Welcome to Class 2012
As I write this it is the Sunday evening before the start of the pre-MBA for the new Class 2012 who will be joining MBS tomorrow. On the Manchester Business School MBA we have always encouraged reflective practice and it is perhaps therefore appropriate that I have been in a particularly reflective mood today as it is almost 12 months since I myself joined MBS. So I have been looking back at the last year and also considering what the next 12 months will bring.
Particular ‘highs’ in the last 12 months on the full time programme have been the quality of many of the International Business and UK Consultancy projects, the satisfaction of seeing Class 2011 truly come together as a class, some outstanding internship opportunities and, of course, the various social events.
Looking forward, for the new Class 2012 we are introducing some new courses and professors. So I’m particularly pleased to announce the launch of a new Skills for Successful Management course led by Elinor O’Connor and also a new course led by Laszlo Czaban entitled Designing Internationally Competitive Enterprises that will launch after Christmas. We’re also pleased to have Professor Richard Taffler who is internationally renowned for his work on behavioural finance joining the MBA team this year.
However, before Class 2012 start their academic study they have 4 weeks of pre-MBA. The pre-MBA is particularly important as this is the opportunity for the class to get to know each other and the city that is to become their home. Last year, to encourage Class 2011 to explore Manchester, I set a challenge on the first day of the pre-MBA .. to find a particular image, a bee. This year I am setting a similar pictorial challenge, so I want to know where this picture of this happy couple resides, who painted it and also a brief summary of what message art historians believe the artist was trying to convey. I think this picture also has a clear message for Class 2012 .. but that’s for my next posting!
Is any MBA an MBA?
A guy you meet at a conference or in a friend’s house or even a by-passer may tell you: I have an MBA. He says it leaving you to wonder, is any MBA an MBA? I guess a proper response would be: Where did you get your MBA from? His expected reply could be one of two: ‘I got my MBA from Manchester Business School (or any of the likes)’ or ‘I got my MBA from St. Michael’s Business School (deserting you to wonder further: Where is that business school? Does it even exist?)’.
I reckon, if the founders of the Graduate School of Business Administration (GSBA) at Harvard University, the first business school to offer Master in Business Administration (MBA), knew that in the 21st century every ‘tom, dick and harry’ would set up a business school and offer an MBA, they might have not started it in the first place. It might be an exaggerated statement but it certainly depicts my resentment of those who sell fake degrees to the uninformed. With all my respect to Fiat, the Italian car brand, but can it be compared to a Rolls Royce or at least a Jaguar? No matter how technologically modern and advanced you can make a Fiat, it will always remain a Fiat, and that’s how I compare a Genuine MBA with a ‘tom, dick and harry’ type of MBA.
Doing an MBA commences nearly one to two years before the actual course starts. An MBA prospect will have to decide whether he/she is ready to go through this exhausting journey by deeply thinking and answering some nagging questions including: Am I good enough for an MBA? Where am I going to get the money for a real MBA? Am I ready to forfeit a one or two year’s salary? Am I ready for a life changing step? In brief, AM I THE RIGHT GUY FOR AN MBA?
These and many other questions will have to be answered by the prospect and the answers have to be very honest and solid, for that, all the days, months and years to come of the prospect’s life will be motivated by these answers.
Comparing Genuine MBAs with ‘tom, dick and harry’ type of MBAs
| Point of Comparison | Genuine MBA | Fake MBA |
| School | A world leading school – Top 50 to 100 (the likes of Harvard, London, Yale, Oxford, Manchester, Cambridge, Wharton, INSEAD etc.) | Unknown school (the tom, dick and harry type) including local universities and colleges within different countries. |
| Cost | Not less than $35,000 per year | Could be as low as $3,000, all inclusive (like an all inclusive holiday packages) |
| GMAT score | Not less than 600 | A prospect could be admitted without even a GMAT |
| Years of experience | Not less than two to three years | No previous experience is required (a prospect could be admitted directly after finishing his/her undergraduate study). |
| Academics | Eminent Professors and business professionals of worldwide reputation (the ones who write the books which everyone studies from) | Ordinary Professors not known to or recognised by the academia. |
To Class 2012,
You have certainly made the right choice by joining Manchester Business School.
Welcome to your brand new, Rolls Royce!! …and enjoy the ride!!
Cheers,
Wagih
P.S. This article was inspired by Umair Qazi’s article: Top Ten Tips for the Class of 2012 
Top Ten Tips for the Class of 2012
Dear Class of 2012,
Welcome to Manchester Business School.
