Just back from Palau, I faced a week full of P3 projects coming to an end, busy negotiations building up to the Nego exam, visits to the Chinese embassy to arrange my visa and exam preparations.
End of Feb meant the end of core class exams, so apart from the elective finals; on the 25th I also had an exam for Macro from 0900 to 1200, and one for Politics from 1400 to 1700. It was a long day of writing about theories, volatility, realists, war rhetorics, monetary policy, and all wrapped in essays around what would I do, how do I think the world problems should be solved, what theory do I use to explain my thought process, and what makes me think it will work, etc...
After that we had the customary end of party drinks, saying goodbye’s to our friends who went back for P4 in Fonty, and packing my bags for a very early morning flight to China the next morning.
Showing posts with label Classes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Classes. Show all posts
Tuesday, 2 September 2008
Monday, 18 August 2008
P3 Academics
I very much enjoyed P3, with great professors like:
Ilian Mihov, the master of Macro Economics who would in my opinion not have allowed the US economy to tank like it has, had he had any chance to stop it,
Ethan Kapstein who showed us very antagonistic views on international relations and brought a large number of interesting and influential speakers to his International Politics class,
Michael Witt, the German professor with his Singlish phrases, and Japanese and Chinese language skills who managed to stun even the Koreans and Chinese classmates with his vast knowledge of Asia, during the Strategies for Asia course,
Phil Anderson, who ran a very cool entrepreneurship class with fantastic guests and great cases in his Venture Opportunities class, and
Horacio Falcao, who got the stage 3 times a week to perform his Negotiations show for our pleasure and training. Apart from his lectures I just loved the confrontational assignments where you actually negotiate in all kinds of situations with your classmates. It got emotional, it got messy, and we aimed for larger pies than any oven could possibly bake.
It was a great mix of classes for me topped off with the chance to work with my fantastic IDFP group on our successful project for PASI in Malawi. It was a good learning opportunity for us, and a chance to show our resilience after having had to stop with our project in Kenya due to the extreme, and incredible violence that disrupted all life, civilized business and society especially in the Kisumu area where our client was located.
Thanks Begoña, Ceci, Nadia, and Steven for all the good times!
Ilian Mihov, the master of Macro Economics who would in my opinion not have allowed the US economy to tank like it has, had he had any chance to stop it,
Ethan Kapstein who showed us very antagonistic views on international relations and brought a large number of interesting and influential speakers to his International Politics class,
Michael Witt, the German professor with his Singlish phrases, and Japanese and Chinese language skills who managed to stun even the Koreans and Chinese classmates with his vast knowledge of Asia, during the Strategies for Asia course,
Phil Anderson, who ran a very cool entrepreneurship class with fantastic guests and great cases in his Venture Opportunities class, and
Horacio Falcao, who got the stage 3 times a week to perform his Negotiations show for our pleasure and training. Apart from his lectures I just loved the confrontational assignments where you actually negotiate in all kinds of situations with your classmates. It got emotional, it got messy, and we aimed for larger pies than any oven could possibly bake.
It was a great mix of classes for me topped off with the chance to work with my fantastic IDFP group on our successful project for PASI in Malawi. It was a good learning opportunity for us, and a chance to show our resilience after having had to stop with our project in Kenya due to the extreme, and incredible violence that disrupted all life, civilized business and society especially in the Kisumu area where our client was located.
Thanks Begoña, Ceci, Nadia, and Steven for all the good times!
Tuesday, 1 April 2008
Academics and other stuff in P4
This period the pressure is all on “job preparation & job hunting.” Every night 2 recruiting companies on campus, invitations for interviews, dinners, coffee chats, informal calls... but also an endless stream of application lettres writing, interview preparation, networking and DINGs (rejections)...
This is P4!
Apart from the job search, this period I am looking at the possibility of buying a company with a few classmates. We are currently exploring an opportunity in Europe for a management buyout of a metal production company with a revenue base of € 1-2M. It’s still exploration, so we have to figure out whether we can fix some of the issues in the company and whether we think that we are the people who can add most value to the firm. REP is a very nice elective! The whole idea of seriously thinking about going out there to buy a € 3M company without having any money, is new to me. Who knows where this will lead us to...
