Odgers Prize

The Odgers Prize is awarded annually to the Cranfield MBA student on the Full Time Programme judged to show the most potential for a highly successful career in management.

The prize was established in 1987 by an alumnus, Ian Odgers, an enthusiastic supporter of Cranfield.

We met Ian at Cranfield when he delivered a presentation on ‘Leadership at the Top: What Head Hunters are Looking for in Senior Candidates’.

Some of the qualities, as identified by Ian, needed to succeed as:

· The vision of the Chief Executive;

· The ability to identify what is important and unimportant in business situations;

· The ability to see and successfully implement which is practically possible;

· The possession of commercial "nous";

· The ability to get ideas across;

· Leadership skills:

· Motivation skills;

· An understanding and ability to win at politics in the business world;

· A determination or toughness/grit - in both the smooth times and when the chips are down!

· The will to succeed.

Every year nominations are taken from students and faculty. The nominations are considered and a shortlist is drawn up for an interview by a panel of Faculty members and representatives of Odgers Ray & Berndtson.

This year following 5 nominees were selected for interviews:

Mark Hall

Nicholas Green

Per Nielsen

Thomas Hayton

Vineet Khanna

I was glad that I was able to make it to the top 5. Finally, Tom was chosen for this prize. I know Tom very well as he was in my learning team in the second term. He is a brilliant chap and truly deserved the prize.

For me, another experience and another close call (remember AT Kearney consultancy competition!!!!)

Make your life easier at Cranfield

I have written a lot about successful job hunt and how to adjust to the cultural differences whilst your stay at Cranfield.

Let me give you some tips as to how can you make your personal life easier. These are all based upon my personal experience and feel free to ignore them:

1. You would always have a number of pending tasks. Learn prioritising. Do not follow others. Remember not everyone is here just for the career sake. Everybody has different objectives for doing an MBA. Some want a break from the hectic corporate life, some want to learn to the maximum and are not eager about taking up a job and others might be company sponsored. So you have to decide what you want to get out of this year. Focus your efforts and energies towards your goal.
2. MBA is more about networking rather than academics. Do not be a bookworm and spend time sitting in library. Attend socials, make friends and explore yourself. You would forget your MBA learning over a period of 2-4 years. Your network and your friends are going to stay with you forever.
3. Whatever budget you have finalised for your MBA, please add at least a 1000 pounds. It would take care of your social gatherings, parties, outings and numerous tips to London that one requires to make for attending interviews.
4. Many of us use pay-as-you-go connections for our mobile phones. This is similar to what we call Pre-paid in India. Some of my colleagues took contracts and I found that contract phone turns out to be a cheaper option if you want to buy a handset as well. Moreover, for MBAs with families, I would definitely recommend post-paid connections.
5. Use internet based calling services for making overseas calls. Some of the best options are VOIP-Cheap, Skype and Yahoo.
6. Do buy a formal suit for yourself from the UK. Though there are good options available in India but the style is bit different and I would recommend that you buy a new suit from local shops here. It should not cost more than 200 pounds. And please no such colours- brown, white, green etc. for your interviews. Strictly black/ blue/ grey.
7. Get engaged with all what you like- sports, extra curricular activities and if you feel something is missing at Cranfield, take an initiative and start your own club/ society. You would get support from all corners.

This is your year, it’s your MBA. You would reap as much as you would sow and whatever you would sow. All the best.

The ‘Culture Gap’

Well all my dear ones who are coming to the UK from India please be aware of the culture differences between the 2 countries. This is more important for those who are coming here for the first time.

1. Do not plainly believe the spoken words

Well this was the problem I faced in the beginning. Everybody will praise you on your face and might not tell you what they actually mean. You have to read between the lines and try to comprehend what other person actually wants to say.

2. Keep your tone soft and polite.

3. Dont try to be casual, in fact be formal most of the times. Express sorry and thank you as often as possible.

4. Adhere to deadlines and be punctual- you cannot afford to be a minute late.

5. Do not point fingers while talking to other people. Use your hands and other types of body language to better express yourself but do not point fingers to the second person.