I hope you all are ready for a life changing experience, and one that you will remember for the rest of your lives. This past year has been an eye opener to say the least – the things you come across, the people you meet, the diverse backgrounds you encounter, the overall experience is unparalleled in my opinion. Having gone through what you all are about to embark upon, I think I stand in a good position to provide you with the “Top Ten Tips” for your first year here at MBS.
So here we go.
1. NETWORK. You will hear this word endlessly during the first term and throughout your first year. CMS, external speakers, your seniors, everyone will tell you to NETWORK, NETWORK, and NETWORK. Sure, its great to network and you will get many opportunities to do so at MBS with all the events that are planned for your class. But remember, your NETWORK starts with your class. The 128 students in the class of 2012 is your immediate network – try and get to know as many of your class mates as possible for you will be kick starting your career again together in 18 months time. In the longer term, it is your ties with your class mates that will count.
2. PRE-MBA. Many of you are coming back into student life after a long time so the motivation to dig into the books, do your readings, and be prepared for all the classes will of course be there amongst majority of you. But that can wait for the autumn, winter, and spring terms, which will suck the life out of you. You will work harder in those 9 months than you ever have in your life. So use the relatively relaxed time during the PRE-MBA to go around Manchester, partying, and doing everything that you won’t have time for once the real stuff starts.
3. INVITATIONS. Accept them all! You will get invites for parties, events, conferences, discussions, staff-student meetings, and a whole lot more. Go everywhere and don’t miss anything – especially where there is free food and drinks to have! These events are great platforms for interaction and learning – make the most of them.
4. STUDY GROUPS. Some people are used to studying individually, while others are used to studying with friends around them. Form your study groups. The amount you learn through discussion and interaction with your colleagues is significantly more than what you learn by reading a book by yourselves. If you are not used to group study, then try to get accustomed to it. You will have loads of group work to help you get used to it – use that for exams as well. Try and go through the pain together – it hurts less!
5. WATCH YOUR WEIGHT. Well I should be the last person commenting on this, since I have lived on burgers and pizzas for the last year. Finding time to cook at home will be difficult, but try and do so. Bulk shopping for groceries and taking turns to cook for 6-8 people can really help. Burgers and pizza just make u tired. If you want delivery numbers for Dominos and Pizza Hut, give me a shout!
6. M&A. You will hate this project. It will be challenging and it will be time consuming. You will feel like there is nothing else to do in this world besides M&A. It will stretch you and it will test your patience and nerves. For majority of our class, this was probably the most stressful project. BUT try and learn as much as you can from M&A because it is one project that brings together everything that you learn during the first two terms – corporate finance, marketing, accounting, strategy, operations management – you will apply concepts from all the courses in this project. For me personally, it was one of the best learning experiences at MBS and it will surely help you during the spring project and later in the IB.
7. VCIC. Take part. All of you should take part in this. Only 25 of you will benefit completely from it since there is an initial round with the MBS competition involving the top 5 teams. If there is an MBA learning experience outside the classroom, then VCIC it is. Besides M&A, VCIC was surely one of the best learning experiences of my time at the MBA. Once again you apply corporate finance, strategy, and marketing – anything that makes you apply concepts from more than one field is surely worth trying out. Form your teams now, check out http://www.vcic.unc.edu/ to understand how it works, and start preparing. The competition will be launched soon.
8. INDIAN / PAKISTANI FOOD. There’s nothing like it! And there’s plenty of it in Manchester. I know Americans, Mexicans, Greeks, and Europeans who have started loving this kind of food since they have been in Manchester. Akbar’s, East Zeast, and Zouk are surely the best Indian / Pakistani restaurants you will find here – forget Curry Mile and go to these places. For the best North Indian / Lahori style dishes, go to Akbar’s and East Zeast. If you are a fan of nihari and paayas, go to Zouk. If you visit Zouk, make sure you try the lobster – lobster meat cooked in Indian spices – there is nothing like it. Everyone will tell you about Curry Mile but the food isn’t that great but if you have a sweet tooth, make your way down to Sanam – jalebis, gulab jaman, gajar halwa, ras malai, and the works! Aaloo poori also available. And right across the street from there you can find kulfi and falooda. Anyone’s mouth watering?
9. SCHENGEN VISA. If you are from Pakistan, Iran, Egypt, or any other Middle Eastern country – apply for your Schengen visas now and try to get a multiple entry one. Your class mates will make plans to travel around Europe, one of the best advantages of doing an MBA in this part of the world. Most of your classmates will not need a visa to travel to these places but you will. So do it now and don’t miss the plans!
