We have received the topics to choose from for our essay in Leading Organizations. These are
"Resistance to change is good for the organization" Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Why?
Niccolo Machiavelli in his famous treatise "The Prince" advises that we ignore morality in pursuit of our interests. This is why his prescriptions work so well. Discuss in the context of the organizations.
Many organizations are adopting information technologies such as intranets to foster collaboration and knowledge sharing among their employees. Discuss the effects of these technologies on the informal structure of an organization.
The business world has been recently affected by the scandals surrounding companies such as Enron and Worldcom. This has resurrected a difficult but fundamental question: what is the role of the firm in society?
I find that the last question is the most interesting one. It poses a philosophical problem that is actually at the center of my personal quest. Food for thoughts.
Friday, October 31, 2003
Thursday, October 30, 2003
Finance's great. Our Finance 1 Teacher said that Finance is good because it's cash and only cash matters. The rest is fluffy and intangible. Managers must focus on REAL BOTTOM LINE - the real thing, true stuff, actual money, something you can get your hands on, blah blah blah.
I just learnt that through Financial instruments you can buy shares without buying them, sell shares or options without owning them, buy stuff in the futures or forward market without outflow of cash and get an infinite return, (meaning zero initial investment), or guaranteed return with no risk.
Go figure.
I just learnt that through Financial instruments you can buy shares without buying them, sell shares or options without owning them, buy stuff in the futures or forward market without outflow of cash and get an infinite return, (meaning zero initial investment), or guaranteed return with no risk.
Go figure.
Wednesday, October 29, 2003
Pascale:
My God, I have just realized that all this time has gone by and I have not yet once mentioned Pascale.
I bet that if you talk to anyone many years out of INSEAD, who spent at least one period on the Fontainebleau, and ask them about the one person that was central to their day-to-day life, they will talk about Pascale.
There is a central place for MBAs on campus. It is called the Camembert, thanks to the low flying imagination of the administration (the place is round) and the desk in the middle is Pascale's throne.
Speculating about what people like about Pascale, I would list the following ingredients:
- honest and ever-present smile
- capacity and willingness to help every single student with local problems
- simplicity
- understanding and listening skills
Unsurprinsingly, Pascale gets invited to student parties, to general drinks sessions and many a-graduate will take time to greet her on any subsequent visit to quaint Fontainebleau.
My God, I have just realized that all this time has gone by and I have not yet once mentioned Pascale.
I bet that if you talk to anyone many years out of INSEAD, who spent at least one period on the Fontainebleau, and ask them about the one person that was central to their day-to-day life, they will talk about Pascale.
There is a central place for MBAs on campus. It is called the Camembert, thanks to the low flying imagination of the administration (the place is round) and the desk in the middle is Pascale's throne.
Speculating about what people like about Pascale, I would list the following ingredients:
- honest and ever-present smile
- capacity and willingness to help every single student with local problems
- simplicity
- understanding and listening skills
Unsurprinsingly, Pascale gets invited to student parties, to general drinks sessions and many a-graduate will take time to greet her on any subsequent visit to quaint Fontainebleau.
Tuesday, October 28, 2003
Tuesday night. I am back from the Indian Punjabi dancing performance. Got a ticket to the Indian party and a nice new Indian costume. As this is the first week after the break, nearly everyone has gone home. People talk about their holiday, exchange stories.
I feel a little melancholic and I wander into a PC cluster.
I am happy to be back, happy to see again all of these familiar faces.
The first period has been extraordinary and unique. I did not have expectations before coming here but the main driver for attending the course was to fulfill my international aspirations.
One can say that the administrative burden at INSEAD is large, that the organization is in many ways inefficient, that the P2 electives for exempted students are not very varied, that the accounting teacher was not so effective, that the weather is cold and that Fontainebleau is in the middle of nowhere.
INSEAD does everything else right. Everything else that truly matters.
I have learned a lot - the curriculum was varied although not deep (what else can you expect in 6 weeks). Everyone I have met, from faculty members to all my fellow students embodies this international community that INSEAD is promoting so hard.
I have come a long way and there is much more to go. I also now realize how much I needed this, how clueless I was about the complexities of business, and how many mistakes I would have made.
I will now head off and finish the readings for tomorrow. This week, I am hitting the Career Management Service web site. Revamping of CV, registering for their consulting services, etc...
A good friend of mine is coming from the States this weekend. We will probably get lost in the labyrinth of the old quarters of Paris.
I feel a little melancholic and I wander into a PC cluster.
I am happy to be back, happy to see again all of these familiar faces.
The first period has been extraordinary and unique. I did not have expectations before coming here but the main driver for attending the course was to fulfill my international aspirations.
One can say that the administrative burden at INSEAD is large, that the organization is in many ways inefficient, that the P2 electives for exempted students are not very varied, that the accounting teacher was not so effective, that the weather is cold and that Fontainebleau is in the middle of nowhere.
INSEAD does everything else right. Everything else that truly matters.
I have learned a lot - the curriculum was varied although not deep (what else can you expect in 6 weeks). Everyone I have met, from faculty members to all my fellow students embodies this international community that INSEAD is promoting so hard.
I have come a long way and there is much more to go. I also now realize how much I needed this, how clueless I was about the complexities of business, and how many mistakes I would have made.
I will now head off and finish the readings for tomorrow. This week, I am hitting the Career Management Service web site. Revamping of CV, registering for their consulting services, etc...