6. Arguing with faculty or other senior people is not considered to be disrespectful. You are free to share your opinions. Many of us get shocked the way lectures are conducted here. You are expected to put forward your own opinion and even disagree (where you think you are right) with lecturers. It is taken on a positive note.

7. A casual hug, peck on the cheek, or an arm thrown around a shoulder may not seem out of place in the West. So please do not get offended by these casual acts of touch and neither take it as if other person is attracted towards you.

8. Take an appointment before you plan to visit someone. You are not expected to walk-in straight into someone’s office without an appointment, even if it’s just for a casual talk. Though you may do it in case of urgency but you have to make sure that it is really urgent.

9. Respect rules and regulations.

10. Do not expect someone to work on weekends. Weekends are usually sacred and I would suggest you not to contact any recruiter on Friday. Best days are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and the best time is morning 9 a.m. when the person is fresh and has just begun his/ her work.

11. Last but not the least. When you approach someone for any sort of help- even at Cranfield campus, go with zero expectations. You have paid high fees and yes you are eligible to get Cranfield services; but remember you are eligible to services and you have not hired people. If you have zero expectations I am sure your approach would be right and polite. You would also enjoy what you get in return. On the other hand if you approach with high expectations, you will be miserably disappointed.

Remember friends, it’s your hard work that matters. You would have a lot of assistance and support but the most important aspect is how much of effort have you made. How much of resilience have you showed? And whether your efforts have been in the right direction?

DOs and DO NOTs

For new admits into the Cranfield MBA, please take care of the following during your job-hunt:

1. You would be asked by career services to prepare a CV for the Cranfield’s year book. The year book compiles the CVs of all the MBAs and this year-book is circulated widely among alumni and other companies.

Many of us got interview calls and even final offers from the yearbook CV. Do not ignore it and start working on your CV the very first day.

MBA course is very hectic especially in the first term and you would not find time for working on your CV at least in the first term, when you are trying to get used to this new place and settle yourself. So, start working on it. My first appointment with Peter Fennah, Director of Cranfield’s Career services, was during the O-week (your first week at Cranfield). The point I am trying to make here is that do not waste any opportunity; your CV is the most important asset that you have.

I finalised my CV after about 3 months and after having about 25 iterations of the first version. I asked alumni for their comments, discussed with Cranfield careers counsellors who provided invaluable suggestions and even asked my family members to comment on my CV. I would say that your target should be to have such a CV that lands you with an interview where ever you apply. The only reason for rejection of your application at CV stage should be non-availability of a fitting role.

2. Do not show over-enthusiasm in interview. In India, a candidate is expected to show high willingness and enthusiasm in an interview. You are expected to express your strong desire to join the company.

Well you are expected to do that in UK too but at a lower scale. If you express even a slightly higher enthusiasm, you would be rejected saying that you are over-enthusiastic (read- desperate to get a job)

3. Dress clever

You would be advised to dress smart for your interviews. I would suggest dress clever. Everybody wears formals- a nice suit and a tie. Along with this, keep in mind the following factors before deciding what you are going to wear:

Consider where you are going to be interviewed.
Try to get as much information as possible about the person who will interview you. Consider what the interviewer might like you to wear- colour, design etc.
Consider what kind of the company and sector you are being interviewed for.

4. Be clear of what you want

Your interviewer would definitely like to know what you want post MBA and where do you see yourself in the long run. Do not say something just for the sake of an impressive answer. Be clear of your goals. Talk to yourself, discuss with Cranfield careers and with everybody with whom you feel you are comfortable.
If you would give a fake answer, your interviewer would definitely come to know about it.

5. Be aware of the recent trends in your field of expertise

Many of us just concentrate on what we have done in our past jobs and what is being taught in MBA. I suggest that you should keep yourself updated about recent trends and new technologies in your sector/industry/ function. One may even consider certifications such as

CFA, FRM (for Finance guys)
SPSM, CPIM (for Procurement professionals)
TOGAF, FSA, ZACHMAN (for IT guys)

Well the list is long and I suggest get in touch with alumni of your functional area and they can guide you better.

