Thankful to...

I just read a case/article for tomorrow's marketing class. It is about the story of radio. Actual HBS case title is "The introduction of FM radio". The story starts with Marconi and gives an account of De Forest. Builds on the contribution of Howard Armstrong and business acumen of David Sanroff. I am looking forward to our class discussion tomorrow.

It is unusual of me to write down what I am thankful for. One great thing about doing an MBA is about how much we learn over this period through these cases and articles, complimented by class discussions. I wonder if I ever would have paid attention to so much material in my entire life if I had not opted to pursue my MBA. So, my thanks to all those who had influenced me to do so.

I had taken GRE prior to my Master's and did not think GRE mattered much towards what I learned in graduate school. However, MBA is very different. What I prepared for GMAT is very helpful and am appreciating every piece on my preparation for GMAT. Thank you GMAT planners!

I had mentioned in my prior post about BCAP. It was indeed very well structured and our deliverables were very well planned that helped us to think about a plan and stick to it. Thanks to my fellow BCAP team and the program office for their support.

There was a great event today, a talk by John Dragoon, Novell CMO, on "Embracing competitors for the benefit of customers". We, Babson Tech Venture Group, along with Marketing club organized this talk. It was very well received and we ran out of pizzas!.

Capstone controversy:

At Babson, there is a requirement that 2nd years (and 1 yr students) take a capstone course to graduate. It is meant to prepare us, students on what is happening in the world. The less I say here, the better. Because there has been lot of confusion already as some the description (supposedly outdated) in the course catalog had "ethics", "social" and such words that tipped many students off. It is a 3 credit hour course and hence we will have one less course (or two 1.5 credit courses) option. There are quite a few good courses which are in high demand and people want to take as many good courses as possible. Given that, this capstone puts us in a difficult position.

The school's argument is that this requirement was published a while back but somehow many of us did not catch it. Further, this course offered last year had very poor students' feedback making my batch mates even more apprehensive.

I sincerely hope this course is good this year. Professors seem to be sincere to make a difference this year. On a side note, I am looking forward to this course because it would be good to go back to "cohort" setting as in first year.

After many people voiced their concerns, our dean arranged a town hall meeting to discuss college strategies but the capstone discussions took the entire meeting time. Clearly, this "required" course impact plans for many. All shared very legitimate arguments putting forth their ideas. We have to wait and see the results from sharing our concerns.

[updated on Oct 27th]
the town hall meeting. The My biggest disappointment is that the GSC (graduate student council) kept mum leading up to GSC even has a representative to voice concerns in the graduate decision making board. I wonder why some choose to run for GSC? Is it just to organize pub nights and social gatherings? Or is it for networking? Or just to improve their resume? It is very discomforting to see supposedly matured business professionals who might one day lead a company shy away from responsibility to represent students and choose to ignore this sensitive, important matter altogether.

A self serving individual representing GSC could change the rules for future students as long as he/she does not get affected. Last year there was a change to Honors policy (Read this post for details) to be effective after the then 2nd years graduate. GSC representative, a second year, had no problem in voting for it without ever consulting the first years.

I hope we, students, take more responsibility for the way college is run.

[Appended on Oct 27th]
Last week, I got to know a bit more information on what went on last year with respect to this capstone course. It is very interesting and comforting to hear that they had raised similar concerns and suggested very similar options to what we did this year. So, while my comment on GSC could be construed as accusation, it is not to question the intentions but the actions and the lack of communication with the students.

At least, last year the course was made optional. I wonder what is going to happen this year.

Preparing for classes

Preparing for case based classes can be very tricky. If you analyzed a lot, you may be completely blind folded by strategic discussions in class. Sometimes, while reading a (HBS) case, you would be lost in the volume of information provided.

However, one thing I have figured out is this: If you have a case to read and an article as well, spend more time reading the article as it usually is more important than the case itself. Pay special attention to time line while reading a case. It is easy to be lost and focus on unimportant details about a company. Very often, I skim through the introduction and later find that critical pieces buried in there. I recently came to know that our course pack (set of cases) can be accessible online. It is very useful especially when you forget to take cases to class.

I liked Harvard Business Review articles on Strategy: What is strategy, Core competency of the Corporation. Interestingly my courses this year on technology and strategy are well aligned to my continuing internship on corporate strategic planning.