A good friend of mine is coming from the States this weekend. We will probably get lost in the labyrinth of the old quarters of Paris.
The Latin America class today was very humbling. The teacher's is truly excellent. Her breadth of knowledge and her network of connections in the region are incredible.
The students are all extremely acute and all of the comments that were made, both from Septembers and from Januaries made me consider the region from a different angle. Very pertinent comments from the Brazilians, the Argentinian and Peruvians today.
The professor interrupted our comments about whether state owned companies were a good thing or not: "you are thinking about these countries from the perspective of a rich country. Think about it with the perspective of a poor country. In poor countries, the tax system is inefficient. Rich people who could pay taxes manage their way around paying through corruption and bribes. Poor people cannot afford to pay taxes and would revolt if more were to be levied. So state-owned companies are the only way that governments can get revenues."
The students are all extremely acute and all of the comments that were made, both from Septembers and from Januaries made me consider the region from a different angle. Very pertinent comments from the Brazilians, the Argentinian and Peruvians today.
The professor interrupted our comments about whether state owned companies were a good thing or not: "you are thinking about these countries from the perspective of a rich country. Think about it with the perspective of a poor country. In poor countries, the tax system is inefficient. Rich people who could pay taxes manage their way around paying through corruption and bribes. Poor people cannot afford to pay taxes and would revolt if more were to be levied. So state-owned companies are the only way that governments can get revenues."
Fontainebleau WC Team has just transformed a previously male-only toilet into a Unisex one. Here is a copy of the email following the announcement:
The Unisex Bathroom Song
A social scientist of some years gone
Was ruminating as he graced the john
He thought, "What if we turn this lavatory
Into a scientific laboratory?
We’ll make a great big human experiment
With lots of funding from the government
And study all the various effects
Of using bathrooms that are unisex."
So just walk right in, take a look at the scene
If you’re a man or a woman or in between
There’s no sign on the door, so please pay your respects
To the other gender at the Unisex
Some people really have time on their hands
The Unisex Bathroom Song
A social scientist of some years gone
Was ruminating as he graced the john
He thought, "What if we turn this lavatory
Into a scientific laboratory?
We’ll make a great big human experiment
With lots of funding from the government
And study all the various effects
Of using bathrooms that are unisex."
So just walk right in, take a look at the scene
If you’re a man or a woman or in between
There’s no sign on the door, so please pay your respects
To the other gender at the Unisex
Some people really have time on their hands
More classes today:
Organizational Behavior: focuses on organizations and offers three different perspectives:
- Strategic: Organizations are machines, action comes through planning and we are an architect
- Political: Organizations are contest or war, action comes through power and we are politicians
- Cultural: Organizations are a set of values, action comes from habit and we are an anthropologist
Teacher's Romanian. It is hard to form an opinion after one class so I will hold my tongue.
Managerial Accounting: Financial accounting focuses on reporting to satisfy outside users (investors, regulating bodies, etc...) and managerial accounting proposes to give tools to report meaningful data in order to make informed managerial decisions and and generate value. It sets out to answer the following questions:
- What information do we need for competitive success?
- How can we evaluate or design information systems?
- How do we make decisions to enhance value?
- How do we delegate decisions and provide incentives to managers?
The teacher's name is Igor so he is obviously...
...American. A bit of a showman with comments such as:
- the best way to get a good mark at class participation is to toss me some really easy questions to make me look really competent.
We were served a delicious Indian breakfast during the break so quite a few people came late into class. This is very disrepectful to professors but one of the students had a brilliant comment:
" the food was quite spicy which is the reason why I am late"
Organizational Behavior: focuses on organizations and offers three different perspectives:
- Strategic: Organizations are machines, action comes through planning and we are an architect
- Political: Organizations are contest or war, action comes through power and we are politicians
- Cultural: Organizations are a set of values, action comes from habit and we are an anthropologist
Teacher's Romanian. It is hard to form an opinion after one class so I will hold my tongue.
Managerial Accounting: Financial accounting focuses on reporting to satisfy outside users (investors, regulating bodies, etc...) and managerial accounting proposes to give tools to report meaningful data in order to make informed managerial decisions and and generate value. It sets out to answer the following questions:
- What information do we need for competitive success?
- How can we evaluate or design information systems?
- How do we make decisions to enhance value?
- How do we delegate decisions and provide incentives to managers?
The teacher's name is Igor so he is obviously...
...American. A bit of a showman with comments such as:
- the best way to get a good mark at class participation is to toss me some really easy questions to make me look really competent.
We were served a delicious Indian breakfast during the break so quite a few people came late into class. This is very disrepectful to professors but one of the students had a brilliant comment:
" the food was quite spicy which is the reason why I am late"
Before I head into the turmoil of P2, I thought that I could spend a little bit of time looking back at what INSEAD has brought to me, what I will be packing up when I move on the path of life...
- All our teachers were very good and displayed a deep knowledge of the course taught. Most of them were very enthusiastic about teaching, and most of them had a great sense of humor. I have been extremely impressed by the diversity and quality of their teaching. Most of the improvements lie in how such extensive knowledge is passed onto the students. All teachers were very open to comments and active dialogue with the students. In general, although MBA participants do pay outrageous amounts of money to attend B-school, they do not necessarily take advantage of the faculty as much as they could.
