Well, I think its a week of change, if I have to put it in the shortest form. I can only hope that this change is a major change and long lasting.
In terms of what happened in the week, we had an OBPPD Session on how one should pursue a career and what brings success (and what is success too). We also had an open feedback session about each other by the end of the week. In terms of OBPPD and the course we also had an individual report submitted during the week. We also had Halloween party which was really enjoyable.
We had the entrepreneurship club meeting started off and we are trying something new from this year (I hope this is not just this year) wherein entrepreneurs can pitch their ideas and ask for feedback from others in the group. Other than these I think everything else was routine.
Now about the change, when I was supposed to talk about the OBPPD session in my team, I started preparing and I was dumbstruck by the level of impact this session could have not only in my life but anyone's life. It dealt with what is success, how to attain success and how to reach your fullest potential in a level of detail that can fit almost everyone, since its generic it does become a bit high level, but I have started thinking in these lines now. I will have to work hard on this, however I think its worth a try at the least.
As many on campus would say, I am going to experiment here, to change my character, to consciously try and reduce my weakness (which is being direct and rude) and focus on my strengths, one statistic says people who focus on their strength succeeded more, but I think being rude puts me out of the game and hence I dont have an option not to work on it. The second thing that I have already started moving out of my priorities is to be the best in what I do (in terms of academics), I think changing from the inside would be needed to be a better leader than learning more stuff.
I need to evaluate ALL the options available in front of me, as to what I can do after the MBA. At this moment I feel that if I allow another few years to roll on before I start chasing my dreams, I will probably end up not chasing it at all. I have started exploring Entrepreneurship and Social Entrepreneurship as real career options immediately after MBA. The various career related sessions arranged in the next week should help me in this regard.
This week I experienced the first change of time (DST) of my life so now officially we are in GMT or UTC. Next weekend we would have our first WAC in EOS. I guess its just about being focussed, let me see, I am looking forward to it.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Sunday, October 24, 2010
The third week
The workload has just started hitting me, in fact many other co-students are a lot more worried than me. I rely primarily on hearing people and not reading everything. I know its going to be difficult, and my character is, when I read I forget, so I prefer to read just before the exams (Whatever I can read).
One good thing about coming with an Accounting and Economics background is that you have only 4 subjects which are entirely new, in fact a lot of marketing stuff had also been taught to me in the final stages of my Management Accounting course, Statistics was a part of it too, which drills down to Operations and Organisational Behaviour. I like operations very much and the faculty is very passionate about the subject, being an operations manager for most of his life (not as academic but as a manager), he teaches in a way which helps us understand things a lot easier than reading any texts.
This week in terms of personal relationships, I went underprepared and late to one of the team meetings and I apologized right in front, however one of the team members was unhappy and he threw it out at a time when I started contributing, the thing that I liked was, one hour later, we did a small analysis of what had happened and he accepted the fact that the anger towards my non-compliance to our basic rules had made him angry and not the point I was trying to make.
We have to submit our individual reports on organisational behaviour this week, and this would be the first exercise that is going to be marked (50% of OBPPD), so I have to take it really seriously. The tools and techniques taught in OB are really good and are influencing me in many ways, however the influence has not completely changed me in the period I am here, this report might want me to stress on the current period and I am more than willing to do that (who in his right mind can ignore the 50 marks).
My wife went to attend an interview, we are eagerly (atleast she is) waiting for the results, for me its more of an achievement that she went to an unknown place in UK without my company, and she can only improve with this confidence. Coming weeks are going to get a lot more busy, with recruitment, assignments and the course getting more intense, I hope to keep up with this blog all through, but lets hope.
One good thing about coming with an Accounting and Economics background is that you have only 4 subjects which are entirely new, in fact a lot of marketing stuff had also been taught to me in the final stages of my Management Accounting course, Statistics was a part of it too, which drills down to Operations and Organisational Behaviour. I like operations very much and the faculty is very passionate about the subject, being an operations manager for most of his life (not as academic but as a manager), he teaches in a way which helps us understand things a lot easier than reading any texts.
