Friday was a lovely spring day ... the clouds sheepishly waving goodbye and the sun peeping out promising summer soon... the daffodils sprouting out from islands of green and the wind flirtatiously cool ...
I was happy to get out of Cranfield on such a day... missing lectures (not recommended !) as I went to collect my passport. You see since I did not have enough of snow this year in England I decided to enjoy some more and ski on a piste in France... lol well its the Cranfield ski trip as we like to call it... a bunch of us Cranfielders and their partners would spend a week in Val d'Isere enjoying well skiing. I am looking forward to my second ski experience in life ( the last one in Colorado was just a curtain raiser )
The fun part was how smooth the Schengen visa process was. I applied on Tuesday and I picked up the passport on Friday. Hop on the uni shuttle, get to the MK rail station, print out your Southern tickets that you booked for cheap online and 10 minutes later you are off in your Electrostar train... although I wish people would keep those lovely coaches a little cleaner :( For a train aficionado like me Britain is gonna be a fun experience with its myriad trains and routes and rail network.
Lovely as the day was it was a shocker to learn about the tsunami in Japan... We don't have any Japanese students in the cohort but Japan is a country we think about most of the time as its the second largest economy in the world and unfortunately a prime example of deflation. But its also heartening to see how well-equipped their emergency response is and certainly from an operations point of view ( I hope Bob, Graham and co. are tracking ) is how well-coordinated their response is... talk about strategy and planning, sometimes the best examples are outside the corporate world...
And therefore as Term 2 and the winter draw to a close I am sure all of us are looking at the balance sheet of our life... its almost 2 quarters here in Cranfield and we are all looking at the assets and liabilities that we have accumulated and are now planning the way forward. I for one am sleepless on this Friday night... some of the MSc students are giving me company as they enjoy their party downstairs... while most of the student gang will be preparing for the forthcoming exams... Some of the Indian students will be looking forward to the India-South Africa match in the World Cup... But for now I hope I can fix this body clock and get some sleep !
Friday, March 11, 2011
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Cotswold trip
Yesterday we had a wonderful trip to the Cotswold district in England. I must admit I had a tough time remembering this name... I have misspelt it every single time - Cotwolds, Cotswell, Cotwells, Costwold, Costwolds ... even Coldwell ! (after Coldwell Banker, the realtor). Luckily for us it was a bright sunny day - a bit breezy, but nevertheless a perfect day to go out on a trip - and many locals thought the same as well.
Cotswold is just about 90 minutes away from Cranfield. There were about 25 of us in the bus. The plan was to go to Bibury and then to Brouton-on-the-water, two of the towns in Cotswold. Bibury is a quaint little village with old-style cottages and some big houses nestled in a lush green countryside. It is known as one of the most beautiful villages in England and is a favourite romantic getaway. If you look at the pictures below you will agree why !
It's also famous for its trout farm. Unfortunately for us, the farm is open to visitors mostly in summer, when one can actually fish the trout as well. We did catch a glimpse of the fish though...
Bibury looks like a place where people own vacation homes or post-retirement villas. Just the number of luxury cars on the small road indicates the kind of population that this village has... although some of the cars could belong to tourists... We saw Jaguars, Land Rovers, Mercs, BMWs - the whole procession.
A 20 minute journey later, we were at Brouton-on-the-water nicknames as the Venice of the Cotswold. This town is definitely a family paradise. You have got the small canal, bird-life, quaint little tea-shops, candy stores, the miniature village, model trains, inns and restaurants - all in all everything a family could enjoy.
First up I enjoyed some fish and chips at the Duke of Wellington restaurant, then a nice home-made butterscotch cone and then English tea ( the flavoured ones - some combo of mango,honey... forgot the rest... ), crumpets and cakes. Come to think of it, I ate more than I walked in Brouton.
For me the best part of these trips is that it gets me out of my room and mix with my batchmates... it would have been so tempting to laze around on my bed on Saturday... after late night birthday party for one of our friends... With spring around the corner and summer up next, I hope we will have some more trips...
Let me also thank Jessie for organizing this trip... this girl is just so active and energetic, you have to see it to believe it !
Cotswold is just about 90 minutes away from Cranfield. There were about 25 of us in the bus. The plan was to go to Bibury and then to Brouton-on-the-water, two of the towns in Cotswold. Bibury is a quaint little village with old-style cottages and some big houses nestled in a lush green countryside. It is known as one of the most beautiful villages in England and is a favourite romantic getaway. If you look at the pictures below you will agree why !
It's also famous for its trout farm. Unfortunately for us, the farm is open to visitors mostly in summer, when one can actually fish the trout as well. We did catch a glimpse of the fish though...
Bibury looks like a place where people own vacation homes or post-retirement villas. Just the number of luxury cars on the small road indicates the kind of population that this village has... although some of the cars could belong to tourists... We saw Jaguars, Land Rovers, Mercs, BMWs - the whole procession.