- Some of the courses presented models that pictured a very ideal world, as imperfections would complicate equations and concepts. They were necessary hurdles to overcome in order to gain enough understanding to tackle real life problems but limited the interest I took in the courses. Most of the reading material, the extra cases and projects captured the majority of my excitement - apart from OB and game theory which are two classes which delivered loads of pure clean fun.
P2 start off with follow up courses much more applied to real life, with a greater variety of useful models and tips.
- Parties: INSEADers are definitely party animals. I cannot recall one week without a party. Most venues are either a wealthy country house, or a gigantic chateau. All party have themes and people go to tremendous efforts to decorate the venue, to come up with stylish invitations and to offer a good selection of music, drinks and general atmosphere. Let me throw out some random party theme: Pirates At Tavers (costumed), Dangerous Liaisons, Halloween at Villecerf (costumed), Light My Fire
- Social events, gatherings, clubs: INSEAD offers a lot more than you could ever do, even if you disposed of a full 24hr day. All styles are catered for unless you are interested in setting up a club for pot smokers or car theft techniques.
- One of the most important technique that I learned coming here is time management. There is so much going on that it is quite impossible to do everything. Make sure that you are clear about what you want to get out of the programme, establish your priorities and act accordingly. You are investing a lot, only you can best decide how you are going to maximize the value of your time spent here - and the cost associated with some of your decisions.
- MBA Participants: this is what really blew me out. The school has a reputation for diversity and internationalism - is this a word? - and it is well deserved. Most of my now good friends are Indian, Romanian, French, Spanish, Brazilian, Australian, Korean, Canadian, Egyptian, Lebanese,...The INSEAD Campus does not feel like France at all. It does not feel like an airport. It does not feel like the world either as the creme de la creme is probably gathered here. The campus feels like a somptuous Indian meal. All the colorful and delicious dishes are gathered on the table, some clashes, some blend well. All provide the most incredible palate experience. The quality of the people here is amazing: from people who founded their own companies to mountain guides, through Tennis Star coaches. From star traders to World Bank managers, from engineers to directors.
It would be easy to casualize such diversity as the year goes on and forgets about how precious it is. Every day if I look around the amphi, my eyes stop on Israelis, Germans, Greeks, Scandinavians, Dutch, Japanese, etc...I surprise conversations over lunch in hindi, russian or chinese. I speak three languages every day. Everyone seems to operate in this environment, as though it were the norm nowadays, with abandon. But it is a special environment. It is a special place in which everyone holds theirs. Only in this world can I hear an Israeli tell me that he has come to like the Arabs. Only in this world do we have an Indian-Pakistan week. Only in this world do we have everyone gathered around a screen to watch the Rugby worldcup, cheerfully waving pints of beer.
I will walk out of this place into the real world with a long list of friends, with a head full of new concepts, with the desire to make a big impact wherever I go, with the courage of a lion and the finesse of a cat. I will also walk out of this place with an endless list of stories. Good and bad, funny and sad. All unique.
It is hard to walk on a journey to the different, to the unusual. It is especially hard in an environment where most people are put under so much pressure and competitive evaluation system.
It is hard but it is worth it.
- All our teachers were very good and displayed a deep knowledge of the course taught. Most of them were very enthusiastic about teaching, and most of them had a great sense of humor. I have been extremely impressed by the diversity and quality of their teaching. Most of the improvements lie in how such extensive knowledge is passed onto the students. All teachers were very open to comments and active dialogue with the students. In general, although MBA participants do pay outrageous amounts of money to attend B-school, they do not necessarily take advantage of the faculty as much as they could.
- Some of the courses presented models that pictured a very ideal world, as imperfections would complicate equations and concepts. They were necessary hurdles to overcome in order to gain enough understanding to tackle real life problems but limited the interest I took in the courses. Most of the reading material, the extra cases and projects captured the majority of my excitement - apart from OB and game theory which are two classes which delivered loads of pure clean fun.
P2 start off with follow up courses much more applied to real life, with a greater variety of useful models and tips.
- Parties: INSEADers are definitely party animals. I cannot recall one week without a party. Most venues are either a wealthy country house, or a gigantic chateau. All party have themes and people go to tremendous efforts to decorate the venue, to come up with stylish invitations and to offer a good selection of music, drinks and general atmosphere. Let me throw out some random party theme: Pirates At Tavers (costumed), Dangerous Liaisons, Halloween at Villecerf (costumed), Light My Fire
- Social events, gatherings, clubs: INSEAD offers a lot more than you could ever do, even if you disposed of a full 24hr day. All styles are catered for unless you are interested in setting up a club for pot smokers or car theft techniques.
- One of the most important technique that I learned coming here is time management. There is so much going on that it is quite impossible to do everything. Make sure that you are clear about what you want to get out of the programme, establish your priorities and act accordingly. You are investing a lot, only you can best decide how you are going to maximize the value of your time spent here - and the cost associated with some of your decisions.
- MBA Participants: this is what really blew me out. The school has a reputation for diversity and internationalism - is this a word? - and it is well deserved. Most of my now good friends are Indian, Romanian, French, Spanish, Brazilian, Australian, Korean, Canadian, Egyptian, Lebanese,...The INSEAD Campus does not feel like France at all. It does not feel like an airport. It does not feel like the world either as the creme de la creme is probably gathered here. The campus feels like a somptuous Indian meal. All the colorful and delicious dishes are gathered on the table, some clashes, some blend well. All provide the most incredible palate experience. The quality of the people here is amazing: from people who founded their own companies to mountain guides, through Tennis Star coaches. From star traders to World Bank managers, from engineers to directors.