This week in terms of personal relationships, I went underprepared and late to one of the team meetings and I apologized right in front, however one of the team members was unhappy and he threw it out at a time when I started contributing, the thing that I liked was, one hour later, we did a small analysis of what had happened and he accepted the fact that the anger towards my non-compliance to our basic rules had made him angry and not the point I was trying to make.
We have to submit our individual reports on organisational behaviour this week, and this would be the first exercise that is going to be marked (50% of OBPPD), so I have to take it really seriously. The tools and techniques taught in OB are really good and are influencing me in many ways, however the influence has not completely changed me in the period I am here, this report might want me to stress on the current period and I am more than willing to do that (who in his right mind can ignore the 50 marks).
My wife went to attend an interview, we are eagerly (atleast she is) waiting for the results, for me its more of an achievement that she went to an unknown place in UK without my company, and she can only improve with this confidence. Coming weeks are going to get a lot more busy, with recruitment, assignments and the course getting more intense, I hope to keep up with this blog all through, but lets hope.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
The Second Week
I now have another practical use for this blog. This would serve me as a tool to summarise my term experience in Cranfield. We need to submit a report on this and the report is part of our exam marks in OBPPD, so I would add a personal touch to this blog from now on.
The second week, it was not very different from the first week from the learning or the lectures perspective. We had a briefing on the SMS (Strategic Marketing Success), which is supposed to be a demonstration of any marketing success in the world. We as a team will have to find one such story, and present it, I am looking forward to this challenge. Our team selected BMW MINI as the product of choice, and I am happy with that, as it provides enough room to apply many of the theories that we learnt. I was a bit unhappy with one of my team member jumping the gun with a structure, whereas I would have preferred everyone working on their own structures and then we choosing the best of all.
Personally I did an accounting problem after a long long time and felt good, imagine I forgot to bring up the inventory into the income statement, but I was happy that none of the other points went wrong, and I had a tallied balance sheet except for the above error. I think I will have to be a bit more methodical to avoid last minute problems.
In economics I found that the second part is something entirely new for me. I thought the entire paper is a renamed managerial economics course, however I now find it to be much more practical and usable. Many of my co-students feel the other way, but I think the value of this learning would be realised only when the start using it.
We did an MBTI survey of all of our members and I came out to be a ENTJ, that would mean an Extrovert, Intuitive, Thinking and Judging personality. I dont know much about this survey, may be this could come in handy later on.
Personal life, my wife got an interview call for a Nursery Assistant position next week, and we are happy about it. At the least, she will atleast get some experience in taking an interview in this part of the world.
The second week, it was not very different from the first week from the learning or the lectures perspective. We had a briefing on the SMS (Strategic Marketing Success), which is supposed to be a demonstration of any marketing success in the world. We as a team will have to find one such story, and present it, I am looking forward to this challenge. Our team selected BMW MINI as the product of choice, and I am happy with that, as it provides enough room to apply many of the theories that we learnt. I was a bit unhappy with one of my team member jumping the gun with a structure, whereas I would have preferred everyone working on their own structures and then we choosing the best of all.
Personally I did an accounting problem after a long long time and felt good, imagine I forgot to bring up the inventory into the income statement, but I was happy that none of the other points went wrong, and I had a tallied balance sheet except for the above error. I think I will have to be a bit more methodical to avoid last minute problems.
In economics I found that the second part is something entirely new for me. I thought the entire paper is a renamed managerial economics course, however I now find it to be much more practical and usable. Many of my co-students feel the other way, but I think the value of this learning would be realised only when the start using it.
We did an MBTI survey of all of our members and I came out to be a ENTJ, that would mean an Extrovert, Intuitive, Thinking and Judging personality. I dont know much about this survey, may be this could come in handy later on.
