Sunday, January 25, 2015
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
End of my MBA
Time really flies when you are having fun. In a blink of an eye, my MBA has ended. I have moved on with the next chapter of my life back home in Singapore. This blog will end here with the end of my MBA journey.
My life carousel continues on http://www.cynthiasinwin.blogspot.com/.
My life carousel continues on http://www.cynthiasinwin.blogspot.com/.
Monday, June 15, 2009
My 2nd term in MBS
2009 Term 1 flewed past in a blink of an eye. I was juggling between case study readings, search for internship, career presentations, MBS events, and parties. I preferred my 2nd term subjects, compared to the first term. First term was more quantitative with subjects like Data & Decisions and Managerial Economics. Second term was more qualitative with much more readings and case studies. I took five subjects again, namely, Managing Processes, Business Strategy, Economics and Public Policy, Marketing, and Corporate Finance.
We had the privilege to be taught by some of the best lecturers in MBS, some say best Australia wide. Managing Processes was taught by Kanan, whose passion for the subject and supply chain management is amazing. Business Strategy happened to be my favourite subject and I enjoyed the case analysis done in class, some of my classmates will surprise me with innovative solutions which I didn't think of. I would say Economics isn't my cup of tea, though it was interesting to learn about the policies the governments are changing in face of the Global Financial Crisis. We were learning in classroom what was happening live in the world. We were tracking the interest rates of the countries and following on the decisions of reserve banks around the world.
Marketing class was on every monday morning and I would say Patrick Butler managed to keep us awake and entertained throughout the 3 hours. His classes are fun, and he is very animated, making marketing much more interesting than I expected it to be. Being an engineer who has worked with marketers from the product management team, I used to think the marketing guys are just all fluff. However, after attending Patrick's class, I realised there is actually more to marketing with theories and models involved.
Corporate Finance was taught by Stephen Gray, the Harrison Ford of MBS. I was mesmerised from the first class. Hahaha... He is suave, he teaches well, ensuring you understand right to the basics, and he is very approachable. I was told he is one of the best Finance lecturers in Australia. I think I remembered his lectures best among the five subjects, from WACC to futures and options.
I enjoyed term 2 thoroughly, though it was a term with the most number of readings and case studies. In some weeks, I get confused between the Managing Processes case, Business Strategy case and the Marketing case. I would say I got the most out of the case studies and though it was a hectic term, I still do remember the cases till now and my conversations with my classmates can only be understood within ourselves due to our common understanding of the cases lingo.
We had the privilege to be taught by some of the best lecturers in MBS, some say best Australia wide. Managing Processes was taught by Kanan, whose passion for the subject and supply chain management is amazing. Business Strategy happened to be my favourite subject and I enjoyed the case analysis done in class, some of my classmates will surprise me with innovative solutions which I didn't think of. I would say Economics isn't my cup of tea, though it was interesting to learn about the policies the governments are changing in face of the Global Financial Crisis. We were learning in classroom what was happening live in the world. We were tracking the interest rates of the countries and following on the decisions of reserve banks around the world.
Marketing class was on every monday morning and I would say Patrick Butler managed to keep us awake and entertained throughout the 3 hours. His classes are fun, and he is very animated, making marketing much more interesting than I expected it to be. Being an engineer who has worked with marketers from the product management team, I used to think the marketing guys are just all fluff. However, after attending Patrick's class, I realised there is actually more to marketing with theories and models involved.
Corporate Finance was taught by Stephen Gray, the Harrison Ford of MBS. I was mesmerised from the first class. Hahaha... He is suave, he teaches well, ensuring you understand right to the basics, and he is very approachable. I was told he is one of the best Finance lecturers in Australia. I think I remembered his lectures best among the five subjects, from WACC to futures and options.
I enjoyed term 2 thoroughly, though it was a term with the most number of readings and case studies. In some weeks, I get confused between the Managing Processes case, Business Strategy case and the Marketing case. I would say I got the most out of the case studies and though it was a hectic term, I still do remember the cases till now and my conversations with my classmates can only be understood within ourselves due to our common understanding of the cases lingo.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Global Business Outlook 2009
One of the reasons why it is great to be an MBA student is that you get to attend expensive functions for free! =p
One such function is the Global Business Outlook Forum 2009 which I attended today. The usual price of the forum tickets is AUD $195, with luncheon at AUD $110. MBS students were gifted free tickets for this function and I wouldn't miss it. I had a lecture today, Business Strategy, in the morning. But to attend the forum, I attended the part-time Business Strategy class last night instead.
The cool thing about the forum was that it was held at the Parliament House! I have passed the Parliament House of Victoria several times but I have never been in it before. And best of all, the forum was held in the chamber itself where many national decisions have been made before. Here are the pictures...
The forum had its fair share of interesting and boring speakers. The topics were mainly on the recession and how it is impacting Australia. Being a student from MBS, of course my favourite speaker was Mark Crosby, who is our Economics professor. =) He covered the trade relationships between Australia and China, and he gave the closing keynote address as well.
If I were to choose 3 main things I learnt today, they will be:
1) Bill Clinton loosened the credit worthiness criteria in US so that poor people can afford houses
2) One page summary of your business strategy should be your bible for SMEs
3) Bring your own translator when working in China
Career Presentations
It is the internship seeking period for my intake and we have been spending most of our time outside lectures in career presentations. Most of our weekday evenings are spent asking questions to speakers from Consulting firms to Banks. And I am running out of suits to wear to presentations!
So far we have had AT Kearney, BCG, Bain, Mckinsey and Deloitte for consulting firms, with Booz adding to the list with its presentation tomorrow. For banks, we have heard from NAB, ANZ and others will present next week or so. I am pleased with the mix of the employers who came to MBS so far. They gave good insights to their industries and corporate cultures.
Though times are bad and some companies are not hiring interns this year, it is still good to attend the presentations and talk to alumni who are in the industry. Hope I will land a good internship somewhere in Australia. Let's see... if not I will just spend next term mugging again and graduate end of this year!
So far we have had AT Kearney, BCG, Bain, Mckinsey and Deloitte for consulting firms, with Booz adding to the list with its presentation tomorrow. For banks, we have heard from NAB, ANZ and others will present next week or so. I am pleased with the mix of the employers who came to MBS so far. They gave good insights to their industries and corporate cultures.
Though times are bad and some companies are not hiring interns this year, it is still good to attend the presentations and talk to alumni who are in the industry. Hope I will land a good internship somewhere in Australia. Let's see... if not I will just spend next term mugging again and graduate end of this year!
Friday, January 9, 2009
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Phillip Island
After the exams, a group of us made a day trip to Phillip Island, about 1.5 hrs drive from Melbourne. My brother flew in from Singapore to join me for the vacation. Most of us saw koalas and wallabies and penguins for the first time in our lives, so there were many exclaims and laughters as we explore the island. It was a fun day, I will let the pictures do the talking...
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