It would be easy to casualize such diversity as the year goes on and forgets about how precious it is. Every day if I look around the amphi, my eyes stop on Israelis, Germans, Greeks, Scandinavians, Dutch, Japanese, etc...I surprise conversations over lunch in hindi, russian or chinese. I speak three languages every day. Everyone seems to operate in this environment, as though it were the norm nowadays, with abandon. But it is a special environment. It is a special place in which everyone holds theirs. Only in this world can I hear an Israeli tell me that he has come to like the Arabs. Only in this world do we have an Indian-Pakistan week. Only in this world do we have everyone gathered around a screen to watch the Rugby worldcup, cheerfully waving pints of beer.
I will walk out of this place into the real world with a long list of friends, with a head full of new concepts, with the desire to make a big impact wherever I go, with the courage of a lion and the finesse of a cat. I will also walk out of this place with an endless list of stories. Good and bad, funny and sad. All unique.
It is hard to walk on a journey to the different, to the unusual. It is especially hard in an environment where most people are put under so much pressure and competitive evaluation system.
It is hard but it is worth it.
Some of the best quotes from past period or why context is important:
"I will do anything you want me to" - Finance professor to student
"OK - we know this is immoral, but is it illegal?" - Student in Ethics Class
"It is because of people like you that sex becomes insignificant" - Stats Tutorial Teacher
"The problem is not auto but hetero" - Stats professor (about auto and hetero skedasticity...)
"Would you call up your boss at 2am? - Leading People and Group professor
response of female student: "this depends on what kind of relation I have with my boss"
"Don't lag sex, it gives very strange results" - Stats teacher
"I sold the car for a shitty price and I'm supposed to be Turkish...I'm on the lower side of the Turkish population" - a Turkish student acting as a car seller in a negotiation exercise
"why did you choose to attend the community event and not the homeless people event?" - OB professor about networking choices a manager must make in a case study
- "the community event is with important people. I don't give a shit about homeless people".
- "why did you open the envelope that says - PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL" - OB Professor about an in-basket case study
- "well, that was bound to be interesting reading" - student responding
"I will do anything you want me to" - Finance professor to student
"OK - we know this is immoral, but is it illegal?" - Student in Ethics Class
"It is because of people like you that sex becomes insignificant" - Stats Tutorial Teacher
"The problem is not auto but hetero" - Stats professor (about auto and hetero skedasticity...)
"Would you call up your boss at 2am? - Leading People and Group professor
response of female student: "this depends on what kind of relation I have with my boss"
"Don't lag sex, it gives very strange results" - Stats teacher
"I sold the car for a shitty price and I'm supposed to be Turkish...I'm on the lower side of the Turkish population" - a Turkish student acting as a car seller in a negotiation exercise
"why did you choose to attend the community event and not the homeless people event?" - OB professor about networking choices a manager must make in a case study
- "the community event is with important people. I don't give a shit about homeless people".
- "why did you open the envelope that says - PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL" - OB Professor about an in-basket case study
- "well, that was bound to be interesting reading" - student responding
Monday, October 27, 2003
Went to pick up my P2 course pack the other day. Also picked up the Strategies for Latin America elective course pack. That was a very depressing moment. The course pack for that one elective is nearly as thick as the course pack for all of the core courses - and this class is scheduled 4 times a week from 5.30 to 7pm...Alas...
News on the home front: we cannot use the upstairs bathroom because we are flooding the house and we can use only scarcily the washing machine because we are flooding the house. The plumber came one month ago for a quote but has not found time yet to come and fix things.
First cleaning lady needed 3 hours for a 20 minute job. Second cleaning lady resigned on us on no notice because she found a job closer to her home and our third potential cleaning lady did not want to drive 9 kms to get to our place.
We desperately need a cleaning lady.
First cleaning lady needed 3 hours for a 20 minute job. Second cleaning lady resigned on us on no notice because she found a job closer to her home and our third potential cleaning lady did not want to drive 9 kms to get to our place.
We desperately need a cleaning lady.
P1 Classes:
P1 has the main drawback to offer introductory classes which serve to bring everyone to a similar level. INSEAD offers exemption exams (I just exempted from a course, which means that I am able to take an elective instead in P2) for the poor Bond Trader who does not wish to sit again in a Introduction to Finance class, or a Microeconomics Major who can find better uses of his or her time than sitting in a Price and Market class.
- General Management: this is a short two-class course centered around a case study. It highlighted the fact, that despite the fact that most business schools teach every subject separately, everything is imbricated in the life of a general manager. It also showed that general managers really have to deal with all the crap that keep falling on their desk, and do not enjoy the same intellectual challenges as academia workers - is this an expression of professional frustration? ;-). The Arthur Keller case has become a legend at INSEAD, and is even quoted in the press!
I remember a key quote from our British teacher "you came to INSEAD so that you can learn about how general managers screw everything up in real life and feel comfortable about doing it yourself".
- Ethics, Values and Cultures: this was taught by a star teacher who splits up his time between counselling Asian governments and CEOs, teaching at Stanford Business School and at INSEAD. Unfortunately for students of the years to come, he is retiring. Luckily I heard that one of his replacements, a successful teachers at the univeristy of Barcelona and Rock Climbing World Champion is fantastic.