At the same time I’m still busy with my international development project. After the nightmare of the elections in Kenya, we bundled our energy to help a paralegal institute in Malawi. This is proving to be a very interesting case with a real brainteaser: “how can you make money, when all your clients are poor, when you cannot go after wealthier clients, and when your aid is stopped?”
My favourite class this period is Economics and Management in Developing Countries by Daniel Traca. This is the world of IMF and Worldbank, Multinationals and politics, Oil in Chad and Sudan, Aid, the failure of Aid, and ‘what if you’re in the shoes of a president from a developing nation’
So that’s for the academics.
Luckily, we still have time to unwind. After all, the motto at INSEAD still is “work hard, play hard” so we make sure to escape the bubble every now and then.
Highlights that I’ll describe in separate posts:
- Scuba Diving in Palau (Micronesia)
- Trip to China in the break
- Formula 1 in Sepang
This is P4!
Apart from the job search, this period I am looking at the possibility of buying a company with a few classmates. We are currently exploring an opportunity in Europe for a management buyout of a metal production company with a revenue base of € 1-2M. It’s still exploration, so we have to figure out whether we can fix some of the issues in the company and whether we think that we are the people who can add most value to the firm. REP is a very nice elective! The whole idea of seriously thinking about going out there to buy a € 3M company without having any money, is new to me. Who knows where this will lead us to...
At the same time I’m still busy with my international development project. After the nightmare of the elections in Kenya, we bundled our energy to help a paralegal institute in Malawi. This is proving to be a very interesting case with a real brainteaser: “how can you make money, when all your clients are poor, when you cannot go after wealthier clients, and when your aid is stopped?”
My favourite class this period is Economics and Management in Developing Countries by Daniel Traca. This is the world of IMF and Worldbank, Multinationals and politics, Oil in Chad and Sudan, Aid, the failure of Aid, and ‘what if you’re in the shoes of a president from a developing nation’
So that’s for the academics.
Luckily, we still have time to unwind. After all, the motto at INSEAD still is “work hard, play hard” so we make sure to escape the bubble every now and then.
Highlights that I’ll describe in separate posts:
- Scuba Diving in Palau (Micronesia)
- Trip to China in the break
- Formula 1 in Sepang
After the silence
... so what have we been up to in the last few months?
I’ve not been the most faithful blogger, that’s for sure! For this I apologize,deeply. I guess that since the trip to HK at the end of January, I got caught up in all the projects and group work as well as all my classes, and electives...
Period 3:
We all thought that after P2, P3 in Singapore was going to be a breeze... nothing could have been further away from the truth, though! The workload again was huge and what really made life hard was the constant effort to align our schedules around groupwork. Everybody had different classes, so it was virtually impossible to meet as a group before 2100h... and I was in at least 5 different groups.
Some of my projects:
- A Market entry of a luxury champagne brand in Singapore
- Paralegals in Malawi
- A Management analysis of a maturing startup from Spain
- Analysis of an online travel agency’s options & recommendation
- A Zillion case writeups and studies
What really was wonderful in P3, was the temperature. Walking to school in the evening, jumping into the pool, having a bite at one of the hawker stalls...
Life in Singapore is good!
I’ve not been the most faithful blogger, that’s for sure! For this I apologize,deeply. I guess that since the trip to HK at the end of January, I got caught up in all the projects and group work as well as all my classes, and electives...
Period 3:
We all thought that after P2, P3 in Singapore was going to be a breeze... nothing could have been further away from the truth, though! The workload again was huge and what really made life hard was the constant effort to align our schedules around groupwork. Everybody had different classes, so it was virtually impossible to meet as a group before 2100h... and I was in at least 5 different groups.
Some of my projects:
- A Market entry of a luxury champagne brand in Singapore
- Paralegals in Malawi
- A Management analysis of a maturing startup from Spain
- Analysis of an online travel agency’s options & recommendation
- A Zillion case writeups and studies
What really was wonderful in P3, was the temperature. Walking to school in the evening, jumping into the pool, having a bite at one of the hawker stalls...