6. Identify your differentiators

Your experience and CV would take you to interview stage. During the interview, you have to exhibit your differentiators (from the rest of the cohort) through examples. Keep your examples ready and that too multiple examples. Examples of leadership, team-work, crisis management, organising abilities…. whatever you can possibly think of.

Differentiators can be either professional or personal. Think about your strengths and how are these different from others.

7. Get rid of your humbleness

Generally the people of Asian origin are humble do not like to boast too much about themselves. Please get rid of this habit, at least during the interview phase. Be open about what you did and how excellent your performance has been. Tell the interviewer about your success- academic, professional or personal- whatever.

8. Focus on ‘I’ rather than ‘We’

Usually when we are asked about how we accomplished a task, the people from Asian origin tend to reply by saying- ‘we did this’ or ‘we achieved this’. No. You are not going to talk like this.
You have to say- ‘I did this’/ ‘I added value to my team through….’/ ‘I accomplished the most difficult part through….’/ ‘I was the mastermind behind that project’

The interviewer wants to know what you did and not what your team did.

For Cranfield’s 2008-2009 MBAs

Well as this academic year is coming to an end at Cranfield, I really want to give some tips and suggestions to the next batch, especially to people who are coming from Asia (particularly India).

There are a lot of differences between an Indian B-school and a global B-school. Since an Indian student is never exposed to the environment at a global B-school, I guess one faces a tough time to absorb all the differences. I have tried to summarise my experiences here:

1. When a student joins an Indian B-school, he/she has a guarantee of the sort that they would definitely have at least one offer on finishing their MBA. This offer, of course, would be arranged by the Indian B-school itself.

The scenario is totally opposite in a global B-school. The school just assists you in your job hunt. It cannot guarantee you a job. Cranfield has a career services cell which helps you in developing your CV, in preparing for your interviews and in networking with potential recruiters. If you check some of the other reputed B-schools of the UK, you would not find such an elaborate career services support.

2. The process of selection by companies is entirely different.

In India, a company visits a B-school on a designated date (Zero-day etc.) and makes an offer for appointment on that very day. All selection procedures and interviews are completed in a day.

However, companies have long recruitment processes in this part of the world.

Firstly a company visits campus and gives a presentation regarding what they are looking for and what can it offer? Then it invites applications- your CVs.

The shortlisted candidates are invited for a first round of interview- usually on campus.

The first round shortlists are then asked to attend either an assessment centre or a second round of an interview.

The successful candidates from second round are then asked to go into third round which is usually the final round. However, there have been instances when people had 4, 5 or even 6 rounds of interviews.

One must be surprised on such an elaborate selection process; however, there is a basic difference in selections that one needs to understand. The candidates selected from an Indian B-school, usually go into lower or middle management level positions. At times it may not be a management level position at all. In global B-school, companies are looking for experienced people whom they can directly fit into their senior management roles. If a company has to hire for a senior position, it would definitely want to determine the exact fit of a candidate into the company.

3. Cultural differences

There are a lot of cultural differences which I would mention in a separate blog.

There are many more tips and suggestions on personal life at Cranfield. I would cover these very soon with support from my wife, Sherry, who would like to give tips to MBA partners.

Perseverance and Optimism

If I look back, on the past 6 months that I have spent on job hunt, the two most important factors that helped me attain my objectives were:

Perseverance

Optimism

I had always maintained a positive attitude, despite so many rejections. I have never shirked from hard work and kept on applying to my target companies.

You must be desperate to know how did I get this job and how many rejections did I have. Firstly let me make one point very clear here. I did not apply to any job on internet (job-search engines and websites) or through head-hunter except 3 jobs, which were recommended to me by my MBA colleagues. However, I did not even hear back from the companies to whom I applied through internet.

When I joined MBA, I was told by our career services that networking is the key to successful job hunt in this part of the world. I started making contacts with alumni and friends since January this year. I attended all the company presentations held on Cranfield and in total I put in about 40 applications. All these applications were either to the companies that visited Cranfield for recruitment or through Cranfield alumni. I got interview calls from 10 different companies. There were a few interview calls from Cranfield’s year-book CV as well. I travelled widely, for attending interviews and assessment centres, through the UK, Singapore and Dubai.