10. WORK HARD, BUT PARTY EVEN HARDER!
I hope you all enjoy your stay here. You will love it, but at times you will also hate it – but don’t worry, bad times will pass. What’s more important is the overall experience and I can assure you that it will be one hell of a ride!
All the best.
Umair Q.
Summertime, and the Livin’ is (Sort Of) Easy…
I’m going to start by uttering those oh-so-cliche statements about how I can’t believe a year has gone by, it’s really flown, I’m sad because I feel the MBA is almost over, etc. For all the stress and madness that happens in the first year of the Manchester MBA, I really did love it. The better part of the winter and spring terms were spent, coupled with classwork and events, on the daunting task of finding a summer internship. A good amount of students this year got an internship for the summer, which is pretty amazing- despite the recession, we’re still plugging away, and thankfully the learning-by-doing approach here at Manchester has really prepared us for the “Real World”… We can dive right into projects with no hand-holding!
I was in the unique position of finding an internship with a luxury cruise line, and so I got to travel around the Mediterranean in the name of higher education! Of course, before I left, I assumed that after 9 long months in the MBA I’d have time to relax on a cruise ship, have a grand time, get a tan on this pale face and then head back for my final few months as an MBA student. What I neglected to consider was the fact that MBAs are still sought after, despite the recession, because of our insane willingness to work long hours and do all sorts of things to get a project done! This is where I tip my hat to our professors, and my classmates. There were many projects that I honestly wasn’t sure how I’d get done in the beginning- either the deliverables looked too huge, the timing with other projects too close, or the standards too high. I’ve pushed myself so hard here to do credit to my team members and my MBA programme, but as a result, when I arrived at my internship I was prepared in ways I never could have imagined. Get up at 6am every day for work? Okay. Work until 11pm every night? If you say so. One day off a week? Sounds good. Writing reports to the MBA programme amidst all this work, to satisfy the educational side of the internship requirements over the summer term? You got it.
In fact, after the past nine months, in which I had several classes, separate projects, club activities, and job searching to do, I honestly felt like I could do anything. It sounds bleak sometimes, at the outset, how much work we have- especially in the first year of the course. But all if this is preparing us for our careers, and (more relevant to me as I careen ever closer to January 2011), the IB Project, which is a major reason some students are here. The opportunities we’ve had to work with real clients, on real situations, have given us amazing abilities to jump into anything and solve it with common sense, professionalism, and creativity. Especially hopping onto a cruise ship (definitely not the typical office job!), it was nice to know that the past year has prepped me for even that- the flexibility I’ve gained on this course even prepares you for the unconventional jobs!
Now my internship is over, a bit earlier than the others’… So I’m in Manchester finishing up these assessments. The only down side? I’ve forgotten what to do with free time. When did there get to be so many hours in a day?! Someone give me some structure…
The Cranfield Regatta
MBS takes 4th Place in the Cranfield MBA Regatta
The 19th Cranfield MBA Regatta was held near Portsmouth over the weekend of the 9th – 11th July 2010. MBS pulled in a magnificent place of 4th overall after five hard fought races against 35 other Jeanneau Sunfast 37 yacht crews. With only two of the MBS crew sailing from last year, we had a further six fresh faces with a varied background in yacht racing and cruising. With the helm’s steely-eyed helming and expert timing, the MBS yacht was first over the line at the start of most of the races, with the skipper navigating the course to the best advantage of the prevailing shifting winds and changing tides. Understandably, being a new team with only one day’s pre-training (with no wind to speak of), there were fortunately very few handling errors; but the competition was very stiff from the top half of the entries. In the last race, the wind shifted considerably including gusting to around 25knots; with yachts fighting their spinnakers. MBS held their determination with no loss of control but was piped at the post in an almost photo-style finish with three other yachts! There was an even a man overboard from another team on this race as the wind was so feisty!
MBS race finishing positions were – 4th – 2nd – 12th (discarded) and 5th giving MBS an overall position of 4th only two points the 3rd crew.
The MBS crew were:
Skipper/Navigator – Ian McLeod – Honorary Alumni
Helm – Juan Carlos de Laborde – MBA 2011
Main – Max Jesse – MBA 2011
Pit – Keiran Taylor-Thomas – Alumni
Trim 1/spinnaker – Robin Drummond-Hay – Alumni
Trim 2 – Idalia Dawidowska – MBA 2010
Mast – Victor Anzaldosaenz – MBA 2011
Bow – Andy Viles – MBA 2010
Our thanks go to Cranfield University School of Management for organising this very popular event.
