Nanyang, a worthy exchange: starting with a glance, but leaving with amazing perspectives ; exchange students from New Zealand and Israel share their experiences.

Visiting Waseda U in Japan during the winter holiday

Author: Greg Edwards, 2010 Nanyang-Waseda Double MBA participant.

One of the great things about Nanyang MBA is the diversity of the students and the options available
for meeting people and experiencing different cultures. For the current batch we have more than 25
countries represented from 5 continents, and when you count exchange students it certainly seems we
have someone from everywhere!

As a participant in the Waseda-Nanyang Double MBA program, I have the opportunity to be taught by the
best professors at NTU and also by great professors from Waseda, who come to Singapore to teach us.
Having previously lived in Japan, I decided to revisit friends in Tokyo and Osaka over the winter holiday.
Also during that time I had an opportunity to meet some Japanese who had previously studied at NTU
on exchange and also was able to visit a “zemi”, or seminar, of Professor Sugiura at the Waseda campus
in Tokyo. I was able to participate in his class and found that like NTU it’s made up of a broad range
of nationalities. After class everyone visited a nearby ramen shop for some tasty noodles and great
conversation.

I am looking forward to my next visit to Japan during a short break in semesters as I have been invited to
participate in a short business study trip of Waseda’s Japanese and foreign MBA students.

杉浦先生と早稲田のＭＢＡ大学生どうもありがとうございました！

Thank you professor Sugiura and Waseda MBA students!

The Second Trimester @ The NANYANG MBA

Author: Winston Song, China

My first trimester ended with a short but relaxing holiday to Phuket, Thailand. That refreshed me
enough to look forward to the second trimester, where school life is supposed to be more
dynamic, with lots more interactions with my classmates and the courses more functional.

True enough, before my classes officially begin on Thursday, I have already received an email
from our Decision Making and Control course professor, telling us to submit presentation slides
for a case study by Tuesday. Yes, we have to submit our homework before the course even
begins!

We were already divided into groups and each group is to prepare a 10 page powerpoint
summary of the said case study. As part of easy facilitation, we are instructed to make use of
the Google Wave communication tool, so that both part-time and full-time students would be
able to effortlessly manage a project without being physically together. (How brilliant!)

Immediately, things were executed; the work was evenly divided amongst my team members,
and using Google Wave, we were able to effectively communicate and work with available
content and resources, making it a live document up until we were ready to submit it.

Just a few hours upon our project submission, our professor replied us with good news! Our
team had been selected to present to the rest of our course mates.

The day came for us to present, and it turned out to be a hot debate. All other groups had come
prepared with their own summary of the case, so they were well-equipped with relevant
questions and opinions, and it was a day of bouncing ideas off each other with our professor
mediating and facilitating the session. Through such a session, we were able to clarify concepts
and gained a deep understanding of the case through different views and insights.

Already, I'm looking forward to more of trimester 2 and cannot wait for more challenging
assignments in the months to come!

Life in Trimester 2

Author: Gregory Edwards, Canada
Student Exco President

Mid-way through the first week and Trimester 2 (T2) is in full swing.  Hard to believe the full timers have all been together now for 3 months already.  The pre-orientation party at
Oosh and after party at Zouk feels like it was just yesterday.

 



Some of the planning over T1 by the various social and business clubs is coming to
fruition and quickly it seems.  T2 is starting out with a flurry of different activities
including the MBA Olympics, T2 Welcome back party, seminars and speaker series, and
even a tour of an ocean going tanker ship.  Additionally, a Diwali celebration is coming
up which promises to have lots of food and dancing and live up to last semester’s
Mooncake Festival which set a high-benchmark for organization, commitment by the
organizers, and fun!

The previous batch grads are gone from campus but not forgotten.  We hope that they
can find time in their “new lives” to come and visit, attend a party now and then, and
give us updates.  I have to thank Vishal Bansal, outgoing EXCO President, and the other
members of the previous EXCO team for their support and guidance in getting the
current EXCO up and running.

