extend it to 4 weeks because Lindsey has been stocking up on all-natural meats when she sees good sales.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Enjoying the Week Off
Lindsey and I decided to stay local for spring break. Why keep visiting other places, when you live 15 minutes from some of the best beaches in the world. We enjoyed an afternoon at Newport Beach. I am sure we will try to hit Huntington and Laguna before the weeks over.
5 Quarters Down - 1 to Go
Last quarter ended very quietly. Traditionally, end of quarter is a killer time for MBAs. All those weeks of procrastination, come to bear with numerous projects and exams due all during the same week. For some reason, most of my work was bunched in the middle of the quarter leaving me a light final week. This has given me time to catch up on blogging, job search, and relaxing.
It is hard to believe that I have one quarter to go. It feels like only last week that we arrived in Irvine, completely overwhelmed by its vast size, winding roads, and crazy highways. Now, I am on my final quarter and we feel like acclimatized Californians (We freeze when the temp drops to 10 Celsius).
Classes were a mixed bag this quarter. Internet marketing really missed a great opportunity to be the most interesting class in school. I tried to make the most of the class with the final project. I had to build a internet marketing plan. I used the opportunity to consider how internet marketing fits within the entire firm strategy and how best to set up a plan. So I have a template to use in the future. Macro was nothing that I didn't already learn in my undergrad, but the teacher was excellent. Strategic innovation raised some interesting ideas about how to look at traditional business in new ways - challenging the status quo to drive higher growth. It was the first year for the class, so there's room for this class to grow. Lastly, Business Dynamics taught how to strategically evaluate business challenges and, more importantly, how to execute change (or the strategy). The course was taught by a great teacher who really knows how to teach business case studies.
This quarter will have fewer classes than normal. It is time to focus on the job search. As my focus is on the technology industry, most job opportunities need someone to start yesterday. So up to now, my best opportunities got roadblocked on availability. Timing is everything and I hope the tech industry remains immune from the recession until I lock up something.
As an international, my best chances are through networking. I will be attending another Web2.0 conference in April.
It is hard to believe that I have one quarter to go. It feels like only last week that we arrived in Irvine, completely overwhelmed by its vast size, winding roads, and crazy highways. Now, I am on my final quarter and we feel like acclimatized Californians (We freeze when the temp drops to 10 Celsius).
Classes were a mixed bag this quarter. Internet marketing really missed a great opportunity to be the most interesting class in school. I tried to make the most of the class with the final project. I had to build a internet marketing plan. I used the opportunity to consider how internet marketing fits within the entire firm strategy and how best to set up a plan. So I have a template to use in the future. Macro was nothing that I didn't already learn in my undergrad, but the teacher was excellent. Strategic innovation raised some interesting ideas about how to look at traditional business in new ways - challenging the status quo to drive higher growth. It was the first year for the class, so there's room for this class to grow. Lastly, Business Dynamics taught how to strategically evaluate business challenges and, more importantly, how to execute change (or the strategy). The course was taught by a great teacher who really knows how to teach business case studies.
This quarter will have fewer classes than normal. It is time to focus on the job search. As my focus is on the technology industry, most job opportunities need someone to start yesterday. So up to now, my best opportunities got roadblocked on availability. Timing is everything and I hope the tech industry remains immune from the recession until I lock up something.
As an international, my best chances are through networking. I will be attending another Web2.0 conference in April.
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Attended Graphing Social Pattern's 2008
Earlier this week, I played a little hooky from school and attended O'Reilly's Graphing Social Patterns West 2008 conference. O'Reilly is the premier brand for technology conferences and GSP is a conference dedicated to examining trends in the social networking space.
One of the big perks of living out on the west coast is the number of opportunities to interact with other Tech-Obsessed people. There was a great energy at the conference. Networking was made difficult as most people had their heads down into their laptops or cell phones during the breaks. Nonetheless, I still met a number of very interesting people.