The current and soon to retire French teacher was basically the instigator of the creation of the Singaporean campus for INSEAD and is on a crusade to create awareness about ethics issues in a world sadly dominated by corruption stories. The course was only over a week, based on a case study and through the Ethics Day, which brought together CEOs of various companies and countries (Germany, Israel, France, etc..) and students in small workshops to discuss ethics issues. I attended the Enron Case workshop. The teacher's favorite quote was "companies outsource ethics to the government". Bottom line: ethics are not a relative thing: murder is murder and is bad. Ethics are everyone's responsibility and falling into the trap of doing the local thing is only feeding a sick system.
- Uncertainty, Data and Judgement: a class which focuses on dealing with reality and coming to terms with the fact that we cannot use a crystal ball to peek into the future. Most of it is maths but the class is taught very intuitively by a brilliant Romanian mind (who was elected our best dressed professor). Unfortunately, I found that the teacher, probably because of lack of experience, was not as convincing and open as the other teachers. Forced humor and artificial jokes fell flat most of the time.
Some of the questions that you are able to answer after the course: how can you model reality in order to forecast future trivial values, such as your sales level...How can you design a process, for instance to deal with overbooking at airlines, not to lose money, how can you decide how many physicians should be on duty in hospital based on the expected number of patients in an ER ward on any given day, how do you test various hypothesis on expected returns, based on samples of data, how confident are you about the acceptance of your product, about your expected profits, etc...
In fact, the teaching style was so bumpy that I cannot remember any key quote.
- Finance 1: the teacher was German. This says a lot about the course...which introduces the main financial tools in a very ideal world (the only imperfection that we talk about is corporate taxes, which actually has an influence on your capital structure choices, since interest payments are deducted from your taxable income). Time Value of Money (useful in pension liability valuation), Valuation of project (differences between IRR, Net Present Value, PayBack Method), company valuation (Discounted Cash Flow Method, Dividend Method, Multiple Method), the Pricing of Risk in Financial Market (based on the CAPM model, which is all about pizzas), Efficiency of financial markets, Capital Structure decision and portfolio theory. The Key Quote would be: "When you buy two stocks, their risks cancel out, exactly like matter and anti-matter: it goes Pooof".
- Prices and Markets: I have already talked about this. Although we dealt about the usual Supply and Demand, Cost optimization, Profit Optimization, Competitive Markets, Monopolies, the basics of Game Theories (which I enjoyed thorougly), our Greek teacher was truly excellent. Very cynical in his approach and very original in his presentation, he certainly quenched by thirst for entertainment and learning. Our OPEC Class Exercises (graded) was fantastic: every one cheated although everyone had the opportunity to increase his or her group's mark through colluding, since our mark was directly proportional to the profit generated. However, if we cheated and no one else did, our profit would have been humongous. Trouble is everyone reasoned identically and this left us all with a very small price and a tiny profit...
- Organizational Behavior: and why people matter ;-) I have already talked a lot about this course and about our teacher: Michael Brimm. Next time I need to lead a group, I'll certainly do a little Brimmstorming before I head into the first meeting.
- Financial Accounting: the teacher was Canadian and a visiting professor from an Austin university and I did find that the cases chosen during the class were way too US and Canada focused. The INSEAD course evaluation form dedicates an entire section about the international coverage of the class: well, I had to mark this course very low in that respect. I found the teacher, although very competent, a stereotype of the North American university teacher: a showman. Everything was dramatic: Worldcom, Enron, etc...Yes people mess up with the numbers and cook the book, but we can recognize this fact without overdoing it. Yes the value destruction on a global scale and the personal drama that followed these scandals was huge but putting an act to demonstrate that some people have strong incentive to position themselves on the edge of the law is qutie unecessary. Part of the course is very mechanical (you know, this debit/credit thing) although I actually found the content pretty relevant to business life: competitive studies, benchmarking start with a good understanding of what's behind the numbers.
One other comment that I have is that, we had to hand in a (graded) case at every class. The case was dealing with the next class' topic which meant that it would take us hours to figure out how to do things. There was no tutorial, no time left for review of the past class' concept and I found myself lost very quickly half way through. In fact, when I talked with other people in my section, this was the general feeling. Focusing too much on the cases
meant taking time away from other courses. Focusing too much on other courses meant getting lost even more in accounting.
All in all, I think that I have learned a lot but I certainly do not feel as comfortable with the subject as with the other topics taught in P1.
P1 has the main drawback to offer introductory classes which serve to bring everyone to a similar level. INSEAD offers exemption exams (I just exempted from a course, which means that I am able to take an elective instead in P2) for the poor Bond Trader who does not wish to sit again in a Introduction to Finance class, or a Microeconomics Major who can find better uses of his or her time than sitting in a Price and Market class.
- General Management: this is a short two-class course centered around a case study. It highlighted the fact, that despite the fact that most business schools teach every subject separately, everything is imbricated in the life of a general manager. It also showed that general managers really have to deal with all the crap that keep falling on their desk, and do not enjoy the same intellectual challenges as academia workers - is this an expression of professional frustration? ;-). The Arthur Keller case has become a legend at INSEAD, and is even quoted in the press!
I remember a key quote from our British teacher "you came to INSEAD so that you can learn about how general managers screw everything up in real life and feel comfortable about doing it yourself".