For myself, I had the first course of the Waseda portion of the NTU-Waseda Double MBA program last night and came away impressed.  I am looking forward to tonight’s session
and other upcoming courses.  To be honest, I wasn’t sure what to expect from a
Japanese-led MBA even after living in Japan.  The open attitude and personality of the
professor, Dr. Hideki Shirai, made it informative, encouraging, and engaging.

I also attended the Value-based Innovation recess course as part of the Double MBA, a
one-week course presented by Shlomo Maital, a visiting professor from a university in
Israel with experience at MIT.  Like myself, Shlomo spent some of his formative years in
a small town in Canada, so we have some shared background.  Like most in the class I
was impressed by his experience, energy, and positive nature.  Taught over 5-and-a-half
days, he never seemed to run out of batteries.  Once you understand that he has run
marathons and climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro, teaching an MBA course seems less difficult.

 

With one-third of my program completed, I look back and think about all the things we
have done already; pre-orientation parties, orientation week, the migration to Grad Hall,
meeting new friends and getting a better understanding of cultures, various group
projects, day trips and extended vacations, the birth of the first child for one of our
classmates, and of course the EXCO elections, getting things started, and moving
forward.

With so much done in only a few months I can’t wait to see what the next few months
bring!

Ariane Game @ ESSEC

Author: Alexander Stanza Tan, Indonesia

We, the double masters students, joined an orientation week for new students at ESSEC. At the end of the orientation week, we played a business simulation game, called “Ariane Game”. There were roughly 250 participants in this game where we were all divided into 10 universes, each universe having 5 groups. In groups of 5, the students would manage a ‘company’ that sells ski and racket products to compete with the 4 other companies within the same universe.

To motivate us, ESSEC gave out prizes for the winner of each universe and for the winner of a specific category, e.g. best presentation, best forecast, etc. To make the game a little bit more challenging, we could sell 3 types of products: ski elite, ski 2000 and racket. The qualities of the ski elite and the racket were fixed while we had freedom to define our own ski 2000 quality. Of course, this complicated the pricing strategy. Furthermore, the interest rate for financing the company may change along the way when the demand for financing increases.


The 'scariest' moment of the game as results were being announced!

My team consisted of 2 other new ESSEC students, one from a double masters student from Mannheim University, and the other member, a double masters student from The NANYANG MBA as well.  In our first meeting, I proposed to formulate a broad objective while focusing on our individual roles. We decided to adopt the low-cost strategy and divided the company into 3 main parts: Marketing, Production and Financing. Since I am pursuing my MBA with a specialization in Finance, I took on the finance role.

Leveraging my computing skills and knowledge that I gained from The NANYANG MBA, I constructed an Excel spreadsheet to ease the financing decision. This allowed us to foresee 4 periods ahead of us. As a result, we were able to forecast our cash inflow and outflow with around 1-2% error and to generate sustainable profit. We ended up being the second highest gainer in our universe. Fortunately, impressed by our management capability, the judges chose us to be the winner of our universe. Additionally, we won the “Best Financial Forecast” title as well!

From this game, I learned that everyone in the same company must go toward the same goal. To do so, everyone in the company must think of themselves as being in a team. They must trust each other and contribute the best they can for the team. No one should regret the mistakes they made, instead, learn from them and move forward. I also learned that forecasting sales is difficult and making financing decisions play a major role within a company. Some firms were bailed out, while some others went bankrupt.

What I also realized from this game is, without a good understanding of Cost Accounting, a company may overstate or understate its profitability, or worse it may end up in losses. Cost Accounting also provides guidance for a company’s production department to realize that it increases unitary cost if the department cuts down its production.

I feel very fortunate to have this opportunity to come to ESSEC and to experience this game, and I personally wish that my colleagues in The NANYANG MBA can participate in similar business simulations or case competitions as well. It will not only give them the necessary experiences in a business environment but also make them apply all that they have learned from The NANYANG MBA.

