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!

Shipping and Energy Club Activities

Author: Melva Goh, Singapore

A Visit to an Oil Tanker

A group of 14 of us from The NANYANG MBA recently gathered at the Marina South Pier
to begin our expedition to a real life experience of offshore environment. There, we took
our offshore taxis, small tugboats, to our final destination onboard an Oil Tanker which
awaited us three kilometres offshore from the pier.

Climbing up a ladder made of wooden planks from the tug boat up five metres to the
tanker was a first time experience for all of us.

Once onboard, the captain and the owner of the tanker greeted us as if we have paid an
expensive ticket to a luxury cruise. We were brought through an exclusive tour through
several passageways into the wheelhouse, the main deck, the crew cabins, the galley
and the engine room. Cameras were constantly flashing as our MBA “tourists” started
posing as the “Captain” and “Crew”.

The biggest take-away from this visit is how we can closely relate to an offshore
environment as the Captain narrated the life of the crew members and the operation of
the tanker while we were actually physically touching and seeing a real vessel out in the
sea.




Myriad Minds of Energy

The wise minds of various energy sectors, namely, Veolia Water Solutions and
Technologies (Water Management), Schlumberger (Oil & Gas), and Faststream
Recruitment Group (Headhunter for Offshore & Shipping), met at this event to share with
our MBA fellow team-mates great insight into the Energy fields.

Their presence at the event was paramount to gaining a deeper understanding into the
challenges and prospects ahead and the key functional expertise required to uphold the
dynamism of the industry.

Not only did we share the passions of the invited guest speakers during their
presentations, the question and answer session was fully optimized with a host of long
-awaited queries. As such, the event was extended by an hour to allow for more
information sharing, an important objective of the event. 

At the end of the event, the guest speakers came to congruence in their career advice to
our fellow MBA team-mates - “Know what you want to do and follow your passion rather
than monetary incentives”.

Wise minds indeed!

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!

CDL MBA Olympics - A Success!

Author: Snigdha Nandan, India
Co-chair (CSR Club)

Dreams turned into reality when B Schools in Singapore got together
on 14^th Nov 2010 to celebrate the ‘ CDL MBA Olympics’, organized by CSR club of THE NANYANG MBA.  MBA graduates from schools such
as NUS, INSEAD, SMU and SP Jain and Nanyang Business School, who are otherwise entangled in their fast paced curriculum, took time off
on a joyful Sunday morning to participate in this ‘first of its kind’
sporting and fundraising event. The goal of the event was not just to bring B schools together on a playground for fun but also to raise
funds for ‘The Cambodia Trust’.

Despite some B schools having exams during the week, 52
participants attended the event displaying sportsmanship,
enthusiasm and amicability all through. Various sponsors for the
event were CDL (title sponsor), DHL, SPH (magazine sponsor),
McDonald's (beverage sponsor) , GNC and Frolick.

The day began with a welcome note where they were familiarized
with the campus and schedule for the day. Students were also
provided with an exhaustive information document and campus map.

As the day progressed students participated in various
aforementioned sports. Excitement and Enthusiasm was reflecting in
every drop of sweat. During the event DHL had set up a recruitment
booth with Diana Sani (representative from DHL), providing insights
to students on ‘In house consulting in Asia Pacific’ and job
opportunities at DHL.

The games were followed by a dinner event which was graced by
Vivian Lim (Manager, Corporate Communications, CDL). Vivian gave
away prizes (lucky draw) and medals to winners and encouraged the
participants. The winner for various events were-

Badminton doubles- SP Jain

Badminton singles- SP Jain

Table Tennis- NUS

Basket Ball- Nanyang Business School

Futsal- Nanyang Business School

The day was concluded at the Staff club with a round of drinks and
dinner, where students were seen exchanging experiences and
rejoicing new bonds. Total Funds raised for the event were 6800
SGD, out of which 5500 SGD would be donated to Cambodia Trust.
The CDL MBA Olympics indeed created some beautiful memories for
each one to cherish!

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

Mentorship - How do we begin?

When we were kids, we look to our parents and to other adults for guidance and help
in the obstacles we face in our little worlds. No matter how much we have since
grown and changed, one aspect of us remains the same - we still seek help and
guidance, and look to those who serve as good examples; as professionals, we seek
mentorship.

We rely on others to teach us what we need to know to get through life because
following the advice of a good mentor can make a floundering career flourish, or even
springboard your career.

Mentors can serve a variety of purposes, they may offer us advice and guidance in
getting ahead in the world, and also give us encouragement and even push us when
we need a gentle shove. They also may simply lend us their ears when we need to
talk with someone.

The best place to look for a mentor, is right in front of you. Look around you
at work. Is there an individual who you admire and respect? Someone who has always impressed you with their insight and preceptiveness? Maybe your boss or your boss's
boss. Maybe it's a Vice President in a different division. It could even be the older
individual who isn't currently a top executive of your firm, but who you know has lots
of experience. The key is to look for someone who shows brilliance in an area in which you would like to develop.

Approach that individual and ask if they would consider being your mentor. Depending
on the individual, and your current relationship, your proposal will vary in the amount
of detail and how it is delivered. At the very least, let them know why you
have selected them and what you hope to learn from the assocation. If appropriate
for the specific individual, you can also discuss amounts of time to be commited on a
regular basis.

When it comes to building a mentoring relationship with someone you already
know, the best first step is to request a meeting or coffee date to ask for advice on a particular issue. Most people – even busy people – will be happy to share their wisdom if you make it easy for them and ask nicely. Don’t jump right into requesting a
commitment to a long-term mentor relationship. Make a great impression at your first
meeting and establish a rapport. Often, the mentor/mentee relationship develops quite naturally from there. It’s usually not necessary to have a formal “Will you be my
mentor?” conversation.

It can be a bit trickier to approach a prominent person that you don’t know
personally. You can start by trying to arrange for an introduction through a mutual
acquaintance. You can also seek out events at which you may run into your future
mentor. Once you’ve made contact, you can move forward to the meeting/coffee
date step.

For those who are bold, the mentor “cold call” approach does work sometimes.
Possible ways in is to introduce yourself in a gracious email that  oulines your
admiration for this person, and indicating your interest in learning from him. Request
for a first meeting and from there, establish a relationship.

Most people who take the time to mentor do it because it’s rewarding for them to help and they like the idea of paying forward the wisdom they’ve received from their own
mentors.

The strongest mentorship relationships are reciprocal. Let your mentor know that
you’re available to help and look for ways to give back. That might mean making an
introduction, offering objective opinions or ideas, or providing an excellent restaurant
recommendation. If as a young professional  don't have a lot of connections or
wisdom to share with youe mentor, you can offer your unique perspective from the
entry level of the organization and through the skill sets you already have.

Understand that your mentor’s time is valuable. Set goals for each session and
prepare focused, smart questions. That doesn’t mean you can’t go off on interesting
tangents, but you should plan for each meeting. You want to make every minute with
your mentor count. Your mentor will appreciate the fact that you’ve done your
homework and enjoy the more interesting conversations that will ensue because of
your preparation.

Report back to your mentor regularly on your progress and any breakthroughs or
successes you have garnered after using the advice they have given you. Show them their time with you have been fruitful and you are increasingly getting prepared to
similarly pay it forward to be someone else's mentor.

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!