Next year’s Regatta will be held over the weekend 8-11 July 2011, so if you are keen to be involved, register your interest with Andy Viles (andrew.viles@alumni.mbs.ac.uk).
The Director General of the Arab Administrative Development Organisation gives an astounding presentation at Manchester Business School
As a full-time MBA student and President of the Marketing club at one of the top business schools in the world, Manchester Business School of the University of Manchester, I found it a golden opportunity to invite Professor Refat Abdelhalim Alfaouri, Director General of the Arab Administrative Organisation, through our mutual friend Dr. Omar Sayed Alahl, Chairman and CEO of Sayed Alahl International Group. On the 8th of June, at the prestigious Maclleland Hall of Manchester Business School, Professor Alfaouri gave an astounding presentation on the ‘Opportunities and Challenges Facing Businesses in the Arab World’. He was able to brilliantly encapsulate information on 22 Arab countries in less than one hour and a half to an audience of top-notch professors, academics and MBA, M.Sc. and PhD Students from more than 37 different nationalities. Professor Refat eloquently demonstrated the challenges that are facing businesses in the Arab world that although represents a nation with common language, culture and major religion, its countries exhibit differences in the financial system, institutional regime and business system they adopt. He also emphasised the fact that due to these differences each country has its own priorities and its own strategies. To exemplify his argument, he mentioned that one cannot advise a government that is still seeking provision of safety, food and shelter to its people, to deploy an e-government.
On the other hand, professor Refat was able to show-case the opportunities in the Arab world in the areas of Technology, Telecommunication and Energy. Additionally, he expressed a different view than the prevalent one regarding the potential of Energy available in the Arab World. He drew attention to that when Arab world energy is thought of it means to many people oil, but this is not true- he said- as there are other potential sources of energy such as wind and solar energies which are very much abundant especially in small oil producing countries such as Egypt are very often overlooked. He also pointed out that in a country like Saudi Arabia, training is considered a priority and heavily invested in.
Lead by Dr. Ibrahim Abosag, a senior lecturer in international marketing and management at Manchester Business School who is Saudi Arabian by nationality, a panel discussion lasted for more than an hour giving the audience a chance to interact and pose questions.
At the Palace Hotel in the heart of Oxford Road, a couple of blocks away from the Midland’s Hotel where Charles Stewart Rolls and Frederick Henry Royce met and agreed to form Rolls-Royce in 1906, I met with Professor Alfaouri, the next day to that of his presentation and asked him a few questions about his visit and his impressions.
To my first question: What did you like about the city of Manchester?, He excitingly responded: ”the city is very British, so to speak, well organised and very much heterogonous in its culture’. Adding, ”I could see people from all around the world walking side by side in a world class metropolitan city”. Everything is made accessible for students; I would also describe it as a student ‘village’.'’
I then went on to ask him about what did he notice about the students at Manchester Business School. He mentioned that the students are diverse and come from nearly every part of the world and this certainly supports cross-cultural talks and discussions. Professor Alfaouri who got his Ph.D. from the University of St. Louis and his Master degree from the University of Southern California, couldn’t hide his admiration of the British educational system. He emphasised that the British educational system is still intact and bares the fundamentals needed to bring out qualified graduates to lead the world. He explicitly said that the British educational system is second to none; and I do second him on that. I finally asked him about the moments of his presentation he felt were most exciting. He said, ”Whenever I tried to divert the presentation away from politics, I was dragged back by the students”. He added that he liked it and was very glad to elaborate and explain in the context of politics.
SMILE! it is Latin Night!!!! in Manchester Business School!
Term 3 has gone in a blink of an eye. After arriving from Poland I had the chance of going to Washington, D.C. representing my class and Manchester Business School in the Graduate Business Forum. There, Sergey (a friend from Russia) and I had the chance to share and learn from the best practices of the top business schools in the world. It was fantastic to meet representatives from diverse places such as Hong Kong, USA, Spain, China and Canada, but more importantly, the fact of being surrounded by such an energetic and enthusiastic crowd made the experience worth the trip. Additionally, and just like it happened to Sagen in Germany, I was “forced” to stay in the Americas due to the volcanic activity in Europe.