The sessions ranged from incredibly interesting to ho hum. One of the big themes that I got from the conference is that we should be demanding social networks built around individuals, not built around a platform. For example, I should bring my data with me whereever I go on the web (it stays with me), not leave it in a platform like facebook. That means I only have to update my address once and all my internet accounts get updated (that would be awesome!). There is definitely a move to change this - from one of my favorites, MyBlogLog to the Diso-Project. Will it happen? I am not sure, but as long as people keep pushing for it, the more likely it will happen.
One of the coolest things I heard was that MyBlogLog a social networking service that tracks what blogs you visit (and more) wants to try to track your physical location using bluetooth technology. Still very early, but I like that they are pushing the edge.
In the end. Fun, thought provoking, and great people.
Sunday, March 02, 2008
2008 Oscars Red Carpet
At 8am Lindsey and I arrived to be seated in the fan bleachers right next to the red carpet. That was the beginning of a long day that did not see us depart until after 5pm.
We got assigned seating in the 3rd row of the bleachers directly across from where Regis was doing interviews so we had a pretty good view for the event. The crowd was full of celebrity-focused fans. When I saw them going bananas over Mary Hart I knew this was going to be a little crazy.
The one good thing about being seated near hyper-fans is that they make alot of noise and talk to the celebs like they are best friends. Now, normally I think this would make celebs run in the other direction, however on Oscar day many celebrities reward this devotion by talking back and signing autographs. So we had George Clooney and Viggo Mortensen come right up in front of us to sign autographs. Viggo was particularly kind as he stayed to sign autographs despite being late for the start of the show.
Lindsey decided she would be too short to take pictures, so that duty fell on me. So if you saw me on TV with a camera constantly in my face that is why - I was listening to my wife. Oddly enough I am also writing the blog post. She just sat and enjoyed. Below are some of the pictures.
We got assigned seating in the 3rd row of the bleachers directly across from where Regis was doing interviews so we had a pretty good view for the event. The crowd was full of celebrity-focused fans. When I saw them going bananas over Mary Hart I knew this was going to be a little crazy.
The one good thing about being seated near hyper-fans is that they make alot of noise and talk to the celebs like they are best friends. Now, normally I think this would make celebs run in the other direction, however on Oscar day many celebrities reward this devotion by talking back and signing autographs. So we had George Clooney and Viggo Mortensen come right up in front of us to sign autographs. Viggo was particularly kind as he stayed to sign autographs despite being late for the start of the show.
Lindsey decided she would be too short to take pictures, so that duty fell on me. So if you saw me on TV with a camera constantly in my face that is why - I was listening to my wife. Oddly enough I am also writing the blog post. She just sat and enjoyed. Below are some of the pictures.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Innovation and Presentation
I want to post this speech on creativity by Sir Ken Robinson. It is a great commentary on how the educational system is killing creativity. I am proud to say The Merage School is taking steps to change this by focusing their curriculum around innovation; teaching us that failure is perfectly O.K.; and how we can bring innovation to our employers.
Currently, I am taking a course on strategic innovation where sometimes we are asked to do things in an "un-MBA" manner for the sake of creativity. I am sure I am guilty for being one of the first people to roll their eyes whenever we head in this direction. Nonetheless, I must still acknowledge its importance and commend The Merage School for exposing students to it.
As the rest of the world catches up to us, it will not be enough for employees and companies to be efficient. They will need to innovate. They will need to create leaps of new value for consumers, employees, and employers. This will come from creativity, embracing failure, and a slight shedding of some of our educational teachings.
Enjoy the speech. As a side note it is a brilliant example of the storytelling style of presentations. I am also proud to say The Merage School is trying to expose its students to this method of presentation (in addition to other methods that I posted about previously).
Currently, I am taking a course on strategic innovation where sometimes we are asked to do things in an "un-MBA" manner for the sake of creativity. I am sure I am guilty for being one of the first people to roll their eyes whenever we head in this direction. Nonetheless, I must still acknowledge its importance and commend The Merage School for exposing students to it.
As the rest of the world catches up to us, it will not be enough for employees and companies to be efficient. They will need to innovate. They will need to create leaps of new value for consumers, employees, and employers. This will come from creativity, embracing failure, and a slight shedding of some of our educational teachings.
Enjoy the speech. As a side note it is a brilliant example of the storytelling style of presentations. I am also proud to say The Merage School is trying to expose its students to this method of presentation (in addition to other methods that I posted about previously).
