Accounting..Operations..OB..NVC..Cases

If you are unable to understand anything from the title, don't worry, you have my company. The week and the classes fly off so fast that it becomes very difficult to cope. I think I am paying for this and it is my choice. I am happy about it and gradually becoming better at organising myself. I think this the first lesson from MBA. Getting organized is the key to ______ (it starts with S).

For past many days my routine sounds like a movie that is very predictable. From morning till evening (until I sleep) it is same. Quite a few classes are interesting and few not so. Accounting is quite interesting as the teacher introduces elements of wit and humor in his lecture. Organizational Behavior (OB) is thought provoking. It forces me to think. It is more of a mental challenge where you have to challenge your learning. Operations.. well.. it is mixed. I have to really get used to the terms and given my background it is really difficult to get around to the terms. Anyway let me see how I go about it.

A good news. I have allocated a project working in a team of four, a consultancy project to plan and prepare for a new venture (a real venture) locally. Sounds exciting, but will have to pull rabbits out of the hat to make that going. The bad news is the scope of the project is very small, but given the time that can be devoted for the project during the term I think it is reasonable.

Next week is BIG. Finance course starts on Monday and the outline requires to read through the chapters carefully. Now, reading is fine. Reading carefully is a problem. But that again goes in the To-Do List.

One thing is for sure, there is a never a dull moment in the life of a MBA grad. One year is even more rigourous.,

Lights, camera... ACTION

The picture is very clear now.

Rather, the picture is transparent. My new classmates are fun loving, are from as diverse background as they can be, have varied experience (highest age being 46 and lowest being 23), have visited world over, play variety of sports and are game for almost anything. Barring few, who are local to a city or town none have met each other but all have begun cracking jokes and pulling each other's leg. I can just imagine how the orientation is going to be and how the rest of the year would be.

My classmates will be from

1. Australia
2. China
3. Denmark
4. Egypt
5. Estonia
6. Germany
7. HongKong
8. India
9. Iran
10. Japan
11. Korea
12. Namibia
13. Qatar
14. Russia
15. Syria
16. Taiwan
17. Uganda
18. UK
19. UnitedStates
20. Venezuela

On a serious note, pre-reading for the classes has begun. It is definitely not fun all the way through as one may think. The pre-reading's suggested material itself is an indicator. This is a two year program crammed into one year timeframe and hence it is not going to be rosy all the way through but it is designed with the needs of business world. New electives have been designed for this year's class that talks about making the manager not only a number wizard but a manager with a practical skills that stay right throughout one's career.

The experience so far has provided everything (excitement, satisfaction, networking potential, etc.) that a top-ranked MBA should.

It is definitely exciting.

functional web board, class composition

Now, this is a news.

University's MBA web board (aka message board) is functional. I got my details yesterday and bang bang I find everyone on the board. In all there are 73 future classmates who will study along with me so including me 74. The nationality varies but I presume they are from following countries on the globe.

• India
• Japan
• UK
• Nigeria
• Russia
• Taiwan
• China
• Germany

Other nationalities may be there but I am not yet aware of. Probably when all classmates publish there profiles by July 31, a better picture will emerge. But there is no doubt that Indians will be a major force in the class. So, much for diversity. My only other hope is people from India are from as diverse backgrounds as possible (sales, advertising, IT, telecom, finance, etc.) and I have firm belief that adcom would have duly thought about it.

Next step for me will to publish my profile (a brief biography) before 31.

On a side note, I am not yet done with my VISA.