A 20 minute journey later, we were at Brouton-on-the-water nicknames as the Venice of the Cotswold. This town is definitely a family paradise. You have got the small canal, bird-life, quaint little tea-shops, candy stores, the miniature village, model trains, inns and restaurants - all in all everything a family could enjoy.
First up I enjoyed some fish and chips at the Duke of Wellington restaurant, then a nice home-made butterscotch cone and then English tea ( the flavoured ones - some combo of mango,honey... forgot the rest... ), crumpets and cakes. Come to think of it, I ate more than I walked in Brouton.
For me the best part of these trips is that it gets me out of my room and mix with my batchmates... it would have been so tempting to laze around on my bed on Saturday... after late night birthday party for one of our friends... With spring around the corner and summer up next, I hope we will have some more trips...
Let me also thank Jessie for organizing this trip... this girl is just so active and energetic, you have to see it to believe it !
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Crisis management and beyond
Well I told myself at the start of the new year that I would write a Cranfield blog regularly so that I can at least have a memory dump of my Cranfield days since short-term memory has become the order of the day for me.. well that has not happened so here I go again and hopefully I will be more punctual from now on.
What has happened so far ? Well we have settled into our schedule... I have settled on to my front row seat... well I was sitting in the last row last term and needless to say that did not help my wakeful state... I still have not got used to it but I think a front row seat keeps you in the midst of the action.... you don't sleep lest you embarrass the lecturer and you have no option but to pay attention to what's happening on the board. Having said that most of the lectures are interesting and I really don't want to miss them.
Our Strategy and MIT group assignments are underway... its been a nice experience in my current learning team; we have got some balance and some real smart people and everytime we debate/discuss it's a great mental exercise. I hope we go on with the same spirit !
We had a fantastic session on Crisis Management by Steven Carver today. Crisis is a fact of life and an MBA needs to prepare for it. Think about Exxon Valdez, BP, Panam etc... one must learn how to deal with them... More importantly how to deal with them in front of the media and in the age of social networking ! Plenty could be said but for now I think we have an idea about how to handle press conferences at least in theory. As part of the OB course each one of us would be facing a live (yes !) press conference and grilled ( fried ?) by some seasoned BBC journalists. I have been told they now do it for free ... well they have quite a few Cranfield bunnies to skin (and roast) isn't it... I am looking forward to that experience... bring it on I say !
Lastly, we have a mock assessment centre coming up tomorrow. It will be a busy day with all the interviews, tests, group discussion, presentation etc. It should prepare us well for job interviews and assessments in the near future. I hope to get a sound sleep tonite and perform well tomorrow... especially since I have not prepared anything at all... typical MBA student that I have become... gung ho and all that ! But should be fun :)
What has happened so far ? Well we have settled into our schedule... I have settled on to my front row seat... well I was sitting in the last row last term and needless to say that did not help my wakeful state... I still have not got used to it but I think a front row seat keeps you in the midst of the action.... you don't sleep lest you embarrass the lecturer and you have no option but to pay attention to what's happening on the board. Having said that most of the lectures are interesting and I really don't want to miss them.
Our Strategy and MIT group assignments are underway... its been a nice experience in my current learning team; we have got some balance and some real smart people and everytime we debate/discuss it's a great mental exercise. I hope we go on with the same spirit !
We had a fantastic session on Crisis Management by Steven Carver today. Crisis is a fact of life and an MBA needs to prepare for it. Think about Exxon Valdez, BP, Panam etc... one must learn how to deal with them... More importantly how to deal with them in front of the media and in the age of social networking ! Plenty could be said but for now I think we have an idea about how to handle press conferences at least in theory. As part of the OB course each one of us would be facing a live (yes !) press conference and grilled ( fried ?) by some seasoned BBC journalists. I have been told they now do it for free ... well they have quite a few Cranfield bunnies to skin (and roast) isn't it... I am looking forward to that experience... bring it on I say !
Lastly, we have a mock assessment centre coming up tomorrow. It will be a busy day with all the interviews, tests, group discussion, presentation etc. It should prepare us well for job interviews and assessments in the near future. I hope to get a sound sleep tonite and perform well tomorrow... especially since I have not prepared anything at all... typical MBA student that I have become... gung ho and all that ! But should be fun :)
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
International week starts !
International week kicked off today at the Cranfield SoM forum ! Indonesia, New Zealand, Singapore, China, Taiwan, South Korea were out there in full force at their stalls displaying aspects of their country, culture, arts, food and wine(s) !
Australia was next. The Aussies put on a mighty good show as only Aussies could !
We had a small fund-raiser in memory of the victims and the devastation caused by the recent Queensland floods. Adam, Charlie, Todd and company whipped up an amazing barbecue (yes ! In cold windy Cranfield !!) with hot dogs, burgers and Aussie beer and wine. The evening ended with a highly entertaining Aussie quiz.