Friday, February 08, 2008
Going to the Oscar Red Carpet
Lindsey put our names into a draw to sit in the bleachers along side of the red carpet entrance at this years Oscars. Somehow we were 2 of something like 300 people who were offered tickets! That means we will be up front a personal watching all the stars arrive to enter the theater on the 24th.
Unfortunately, enjoyment of this privilege demands we show up for 8am in the morning a stay there all day until everyone is in the theater. I am sure I will be pretty cranky by the end of the day, but how often do you get a chance like this?
The only risk to our day of fun is that the writer strike is still on, but we hear they may be near a deal. If all goes well, I am sure we will have great pictures to post.
Pretty Darn Busy
Combining a full course load, with a TA position and a 20 hour internship is not the wisest of ideas. I have finally received approval from the International Center to take a paid internship this quarter, so between the TA salary and my internship wage I will be making a decent income for the remainder of the quarter. Unfortunately, it leaves me with little time to do homework. It is especially difficult to coordinate my schedule for group work as I am booked most days.
After taking leadership positions in most of my groups last quarter (some not by choice), my strategy has been to more of a follower this quarter and accept whatever final grades that come (I usually take the lead to drive a higher quality product). It is funny, now that I am not concerned about leading my groups I actually have two groups where we have yet to meet in person to work on the projects! As a person who likes to do things well, it can make me uneasy at times, but I am finding a drop in my stress levels knowing I am not leading the project. I rarely lose any sleep thinking about it (quite contrary to my experience last quarter).
It is the leadership positions that keep me awake. While I know that it is a group project, I take the view that the project is a direct representation of me. Also, I feel obligated to the group that I deliver the best possible project. For highly challenging projects, this can be tough. Those who know me, know that I can be quite the glutton for punishment when it comes to taking on challenging projects. As much as I say it creates stress, the alternative of not leading groups tackling challenging projects would be incredibly unsatisfying.
Still taking a 3 month break from these situations while learning about Private Equity in my internship is a nice break (although a busy one).
After taking leadership positions in most of my groups last quarter (some not by choice), my strategy has been to more of a follower this quarter and accept whatever final grades that come (I usually take the lead to drive a higher quality product). It is funny, now that I am not concerned about leading my groups I actually have two groups where we have yet to meet in person to work on the projects! As a person who likes to do things well, it can make me uneasy at times, but I am finding a drop in my stress levels knowing I am not leading the project. I rarely lose any sleep thinking about it (quite contrary to my experience last quarter).
It is the leadership positions that keep me awake. While I know that it is a group project, I take the view that the project is a direct representation of me. Also, I feel obligated to the group that I deliver the best possible project. For highly challenging projects, this can be tough. Those who know me, know that I can be quite the glutton for punishment when it comes to taking on challenging projects. As much as I say it creates stress, the alternative of not leading groups tackling challenging projects would be incredibly unsatisfying.
Still taking a 3 month break from these situations while learning about Private Equity in my internship is a nice break (although a busy one).
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Got an Internship at a Private Equity Firm
Almost contrary to my goal of slowing down my schedule this quarter, I have accepted an internship offer at a local private equity company. They may not have anything to do with technology companies, but they are in the business of evaluating, acquiring, and improving companies. This acquisition experience is very important for a career in business development. So I figured the opportunity was too good to pass up. It will also help confuse people when they see I had two internships in business school: one marketing, the other finance. So this quarter will be another busy one; especially when you consider I need to ramp up my full time career search.
Speaking of career search, I interview for a business development position at Blizzard Entertainment tomorrow; the makers of World of Warcraft. I hope it goes well. They are definitely a company that I would love to work for, but like many mid-size companies they are made successful by great individuals (not necessarily great degrees), therefore you need to sell them on your value as an individual. I am not sure if the timing is right for this position (they may want someone to start before I graduate), but it is a great opportunity to get my name in front of key management and build 'brand awareness'.