I had an open mind regarding location and sector. I was clear about my post-MBA role and that was my only target. I did not mind where I would be posted or what kind of sector it would be. This worked well for me as I am from supply chain background and I guess my skills are transferable to any sector or any company.

Since January 2008 I used to spend about 50% of time preparing CVs and in networking. I would tailor my CV to each and every company. Having one general CV for all companies/ jobs is suicidal. I would interact with alumni from my target company, would spend hours on Google trying to find more about the company and would thoroughly access the company’s website as to what that company values the most. What is it that I can match between the target company and my experience and competencies?

At last, I was in a position where I had final confirmations from 4 different companies before accepting the offer from Arcelor.

DONE!!!!!!

Well I have achieved it finally. When I joined Cranfield MBA, I had following objectives in terms of my professional development and my career:

To join a large MNC- globally recognised
To get into a global position- that gives worldwide experience
To get selected for a Business Leadership Programme (BLP) of the company
To work in a Strategic Procurement role (though I finalised my role target only after long consultations with Cranfield’s Careers Services department and Cranfield alumni. When I joined Cranfield, I did not know what kind of role would best suit me and my aspirations)

Today I am glad and proud to say that I have finally achieved all my objectives. I have been selected for a strategic procurement role under the BLP of Arcelor Mittal.

I have earlier worked with one of the largest corporations of India- ONGC and now I am going to be a part of one of the largest corporations of the world.

This success would not have come without the support of my family, my parents (who have backed me at every step), my friends, Cranfield Careers and most importantly Cranfield Alumni. I guess I owe big to Cranfield. It has truly been a life-changing experience for me at least.

The last term of the MBA

This is the last term of the MBA and contrary to our expectations, there has been no relaxation in the amount of work-load that we have. In the beginning of the MBA, we were told that last 2-3 months are really cool and there is not much to do. I believe those guys failed to recognise the fact that one has to spend a lot of time and effort in job hunt too. Though academic pressure is low but there are a large number of other activities such as projects, job applications and interviews. Most of the time you are travelling to London or other places for your interviews and a single visit to London absorbs one full day of yours.

Our classes would last till first week of August and MBA would finish in the first week of September. We have a month for completing our projects. I am keeping busy with projects that I secured from Cranfield alumni. One of the projects is with one of the largest banks of the world and it is quite a strategic one. I am enjoying working on this project.

The other thing that is keeping busy is Cricket- sounds strange!!! We are supposed to play a couple of matches here in Cranfield and I am trying to rediscover my lost passion. The last time I played cricket was around 2000 and revisiting this royal sport is real fun. We had a match on 23rd July and we lost it. We lost because we were playing against University team and their players had been practising regularly. For MBAs, it was like playing after a gap of many years and we did not perform well. On a personal note I was happy as I opened and closed the bowling, picked some wickets (missed a hat-tick, shit!!!) and scored some runs too (boundaries…J). The best part of the game was that MBAs played with ethics and we could all observe Cranfield’s education coming into play. I cannot divulge into more details here, and I would just say that it was a moral victory for us.

What I gained from IBE

I have talked a lot about the IBE and this would be my final blog in the series. I would just list down some of the gains I made from the IBE:

Network- I made new friends among my MBA colleagues especially with Victor, Nurlan, Luis, and Isa. Though I knew them prior to the IBE but during this trip I felt we got closer.

I also met a number of alumni and company representatives and that improved my network in the UAE/ Turkey.

Exposure - I learnt a lot about the economies of the middle-east especially Dubai and Turkey. I was not aware of the tension in EU regarding Turkey and gained many new insights into the geo-political situation of the region. I learnt about Arabic/ Turkish food and their delicacies.

Confidence- yes, I am more confident now while interacting with people from different parts of the world. I remember how convincingly I started talking to a group of people from US/ Australia when I met them at a hotel in Istanbul. I feel I have lot more to talk to about.