- Ethics, Values and Cultures: this was taught by a star teacher who splits up his time between counselling Asian governments and CEOs, teaching at Stanford Business School and at INSEAD. Unfortunately for students of the years to come, he is retiring. Luckily I heard that one of his replacements, a successful teachers at the univeristy of Barcelona and Rock Climbing World Champion is fantastic.
The current and soon to retire French teacher was basically the instigator of the creation of the Singaporean campus for INSEAD and is on a crusade to create awareness about ethics issues in a world sadly dominated by corruption stories. The course was only over a week, based on a case study and through the Ethics Day, which brought together CEOs of various companies and countries (Germany, Israel, France, etc..) and students in small workshops to discuss ethics issues. I attended the Enron Case workshop. The teacher's favorite quote was "companies outsource ethics to the government". Bottom line: ethics are not a relative thing: murder is murder and is bad. Ethics are everyone's responsibility and falling into the trap of doing the local thing is only feeding a sick system.
- Uncertainty, Data and Judgement: a class which focuses on dealing with reality and coming to terms with the fact that we cannot use a crystal ball to peek into the future. Most of it is maths but the class is taught very intuitively by a brilliant Romanian mind (who was elected our best dressed professor). Unfortunately, I found that the teacher, probably because of lack of experience, was not as convincing and open as the other teachers. Forced humor and artificial jokes fell flat most of the time.
Some of the questions that you are able to answer after the course: how can you model reality in order to forecast future trivial values, such as your sales level...How can you design a process, for instance to deal with overbooking at airlines, not to lose money, how can you decide how many physicians should be on duty in hospital based on the expected number of patients in an ER ward on any given day, how do you test various hypothesis on expected returns, based on samples of data, how confident are you about the acceptance of your product, about your expected profits, etc...
In fact, the teaching style was so bumpy that I cannot remember any key quote.
- Finance 1: the teacher was German. This says a lot about the course...which introduces the main financial tools in a very ideal world (the only imperfection that we talk about is corporate taxes, which actually has an influence on your capital structure choices, since interest payments are deducted from your taxable income). Time Value of Money (useful in pension liability valuation), Valuation of project (differences between IRR, Net Present Value, PayBack Method), company valuation (Discounted Cash Flow Method, Dividend Method, Multiple Method), the Pricing of Risk in Financial Market (based on the CAPM model, which is all about pizzas), Efficiency of financial markets, Capital Structure decision and portfolio theory. The Key Quote would be: "When you buy two stocks, their risks cancel out, exactly like matter and anti-matter: it goes Pooof".
- Prices and Markets: I have already talked about this. Although we dealt about the usual Supply and Demand, Cost optimization, Profit Optimization, Competitive Markets, Monopolies, the basics of Game Theories (which I enjoyed thorougly), our Greek teacher was truly excellent. Very cynical in his approach and very original in his presentation, he certainly quenched by thirst for entertainment and learning. Our OPEC Class Exercises (graded) was fantastic: every one cheated although everyone had the opportunity to increase his or her group's mark through colluding, since our mark was directly proportional to the profit generated. However, if we cheated and no one else did, our profit would have been humongous. Trouble is everyone reasoned identically and this left us all with a very small price and a tiny profit...
- Organizational Behavior: and why people matter ;-) I have already talked a lot about this course and about our teacher: Michael Brimm. Next time I need to lead a group, I'll certainly do a little Brimmstorming before I head into the first meeting.
- Financial Accounting: the teacher was Canadian and a visiting professor from an Austin university and I did find that the cases chosen during the class were way too US and Canada focused. The INSEAD course evaluation form dedicates an entire section about the international coverage of the class: well, I had to mark this course very low in that respect. I found the teacher, although very competent, a stereotype of the North American university teacher: a showman. Everything was dramatic: Worldcom, Enron, etc...Yes people mess up with the numbers and cook the book, but we can recognize this fact without overdoing it. Yes the value destruction on a global scale and the personal drama that followed these scandals was huge but putting an act to demonstrate that some people have strong incentive to position themselves on the edge of the law is qutie unecessary. Part of the course is very mechanical (you know, this debit/credit thing) although I actually found the content pretty relevant to business life: competitive studies, benchmarking start with a good understanding of what's behind the numbers.
One other comment that I have is that, we had to hand in a (graded) case at every class. The case was dealing with the next class' topic which meant that it would take us hours to figure out how to do things. There was no tutorial, no time left for review of the past class' concept and I found myself lost very quickly half way through. In fact, when I talked with other people in my section, this was the general feeling. Focusing too much on the cases
meant taking time away from other courses. Focusing too much on other courses meant getting lost even more in accounting.
All in all, I think that I have learned a lot but I certainly do not feel as comfortable with the subject as with the other topics taught in P1.
Today, I had the first two lectures of the P2 core courses and my first elective.
- Corporate Finance: teacher's got an English accent and talked about some forward and future contracts. Short introduction of the course which will focus on some additional financial tools and on how finance directors can add value to a company, what we should focus on as future managers, especially when deciding about capital structure. To be honest, I do not like Finance. I recognize the importance of Financial markets (worth trillions of $$$$$), the thrill that some people can get at the sheer idea of trading in such sizeable environment and I am very conscious of the importance and relevance of capital choices within an organization. However, I am much more of an operational person myself and the most relevant item of this course are related to capital structure, the price of risk, stock options and incentives and valuations of projects, of companies. The rest would force me to navigate in stormy waters.