Speaking of career search, I interview for a business development position at Blizzard Entertainment tomorrow; the makers of World of Warcraft. I hope it goes well. They are definitely a company that I would love to work for, but like many mid-size companies they are made successful by great individuals (not necessarily great degrees), therefore you need to sell them on your value as an individual. I am not sure if the timing is right for this position (they may want someone to start before I graduate), but it is a great opportunity to get my name in front of key management and build 'brand awareness'.
Are Business School Rankings Ruining the Industry?
Are business school rankings hurting business schools? I acknowledge that when people try to make sense of the massive amount of business schools a ranking is an attractive method to quickly identify some schools. Unfortunately, the final rankings are subject to the criteria and weights used by the ranking organization. Given that all prospective business school applicants have unique needs from a business schools, it is incredibly flawed to use one set of criteria and weights to define a "Quality" business school.
Furthermore, business schools have accepted the existence of these rankings and have tailored their strategies to improve their ranking results. Case and point is that most rankings rank quality of faculty by only one factor: the number of publishings by faculty (and student-teacher ratios). Therefore, business schools, concerned about rankings (and most are), hire faculty who are researchers and publish their work. Now, are researchers good teachers? Generally not (but they are great when they are found) as researchers are known for their analytical abilities, but not there ability to simplify and synthesize data to laypeople.
I bring this up because over the past year Merage has been on the move; hiring high profile faculty. These are thought leaders in their field that any business school would covet. The problem is that some of these people have difficulty communicating their knowledge to everyday MBAs. In an experience to which I can relate, when a researcher's audience can't follow the path of their mind, they get frustrated. Some people, like myself, dedicate themselves to improving their ability to communicate with different people. Other people, like certain academics, find refuge in the one community that understands them (other academics), publishing papers, and never improving their communication skills. This leads to a poor teaching experience. But at least we improved this area of our rankings.
Last year we didn't offer tenure to a great professor who was a master at introducing MBA students to a new study topic through lectures and interactive exercises. I don't have inside knowledge, but my guess is that he was more focused on teaching and not publishing enough new research. So we lost a good "teacher", gained a good "researcher", but at least we improved in this area of our rankings.
Now, I don't want to give the impression that Merage does not have great teachers. We have many incredible teachers (some are also good researchers). My point is that this is a fact of life at all business schools in the business school rankings. Their strategy is dictated more by the criteria of the rankings and less by student needs. After all what good is meeting your students needs, if they reduce the school's ranking? You will have no students applying to the school.
Furthermore, business schools have accepted the existence of these rankings and have tailored their strategies to improve their ranking results. Case and point is that most rankings rank quality of faculty by only one factor: the number of publishings by faculty (and student-teacher ratios). Therefore, business schools, concerned about rankings (and most are), hire faculty who are researchers and publish their work. Now, are researchers good teachers? Generally not (but they are great when they are found) as researchers are known for their analytical abilities, but not there ability to simplify and synthesize data to laypeople.
I bring this up because over the past year Merage has been on the move; hiring high profile faculty. These are thought leaders in their field that any business school would covet. The problem is that some of these people have difficulty communicating their knowledge to everyday MBAs. In an experience to which I can relate, when a researcher's audience can't follow the path of their mind, they get frustrated. Some people, like myself, dedicate themselves to improving their ability to communicate with different people. Other people, like certain academics, find refuge in the one community that understands them (other academics), publishing papers, and never improving their communication skills. This leads to a poor teaching experience. But at least we improved this area of our rankings.
Last year we didn't offer tenure to a great professor who was a master at introducing MBA students to a new study topic through lectures and interactive exercises. I don't have inside knowledge, but my guess is that he was more focused on teaching and not publishing enough new research. So we lost a good "teacher", gained a good "researcher", but at least we improved in this area of our rankings.
Now, I don't want to give the impression that Merage does not have great teachers. We have many incredible teachers (some are also good researchers). My point is that this is a fact of life at all business schools in the business school rankings. Their strategy is dictated more by the criteria of the rankings and less by student needs. After all what good is meeting your students needs, if they reduce the school's ranking? You will have no students applying to the school.
Monday, January 07, 2008
Start of New Quarter
My second last quarter of my MBA program has started. My goal is to reduce my time spent on school work (relative to last quarter), in order to spend more on my job search. Well see how the plan turns out.