Knowledge about the culture, language and people of these regions

Practical aspects of the models and theories learnt at MBA

Finally, a nice break and enjoyable experience which I would like to repeat at the first opportunity that I get.

Gule-Gule (bye bye in Turkish)

IBE- Istanbul (Turkey): Europe’s cultural capital

My next destination after Dubai was Istanbul, one of the most important cities of Turkey. The capital of Turkey is Ankara.

Our first visit was to Sabanci University, where we attended the lectures given by some of the renowned Turkish-US faculty, expert in Turkish political-social-cultural areas. The quality of the lectures was so high that we learnt about the past and the current geo-political situation in Turkey just in a day. I was very impressed. Later on we went to Kordsa factory, Arkas, Grani Bank and HSBC. In all these organisations we were given presentations about different aspects of doing business in Turkey.

The best feature of the presentations was that I could relate all my learning and theories studied in MBA to the practical aspects of business and economy that were shown to us during these presentations. The OBPPD course, which continues throughout the MBA, helped a lot in understanding the culture of the new countries that we visited.

The presentations by the financial director of the Kordsa factory and by Granti and HSBC banks were in line with our finance module.

Apart from the official visits, we went out to explore Turkish markets that I found very similar to the one in India. I did not go to any shopping mall as I had already explored a lot in the UK and Dubai. I just went to traditional markets such as Grant Bazaar, Spice Bazaar and Taksen junction.

Turkey is vibrant and full of life. It is actually a very nice blend of Asia and Europe. You would find bazaars (markets) and ancient monuments just like in Asian countries of India and Pakistan. At the same time you would find European style of living in concepts such as work hard throughout the week and party hard on weekends. It was amazing to see people coming out in thousands on streets on Friday and Saturday evening and partying around till 3 or 4 in morning.

Thanks to the clean and blue sea, there were many restaurants offering nice views and I even went to a day long boat-tour around Bosphorus and it was fun. I enjoyed dinner at one of the most expensive restaurants of Istanbul-360°; this place was amazingly cool.

We all were surprised by the cost of living in Turkey as it was no less than what we have in the UK; may be slightly less. We wondered how an ordinary man would be surviving in such a costly city.

The hotel where we stayed offered steam, sauna and traditional Turkish hamam baths and needless to say we enjoyed all the stuff.

IBE- Dubai: a man-made wonder

Well as a part of the IBE, I visited two places Dubai and Turkey. I would first detail my experience in Dubai.

I just spent 3 days in Dubai and came to know so much about the city and whole of the Middle East that I could not have understood those dimensions of the middle-east through Google. It’s a man made wonder; really, everything you see around yourself has been made using technology (civil-engineering to be specific) and through best possible use of the natural resources, which exist only minimally.

Thanks to the wonderful presentations at Dubai School of Government, PwC and Sama Dubai, we learnt a lot about the revolution which is going on in this desert, which is no longer deserted. I was surprised to know that there is a monthly influx of about 30000 people in Dubai and city is expanding rapidly. The major thrust behind this growth has been the leadership at helm. The Government has done and is doing its best and wants to see Dubai as one of the prime powers of the world.

If we look at Dubai, we learn a very important lesson that the word ‘Impossible’ is actually ‘I m possible’. Nothing is impossible. Dubai has created green lands out of deserts. Arabs have used their financial muscle, curved out of oil, to create a place which offers something to everybody. You have a variety of restaurants, huge shopping malls, world’s tallest buildings, low costs of living (excluding accommodation), a financial centre is flowering up, places of fun for children and desert safaris to enjoy the nature at its best. Who would have thought 15 years back that a desert area can be transformed to such an extent.

I enjoyed my 3-day stay with lot of Indian food and visited some of other Emirates such as Sharjah. A remark here: Dubai is the best out of the 7 emirates and you can feel a difference between Sharjah and Dubai.

Emirates is really cheaper than UK and many other countries if you consider the costs on Purchasing Power Parity. The salaries that are offered are enough not only to meet your living costs but also to save considerably.