- Process and Operation Management or PoM for the people in-the-know. Teacher's American, from Detroit and with a background in the Auto Industry (funny that). The case today was about a hospital in Canada, in the suburb of Toronto. They specialize in hernia operation and got bloody good at it. Turnaround times is 72 hours, as opposed to 1 week for general hospital, people have yearly "reunions" after their operations, setting is that of a country club. They can achieve this because they accept only the easy cases, they have developed a very low cost solution, their infrastructure is focused on this type of operation and their overhead is limited. I found the comparision between this "lean" organization and the "fat" general hospital comparision a little simplistic. General Hospitals do need to accept the hard cases, the complications, cannot specialize in one type of operations and definitely cannot afford to run reunion and dinner with every free check up. Obviously, there might be some improvements possible within a General Hospital to cut cost, for example within each unit and instead of organizing itself around radiology, surgery, etc...focus around cases such as Fractures, Cancer, Maternity...which is - according to the professor - what most business choose today.
The terminology, although useful to compare processes and to analyse each case, is offending. I cannot bring myself to think of patients as "inventory" or as input or output to a process...
This reminded me of an experience in the Seychelles. I got bitten by some sort of fish. It was so insignificant that I did not even realize it but it got somewhat infected so I went to see a doctor on the main island. Well, well, well...There was a pre-diagnostic room where a nurse would come by, ask you some detail, take a look at what's going on and dispatch you through the right process. Then the diagnostic room, which then passes you onto the treatment room, which then passes on onto the pharmacy to pick up your medicine. Final stop was the check out counter. Total time for a visit, about 10 min...
- The highlight of the day was the Strategies for Latin America electives. The class is very small so very interactive. Population of the class is 50% of people from Latin American countries and 50% of people from outside. One person worked for the World Bank and is a data encyclopedia. The teacher is Spanish.
This course presents the region globally, some key characteristics and figures, offers some elements of comparision between Latin America, Eastern Europe and Asia, picks a few countries and offers a short introduction of their economies, political environment, sectors, currency problems, etc...Finally, it focuses our minds on possible strategies to succeeed in this market, estimated to be about $2 tr. Most of what we read about the region has a very negative conotation and getting to know a lot better this continent in such a varied environment, for me, is part of the INSEAD value proposition.
I travelled around Latin America for a few months and was truly dazzled by the continent. Despite its reputation of being laid back, most people over there are hard workers. With a strong interest in politics, social, cultural and economic developments in international blocks, as well as a desire to learn more about the "other part of the world" which was very distorted from my Western view, I really welcome this course. How much can I learn about this fun loving continent, plagued by inflation, corruption, political unrest, inequalities, lack of infrastructure, education and trust in 6 weeks with 4 classes per week is another question.
What I liked about the elective is that the small class size makes it a lot more interactive. Each assignment is pretty much something that we choose: we can decide which case we want to lead, we can pick our final project to better fit our areas of interest. Everyone's participation makes it a lot more "real life" than most of the large class case studies, or lecture.
- Corporate Finance: teacher's got an English accent and talked about some forward and future contracts. Short introduction of the course which will focus on some additional financial tools and on how finance directors can add value to a company, what we should focus on as future managers, especially when deciding about capital structure. To be honest, I do not like Finance. I recognize the importance of Financial markets (worth trillions of $$$$$), the thrill that some people can get at the sheer idea of trading in such sizeable environment and I am very conscious of the importance and relevance of capital choices within an organization. However, I am much more of an operational person myself and the most relevant item of this course are related to capital structure, the price of risk, stock options and incentives and valuations of projects, of companies. The rest would force me to navigate in stormy waters.
- Process and Operation Management or PoM for the people in-the-know. Teacher's American, from Detroit and with a background in the Auto Industry (funny that). The case today was about a hospital in Canada, in the suburb of Toronto. They specialize in hernia operation and got bloody good at it. Turnaround times is 72 hours, as opposed to 1 week for general hospital, people have yearly "reunions" after their operations, setting is that of a country club. They can achieve this because they accept only the easy cases, they have developed a very low cost solution, their infrastructure is focused on this type of operation and their overhead is limited. I found the comparision between this "lean" organization and the "fat" general hospital comparision a little simplistic. General Hospitals do need to accept the hard cases, the complications, cannot specialize in one type of operations and definitely cannot afford to run reunion and dinner with every free check up. Obviously, there might be some improvements possible within a General Hospital to cut cost, for example within each unit and instead of organizing itself around radiology, surgery, etc...focus around cases such as Fractures, Cancer, Maternity...which is - according to the professor - what most business choose today.
The terminology, although useful to compare processes and to analyse each case, is offending. I cannot bring myself to think of patients as "inventory" or as input or output to a process...
This reminded me of an experience in the Seychelles. I got bitten by some sort of fish. It was so insignificant that I did not even realize it but it got somewhat infected so I went to see a doctor on the main island. Well, well, well...There was a pre-diagnostic room where a nurse would come by, ask you some detail, take a look at what's going on and dispatch you through the right process. Then the diagnostic room, which then passes you onto the treatment room, which then passes on onto the pharmacy to pick up your medicine. Final stop was the check out counter. Total time for a visit, about 10 min...