Personal life, my wife got an interview call for a Nursery Assistant position next week, and we are happy about it. At the least, she will atleast get some experience in taking an interview in this part of the world.
Monday, October 11, 2010
The First Real Week of the MBA
This first week has been full of ups and downs, I had my own moments of feeling bad in the team (My learning team) and then I recovered and started cooperating, others also had difficulties but I guess everyone comes on board after some time.
Few people have started attending interviews, and its like you are on a training and you keep looking for jobs all the while.
The learning does not seem to be too tough. I find OBPPD (Organisational Behaviour and Personal and Professional Development) to be particularly different, even though the subject is interesting, I think I haven't yet got a feel of the course. I have started loving Operations and I hope to keep up with the marketing course. I have had a few difficulties in Statistics, but thanks to my learning team especially Aditya, I am floating for the moment.
I got the feedback for my Pre MBA WAC (Written Assessment of a Case), got good feedback, I was happy. Got my rejection for the AT Kearney case competition, it was a team effort and we did do a good job, but then I guess in a tough scenario, the selection team is also under pressure and we cant blame them for doing a bad job at the selection.
Played Basketball after a long time this week, did not have a great time but I did feel that I am still ok with the game. Table tennis continues to be my favourite, I hope I keep getting time for that.
Few people have started attending interviews, and its like you are on a training and you keep looking for jobs all the while.
The learning does not seem to be too tough. I find OBPPD (Organisational Behaviour and Personal and Professional Development) to be particularly different, even though the subject is interesting, I think I haven't yet got a feel of the course. I have started loving Operations and I hope to keep up with the marketing course. I have had a few difficulties in Statistics, but thanks to my learning team especially Aditya, I am floating for the moment.
I got the feedback for my Pre MBA WAC (Written Assessment of a Case), got good feedback, I was happy. Got my rejection for the AT Kearney case competition, it was a team effort and we did do a good job, but then I guess in a tough scenario, the selection team is also under pressure and we cant blame them for doing a bad job at the selection.
Played Basketball after a long time this week, did not have a great time but I did feel that I am still ok with the game. Table tennis continues to be my favourite, I hope I keep getting time for that.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
The O Week
Ok ok, I am not a big fan of such acronyms, so lets get the real thing, its the Orientation week for the newer batch of MBAs done by the previous batch.
There were 133 (or atleast around that number) students in the previous batch and 17 of them vouched for the greatness of the Cranfield experience, in such detail that it could not be a lie or an enactment, they were frank about the realities in that few of the 17 were unemployed as of now, but I guess thats part of the game, a few will be left out and the world does not come down if you are not employed within a few days of graduating.
Now to the program itself. The program went on like this
1. Introduction to Team working and the Cranfield style of learning (Which is new to many of us)
2. Introduction to case studies (even though for me Pre-MBA had a test WAC - Written Analysis of a Case) and WACs
3. A lot of partying in the evenings and partner activities.
4. We had our first team interactions and I am really happy about my team in many ways including the maturity shown in the group and the commitment.
5. We were all asked to come out of our comfort zone, challenge ourself and let go, I guess this will only happen with time and not just through reading.
I will keep editing as and when I remember more important stuff.
There were 133 (or atleast around that number) students in the previous batch and 17 of them vouched for the greatness of the Cranfield experience, in such detail that it could not be a lie or an enactment, they were frank about the realities in that few of the 17 were unemployed as of now, but I guess thats part of the game, a few will be left out and the world does not come down if you are not employed within a few days of graduating.
Now to the program itself. The program went on like this
1. Introduction to Team working and the Cranfield style of learning (Which is new to many of us)
2. Introduction to case studies (even though for me Pre-MBA had a test WAC - Written Analysis of a Case) and WACs
3. A lot of partying in the evenings and partner activities.
4. We had our first team interactions and I am really happy about my team in many ways including the maturity shown in the group and the commitment.
5. We were all asked to come out of our comfort zone, challenge ourself and let go, I guess this will only happen with time and not just through reading.