I cannot imagine how I was a Computer Engineer when I first entered The NANYANG MBA, but by now,  I can really see the progress I am making and I look forward to the day when I will run my own company very soon in the future.

Applications to The NANYANG MBA 2011/2012 intake - NOW OPEN!

Author: Cynthea Lam, Marketing Manager

Each year, we receive thousands of applications and we spend a considerable amount of time and efforts pouring through each application in detail. Each application is
important to us, as this is a critical step to grooming leaders for a sustainable world.

Many are curious as to whether there is a certain set of criteria that determines
entrance into the program, and the answer is, no.

Firstly, to be able to apply, you should already be prepared with some of the
mandatory requirements such as a GMAT score (of a minimum of 600 points), a
minimum of 2 years' full-time working experience post bachelor degree, a bachelor degree and a TOEFL score (of a minimum of 100 points) if English was not the medium of instruction at your university.

The application form is an important document that must be duly filled out and
submitted before we are able to study an applicant's profile. Hence, we're unable to
accede to email requests for quick 'advice' of an aspirant's 'chances of getting into the program', based on their work history and simple description of their educational
backgrounds.

A holistic view into your true calibre would only be visible to us, through your answers entered into the application form, your career journey in the form of a CV, and all
other accompanying documents, including your GMAT score. This then allows us to
fairly and accurately access you against all the other qualified applicants, and haul
you in for an interview if you have been shortlisted.

Whilst there is no typical profile we look out for, year in year out, a single criteria
remains constant; we admit individuals who have the X-factor to become responsible
leaders who have the intrinsic qualities to lead in a sustainable world. An aptitude that
matches the program's objectives clearly puts you ahead of your competition.

We encourage you to answer all questions with your innermost ambitions and
earnestness. Nothing matters more than being true to yourself. And as with any job
application, you should attend the interview well-prepared, especially with a well-
charted career plan.

With this, we wish all aspirants to The NANYANG MBA all the best in this endeavor and a fruitful journey to their goals!

For more information about The NANYANG MBA, visit
www.nanyangmba.ntu.edu.sg

To apply to The NANYANG MBA, fill out this form.

Application Deadlines:
Round 1 - 31 December 2010
Round 2 - 31 March 2011

NTU's The NANYANG MBA consistently ranked in the top 100 by The Economist

SINGAPORE, Sept 22 – The NANYANG MBA of the Nanyang Business School of NTU has moved up to
its all-time best 69th position in the latest global ranking of full-time Master in Business
Administration programs by The Economist.

In Asia (including Australia), this home-grown MBA has again been ranked 6th by the London-based
publication.

At the global level, The NANYANG MBA has moved up two places from its 71st position in last year’s
ranking. Overall, the prestigious program of Nanyang Business School has continuously been ranked
among the top 100 MBA programmes in the world for the past seven years.

"We are very pleased with the latest recognition by The Economist and the fact that our MBA
program has very consistently been placed in the top 100 for several years now,’’ says Professor
Gillian Yeo, Interim Dean of Nanyang Business School.

“Being the top ranked MBA program in Singapore, we are consolidating our position as a good
business school and are on an upward trajectory,’’ Prof Yeo added.

Nanyang Technological University’s MBA has steadily been gaining global recognition. Earlier this year,
it was ranked 27th in the world by the Financial Times in its latest annual rankings.

The global MBA rankings by The Economist and the Financial Times -- which uses a different
methodology -- are closely followed by international recruiters, companies and potential MBA
students.

“The consistency in our MBA rankings reflects the high quality of our program and this has led to a
steady increase in the number and quality of applications. The fact that The NANYANG MBA is well
recognised globally is reflected in the high proportion of international students we have attracted to
our program. In this year’s full-time class, we have 87% international students coming from 27
countries.” said Associate Professor Chung Lai Hong, the Associate Dean of The NANYANG MBA.