- The highlight of the day was the Strategies for Latin America electives. The class is very small so very interactive. Population of the class is 50% of people from Latin American countries and 50% of people from outside. One person worked for the World Bank and is a data encyclopedia. The teacher is Spanish.
This course presents the region globally, some key characteristics and figures, offers some elements of comparision between Latin America, Eastern Europe and Asia, picks a few countries and offers a short introduction of their economies, political environment, sectors, currency problems, etc...Finally, it focuses our minds on possible strategies to succeeed in this market, estimated to be about $2 tr. Most of what we read about the region has a very negative conotation and getting to know a lot better this continent in such a varied environment, for me, is part of the INSEAD value proposition.
I travelled around Latin America for a few months and was truly dazzled by the continent. Despite its reputation of being laid back, most people over there are hard workers. With a strong interest in politics, social, cultural and economic developments in international blocks, as well as a desire to learn more about the "other part of the world" which was very distorted from my Western view, I really welcome this course. How much can I learn about this fun loving continent, plagued by inflation, corruption, political unrest, inequalities, lack of infrastructure, education and trust in 6 weeks with 4 classes per week is another question.
What I liked about the elective is that the small class size makes it a lot more interactive. Each assignment is pretty much something that we choose: we can decide which case we want to lead, we can pick our final project to better fit our areas of interest. Everyone's participation makes it a lot more "real life" than most of the large class case studies, or lecture.
This week is the India-Pakistan National Week which is set up as a series of activities leading to the wedding of Kama and Sutra.
INSEAD students choose their list of National Week through a voting system. Latin American, Arab Countries, etc... are grouped under the same heading. India is coupled with Pakistan. These weeks are sponsored by major companies originating from these regions and offer an opening to a new culture, an endless source of entertainment, and a revigorating and relaxing atmosphere in the midst of the pressure of studies.
Here is a run down of the activities of the week:
- Like every National Week at INSEAD, the week start with some Amphi Storming on Monday. Basically, dressed up people come up with some creative ideas to present the country or the region. Today, we had a discussion between the parents of the bride to be and a wedding counsellor. I learned from an Indian friend that the dot that Indian ladies wear on their forehead signifies marriage. It is similar in spirit to the wedding ring in Christian cultures. For men, it has the shape of an eye, and it does represent a third eye. It is drawn only when the bearer is engaged in a religious activity.
It is a lot of fun to see people wander around wearing turbans, sarees and white blouses, accompanied by the most elegant set of jewelry and scarves.
- Tonight, we have a BollyWood Move Night, with a fine selection of Indian Movies. With over 800 movies produced per year, India is the biggest cinema country in the world. Showings include Moonsoon Wedding and Kamasutra.
- Tomorrow: South Indian Breakfast! I can't wait...In the evening, there is a Bhangra performance, a traditional North Indian dance from the state of Punjab.
- Wednesday: delicious Indian and Pakistanese dishes will make up lunch, delighting many a palate. Imagine spices, curry, colors: chicken tikka from the North, fried fish from the East, biryani from Pakistan, pakoras from the South, raita from the west.
- Wednesday night: Turban Wearing and Saree Dressing Contest, traditional dances and music...
- Thursday: Indian Dinner. The programme describes it as a "gastronomic journey through the foothills of the Himalayas" with live music. I shall add no further comment.
- Friday: traditional national party dumbed the Bollywood Talent Search! In effect the culminating point of the week with hundreds of students gathering for an Indian themed evening, usually involving a lot of dancing and drinking.
INSEAD students choose their list of National Week through a voting system. Latin American, Arab Countries, etc... are grouped under the same heading. India is coupled with Pakistan. These weeks are sponsored by major companies originating from these regions and offer an opening to a new culture, an endless source of entertainment, and a revigorating and relaxing atmosphere in the midst of the pressure of studies.
Here is a run down of the activities of the week:
- Like every National Week at INSEAD, the week start with some Amphi Storming on Monday. Basically, dressed up people come up with some creative ideas to present the country or the region. Today, we had a discussion between the parents of the bride to be and a wedding counsellor. I learned from an Indian friend that the dot that Indian ladies wear on their forehead signifies marriage. It is similar in spirit to the wedding ring in Christian cultures. For men, it has the shape of an eye, and it does represent a third eye. It is drawn only when the bearer is engaged in a religious activity.
It is a lot of fun to see people wander around wearing turbans, sarees and white blouses, accompanied by the most elegant set of jewelry and scarves.
- Tonight, we have a BollyWood Move Night, with a fine selection of Indian Movies. With over 800 movies produced per year, India is the biggest cinema country in the world. Showings include Moonsoon Wedding and Kamasutra.
- Tomorrow: South Indian Breakfast! I can't wait...In the evening, there is a Bhangra performance, a traditional North Indian dance from the state of Punjab.
- Wednesday: delicious Indian and Pakistanese dishes will make up lunch, delighting many a palate. Imagine spices, curry, colors: chicken tikka from the North, fried fish from the East, biryani from Pakistan, pakoras from the South, raita from the west.
- Wednesday night: Turban Wearing and Saree Dressing Contest, traditional dances and music...
- Thursday: Indian Dinner. The programme describes it as a "gastronomic journey through the foothills of the Himalayas" with live music. I shall add no further comment.
- Friday: traditional national party dumbed the Bollywood Talent Search! In effect the culminating point of the week with hundreds of students gathering for an Indian themed evening, usually involving a lot of dancing and drinking.
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