Well, well, well...First two exams done. Three more to go. Heard in the lower gallery just now...

Let's have a quick recap before I head over to the bar. Friendships, unlike wine bottles, are sealed at the bar.

OB Exam: went VERY well. Our group was fantastic, spectacular, awesome, creative, funny, time conscious, phenomenal...well...I will analyse this in some other posting but overall, I had a tremendous time. It did not even feel like an exam!!! Case was the story of some INSEAD MBA graduate who thinks that he's doing well, who is not aware of the political web that he's entangled himself into, who has serious communication and secrecy problems in his team and who chose a very detached style of leadership. Add a bit of whistle blowing about cover ups in the sales department and some sensitive power struggle at the top and you have the whole picture. I think that we covered most of the issues, we have a clear line of actions, all of our strengths as a very diverse group came out. No jargon, no bullshiting around. Clear, direct, concise and complete. I loved it.

Prices and Market: I found the exam easy - which is actually a very bad sign. Our grading system is all relative, and our mark will be normalized. Which means that if everybody found this exam easy, then the mean will be high and my chances to be below the mean are higher...Also, a small cockup: I was supposed to answer only one question per sheet. I got so distracted by the line of fire that I had created around my brain while I proceeded to answer the multiple choice questions (on a separate sheet), that I completely forgot that point. I have more than one answer per sheet...I emailed the MBA Office about that. It is not actually a breach of the exam rules, so I hope that they will be lenient about that. It would be stupid not to. Anyway, I am not really bothered. The answers are clear and at least, correspond to the questions asked! I have learned something and that is what really matters!

However, respecting presentation rules is important and certainly part of the game, so I expect some reaction to that.

I really liked game strategy - in our exam - some "firm" make commercial aircrafts - Dah, why not call them Boeing and Airbus...- and they must decide to make a new one or not. Some Nash Equilibrium, obviously...usually stuff. Funny because in Finance, we look at the valuation of the Boeing 777 project...
Also a look at how the DVD player market in France (with the imposition of quotas or not) influences the DVD market in that same country. That was quite interesting, especially the "fluffy" part - e.g. the non mathematical part. Standard Supply and Demand and effect of government actions on a free market. Standard stuff.

For the rest, imagine some GMAT for Economics style multiple choice questions and a lot of little tricks which forced us a read the question: A change in price does not shift a supply nor a demand curve, we move along the curve. Stuff like that...SOooooo American.

Anyway, I can feel the calling of some exquisite red drink increasingly getting hold of my senses, so good bye for now!