Anyway, the point is that in my return to the land of the Mancunians I had a “Santa Claus – size” list of things to do! Not only I had missed two weeks in lessons, but also had a salsa choreography to learn for MBAT (one that we managed to complete in two weeks), a live UK consulting project and the preparation sessions for the Latin Night (all along lectures, homework, MBA Council activities and all the other normal things that you do when you are an MBA
professional). MBAT (I will not describe much about it since I know Luisma will share with us this amazing story!) passed as the most successful in the history of Manchester Business School, ranking 4th place in the overall list and then it was timeto showcase why “latinos” we are considered to be the fiesta people in the world.
Well… what can I say about Peru, Colombia and Mexico (and the rest of Latin America). It is not only the place where many of us come from, but it is a melting point where traditions, races and styles have evolved to give pace to a new series of cultures that are not afraid of showing feelings such as passion, faith and joy. This, hopefully, was demonstrated during our Latin Night that just passed the 28th of May.
The evening started with a salsa demo from the MBAT team. Later on, Diego led “el juego de las sillas” (the game of chairs) and it happened to be one of the funniest competitions ever. Then, it was the turn of Carla, Mariwi, Hermann and Tony from Peru to enlighten (literally!) us with an Afro-Latin American dance called el Alcatraz. I laughed so much looking at my friends trying to burn each other’s buns! Later, Colombian stars Juan, Catalina, Javier, Carlos, Felipe, Eduardo, Maria Antonieta, Camila and Rodrigo stepped on the stage to sing international hit “la camisa negra”. We were all with a big smile singing such a fun song! The third part of the show corresponded to Mexico. I was absolutely nervous since it was the first time that I would perform “Danzon”, the traditional dance from my region Veracruz. It came out “sexily” with the help of my Peruvian friend Carla. Then, a unique demonstration of a very niche dance called “la Guelaguetza” took place from my friends Carlos, Sergio and Evelyn (tks for becoming Mexican for a few minutes!). I think that many of us hadn’t seen in the past such a special moment. Finally, pop-star Marco took the microphone to 
sing, “charro” style, a couple of special songs such as “Cielito Lindo”. If my mind does not betray me, the closing moment came after “breaking” la “piñata” and an energetic “carnaval” parade from our Colombian “amigos”. Also, I have to say that many other latinos were involved in other activities such as entrance control, video, master of ceremonies, etc. In the end, the whole LatAm group managed to take part of this! And then, just like a dear English friend called Sara would say, “we dropped our hands in the air” to make the dance floor burn all night long.
Latin America is a region that has undergone several transformations in its political and economical environment. It is a place where there are lots of things to be done and improved; still, the house of people with enormous hearts and a big smile that can cheer even the coldest soul. We are a new force that has learned through success and failure, and we are willing, all along many other places in the world, to make a positive contribution to today’s environment. Manchester Business School “ es nuestro hogar” (is our home), and I am sure that above all individual experiences, the Latin American crowd has brought life, joy, friendship and a strong value of giving back to others. As we say: si mi casa es tu casa, Manchester Business School es tu lugar tambien! (if my house is your house, then Manchester Business School is your place, too!). Hasta pronto amigos!
MBS tours in Germany and the story of the volcano
Well, I’m absolutely exhausted! Just got back from Paris, France for an extended 4-day weekend at MBAT (www.mbat.org). We played hard and partied hard. For the future class, don’t take the competition lightly (there’s blood to be had). We had a journey getting back to Manchester due to the Icelandic volcano…again! For the rest of the details on this amazing weekend, I’ll leave it up to one of my other classmates to elaborate – the trip in Germany ended up being nearly 2 weeks so plenty to blog about. As a side note, the Digital Media Summit in London the previous weekend was brilliant!