Nanyang Business School admits around 100 students to its full-time MBA program every year after a
rigorous selection process. Another 50 students are admitted annually to The NANYANG MBA program
on a part-time basis.

The NANYANG MBA is taught by an international faculty, over 90 per cent of whom have a Ph.D. The
program is divided into nine core courses and seven electives, which can be grouped into a
specialisation or taken across a wide field as a general MBA.

Back To School!

Author: Manu Muralee
Country: India

I started my journey to Nanyang at the end of June 2010. In Singapore, the cab
driver could immediately pick up the cue “Nanyang” and we set forth towards the
school. I collected my room keys to my hostel in Nanyang Valley. It was a very well
furnished apartment with all amenities shared by seven of us. Guess what, the seven
of us come from seven different countries!!

After the Youth Olympic Games finishes, (the athletes are also staying in the
university and occupying some hostel space), we will be moving to the Graduate Hall.

Our induction week started with very inspiring speeches given by our Admissions
Director, Nick (you might bump into him at the cafeteria) and the Associate Dean,
A/P Chung Lai Hong. We were delighted to hear that we had peers from 27 different
countries with an average experience of 5.7 years (a mini UN indeed!!), even more
delighted to hear that the school was providing us a Sony e-reader each, as part
of our welcome kit.






The next day all of us future leaders piled into 2 buses very early in the morning. Our
destination was a beach resort at Changi. The day started and ended with a lot of
fun and team building activities. All of us were trained to manoeuvre a Dragon boat
and we even had a Dragon boat race. It was really tiring but a unique experience for
all of us.





Back in school and business suits, we had our first industry networking activity, with
a Welcome Dinner, the next night. We were all excited to see recruiters from many big
names in Singapore. Our career counsellors were busy connecting us to the right
people throughout the function.




We were all looking forward to our classes the next week. Most of us have no more
than 3 hours of classes a day. The experiential knowledge of the class was just great.
We had experts from different industries giving us their views on different topics.
The professors also encouraged out-of-the-box thinking and class participation. 

Yes of course, there are no free lunches; we saw it slowly piling up...the assignments!
We were split into groups (a different group for every course). Co-ordinating and
scheduling these group discussions is indeed a task that could sometimes be more
difficult than the assignment itself! But, preparing it as a group is preparing yourself to be a true team player.




To summarize, our experience so far at an 'Ivy League' business school in Asia, there
has never been a moment that was not fun or not a learning experience. I
am definitely looking forward to the next 16 months!

Sustainability guru Prof Marc Epstein speaks on Sustainability and the Bottom Line

NBS was pleased to have leading sustainability guru, Professor Marc Epstein of the Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University in Houston, Texas, speak in the recently launched NBS Dean’s Seminar Series on Sustainable Development.

A Distinguished Research Professor of Management at the American business school, he has done extensive research, consulting and teaching in the sustainability area.

Prof Epstein’s talk on May 6th at NTU@one-north campus focused on Sustainability and the Bottom Line – a topic that is of interest to all in the business world as it is a significant challenge to concurrently measure and manage social and financial performance.

CEOs of global corporations and SMEs alike have recognised that managing stakeholder interests and the social, environmental and economic impact of corporate products, services, processes and other activities is critical for both financial and sustainability success, he said.

Based on his extensive research and advisory work with leading global companies like Nike, Proctor & Gamble, Shell and Nissan, Prof Epstein described how they had successfully integrated sustainability into their businesses and increased both financial and sustainability success.

The leadership challenge in corporations is the competing pressures to produce profits and to be a good corporate citizen. The good thing is that managers increasingly understand that these are linked. Already concepts like waste reduction – where you help to save the environment and “make money” by reducing wastage, and similarly improve product design to enhance efficiency, are well understood and practiced.

But increasingly tremendous thought was being given to integrating social and environmental risks with huge capital investment decisions. For instance, companies have to consider what would be the impact on their business if the consumers were to boycott their products if they were to use child labour or cause oil spills and the like.