I will keep editing as and when I remember more important stuff.
The Pre-MBA
This pre-mba course was supposedly a course which would allow people to get accustomed to the culture and learning style of Europe and particularly the UK. From day one since I registered, I was more interested in coming here quicker and getting settled by the time the real MBA started. I think my logic to start early did prove fruitful with me and my wife becoming comfortable with the campus, facilities here and many other things which are important (like bank account etc).
The highlights of the pre-mba are
1. A great project management session, which we enjoyed as much as we learnt
2. A superb experience in a simulation, which actually allowed all of us to become teams and execute a strategy, our team came fourth (among six teams) in the first game (minimax) but that was more of getting used to the format than anything else. In the second game our team came first in terms of end-term share prices and second in terms of accumulated profits. I was really happy not about the position, but the admirable level of consistency that we showed in our strategy, although I am a bit worried that I tried and imposed myself too much on the group (in sticking with the strategy). Everyone including the staff who conducted and fellow participants were very appreciative of our efforts and that made my day (atleast for that day)
3. A good introduction to Bank accounts, NHS, Library (MIRC as it is called here) and the campus
4. A good session with Séan Rickard which was a good eye opener to the way cranfield mba is conducted
5. A few other starter sessions which we all learnt a lot from.
Overall it was fun, I did try and make the most of it. I learnt a lot about myself when I tried something and the team said "NO", looking back I can say I behaved like a kid in getting upset with it, but then there are always weaknesses in every person, and I guess that would be the biggest learning experience I will carry forward.
I will keep editing this post as and when I remember things
The highlights of the pre-mba are
1. A great project management session, which we enjoyed as much as we learnt
2. A superb experience in a simulation, which actually allowed all of us to become teams and execute a strategy, our team came fourth (among six teams) in the first game (minimax) but that was more of getting used to the format than anything else. In the second game our team came first in terms of end-term share prices and second in terms of accumulated profits. I was really happy not about the position, but the admirable level of consistency that we showed in our strategy, although I am a bit worried that I tried and imposed myself too much on the group (in sticking with the strategy). Everyone including the staff who conducted and fellow participants were very appreciative of our efforts and that made my day (atleast for that day)
3. A good introduction to Bank accounts, NHS, Library (MIRC as it is called here) and the campus
4. A good session with Séan Rickard which was a good eye opener to the way cranfield mba is conducted
5. A few other starter sessions which we all learnt a lot from.
Overall it was fun, I did try and make the most of it. I learnt a lot about myself when I tried something and the team said "NO", looking back I can say I behaved like a kid in getting upset with it, but then there are always weaknesses in every person, and I guess that would be the biggest learning experience I will carry forward.
I will keep editing this post as and when I remember things
The Intention
I have finally joined the Cranfield MBA, gone through the Pre-MBA process and would now like to share some of my experiences. Although the primary motive of this blog is to keep a diary for myself, I would be more than happy to help anyone wanting to know information during my mba (2010-11) or beyond.
Thanks for Reading, the next post will summarise my pre-mba experience and then on to the orientation week. At the moment I think I will make this a weekly exercise so that there is enough information for a post and also I will have time on a Saturday/Sunday to do this without affecting any of the schedules for the class
I chose this design because this looks very close to a blurred photo of what cranfield actually looks like, lot of apple trees (with tasty apples too), lush green fields all around the place and a calm countryside. The road in the middle also looks a close resemblance to the runway that we have here.
Thanks for Reading, the next post will summarise my pre-mba experience and then on to the orientation week. At the moment I think I will make this a weekly exercise so that there is enough information for a post and also I will have time on a Saturday/Sunday to do this without affecting any of the schedules for the class
I chose this design because this looks very close to a blurred photo of what cranfield actually looks like, lot of apple trees (with tasty apples too), lush green fields all around the place and a calm countryside. The road in the middle also looks a close resemblance to the runway that we have here.
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