I had a chance to catch up my childhood mate Sunny, who took me around in evenings. An evening was spent with Umesh and we had a gala time in an Indian restaurant. Umesh and Sunny really made my time in Dubai and I would cherish it for long.

The most interesting part of MBA- IBE

IBE- International business experience. For those who are not aware of IBE, this is a week long study tour conducted by Cranfield as a part of the MBA. We have to select one of the several international choices such as Dubai/Turkey, US, China, India, Japan etc. Then we go to these countries as a part of a group of MBAs and visit many government and private organisations to understand that country’s political, social and economic climate. The idea behind this is to gain insights into at least one more country than that you already knew before coming to Cranfield. The offered choices are a mix of developing and developed nations and it also includes some exotic destinations such as Brazil and Cuba and some social projects such as in Ghana.

I visited Singapore last month to attend an interview and met a person from Cambridge. He told me that though Cambridge charges more fee than Cranfield yet it does not offer any such experience like IBE. At that moment I realised that Cranfield MBA is also a great value for money. Moreover Cranfield offers many such facilities which one does not get in other B-schools. For e.g. A fully dedicated career services cell and the hostel facility. It helps cut your costs of doing MBA.

MBA has cooled down????

I am here once again and after a long gap. Probably now everyone is busy with their electives, projects and most important of all- jobs!!! I guess ‘job’ is a million dollar question that weighs heavily on everybody’s mind especially when the market is not doing well and companies have put a virtual freeze on hiring. I have been getting a lot many queries regarding post MBA job scenario. I would just say at this moment that I would be in a position to reply only after July as currently almost everyone is amid the process of job hunt and nobody is sure about the results.

I got a mail last week from a prospective student, who remarked that probably my study load might have reduced than what it was at the start of MBA. Well in the last one month, I also thought that MBA has just cooled down a bit and I have more time for myself (read… for job hunt). As I thought MBA has cooled down, things started catching up the steam in June and now I am loaded with many projects, assignments and reports. I have secured 2 corporate projects and both are very interesting. A point to be noted here that both the projects have been secured through alumni and that’s where I feel Cranfield has an edge over other B-schools that are in the same league.

I would suggest to the prospective students to not to compare Cranfield with LBS/ Harvard/ Wharton. Compare apples with apples. LBS/ Harvard are in different league especially they are 2 year courses and involve greater investments. I reiterate this point that amongst its league, Cranfield is the best. Best than the rest!!!!

And/ But

In term 2 (Part 1) there was a week-long course in Project Management. A whole of the week was devoted for studying Project Management. We were involved in simulations and theoretical studies including risk analysis, programme management and project planning and execution.

It was another amazing experience especially with one of the most enthusiastic and interesting lecturers of Cranfield: Stephen Carver. Steve has also been teaching us about the presentation skills and communication skills. One cannot afford to miss him when he is around. He has an extensive industry (oil and gas) experience and is still involved in providing consultancy.

The best learning for me out of the course was: ‘replacement of BUT with AND’. We were told by one of the faculty that it would be lot better and easier to work in teams especially while executing projects, if we could replace ‘but’ with ‘and’. When I thought in retrospection, I found that it really means a lot when you start your sentence with ‘and’ instead of ‘but’ which usually gives a negative meaning. After that I have always made it a point to minimise the use of ‘but’ in my conversation. Thanks John (Algar) for this wonderful tip.

Half MBAs have become Management Gurus

Well now it’s more than 6-months into my Cranfield MBA and I cannot believe that we all are Half MBAs. Why I cannot believe this is because these 6 months had went past just like 6 seconds; but there are many more factors which force me to believe that my MBA is half complete-

New admissions are being made,

Next year’s MBAs have already started visiting campus,

We have begun Part 2 of the MBA which focuses on the electives and now we all have developed abilities to give lectures like a management guru.

I see that anybody and almost everybody have developed the capability to deliver a speech or a lecture as if he/ she are management gurus. That’s where the real competence of the Cranfield MBA lays. It focuses on developing your personality and would try to bring the hidden competencies in yourself. Some of those would be an integral part of yours, but you would have never become aware of them.