Professor Epstein delivering his talk in the NBS Dean’s Seminar Series at NTU@one-north campus.

“When these events occur, companies and investors are typically both surprised and unprepared. And, such events are occurring more often,’’ Prof Epstein pointed out.

All companies must better anticipate external consequences of their activities and need to better anticipate social consequences. While some social impacts turn into crises, thankfully most do not, he said.

Among the social and political issues businesses need to look out for are: child labour and poor working conditions, environmental emissions, nationalisation of industries, joint venture partner risks, unstable or corrupt governments, potentially dangerous products, nutrition and obesity, and interrupted or unsafe supply.

At the same time there can be opportunities to convert a risk into an opportunity. For instance due to the public focus on nutrition and obesity, PepsiCo is very concerned about nutritional issues impacting its business and “is having a lot of its people look into it and look for new ways of doing business by coming up with new products,’’ Prof Epstein said.

“It is no longer only about risk and compliance – it is also about innovation and opportunity to simultaneously achieve excellence in sustainability and financial performance.’’

This requires more innovation and entrepreneurship from sustainability leaders, start-ups and SMEs, and more sensitivity to sustainability issues by innovation and R&D leaders, and business unit and functional leaders, he added.

Driving social and financial improvements through sustainability requires strong and innovative leadership. This is because businesses need to be innovative in both products and processes, for which they need both technological innovation in products and business model innovation in processes.

Prof Epstein also stressed that investors and lenders should encourage companies to integrate environmental, social and governance issues into operational and capital investment decisions.

“Early consideration provides enormous opportunities for companies of all sizes to be creative, innovative and achieve entrepreneurial success,’’ he added.
The talk was followed by a lively question-and-answer session.

Singapore Exchange SVP & CFO Mr Seck Wai Kwong’s talk on Corporate Social Responsibility

Mr Seck Wai Kwong, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Singapore
Exchange Ltd (SGX), spoke on corporate social responsibility (CSR) on April 21, in the
school in the newly launched Dean’s Seminar Series on Sustainable Development.

He is also Chairman of the NBS Graduate Advisory Board.

Professor Gillian Yeo, Interim Dean, said in her welcome that the topic is particularly
important to us as we nurture future business leaders.

Mr Seck said CSR could be broadly defined as the proactive and deliberate inclusion of public interest into corporate decision making, and voluntarily not engaging in
practices that could have a negative public impact.

“CSR is about achieving a “triple bottom line’ of People, Planet and Profit by doing the
right thing in the process,’’ he added.

The goals of CSR are not, and should not be counter to commercial interest, but can
complement each other, Mr Seck said. There were many eminent examples, one of
which is Toyota’s focus on green technology and its fuel-efficient Prius car.

Mr Seck’s talk covered SGX’s own CSR journey, why companies and organizations
should take CSR seriously and finally on what NBS can do to promote CSR.

For SGX, CSR takes on a special dimension as SGX is both the operator and regulator
of Singapore’s listing platform, as well as a listed company.

“This means we always have to play a balanced and multi-faceted role. Our
stakeholders include more than just shareholders and staff. It includes institutions
such as our members and their customers, listed companies and investors; vendors
and regulators, and to some extent, the society at large.”

Mr Seck highlighted SGX’s initiatives like the Bull Charge – a fun run for charity, and
sending out the annual report in a CD – with the number of requests for a hardcopy
annual report down to less than 2% out of a shareholder base o over 30,000, as some of the efforts to promote CSR.

As for why companies and organizations should take CSR seriously, he said among the reasons were that shareholders are interested in CSR, CSR companies give attractive
returns to shareholders, CSR is good for branding, it gives companies freedom to
operate, CSR can create new business opportunities and that it is the right thing to
do.

Mr Seck said that for its part as a business school, NBS can do two big things.
First, it can be a CSR champion within the university community and beyond, even
nationally and internationally.

