Intersecting Minds: Education, Business and Technology at the North Carolina State Jenkins Graduate School of Management
School Update
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I know my recent posting has been dominated by the economy, but plenty is still going on at school. Here’s a quick look at what’s going on this week in no particular order:
- We have our first midterm for finance coming up on Wednesday
- I’ll be making two new videos this week about students who are getting multiple degrees (MMB, DVM) while also pursuing their MBA
- I’m meeting two prospective students for lunch on Monday
- Our MBASA is hosting a Chicken Nugget Eating contest on Friday to fundraise for future events (I’ll be making a video about this, too). Contact Amy Oechsli for more information
Mid-Week School Update
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While I’ve been focusing a lot of my posts on the economy recently, a lot has still been happening with school. Here’s a quick recap of some events that happened this week and what else I’m looking forward to:
- Completed 1,500-word market positioning paper with Team
- Prepared for beginning of Marketing Simulation
- Held first meetings for Purchasing semester-long, corporate partner project
- Turned in final documents for Study Abroad application and scholarship
- Covidien Site Tour coming up on Friday morning
- Speed Networking event coming up on Friday evening
I’ll also be creating a new video tomorrow featuring two of my classmates who want to start their own companies after graduating from the program. Should be an interesting topic.
Google Calendar for the Class
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The best New Year’s resolution I made this year was to turn my calendar from a book into a website. Since I’m checking my e-mail so often, it made sense to go with Google Calendar. It’s nice enough on an individual basis, but it’s real value lies in the ability to share information. When I add a friend’s calendar, it makes it much easier to aggregate a complex set of events. Myself and the other MBA candidates all have a class schedule, internship search, assistantship work and outside obligations to a family or a real job (don’t forget that 70% of NCSU MBA’s are part-timers). Balancing your time is essential to successfully navigating the demands placed on you by the schedule.
I’ve talked with a few of my classmates who are on the MBA Student Association (MBASA) about creating a unified Google calendar. I think Jay talked about it first. Nice work, Jay. On this Google Calendar, you’ll be able to find a common schedule including the following types of events:
- Classes
- Information Sessions
- Company Site Tours
- Intramural Events
- MBASA Meetings
- Vacation Dates
- Final Dates
The calendar could also provide links to other important sites (i.e. JobLink, Current Student Home Page, MyPack, WebMail and maybe even this blog). Anyone out there have thoughts on the idea?
Internship Search and Some Other Bullets
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Now that we’re creeping up on the end of January, I’m starting to really ramp up my internship search. I have my resume into a few companies, but I’m now visiting our Career Resources website on an almost daily basis scouring for opportunities. This is not something I want to procrastinate considering the state of the economy, and I know many of my classmates feel the same.
In other MBA-related news, I’ll have another video blog to post in the next 24-48 hours. I had a brief discussion with Tejas Sangoi and Han Hsieh, who are attending the program from India and Taiwan respectively. I have a tremendous amount of respect for our international students, all of whom have learned English as a second language. Here they are, immersing themselves completely in a new culture, far from the comforts of home, and they’re expected to keep pace in advanced classes where the Professors have been known to occasionally talk to fast. Props to them.
We’ve also seen a noticeable uptick in the amount of reading and work assigned this semester. We have another project due on Wednesday for MBA 560 (Marketing), and I’ll be attending a semester-long project kick-off meeting in about half an hour here for MBA 541 (Purchasing and SCM). We’re definitely back to the grind.
Tags: Class work, International Students, Internships
The Case Study Approach
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Roughly two weeks into our spring semester, and we find ourselves up to our ears in reading and project assignments. Unlike last semester, which featured economics, statistics and accounting, we are taking classes that revolve around everyday business functionalities: marketing, operations and finance. As a result, the focus of our studies has shifted away from pure exams (with finance being the exception) to the case study method. For those of you unfamiliar with business school curricula, a case study is a real world example of a business facing a complex decision centered around a particular topic of choice (marketing, supply chain, etc). We are then asked to analyze the situation and develop a recommended course of action based on our findings.
Case studies are difficult. They present a lot of information, and they are intentionally ambiguous. Some of the information presented is relevant to the decision-making process, and some is not. It’s the job of the student to pick out the key pieces of information and then argue a point of view around those facts.
Fortunately, case studies are also a lot of fun – at least more fun than cramming for exams. Part of this stems from the fact that case studies are based upon actual business problems rather than academic concepts. Another part stems from the fact that cases are meant to be discussed in groups, with ideas shared and arguments made back and forth. As someone who appreciates working in teams, discussing ideas, and developing solutions to complex problems, case studies are an ideal format for learning. I’m glad that we’ve moved towards a case-based approach this semester.