For the past several years Manchester Business School and the Honors Academy at Regensburg University have collaborated on various events with this year’s event focusing on an open-panel discussion on the recent financial crisis. In addition to students from MBS, students from Leeds Business School at the University of Colorado (Boulder) joined as well. Professor Ian Garret from MBS invited five MBAs from our class in the ensemble to Bavaria. We arrived on the weekend of the 10th and 11th. Fellow student Max Jesse and I arrived on Saturday the 10th to check out Munich for a day before heading off to Regensburg on the 11th. I met up with a friend from BMW in Munich, where we walked around the Englischen Garten and parts of the city. The party at club 089 was amazing, although a bit overcrowded at its peak. On Sunday, we met up with Akhil in Munich and headed off to Regensburg, where we went to an old beer house across the street from the hotel and had some fine German beer and some Wiener Schnitzel. Jennelly and I walked around the old town and had some beer at the local Hofbräuhaus. The next day the Honors Academy event started at Regensburg University with a presentation by Ian Garret on financial correlations in international markets and NPVs (Net Present Values). In the afternoon, a couple student groups gave presentations in discussion of the financial crisis. Each of the MBS students and Colorado students were intermixed with the Honors Academy students from Regensburg, and each assigned group was tasked with researching a specific topic in regards to financial systems and presenting their research. In the late afternoon, Carmen Wieslhuber (representative at Regensburg) took us out to the old town and gave us a guided tour to some nice areas of Regensburg. We all met up with some Regensburg students, who took us to a nice beer house in town. There, we prosted a couple liters of Germany’s finest and sang some wonderful tunes. The MBS crew, including Mark Fenn and Ian Garret, as well as Matt Reisman and Taylor Cox from Colorado found a nice quaint bar (Wunder Bar) afterward to enjoy the rest of the night.
On Tuesday, we headed out early morning to Frankfurt by bus with the entire crew. Along the way, there was a big accident on the autobahn, so we took a detour through the countryside, which was really scenic. In Frankfurt, we started our trip at the European Central Bank, where we had three presentations by various representatives of the ECB. The people at the ECB were very professional and extremely intelligent, a bit comforting to know. The primary discussion was the ECB’s role in the financial crisis and its increase in prominence as a key agent in order to bring balance to the financial disorder. After our discussion at the ECB, we went to the Deutsche Bundesbank, where the discussion mainly focused on Germany’s financial state before, during, and after the financial crisis. Afterward, we all ate at a fancy German restaurant and concluded our evening at the hotel lounge.
The next morning we went to JPMorgan for a presentation on recruitment and a presentation on M&A activity before and after the financial crisis. The meeting room was plush with premium movie theater style leather seats. The associates at JPMorgan were very nice and professional and were very open to discussing a range of topics with us. During midday, we had a few hours to kill, so a bunch of us wandered around Frankfurt, taking photo-ops by the bull statue and grabbing a bite at a burger joint, not to mention the most amazing ice cream at Australian (http://www.australianhomemade.com/). In the afternoon, we visited the Airrail Center Frankfurt (http://www.airrail.de/), where there was a presentation given by one of the investment fund managers in charge of the massive structure. The meeting room at the Frankfurt Airport Club was adjacent to the runways of the airport, so it was quite nice to see planes take off simultaneously in the distance. After the visit to the Airrail Center, we all rode the bus back Regensburg.
The next day, there were four student group presentations. My group presented on the topic Bank-based versus Market-based financial systems. In the afternoon, a representative from the Federal Reserve Bank in St. Louis gave a presentation about money primarily as a form of debt. To conclude the entire event, the lead professor of the Honors Academy of Regensburg University took us out for a banquet dinner at a historical Bavarian restaurant. The meal was delicious and so was the toast! The after-party was a whole different story. Unbelievable. A handful of students from Regensburg took us out bar hopping to their favorite spots. There was some stage-diving, broken fingers, and a whole lot of friendship.
Due to the volcano in Iceland, Jennelly, Akhil, Max, and I ended up staying in Berlin for a few days waiting for the ash cloud to clear. Max’s family lives in Berlin, so we were all able to stay with his family, which was very gracious of them. Since we had a few days to kill, we did some sightseeing in Berlin – amazing city! The artwork on the Wall was fantastic and the various cafes in the East were all unique and trendy. On Sunday, Max’s family drove us to Potsdam, which is a very nice area that was part of East Germany and now has lots of development. We ate a an Italian restaurant, which was formerly a paper mill. The restaurant is situated next to a lovely lake with a castle on the other side (Schloss Babelsberg).
On Tuesday morning, Akhil and Jennelly were able to catch a series of trains, including the Eurostar, to make it back to Manchester . For Max and I, our flight was rescheduled twice, and we finally were able to return to Manchester on Thursday evening. We opted for air travel and thought that the airfields would be cleared by Tuesday. Sometimes you win, sometimes not. In the end, the entire trip to Germany was absolutely wonderful. The food was delicious, especially spargel, the beer was refreshing, and the scenery was pleasant. As for the event, the students at Regensburg University were really nice and super smart, and the folks from Colorado were great to hang out with. The discussion on the financial crisis was quite in-depth, and we all learned quite a lot from our hosts in Frankfurt and from each other. For the class of 2012, please consider going on this trip; it was definitely worth the absence from classes 
I look forward to next year’s event, which is rumored to be in China, and the discussion will focus on making business in China. Thank you Ian and Carmen for arranging this trip and making it truly memorable.