“Another local university has a Corporate Governance and Financial Reporting Centre.
I’m not aware of any university research centre established in Singapore to examine
the broader CSR/ESG issues. Would NBS take on this mantle and lead the way? This
whole area of CSR provides fertile grounds for academic research and application,’’ he
added.

The second thing NBS can do could be even more impactful as it can impact the
thousands of students who come through its doors every year with a CSR
consciousness that lasts a lifetime.

“Think of the multiplier effect your CSR-conscious graduates will have on the
thousands of companies they join and the families they will have.

“In fact I believe many of our NBS students today are already very socially and
environmentally aware. Our job is to encourage that, reinforce that, and demonstrate
that CSR is something that is not faddish but applicable, relevant and necessary in
the real world of business,’’ Mr Seck added.

His talk was followed by a lively question-and-answer session.

PUB chief talks about how water scarcity was turned into an opportunity

NANYANG BUSINESS SCHOOL has launched a Dean’s Seminar Series on Sustainable Development as part of its strategy of producing business leaders for a sustainable world.

The inaugural talk was given by Mr Khoo Teng Chye, Chief Executive, PUB Singapore. He spoke on Ensuring Water Sustainability for Singapore: Turning Scarcity into Opportunity. Over 70 faculty, graduate students and staff attended the talk held in the school on March 10.

In her welcome remarks, Professor Gillian Yeo, Interim Dean, said that the school aims to prepare its students to become business leaders who focus on the triple bottom line of profit, planet and people.

Managing the water loop: Mr Khoo Teng Chye, Chief Executive, PUB Singapore, delivering the inaugural talk.

Prof Yeo said the new seminar series aims to enhance the capabilities of all at NBS to incorporate sustainability issues in the curriculum, research, policies and processes.

"The seminar series will provide a forum for us to listen to and interact with outstanding practitioners and academics with deep expertise and knowledge in specific aspects of sustainability,’’ she added.

In his presentation Mr Khoo highlighted that while Singapore gets enough rain, it does not have the land to collect and store the water due to competing needs of land for other uses in the small island nation.

The PUB manages the whole water cycle, key to which is the use of membranes to reclaim water.

The national water agency aims to provide "Water for all". This is coupled with the approach to involve the community and companies to Conserve, Value and Enjoy the water.

Singapore has four national taps: local catchment, imported water, NEWater and desalinated water.

As water is a valuable resource, the PUB would like all to help conserve it, value it and enjoy it.

While half of Singapore was already water catchment area, this is being increased to two-thirds by 2011 through an urban storm water collection system and raising the number of reservoirs from 14 to 17 by the addition of Punggol and Serangoon reservoirs and the Marina Barrage.

Mr Khoo said that a combination of strategies was used to achieve water sustainability for Singapore. The effective use of membrane technology to produce NEWater means that it can meet 30 per cent of the country’s water needs this year. However, only 2 per cent was being added to reservoirs for public consumption, while direct supply was being made to industrial users in view of the high quality of the water.

Desalination was expensive compared to using membrane technology, which had brought down the cost considerably.

At the same time a water conservation strategy was employed based on pricing, voluntary and mandatory approach. As a result the per capita consumption of water had dropped significantly since 2003, he added.

As water is an important resource, the National Research Foundation has set aside $330 million over five years as part of the efforts to grow Singapore water industry with the target to increase the value add from $0.5 billion to $1.7 billion and double the number of jobs to 11,000 by 2015.

The talk was followed by a lively discussion

Singapore aims to become a global hydrohub with technology as the key pillar based on cluster development, technology development and internationalization.

Already there is a vibrant water industry here with many international players in R&D activity, regional operations and business headquarters.

The R&D ecosystem includes the Nanyang Environment and Water Research Institute at NTU and several other public and private R&D centres.

Mr Khoo highlighted that over the last three years there had been a five-fold increase in the value of overseas water related projects secured by Singapore companies.

The marketing and branding of Singapore water industry was being done through engaging with international organizations and organizing the Singapore International Week.

