Last week, we held MBAT at HEC Paris. As I have mentioned before, MBAT is the biggest MBA sports tournament in Europe. This 18th edition had over 1300 students
from 14 European b-schools participating in over 20 different events.
During this 3 day event, MBA participants competed fiercely with each other during days and then winded down by partying till wee hours every night. I guess there was hardly anyone who slept for over 4-5 hours a day. It was great to see the future business leaders fighting and enjoying on (and off) the sports field. But it was not all fun - people broke ribs, wrists, even collar bones and not to mention the numerous minor injuries.
Like last year, LBS won it this year too by a big margin. Well, they had to - they brought the biggest contingent (about 230 people), played all the sports and had more than one team competing in some sports. To be honest, they also deserved it considering the spirit they demonstrated. They were very competitive and had many people who came with them just to cheer their team. IESE came second and HEC third. I am glad with our performance because it was extremely difficult for us to be both organizers and participants at the same time.
Some of my favorite memories of this event are people dressed up as Super Girl, Bat Girl, Roman Soldier etc; LBS double-decker buses with one dedicated to beer and Cafe Rotterdam by RSM.
It is sad that this event had to end so soon. It will be difficult to get back to classroom tomorrow after having gone through the amazing week and meeting so many new people. Alas! life must go on - C'est la vie
Monday, May 12, 2008
Monday, April 28, 2008
Trip to Switzerland
I returned from a trip to Switzerland yesterday night. I had gone there with 7 other friends for a 5 day trip. We left from Paris for Basel on Tue morning, then went to Lucerne and finally Interlaken before returning last night.
Now I realize why Switzerland is such a popular tourist destination. It is so beautiful and awe-inspiring. I ran out of adjectives to describe the beauty of the places we visited. Every other place evoked a "wow" from us. The clear skies, snow-laden Alps and crystal clear lakes were a treat to the eyes. The weather played spoil-sport on both the occasions we went up into the Alps - first at Mount Pilatus and then at Jungfrau. It was cold and cloudy and prevented us from getting a clear view from the mountains but still it was worth a visit. At Jungfrau, the temperature was -11 degree C and wind was blowing at 40 kmph. Needless to say, it was freezing and I don't remember the last time I had weathered such cold.
We were also lucky in some respects. At both Lucerne and Interlaken, our hostels were at amazing locations; in Lucerne it was in front of the river Reuss, in Interlaken it was in front of lake Brienz. In Interlaken, I used to get up with the sun beating down on my face from the Alps! It is difficult to describe the feeling.
As I said before, words will not do justice to the beauty of the places above. One thing is for sure, I will definitely go back to Interlaken at least once more.
Now I realize why Switzerland is such a popular tourist destination. It is so beautiful and awe-inspiring. I ran out of adjectives to describe the beauty of the places we visited. Every other place evoked a "wow" from us. The clear skies, snow-laden Alps and crystal clear lakes were a treat to the eyes. The weather played spoil-sport on both the occasions we went up into the Alps - first at Mount Pilatus and then at Jungfrau. It was cold and cloudy and prevented us from getting a clear view from the mountains but still it was worth a visit. At Jungfrau, the temperature was -11 degree C and wind was blowing at 40 kmph. Needless to say, it was freezing and I don't remember the last time I had weathered such cold.
We were also lucky in some respects. At both Lucerne and Interlaken, our hostels were at amazing locations; in Lucerne it was in front of the river Reuss, in Interlaken it was in front of lake Brienz. In Interlaken, I used to get up with the sun beating down on my face from the Alps! It is difficult to describe the feeling.
As I said before, words will not do justice to the beauty of the places above. One thing is for sure, I will definitely go back to Interlaken at least once more.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Visions of Leadership
Last week, we had Visions of Leadership week at HEC. It was a week full of conferences and workshop dedicated to Leadership. Speakers were prominent leaders from industry and government. Some of the people were:
Gerogia Garinois ( President Beauty Care Strategy and New Growth, J&J)
Avivah Wittenberg-Cox ( CEO, 20-first)
Jean Rene Fourtou ( Chairman of the Supervisiory Board, Vivendi)
Henri de Castries (Chairman of AXA group)
Jean Paul Agon (CEO, L'oreal)
Theodore Zeldin (Philosopher)
General Jean-Louis Georgelin (Chief of the Defence Staff, French Army)
and
Valery Giscard d'Estaing (Former President of France)
Each day had a different theme - leadership perspectives, change/crisis management, decision making etc. The speakers talked about their experiences w.r.t to the particular theme.
The opening session was a talk by Mr. Theodore Zeldin. He exposed us to some very basic and probing questions about life and existence and about priorities in life. Time and again, I ask these questions to myself and I think I need to answer these questions again at this point in my life. The last session was by our Dean - Mr. Ramanantsoa. He talked about the power games in an organization and about the different perspectives of managers and leaders. My favorite session was the one by Mr. Jean Rene Fourtou, where he talked about how he turned Vivendi around from the brink of bankruptcy in 2002. The session was full of anecdotes and made us laugh by the way Mr. Fourtou described the series of events during his tenure.