Life in Singapore is good!
Sunday, 13 January 2008
Singapore is great!
Classes in P3 are amazing.
"Venture Opportunities" is so interesting and challenging that you wish you had more time to spend on this elective.
"Negotiations" is fun, very active, and you can already see how much you will learn.
"Intl Politics" is taught by one of the best professors in the field, and the course is full of controversial topics and debate.
For the "Intl Development Project" I'm going to work on a very exciting project in Kenya. I seriously hope that the tension in Kenya quites down quickly. Could politicians for once act in the benefit of their country?? The story of Africa should not always be painted with violence and blood, but it's so sad that it's so often the case... why???
This week I will also get my first class of "Strategies for Asia PAC" and I will officially start with"Macro-economics." I look forward to both.
On another note: A warm welcome to all the new P1's!!! have a great time in either Fonty or Singa! (I can't believe we are the senior class already...)
To everybody back in Fonty: we miss you guys! Take care and have fun!!!
"Venture Opportunities" is so interesting and challenging that you wish you had more time to spend on this elective.
"Negotiations" is fun, very active, and you can already see how much you will learn.
"Intl Politics" is taught by one of the best professors in the field, and the course is full of controversial topics and debate.
For the "Intl Development Project" I'm going to work on a very exciting project in Kenya. I seriously hope that the tension in Kenya quites down quickly. Could politicians for once act in the benefit of their country?? The story of Africa should not always be painted with violence and blood, but it's so sad that it's so often the case... why???
This week I will also get my first class of "Strategies for Asia PAC" and I will officially start with"Macro-economics." I look forward to both.
On another note: A warm welcome to all the new P1's!!! have a great time in either Fonty or Singa! (I can't believe we are the senior class already...)
To everybody back in Fonty: we miss you guys! Take care and have fun!!!
Wednesday, 17 October 2007
Academic mumblings...
I'm so glad that I'm writing this blog together with Angela... in these hectic times, she is the one who keeps the blog alive.
It's amazing how busy one can be, from early morning to very late. Papers, tests, preparation, lectures, and then there are the exams next week. The whole campus looks like a 24h study factory. There are people asleep over their books in cubicles at any time of day or night. Students eat at the strangest hours (in my opinion a strong indication of a complete disconnect with reality.) It looks like our current life revolves completely around the exams, inside the INSEAD bubble. For the best post from our fellow J'08 bloggers about the exam fever, checkout: www.strawberrytints.blogspot.com (I even quoted you in my LP&G paper, Dee!)
I'm just sending a few emails now and updating the blog before I go back to read my Finance notes and handouts. Maybe if I try hard, I will be able to master everything there is to know about the CAPM model, how to best diversify my investment portfolio, how to valuate any company using the right Beta's, and how to do all kinds of perverse calculations way into the future, using my HP12c...
P1 is almost over now. After the exams (and our trip to Barcelona), I will post more about my take on P1; the classes, the professors, and my fantastic classmates.
P2 is going to be great fun. I specificaly look forward to the Strategy and Leading Organisations classes. The following core courses will be taught in P2:
- Corporate Financial Policy
- Foundations of Marketing
- Leading Organisations
- Managerial Accounting
- Process & Operations Mgmt
- Strategy
My plan is to take significant time in P2 to do a lot of reading about companies in industries that I would like to work in, learn about the economies in Asia, network with people from places or organisations that I'm interested in, and start my post-MBA job hunt strategy. I will also tailor my Electives package and of course work hard on the core courses and party occasionally around all that...
It's funny, when I decided to stop working for a year to go to school, many people wondered whether I would enjoy it, or whether I would even be able to sit in class all day. Two months down the road (it feels more like 4 months) I can say that I absolutely enjoy it. Much has to do with the people around me. I can speak of all my classmates in this sense: they are a bunch of hard working, focused, fun loving, amazing characters. In my essays I wrote that this was the best possible choice I could make at this point in time... well, I can say now that it's not only a cheesy line in my application essay, it's also actually true.