The part 2 is loaded with many more opportunities for self-development. We have studio sessions, press conferences (where one faces real world journalists) and the much-awaited IBE (International Business Experience).

By now I have changed my MBA working teams so many times that team working flexibilities have just become a norm. Nobody is seen complaining about their team anymore, a feature which was very common in the beginning of the MBA. This is the second major USP of the Cranfield MBA: team working abilities.

When I look at the last 6 months, I feel that the skills which the Cranfield MBA has imparted into its students are the most essentially required ones in real life work environment. Sometimes we all wish that it would have been so easy to work if everybody around us would have been Cranfield alumni. Then this is the third learning we have got: be open about the type of people you have to work with; do not expect people around you to change and try to change and adapt yourself.

Apologies...

It’s really long when I last wrote something on my blog. With due apologies to all my readers, I would like to list down all the important happenings in the last one month, due to which I have been abstained from not writing anything:

1. There were so many assignments and reports pending in Feb/ March.

2. First ever Cranfield Career Fair was held on 12th March 2008. There were many such companies on campus that day, for which it was the maiden visit to Cranfield. It was a busy day for us as we interacted with company representatives. It was actually the race against time because there were many companies but the time span was short.

3. We had our exams in the next week. The most hectic period of my life, Term 2, came to an end with these exams.

4. Immediately after the exams we had a 2 week long Easter break and I went back home to re-connect with my family and friends.

So it was an extremely busy month and I came back to Cranfield on 6th April, 2008.

Coping Zone of MBA

In first term Bob, our Operations Management lecturer, remarked that the coping zone of Cranfield MBA will be in February. We thought he must be joking, cos even the first term was no less. Soon we cleared the first term (officially it’s over; yesterday results came and we all have passed with flying colours). As the second term started, we realised Bob was right. This term is intellectually not that challenging as the first one, but the amount of work is ....... just too much.

We not only have more subjects but also have to prepare CVs as companies are visiting the campus these days. So you are just never free. There is one more aspect of Cranfield MBA. Here you won’t get anything ready made as is done in many B-Schools in India. You have to study and also have to take care of your personal life; I mean your food, clothing and all the day to day requirements. This does make your life a bit tough but it is a good experience. After all, when you are in real life business environment, you have to maintain a work life balance.

Last week we had Burn’s night. It was again a new learning for me. I had never heard of Burn’s night before. Burn’s night is celebrated in memory of a Scottish poet. At Cranfield we have a tradition that every year London Business School (LBS) visits Cranfield on Burn’s night for some sports competitions such as Rugby, Football and Basketball. We play during the day and at night its party time. Sadly, I had to miss the party as I was in London that evening.

Well I forgot to mention about the success of International Diversity Week. It was fantabulous and I was glad that my organising skills did not fail me. I was the coordinator for Asia region and was responsible for setting up stalls and also put a Bhangra (traditional North Indian dance) show. We did well and enjoyed a lot. Pure fun. The success would not have been possible without my wife Sherry, Anil, his wife Shelley, Arun and Puneet’s (Arun and Puneet are my MBA mates) wife Jyoti.

As the month of February has started, life is getting tough day by day, hour by hour and I am not exaggerating. Everybody seems to be so busy. Number of people at parties is going down. Sports activities are less. Everybody is just going through that coping zone.

Vicious Cycle of Learning

It’s the new term and we have got all new stuff to learn; very different from what we had in term 1. The title of the blog must have captivated your attention. Well, its meant to do so.

As we have entered the second term, we have new teams and new people around. Remember, I wrote in my first few blogs that we have 3 different streams- red, blue and green, and within each stream we have learning teams of 5-6 people. In term 1 I was in green stream and in term 2 I am in blue. Most of students have got new streams and new teams as well. What does this mean- it implies you have different people form different countries, who tell you new facts about their countries and you got to know new experiences. As I have mentioned it earlier, I believe passive learning (learning from the experiences from others) is the best and very interesting. As you come to know about some new country, any new fact you want to learn more about it as it inculcates curiosity to dig deeper. This is what I call the vicious cycle of learning. You learn some, you want to learn more. As you learn more, you want to learn new, and the cycle continues.