Mr Khoo said Singapore universities could play a role in developing the water industry through education, research and consultancy. Particularly, there is a need to develop water entrepreneurs. The water industry needs business managers, not just technical experts.

Research and consultancy support is needed to bring new technology to market. The financing of water projects, water pricing and regulation, and climate change issues were some of the other areas that need attention, he added.

Next Generation GMAT Exam to Add New Integrated Reasoning Section

Prospective students preparing to join The NANYANG MBA for the 2013 intake should take note of the latest update from GMAC on the introduction of Integrated Reasoning in the GMAT exam, to be implemented from June 2012 onwards

The NANYANG MBA Associate Dean talks about CSR in roundtable discussion : Sustainability can boost profits

Businesses are facing increasing global pressure to pursue sustainable growth by managing stakeholders' interests and the social, environmental and economic impact of their products, services, processes and other activities to achieve both financial and sustainable success. In fact, businesses can turn this into an opportunity to boost their bottom line.

In a Business Times-Nanyang Business School Roundtable discussion series, senior professors at Nanyang Business School and a visiting professor at the school who is a global authority on the subject, examine how businesses can promote sustainability and suggest some ways of integrating it into their operations to achieve a better bottom line.

Click here for full article

An Interview with Mr. Zafar Momin on “Strategy Implementation”

Why the NTU-ESSEC Double Masters Programme?

Author: Arjaree Lordamrongkiat, Thailand

I chose the NTU-ESSEC Double Masters programme because it equipped me with
knowledge of both the Asian and European business environments.

I spent my first year offering courses from The Nanyang MBA at Nanyang Business
School. The programme’s emphasis on student diversity resulted in participants from
more than 20 nationalities in my batch, which enabled me to see things differently and
with global perspectives.  The extensive network and close relationship of alumni and
faculty further provided me with opportunities to network with and establish lasting
friendships which I will always treasure.

Another great aspect about The Nanyang MBA is its flexibility.  As a full-time
participant, I was able to offer courses conducted in the evenings together with part-
time participants, who were from various industries.  I also had the opportunity to
participate in the John Molson competition in Canada with three of my classmates.

My second year was at ESSEC Business School in Paris where I had the opportunity to
understand how European businesses were built, grown and flourished. I offered
courses in luxury marketing amongst others.  Lectures were conducted by
professionals from leading global companies.  The practical knowledge and insights
learnt were invaluable and useful for my future career.  I was also fortunate enough
to be offered an internship at the head office of one of the leading French hospitality
companies just three months into the programme.

Joining The Nanyang MBA has been one of the best decisions I have made in my
professional career. The knowledge and experience gained is invaluable and will certainly
give a big boost to my career at the global level.
  

One Half of My Double Masters Programme at University of St. Gallen, Switzerland

Author: Aung L.M, Myanmar

I arrived at St.Gallen on a snowy night in February.  The University of St.Gallen (UniSG) is one
of the best European management schools.  Memories of group works, student parties and
travelling were some highlights of my stay there.  I met and worked with many high caliber
students from Europe as well as all over the world. The professors were well-known
academics and practitioners in their various fields and could therefore, share from both
academic and industry perspectives. There were also many industry-linked workshops and
events where top executives from well-known private and public organizations were invited
to share their knowledge and experiences.

One trademark of UniSG (HSG) and especially the SIM programme was the intensive
interaction among student peers.  At any one given semester, a SIM student could be doing
seven to eight group projects with different course mates. While managing meetings for all
the groups was a challenge, the opportunity to meet and work with them outweighed the
hassle of scheduling. I also had opportunities to mingle with students from other
programmes. The traditional SIM Regulars’ Table (RT), wine tasting events and house parties
were activities that enhanced my student life in St.Gallen.
 
I also gained cultural knowledge while travelling across Europe and visiting countries such as
Hungary, Spain, Benelux (Belgium, Netherlands and Luxemburg), and Italy. I am amazed by

the rich historical and cultural background. Overall, my decision to pursue this double master
programme is one of the best decisions I have made in my life as I have been tremendously
enriched by the programme and the time spent in St.Gallen, Switzerland.

