I haven't written for a while now because so many things have happened here in the last couple of weeks. We had two elections recently - one for the MBAT team(the team that organizes MBAT ) and the other for MBA Council. It was funny - we had 3 teams contesting for MBAT but only one team for MBA Council. Thus we had a very close contest for MBAT and no contest for MBA Council.. Sadly, my team lost the MBAT election by 3 votes :(. My classmates created really interesting videos for the elections and I will publish the links to the videos soon.
Apart from this, the course has become hectic now -we have some or other group submission every week. Working in a group comprising of individuals with different cultures, different education and different work-experience is challenging but a very enriching experience in I must say.
Things have gathered steam on the recruitment front also. People have started applying for summer internship positions. We have an International Finance Forum happening in HEC on 18-Oct which will feature over 30 companies making career presentations. Mind you, this is a presentation event and not an recruiting event. So we are supposed to attend company seminars, get to know the presenters and then apply to the companies later if we decide to.
This is going to be a specially hectic week as we have all day classes on Saturday also which happens rarely and I will have to use all my latent energy to survive....
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Two weeks into the MBA
It has been over 2 weeks since I started the MBA program and time has flown by. I have had a great time till now - partying, meeting new classmates and mostly getting to know each other.
The first week at school was spent in various soft skills related activities. We had several sessions of organizational behavior meant to integrate the people, learn to appreciate the cultural differences, understand the basics of teamwork etc. It was mostly fun.
The second week was really interesting. For 4 days, we played Negosim - a business simulation game. The entire class was divided in small teams of 4-5 people with each team having to manage the same type of company but in different geographies. In this game, each company was competing with other companies to sell their products in global markets. Each team had to make 6 decisions that would decide the future of the company. The decisions related to increasing production by buying more plants, outsourcing production to take advantage of low cost labor in developing countries, entering into joint ventures with other companies, investing into R&D etc.
We had to make these decisions based on company's cash flow, borrowing capacity, market conditions and several other factors. It was great fun and a good learning experience as we had to pour deep into the company's financial statements to make decisions.
Last weekend we went to Deauville - a quaint town near Normandy, for integration weekend. It was great fun. We spent 2 days partying, boozing, dancing and doing some other activities (tree climbing was one of them ;))
Our main classes have started this week. Till now, we have had sessions on Financial Markets and Financial Accounting. Since I like both these subjects, it has been good going so far. Let's see how long the romance continues.
The first week at school was spent in various soft skills related activities. We had several sessions of organizational behavior meant to integrate the people, learn to appreciate the cultural differences, understand the basics of teamwork etc. It was mostly fun.
The second week was really interesting. For 4 days, we played Negosim - a business simulation game. The entire class was divided in small teams of 4-5 people with each team having to manage the same type of company but in different geographies. In this game, each company was competing with other companies to sell their products in global markets. Each team had to make 6 decisions that would decide the future of the company. The decisions related to increasing production by buying more plants, outsourcing production to take advantage of low cost labor in developing countries, entering into joint ventures with other companies, investing into R&D etc.
We had to make these decisions based on company's cash flow, borrowing capacity, market conditions and several other factors. It was great fun and a good learning experience as we had to pour deep into the company's financial statements to make decisions.
Last weekend we went to Deauville - a quaint town near Normandy, for integration weekend. It was great fun. We spent 2 days partying, boozing, dancing and doing some other activities (tree climbing was one of them ;))
Our main classes have started this week. Till now, we have had sessions on Financial Markets and Financial Accounting. Since I like both these subjects, it has been good going so far. Let's see how long the romance continues.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
So it begins
After a long wait, I finally started the MBA program at HEC Paris. Our batch has 136 participants out of which people of Indian origin constitute the biggest group(around 30) followed by people from US, Canada and France. There are an overwhelming number of nationalities present; the group is as diverse as I had hoped for.
Today, I attended sessions on "Cost Concepts" and "Cultural Integration and National Stereotypes". The session on "Cost Concepts was a basic introduction about the notion of Cost and its various types. The second session was very interesting. It was about cultural differences and the increasing need for cultural integration in today's global economy. The professor - Michael Segalla organized and presented the session beautifully, interspersing it with ad videos, anecdotes, jokes about cultural differences etc. Nowhere during the 2.5 hours of the session did I feel bored.
This is the orientation week which will be pretty easy going. Next week, we will have Negosim, which is a business simulation game. I am really looking forward to it.
Today, I attended sessions on "Cost Concepts" and "Cultural Integration and National Stereotypes". The session on "Cost Concepts was a basic introduction about the notion of Cost and its various types. The second session was very interesting. It was about cultural differences and the increasing need for cultural integration in today's global economy. The professor - Michael Segalla organized and presented the session beautifully, interspersing it with ad videos, anecdotes, jokes about cultural differences etc. Nowhere during the 2.5 hours of the session did I feel bored.
This is the orientation week which will be pretty easy going. Next week, we will have Negosim, which is a business simulation game. I am really looking forward to it.
Friday, September 7, 2007
Reached Paris
Finally, after multiple rounds of shopping and packing, I reached Paris yesterday. The flight (Air India) was dull and pathetic. the crew members were not much help. The service was just horrible. I would never want to travel by AI again. I wonder how does it manage to attract so much traffic despite the quality.
I will go to the campus today for registration and some other formalities. So I am gonna meet many classmates today. This has got me really excited. Lets see how things turn out now.
I will go to the campus today for registration and some other formalities. So I am gonna meet many classmates today. This has got me really excited. Lets see how things turn out now.
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