I hope to post some photos soon.
Australia was next. The Aussies put on a mighty good show as only Aussies could !
We had a small fund-raiser in memory of the victims and the devastation caused by the recent Queensland floods. Adam, Charlie, Todd and company whipped up an amazing barbecue (yes ! In cold windy Cranfield !!) with hot dogs, burgers and Aussie beer and wine. The evening ended with a highly entertaining Aussie quiz.
I hope to post some photos soon.
VCIC competition and CMA awards
Well we were done with our VCIC presentation yesterday... Can not reveal the company or the business plan that we were analyzing... We made a conservative pitch expressing our willingness to fund but with changes in the revenue model proposed by the company and a variation in the funding tranches. It was interesting... 8 minutes can be used up very quickly ! Certainly we need to learn to make elevator pitches quickly and effectively...
Next up in the evening was a trip to London to the Faraday Theatre at the Royal Institution ! The CMA awards for 2010 were held there. We had a free bus ride from Cranfield to London. It was great to see many of Cranfield's alumni at the meeting. We had an address from ARM's current CEO and the founder of Cobalt technologies. Good to see the success that two of the Cranfielder's had in their careers. Ngaire and Paula from the previous batch were awarded the Ford and Odgers prize respectively. It was great to see Paula as she was one of the orienters for our cohort. Man, have to say she must have a great deal of energy having accomplished so much in her MBA and getting a good job with AT Kearney as well. She did not quite reveal what the secret to her success was - cans of Red Bull or bottles of multi-vitamins, but that does set the expectations for us if we want to be as successful as her.
The long winding drive back home did sap the energy out of us though... We were all impeccably dressed but the weather was a lot warmer... I think I even sweated a bit Work on the M1 did not help as the bus had to take a circuitous route back home... But that gave us the chance to chat up with each other talk about careers and hardships and the PSW issues and work and fun and the break and the vacations and .uhh everything we could think of... Hey its a MBA brain !... It has the capacity to think and out-think regardless of sleep, energy or interest.
Next up in the evening was a trip to London to the Faraday Theatre at the Royal Institution ! The CMA awards for 2010 were held there. We had a free bus ride from Cranfield to London. It was great to see many of Cranfield's alumni at the meeting. We had an address from ARM's current CEO and the founder of Cobalt technologies. Good to see the success that two of the Cranfielder's had in their careers. Ngaire and Paula from the previous batch were awarded the Ford and Odgers prize respectively. It was great to see Paula as she was one of the orienters for our cohort. Man, have to say she must have a great deal of energy having accomplished so much in her MBA and getting a good job with AT Kearney as well. She did not quite reveal what the secret to her success was - cans of Red Bull or bottles of multi-vitamins, but that does set the expectations for us if we want to be as successful as her.
The long winding drive back home did sap the energy out of us though... We were all impeccably dressed but the weather was a lot warmer... I think I even sweated a bit Work on the M1 did not help as the bus had to take a circuitous route back home... But that gave us the chance to chat up with each other talk about careers and hardships and the PSW issues and work and fun and the break and the vacations and .uhh everything we could think of... Hey its a MBA brain !... It has the capacity to think and out-think regardless of sleep, energy or interest.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Motivating myself to study
I have a Project management exam tomorrow. It is part of the PMI course where we learn the basics of project management. Somehow I don't feel like studying for it. I mean what's the point - every project has innate variances, we can't predict them nor prepare for them - we can only react - hopefully react smartly and soon enough to avoid any potential disaster. Of course, I do guess that part of the reason for not studying is that I don't want to spend my weekend studying... I just want to laze around and catch up with the world around... Guess by the time I am writing this, I have lazed around enough... I need to pick up the PMI casepack and study EV,PV etc. Trouble is that's not the end ... We have a VCIC competition tomorrow... will be analyzing a business plan and acting as VCs determining if it is worth investing our client's money in it.... it would be like a full on WAC, but with a client presentation as well. The good part though is that when it is done on Tuesday, we will be travelling to London for the CMA awards organized by the alumni. Free trip, hopefully some food ;-) and meeting some alumni... what else can a MBA student want !
Just chanced upon this old Range Rover ad on youtube ... cute little piece of new age style music in the background and some 4x4s ...
Pity it's tough to get in to Jaguar Land Rover for a non-EU guy... but anyway that ad has refreshed me enough and now I am going to open up my PMI case pack... Subconsciously dreaming of a Range Rover in my backyard...
Just chanced upon this old Range Rover ad on youtube ... cute little piece of new age style music in the background and some 4x4s ...
Pity it's tough to get in to Jaguar Land Rover for a non-EU guy... but anyway that ad has refreshed me enough and now I am going to open up my PMI case pack... Subconsciously dreaming of a Range Rover in my backyard...
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