We have a ‘French’ language teacher (from Russia) at Cranfield, whom I find attending our Personal Development and People Management lectures. He must be about 55, but actively plays football, chats with students and attends lectures: just to explore more, to learn more. I have seen the passion in his eyes- the passion to learn. And I am really impressed by him, so are many others.

Next week we have International Diversity Week, where people from 4 different continents- Asia, Africa, America and Europe shall present their cultures. It’s a week long event and we have to arrange stalls, food and entertainment. I am coordinating on behalf of Asia, and feel so good to organise everything. Again, you have a chance to learn more about different cultures. I believe and that’s what we are taught at Cranfield that for a successful business its vital to understand people and to know their culture, language and life. If you are targeting to work in a MNC, you should first understand the way of life of people where that MNC is operating.

In last 2 weeks we had very interesting lectures on how to communicate and present effectively by Stephen Carver. This person is genius. He gave nice tips on making and delivering excellent presentations. Some of the interesting points that he made:

All presentations are 60% body language, 35% communication and just 5% content.
Your audience will only remember just 5% of your presentation; so know and plan, what to bind in that 5%.
On average, a person speaks 150 words per minute.
On average, we can process 750 words per minute.

On these interesting notes, I bid adieu and shall be back soon with more interesting stuff from my new found love- Cranfield.

Holidays in UK

The 2 week break was the first opportunity for me to spend time at my own will in UK. The first few days of the break were spent idling around, playing cards with friends and watching some of the new hindi movies that I missed in the last few months. I watched all the new releases and also saw the three parts of Godfather, which I have been thinking of doing for long.

During the break I went to London with my family: my wife Sherry, my sis in law Shelley and my long time friend cum bro in law Anil. Anil n I joined MBA at Cranfield together and we were together during engineering too. He is married to my wife’s Sis – Shelley, and we four enjoy a lot together. Its pertinent to mention here that some of my blogs are edited by Shelley, before they appear here.

We were joined by Kunal and Ajay, our MBA mates. We all went to Madam Tussad’s wax museum and London Eye. It was an amazing day. We all got so many photographs clicked with the wax figures of some of the most famous personalities of the world.

I also explored a new game during the holidays: Lawn Tennis. A new learning and a new dimension. I love exploring and learning new things.

I spent a lot of time with friends, listening to their experiences and trying to learn from them. I believe that’s a wonderful learning as one tends to learn more from other’s stories and experiences rather than text books.

First term is over

Its about a month when I last updated this blog. That time I was busy preparing for my exams of the first term. Well the exams finished, holidays came and have even finished. I cannot believe the pace of the time in MBA; even when I don’t have classes, even when there are no strict schedules and there are holidays- just holidays, the time flies like anything. We had a good break of about 2 weeks which were spent in lazing around, resting and doing all what I missed doing in the last 3 months of MBA.

Though time was spent in renewing the lost contacts and increasing networking, maintaining profiles on LinkedIn and preparing CVs, yet majority of the break was just devoted to rejuvenate self and prepare the body and the mind for the next term. As it appears, the second term seems to be more dreadful than the first one: more subjects than the first term, more assignments and reports and to top them- job panic. I have seen job panic among my colleagues and friends, who have started panicking on getting rejections from the finance companies or on hearing the news of selections of some of the friends and peers in Cranfield or other B-schools.

Well I believe its just second term and there are full 8 months left for the MBA to get complete and I don’t see any reason to get panic. Of course one should strive and make efforts for internships and jobs but panic is not what is rationale at least at this stage. There is still a hell lot of time.

Tomorrow its going to be the first day of the new term and all the subjects are totally different from what we have learnt in the first term. However, this time the anxiety levels are less than during the first term as we are now accustomed to Cranfield culture. What’s more interesting is the fact that this term has more case studies than the first term, and case studies always make learning better and entertaining.