Last quarter was a 13 week nightmare. I consistently averaged 60+ hour work weeks. Looking back, I think the sacrifice was worth it. I gained some great project management and team leadership experience from my Experiential Learning project recommending a new product development evaluation process. While I spent more time than I would have liked on Financial Statement Analysis, I have a solid understanding of where to start in evaluating a company's financials. I really enjoyed Competitive Intelligence. In addition to being an area where I have a real aptitude, I gained a framework of how to strategically evaluate a company and its competitive environment. Combine that with Financial Statement Analysis and I have plenty of tools to help me evaluate companies. Lastly, Global Teams exposed me to frameworks of successful team development and offered a valuable experience of participating in a truly global team.
This quarter builds corporate strategy and re-introduces me to marketing. My courses:
Strategic Innovation: This is a new course designed to teach students what is needed to produce game changing innovation. So this isn't product or business process innovation, this is how do we change the game we are playing. Examples are Southwest's redefinition of how airlines can succeed and how Apple changed the face of music.
Internet Marketing: I have heard comments that the teacher is very dry, but I would like to gain more knowledge in this area as I feel that marketing is moving to the internet (or at a minimum is will be a major part of future marketing strategy).
Business Dynamics: My second strategy course this quarter, BD focuses on how to create and execute strategic change in an organization.
Macroeconomics: It looks like the professor is trying to put a practical management spin on the study of Macroeconomics. My undergrad is in Macro, so I am hoping this will be easy on my workload.
Last quarter was a 13 week nightmare. I consistently averaged 60+ hour work weeks. Looking back, I think the sacrifice was worth it. I gained some great project management and team leadership experience from my Experiential Learning project recommending a new product development evaluation process. While I spent more time than I would have liked on Financial Statement Analysis, I have a solid understanding of where to start in evaluating a company's financials. I really enjoyed Competitive Intelligence. In addition to being an area where I have a real aptitude, I gained a framework of how to strategically evaluate a company and its competitive environment. Combine that with Financial Statement Analysis and I have plenty of tools to help me evaluate companies. Lastly, Global Teams exposed me to frameworks of successful team development and offered a valuable experience of participating in a truly global team.
This quarter builds corporate strategy and re-introduces me to marketing. My courses:
Strategic Innovation: This is a new course designed to teach students what is needed to produce game changing innovation. So this isn't product or business process innovation, this is how do we change the game we are playing. Examples are Southwest's redefinition of how airlines can succeed and how Apple changed the face of music.
Internet Marketing: I have heard comments that the teacher is very dry, but I would like to gain more knowledge in this area as I feel that marketing is moving to the internet (or at a minimum is will be a major part of future marketing strategy).
Business Dynamics: My second strategy course this quarter, BD focuses on how to create and execute strategic change in an organization.
Macroeconomics: It looks like the professor is trying to put a practical management spin on the study of Macroeconomics. My undergrad is in Macro, so I am hoping this will be easy on my workload.
Sunday, January 06, 2008
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Getting Back to Normal
It has taken a few days to readjust to the local time zone. On New Years, Lindsey and I went to bed, exhausted, at 11pm. The next day, we fell asleep at 10pm. We are trying to last past 9pm tonight.
The plane ride home was a long trip. We flew from Nice to Paris, Paris to Atlanta, and Atlanta to Orange County. We awoke and traveled to the Nice Airport to ensure we would arrive two hours before our plane left. The local airline people looked at us like we were mad. We were really early for our flight; everyone else arrived about an hour before the flight.
Flying from Nice to Paris and Paris to Atlanta was on Air France flights (for Delta). Leave to the french to not settle for traditional airline food. The meals were really good and plentiful. Lindsey took advantage of the champagne service with dinner.
Customs at Atlanta was a nightmare. The process was very slow, although we did not get detained. Just when we think we cleared the big hurdle when you passed through customs, we run into the security check point that was grossly understaffed. The line-ups were incredibly long and I am sure that between customs and security many people missed their flights in Atlanta. These days, I strongly recommend anyone flying international into the US with a transfer that they leave atleast 3 hours to make their flight.