A week or two in Asia
The last couple of weeks have been an interesting experience in my life as Director of Manchester Business School’s suite of MBA programmes. I took up this post relatively recently and, as part of my role, I have oversight of our worldwide MBA programmes. We have offices around the world and this month I had my first opportunity to visit our Singapore and Hong Kong regional centres.
The plan was to spend a day in Singapore then a couple of days in Hong Kong and, indeed the plan started well. I arrived in Singapore in the evening and met up with my colleagues Tudor Richards and Susan Moger who were in Singapore delivering a workshop to support the Perspectives of Leadership module. 
What I find interesting is that I spent more time and had a more in depth conversation with Tudor and Susan in a hotel lobby in Singapore than we’ve managed to have in the last 6 months! What I learnt from Tudor and Susan during that conversation was invaluable but also I’ve since reflected on that whole experience of spending a couple of hours chatting in a hotel lobby. There is much talk of having ‘quality time’ with friends and family but I wonder if enough thought has been put into the notion of ‘quality time’ with colleagues. Whist I am not an advocate of enforced socializing at work what I was reminded of from my evening with Tudor and Susan is that time spent with colleagues but without a specified agenda can be extremely valuable. Our conversation drifted from topic to topic, there was no expectation that we would ‘sum up ‘ or ‘agree action points’ but the evening was incredibly valuable. So, from that evening I’ve sent a ‘memo to self’ .. I’ve decided to schedule at least a couple of hours a week for ‘quality time’ with colleagues .. no agenda, no fixed purpose just an opportunity to listen/chat/learn. If any reader of this blog wants to join me in some ‘quality time’ just let me know … and the nearest hotel lobby to MBS is The Palace and I’ll buy the coffees!
Of course the main reason for my visit to Singapore and Hong Kong was not to sit in hotel lobbies but was to visit our regional offices. So, at my first stop in Singapore I met our Centre Director Ms. Lim Bee Ing and her colleagues. I also spent an evening with a group of MBAs who are currently going through the blended learning programme in Singapore. I was particularly encouraged that several of the MBAs who I met in Singapore are hoping to come to the UK to study some of the elective courses with our full time MBAs over the summer. 
As we move the programme forward, there will be more opportunities for MBAs from the full time and blended learning programmes to work together so feedback on how our MBAs would like to see such an integration take place would be welcome. I should also mention that Bee Ing took me for a fantastic lunch which included one of my all time favorite dishes, Chili Crab .. thanks Bee Ing!!
After my day in Singapore it was time to move on to Hong Kong. The intention was that I would spend two days in Hong Kong, a day to spend some time in the regional office and a day to officiate at our annual graduation ceremony and meet our alumni chapter in Hong Kong. Well the plan started well, I spent a most informative day in our Hong Kong offices in Central and am particularly grateful to Ms Christina Siu our Centre Director in Hong Kong for providing me with a real insight to the MBA educational landscape in the region and for introducing me to several of our current Hong Kong based MBAs and to our Hong Kong alumni chapter .. oh and for introducing me to the Hong Kong delicacy of ducks’ tongues and indulging my dim sum cravings!!
Following on from my day in the Hong Kong office it was time for the highlight (apart from the food!) of the trip .. the graduation ceremony. A graduation ceremony is the symbolic end to undergraduate or postgraduate study and, for me, being in attendance at these ceremonies is the best part of my job. We were also fortunate in that this year’s MBS graduation ceremony in Hong Kong was held in the Star Room of the Langham Place Hotel in Mong Kok. 
Well of course it was so apt that the ceremony should be held in a venue called the Star Room .. the stars of the day were those MBAs who were awarded their MBA degrees that day, it was a wonderful day and I felt privileged to be there.
So, that was the end of my Asian adventure .. or so I thought! I had heard news that there had been a volcanic eruption in Iceland and that it was affecting European flights but it was not until after the graduation ceremony that I began to realize the implications of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull volcano erupting! I was due to fly out of Hong Kong straight after the graduation ceremony but quite quickly I realized that this was not going to happen. Of course my first reaction was great, a couple more days in Hong Kong and indeed it gave me the opportunity to go and browse the street markets and even get my hair cut! But 3 handbags later and with a growing awareness that I may not be getting home any time soon I realized a different strategy needed to be adopted.