Bala's Day Out

Author: Balaji R., India



It has been 8 months since I packed my bags and set sail from the land of the vikings
and landed in the 'Lion-city' Singapore. And phew... what eventful months have they
been!

So let me introduce myself: I am Balaji Raghavan (bala, henceforth) an engineer in my
previous life and now, as you might have already guessed a participant of The
Nanyang MBA. I have traveled widely and lived in different countries over the last 10
years... I have seen the sakura blossom in Japan in Spring, auroras snake their way
across the sky in the depths of snow-covered winter and the sun set over the British
empire along the coasts of England, to mention a few. Ok enough said... There will be
time for an autobiography later---when I am more closer to senility, that is.

I will attempt, over a series of posts, to introduce life as part of the MBA program and
at times even beyond it! Yes, even poor sods laboring their way through intensive B-
school courses do have time to party and bring the roof down once in a while! I will
endeavor to capture in the blog the highs and the lows of the program, the events
that occurred, the classes that we enjoyed, the wonderful memories of the times we
spent together, the many laughs we shared and the unforgettable friendships and
relationships forged with fellow students, faculty, and the people of Singapore. So
buckle up, sit tight and enjoy the ride!

                                                                                                                   
   

Let me begin, with the story of a trip we made to Pulau Ubin-- a small island located
north-east of Singapore-- during the beginning of the program. This trip packaged
under the guise of team-building and orientation, seemed pretty innocuous at first; It
even began well with a scenic boat ride to the islet and relatively simple and fun
activities involving hula hoops and an alphabet counting game. As we were just
beginning to have fun, we were thrown a seemingly insurmountable organizational
challenge. We had to coordinate a class of close to 150 members in concurrent tasks
of varying difficulty to earn $$ for building a real boat, more of a raft actually. One of
the tasks even involved scaling a wicked climb. Now as we got down to business we
realized that it was a difficult challenge that required coordination, courage,
motivation and above all dealing with a whole ambiguity under time pressure. In the
end, some astonishing acts of team work and individual brilliance got us to the
target and we were able to buy enough raw materials to build the raft in time!

However, hold on! there was yet another twist in the tale, as we had to use the raft
to navigate the seas around Pulau Ubin to plant a flag on a nearby islet. We had a
raft ready but no way of knowing whether it was seaworthy. Some brave souls
volunteered to take the raft out for a spin and their courage got us to the target on
time! In retrospect, the orientation was a resounding success: it got us together
working as a team, introduced us to the challenges faced in management, and gave
us a whole day of fun and a heapload of memories that we will cherish! And if you are
one to believe in good beginnings, the raft that did not sink might bode well for the
class of 2009!

Second Place, in Mobie-ODAI Competition!

Recently, Hitachi and A-star developed a Mobile Application Platform called “Plog-in” to
collect and record activities done by users on the mobile phone. Mobie-ODAI Idea
generation required contestants to come up with ideas that utilized this platform
effectively. The contest started in October 2009 with initial submission of a 1-page
write-up detailing our ideas.

Subsequently, the short-listed teams were expected to make a presentation and a
business plan based on the idea that we had already submitted. 3 teams amongst the
shortlisted teams were then chosen to present at the finals of the competition held in
Fusionpolis. I was the only team with a single person in the Idea generation category.
 

I participated in this competition because it required an understanding of the technology
underlying the Plog-in platform and then develop ideas which could effectively utilize
the platform and at the same time made business sense to be developed. The
competition helped me in going through the nuances of developing a business plan
based on an application platform developed by a 3^rd party. Since the competition
required me to setup a booth, I also made a short video explaining my idea.

I am proud to announce, I came in 2nd!

Check out my video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QD9hjTIAmF8

 

Check out the results website here:
http://www.plog-in.com/mobie-odai.php


Author: Girish Muzumdar