One common thing that almost all leaders talked about was the importance and role of intuition in their decisions. This is an important takeaway for me who always tries to get a detailed analysis of every situation and wants to have an extensive look at data before taking a decision. But as they said, intuition comes with age and I guess as I grow older, I will trust my instincts more often.
Tomorrow, I am leaving for Switzerland on a 5 day trip. Can't wait to get to the Swiss Alps now :)
Gerogia Garinois ( President Beauty Care Strategy and New Growth, J&J)
Avivah Wittenberg-Cox ( CEO, 20-first)
Jean Rene Fourtou ( Chairman of the Supervisiory Board, Vivendi)
Henri de Castries (Chairman of AXA group)
Jean Paul Agon (CEO, L'oreal)
Theodore Zeldin (Philosopher)
General Jean-Louis Georgelin (Chief of the Defence Staff, French Army)
and
Valery Giscard d'Estaing (Former President of France)
Each day had a different theme - leadership perspectives, change/crisis management, decision making etc. The speakers talked about their experiences w.r.t to the particular theme.
The opening session was a talk by Mr. Theodore Zeldin. He exposed us to some very basic and probing questions about life and existence and about priorities in life. Time and again, I ask these questions to myself and I think I need to answer these questions again at this point in my life. The last session was by our Dean - Mr. Ramanantsoa. He talked about the power games in an organization and about the different perspectives of managers and leaders. My favorite session was the one by Mr. Jean Rene Fourtou, where he talked about how he turned Vivendi around from the brink of bankruptcy in 2002. The session was full of anecdotes and made us laugh by the way Mr. Fourtou described the series of events during his tenure.
One common thing that almost all leaders talked about was the importance and role of intuition in their decisions. This is an important takeaway for me who always tries to get a detailed analysis of every situation and wants to have an extensive look at data before taking a decision. But as they said, intuition comes with age and I guess as I grow older, I will trust my instincts more often.
Tomorrow, I am leaving for Switzerland on a 5 day trip. Can't wait to get to the Swiss Alps now :)
Saturday, April 12, 2008
End of second term
My second term at HEC ended this week; We had 3 consecutive exams - Economics, Corporate Finance and Strategic Management and each exam tested us thoroughly.
In Economics exam, we had 2 cases apart from the usual MCQs. One of the cases was on LM/IS schedules in which we had to present a complete analysis of the economy which was depicted by those schedules. This made it quite challenging.
Corporate Finance was by far the most difficult exam at HEC. Each of the three sections of our class had a different proffesor and the paper was also different for each section. But after the exam everyone was unianimous in the view that the paper was long and difficult. There were angry protests from some people that the proff did not cover all the topics in depth and the questions required a much thorough understanding of the topic. I partially agree with this opinion but then you shouldn't expect spoon-feeding in a top school.
Strategic Management was a different story altogether. The exam duration was 5 hours!!! Before the exam, most of the people were of the view that 5 hours is too long and one should finish the exam in 3 hours. After the exam, people were complaining that even 5 hours are insufficient to solve a strategy case and submit a report in the form of paper based slides. I guess most of the people (including me) mismanaged their time and 5 hours were definitely enough for the case.
Now that the exams are over, I have some time to relax. Next week is going to be interesting; It is the Visions of Leadership (VoL) week at HEC. VoL is an integral part of the HEC MBA program in which leaders from leading companies are invited to talk about their leadership experiences and challenges. In the next week, we will have sessions by CEOs, a workshop by Mckinsey and a group case where we have to analyze a situation and submit our findings to a leader.
After the VoL week, we have a 10 day break; I am going to Switzerland for 5 days with some classmates. Looking forward to that trip.
In Economics exam, we had 2 cases apart from the usual MCQs. One of the cases was on LM/IS schedules in which we had to present a complete analysis of the economy which was depicted by those schedules. This made it quite challenging.
Corporate Finance was by far the most difficult exam at HEC. Each of the three sections of our class had a different proffesor and the paper was also different for each section. But after the exam everyone was unianimous in the view that the paper was long and difficult. There were angry protests from some people that the proff did not cover all the topics in depth and the questions required a much thorough understanding of the topic. I partially agree with this opinion but then you shouldn't expect spoon-feeding in a top school.
Strategic Management was a different story altogether. The exam duration was 5 hours!!! Before the exam, most of the people were of the view that 5 hours is too long and one should finish the exam in 3 hours. After the exam, people were complaining that even 5 hours are insufficient to solve a strategy case and submit a report in the form of paper based slides. I guess most of the people (including me) mismanaged their time and 5 hours were definitely enough for the case.
Now that the exams are over, I have some time to relax. Next week is going to be interesting; It is the Visions of Leadership (VoL) week at HEC. VoL is an integral part of the HEC MBA program in which leaders from leading companies are invited to talk about their leadership experiences and challenges. In the next week, we will have sessions by CEOs, a workshop by Mckinsey and a group case where we have to analyze a situation and submit our findings to a leader.
After the VoL week, we have a 10 day break; I am going to Switzerland for 5 days with some classmates. Looking forward to that trip.
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