The plane ride home was a long trip. We flew from Nice to Paris, Paris to Atlanta, and Atlanta to Orange County. We awoke and traveled to the Nice Airport to ensure we would arrive two hours before our plane left. The local airline people looked at us like we were mad. We were really early for our flight; everyone else arrived about an hour before the flight.
Flying from Nice to Paris and Paris to Atlanta was on Air France flights (for Delta). Leave to the french to not settle for traditional airline food. The meals were really good and plentiful. Lindsey took advantage of the champagne service with dinner.
Customs at Atlanta was a nightmare. The process was very slow, although we did not get detained. Just when we think we cleared the big hurdle when you passed through customs, we run into the security check point that was grossly understaffed. The line-ups were incredibly long and I am sure that between customs and security many people missed their flights in Atlanta. These days, I strongly recommend anyone flying international into the US with a transfer that they leave atleast 3 hours to make their flight.
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I have a few questions about Merage, and was hoping you can give me some honest answers. I've spoken with adcom staff and student ambassadors, but wanted to get another opinion. :)
1) How was the job placement this year? Did most students get jobs of their choice?
2) Do you know what the average starting salary was? I was surprised to discover that the average starting salary for Merage students in 2007 was almost $20K less than schools with the same ranking..
3) What is the job placement like for the Bay Area? I eventually want to move back to the Bay Area, but it seems like most Merage students stay in the OC. So, just a little concerned.
Your input is greatly appreciated! Oh, and major congrats on graduating and scoring a cool job!
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Thanks for you kind words.
Some honest answers to your questions.
1) Job placement was tougher this year due to the economy. I think we may be
lower than last year for placement before graduation, but I expect we'll be
equivalent for placement after 3 months. The interesting thing about hiring
this year was that despite the down turn there were a number of very high
profile jobs posted - so companies are still making strategic hires at
Merage.
2) Average starting salaries are a distorted measure used by ranking
systems. It is difficult to talk about average starting salaries without
first talking about the job type. As an example consulting generally pays a
higher salary due to the life demands it puts on its employees (so schools
who produce a higher ratio of consultants will have their average salary
inflated). While I don't necessarily think 20K lower is correct, you are
right to note that salaries from Merage are generally lower than similar
ranked programs. This is because a high percentage of its students remain in
Southern California. Salaries in the OC are often subject to what I call the
"lifestyle tax". Because it is such an attractive area to live, there are
more candidates for jobs, pushing down wages. This "lifestyle tax"
artificially lowers Merage's average starting salary. I hope you get my
drift why I say the average starting salary is a skewed school indicator. I
will say as a person who grew up with humid summers and cold winters the
lifestyle is wonderful and I am willing to accept the "tax".
3) Interestingly, this year we have a number of students going to work up in
the bay area (5-10% of the class). The companies range from start-ups to big
companies like HP. Last year, we had a student get into google. I won't say
trying to find a job in the bay area is easy. You will be mostly on your own
and will need to actively network with people in the area starting now if
you want to go back with a great position. I suggest find conferences that
suit your preferred industry/job function that are hosted in the bay area.
That raises the chances of people from the area attending. Then network and
stay in contact with those people. The conferences worked out real well for
me this year (I had three solid job opportunities arise) and I recommend
start doing it as a first year.
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Great tip about starting early with networking! Where can I find these industry conferences? Any tips?
Also, I am seriously considering studying abroad for a quarter (something I always regretted not doing in college). Do many Merage students study abroad? Would studying abroad for a quarter put you behind other students (in terms of job search/accumulating enough credits to graduate)?
Thanks in advance!!
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To your follow ups:
1. You can track down conferences by reading blogs in your field of
interest, tracking down professional associations of field of interest, or
often if you have a target company they will highlight which conferences
they go to on their web page (or just do a google search).
2. Many students do a study abroad and it is a fantastic experience. You
will be behind on job search if your primary field of interest is consulting
or working with a large company with an established MBA hire program.
Otherwise job search doesn't ramp up until February onward. I used my Q1
Year 2 to ramp up my networking in order to hit the ground running in Q2.
Good luck.
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