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.