In these sorts of ‘crisis’ situations I believe there are 2 approaches, wait or react. Well I’m not so good at ‘sitting tight’ so therefore, I adopted a rather ‘gung ho’ approach, rejected Air France’s offer of a flight 10 days in the future and instead decided to ‘head west’ and try and get back to somewhere/anywhere in Europe. Whilst I have heard many tales of poor customer service during this crisis I have to say that almost all I experienced was a willingness to help. Air France realized they could not help me so gave me a full refund on my return flight, I then booked on ELAL to Tel Aviv and then on to Madrid but when I got Tel Aviv ELAL were able to offer me a direct flight the next day to Luton .. together with a full refund on my Tel Aviv – Madrid flight! So, I got back 6 days later than expected, with 3 new handbags, a new haircut and having had an unexpected day in Tel Aviv which gave me the opportunity to wander around Jaffa which is somewhere that’s been on my ‘must visit’ list for years. The only disappointing service I had during this whole experience was a Madrid Hotel refusing to give me a refund .. but it was amazing how quickly they changed their mind when I informed them I’d be raising their customer service policy on Trip Advisor!
So, that’s what I’ve been doing in April .. lessons learnt .. spend quality, face-to-face, time with colleagues, be prepared to change plans when the situation demands it, online media allows the individual to ‘have a voice’ .. oh and next time I see ducks’ tongues on the menu I’ll pass!
the MBA magnificent BALL
If there’s one time to look silly and fashionably James Bond-like, it would be the MBA Ball at Manchester Business School, held on the 27th of March this year (2010). This is a slightly delayed post as I am still recovering from my trip to Spain with some of my best friends and then a quick start to a very busy week. BRM. MIS. MIBS. YIKES.
I was privileged to be elected the Student Council Social DVP towards the end of last year and I was under the impression that my simple job would include organising parties, delegating regional events and looking cool. Ha! Enter MBA Ball. I was informed last November or so that I was to organise the MBA Ball, and that the date and venue was set. That meant a deadline. I already had many deadlines, so I didn’t make much of it. I just added it to the pile of M&A deadlines, Marketing deadlines and exam preparations. Little did I know what I had gotten myself into.
Come January of this year, it finally struck me that I had to somehow get over 250 people to dress up nicely, be on their best behaviour (’till the wine was poured), and be served a three course meal. I remember freezing mid sentence somewhere in front of G6, jaws down to the floor, shocked that I had somehow gotten myself into this huge undertaking.
Fortunately, I have amazing colleagues. I gathered the troops (8 very awesome people including Lynne) and got started. Sydney and Nikolai took on the hardest job of logistics (sometimes I wonder if they really took on more work that I did). Rodrigo decided to tame the band and Karen got the penguin suits arranged. I even got a few ladies, namely Phung, Getty, Gunjan and Sydney, along with Nikolai to help me personalise the wine bottles with specially printed self-designed wine bottle stickers.
After much stress, LOTS of red bull and a few all-nighters later, all the preparations were complete. It was time to let my hair down (so to speak) and enjoy the night with both the graduating class of 2010 and my fellow classmates from the class of 2011. Some special staff members were invited as well, and the partners of the students and staff added the final touch making it as close to a Mexican Fiesta as you can get.
The night began with some bucks fizz and some mingling outside the main hall. It was a delight to see all the men dressed sharp and the women looking gorgeous. Then everyone was showed into the room where speeches from Elaine and Juliann kicked off the night. Then came one of our traditions of handing over the reigns of the Student Council from the graduating outgoing class to the incumbent class. Following the handover of the Pins and the mega medal for the new President, El Presidente, Alex Cruz, wrapped up the speeches.
Then, food was served. I thought I was a quick eater, but the people were so much keener on mingling with each other that the food was practically gulped at every opportunity. Everyone was on their feet saying their Hi’s and Bye’s (since most of the graduating class wouldn’t see each other for a few months until the graduation in July). Camera flashes made the whole room like a red carpet entrance to the Oscars. They couldn’t wait to have the band kick off the best part of the night.
The Band was truly something. Santosh, Tushar, Lucienne, Fernando, all from the class of 2010 and Suva and Yohann from the class of 2011 entertained the dancers with some quick beats. They were followed by some self-made awards and a slide show of the best moments of the graduating class. Then, it was time for the DJ to take over and let the attendees to relax and enjoy themselves.
The food was great, the band was sensational and a good time was had by all. It was a great sight seeing the class of 2010 and class of 2011 celebrate their accomplishments to date and the staff, who stood by us all the time, to join in the celebrations.