It's amazing how busy one can be, from early morning to very late. Papers, tests, preparation, lectures, and then there are the exams next week. The whole campus looks like a 24h study factory. There are people asleep over their books in cubicles at any time of day or night. Students eat at the strangest hours (in my opinion a strong indication of a complete disconnect with reality.) It looks like our current life revolves completely around the exams, inside the INSEAD bubble. For the best post from our fellow J'08 bloggers about the exam fever, checkout: www.strawberrytints.blogspot.com (I even quoted you in my LP&G paper, Dee!)
I'm just sending a few emails now and updating the blog before I go back to read my Finance notes and handouts. Maybe if I try hard, I will be able to master everything there is to know about the CAPM model, how to best diversify my investment portfolio, how to valuate any company using the right Beta's, and how to do all kinds of perverse calculations way into the future, using my HP12c...
P1 is almost over now. After the exams (and our trip to Barcelona), I will post more about my take on P1; the classes, the professors, and my fantastic classmates.
P2 is going to be great fun. I specificaly look forward to the Strategy and Leading Organisations classes. The following core courses will be taught in P2:
- Corporate Financial Policy
- Foundations of Marketing
- Leading Organisations
- Managerial Accounting
- Process & Operations Mgmt
- Strategy
My plan is to take significant time in P2 to do a lot of reading about companies in industries that I would like to work in, learn about the economies in Asia, network with people from places or organisations that I'm interested in, and start my post-MBA job hunt strategy. I will also tailor my Electives package and of course work hard on the core courses and party occasionally around all that...
It's funny, when I decided to stop working for a year to go to school, many people wondered whether I would enjoy it, or whether I would even be able to sit in class all day. Two months down the road (it feels more like 4 months) I can say that I absolutely enjoy it. Much has to do with the people around me. I can speak of all my classmates in this sense: they are a bunch of hard working, focused, fun loving, amazing characters. In my essays I wrote that this was the best possible choice I could make at this point in time... well, I can say now that it's not only a cheesy line in my application essay, it's also actually true.
Thursday, 27 September 2007
Steep learning curve
So how fast is an accelerated MBA?
A little more than a month ago, I did't know much more about accounting than the words debit and credit. For our Friday case, I need to give an advice to the investment community whether to buy, sell, or hold stock from Coca-Cola and why. If cold-called, I need to give a detailed analysis and advice in 90 seconds.
The case brings us back to 2005. Based on the Financial Statements, the 2004 Annual Report, articles from Fortune and Business Week magazines, and some market data, we should be in good enough shape to do a 5-forces analysis, and a credible Valuation of the company.
I'm glad that I'll have some time tomorrow morning to work on it. I just finished the readings, but have no idea where to start... this story will be updated soon!
By the way, Financial Accounting (believe it or not) is my favourite class. It's amazing how a good professor can really make you appreciate what he teaches you. Today was his best session, which makes it the best P1 session to date. The main reason is that many things came together in this lecture: financial statements, measurement ratios, valuation, management issues, purpose of companies, value creation... the whole lecture was wrapped around a vivid discussion over several provocative statements.
I hope that I understood enough to figure out the Coca-Cola valuation case tomorrow.
A little more than a month ago, I did't know much more about accounting than the words debit and credit. For our Friday case, I need to give an advice to the investment community whether to buy, sell, or hold stock from Coca-Cola and why. If cold-called, I need to give a detailed analysis and advice in 90 seconds.
The case brings us back to 2005. Based on the Financial Statements, the 2004 Annual Report, articles from Fortune and Business Week magazines, and some market data, we should be in good enough shape to do a 5-forces analysis, and a credible Valuation of the company.
I'm glad that I'll have some time tomorrow morning to work on it. I just finished the readings, but have no idea where to start... this story will be updated soon!
By the way, Financial Accounting (believe it or not) is my favourite class. It's amazing how a good professor can really make you appreciate what he teaches you. Today was his best session, which makes it the best P1 session to date. The main reason is that many things came together in this lecture: financial statements, measurement ratios, valuation, management issues, purpose of companies, value creation... the whole lecture was wrapped around a vivid discussion over several provocative statements.
I hope that I understood enough to figure out the Coca-Cola valuation case tomorrow.
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