Busy Week
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I haven’t had time to update the blog in the last couple days but quite a bit has happened in the meantime:
- The first lecture of MBA 541. This is the Purchasing and Supply Chain course. I’m pretty excited about the course though because we’ll be working on a number of cool projects. There will be a supply market intelligence research paper due halfway through the class. Following the completion of that, we’ll be working on a complex negotiation simulation in teams. And to top it off, we’ll be spending the entire semester working on an in depth supply project with a partner company of the SCRC. More on this later.
- We had several guest lectures on Tuesday morning as a part of our MBA 500 class. The highlight was Gary Trudeau, a networking maven known throughout the South. He had several good tips for us going forward during tough economic times.
- I have also almost completed filming and editing a video featuring three members of our NAWMBA group. I’ll post that on the blog some time tomorrow.
Needless to say, they’re keeping us plenty busy this semester.
Spring 2009 Class Schedule
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As promised, here is a brief overview of the classes I’ll be taking this semester:
MBA 500 – Managerial and Career Effectiveness: A continuation from last semester, this class will focus on strategies for finding summer internships, contract negotiation and networking techniques. The class only meets once a month on Tuesday mornings which is down from once a week last semester.
MBA 520 – Managerial Finance: No other way to put it, this class looks like a straight bear. It will last all semester and cover everything from stock and bond valuation to financial strategy. Heavy on the math and an emphasis on application in real business settings.
MBA 540 – Operations and Supply Chain Management: This is the first of two module courses, meaning it will last 8 weeks before another class takes its place. The course will give us an overview of basic Operations and SCM with an emphasis on service-oriented businesses. This is an interesting approach considering Ops and SCM is typically considered a manufacturing discipline, but the US economy is now almost 80% service-based, so this should be an interesting way to attack the material.
MBA 541 – Purchasing and Supply Chain Management: Another, more focused SCM course. This is the first elective I will be taking, and it will also last the entire semester. The class will feature the purchasing process as well as sourcing strategies, supplier relationship management, and negotiation techniques. There will be several projects including potential work with companies that are members of the Supply Chain Research Cooperative here at NCSU.
MBA 560 – Marketing Strategy: This is another core course, and the second of two module courses. Marketing will last 8 weeks and is also designed to give us an overview of basic marketing concepts and strategies.
All these classes do share something in common: brilliant professors, interesting material and an emphasis on case-studies and real world applications. The amount of reading has also climbed from last year. In just these first three days of class, I’ve read about 300 textbook pages as well as completing two case studies and a problem set for finance. Judging by the various syllabi, it’s not looking to get any easier.
Halfway through the semester we’ll drop Marketing and Ops/SCM and pick up courses in Global Strategy Management as well as Leadership & Ethics. We’ll also be assigned a group case competition that will fill much of the second half of the semester. More to come on that in the future.
Holiday Party Video
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Below, you’ll find a short video I created from our 2008 Holiday Party.
Next week, I’ll be posting a video highlighting our 2009 National Association of Women’s MBA (NAWMBA) leadership team. Enjoy.
End of the Semester and some New Year’s Resolutions
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Looking back at the first semester a few different items stick out at me. First of all, I still can’t believe how fast the time went. 15+ weeks in the blink of an eye. The classes, the assistantship, the events, and the people all kept me occupied.
Second, I learned a tremendous amount. I took more classes (7), read more textbooks, gave more presentations and wrote more papers than i did in two semester’s worth of undergrad. And I actually believe I’ve absorbed a good bit of it, rather than letting it just slide away.
Third, I’m already getting excited for next year. The classes should be more difficult, but also more applicable. We’ll be taking Marketing, Finance, Operations and Strategy instead of Economics and Statistics. I’ll continue the internship search, and hopefully find that opportunity on the West Coast.
So with that in mind, here are a few resolutions I’ve made that will help improve this blog.
- Increase the amount of posting on this blog up to 3-4 times/week
- Include more links to other blogs of interest, more images, and more video content
- Highlight cool technologies and websites that I find
And with that in mind, I should have another video to post here sometime next week!
A Thought on Finals
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We’re now down to studying for our last 2 finals. After going through the studying and review process for what seems like the 10th time, I’ve noticed a trend. Studying for finals is easier this time around. Instead of cramming a semester’s worth of material into three or four days, I feel like I’m simply reviewing concepts that I’ve already learned about and practiced. I’m looking at material that I’ve already looked at two or three times before.
In other words, I went to class this semester. If memory serves, I missed one day (Nov. 4th… hmm wonder how that happened). During my undergraduate days my attendance wasn’t quite at that level, and I suffered for it when finals came around. Why have I gone to class more? I think there’s a few influencing factors:
- I am paying for my education this time instead of receiving help from my family.
- I voluntarily chose to attend MBA, and I’m commited to NC State.
- I enjoy the courses and the Professors, for the most part, and I’m learning valuable material
It’s been an enjoyable semester, and the time has flown. Now looking forward to the Holiday Break!
Ryan
Intersecting Minds: Education, Business and Technology at the North Carolina State Jenkins Graduate School of Management 