An interesting video on how frozen pizza is made.
(via kottke) A blog well worth reading!
Friday, December 5, 2008
Leadership
The class is coming to the conclusion of it's first semester of year 2. As the calendar year comes to a close, thoughts turn to our trip (see previous post) and graduation.
Some of the benefits of non-core courses in the second year is more emphasis on class participation and less on finals and midterms. I really prefer this way of instruction. This encourages students to prepare, to participate and the think more out-of-the-box about concepts rather than learn them by rote and write them down on an exam for marks.
Leadership is the first class that we have finished this semester. I really wanted to enjoy this class, but unfortunately I didn`t get out of it what I wanted. The amount of reading was quite voluminous with at least six HBR articles to read each class. I don`t mind doing the reading, if it is beneficial, but doing the readings and not following up in class was frustrating for me.
This is a subject matter that is difficult to cover in just 32 hours. Hitting the high points and delving into a few important points would have been more beneficial than trying to cover it all and then expecting the class to go into the depths on their own.
Overall, I enjoyed the class, but I don`t think that I got out of it what I wanted. This feedback has been provided to the instructor and I hope that the class improves for the next class.
Some of the benefits of non-core courses in the second year is more emphasis on class participation and less on finals and midterms. I really prefer this way of instruction. This encourages students to prepare, to participate and the think more out-of-the-box about concepts rather than learn them by rote and write them down on an exam for marks.
Leadership is the first class that we have finished this semester. I really wanted to enjoy this class, but unfortunately I didn`t get out of it what I wanted. The amount of reading was quite voluminous with at least six HBR articles to read each class. I don`t mind doing the reading, if it is beneficial, but doing the readings and not following up in class was frustrating for me.
This is a subject matter that is difficult to cover in just 32 hours. Hitting the high points and delving into a few important points would have been more beneficial than trying to cover it all and then expecting the class to go into the depths on their own.
Overall, I enjoyed the class, but I don`t think that I got out of it what I wanted. This feedback has been provided to the instructor and I hope that the class improves for the next class.
International Trip - The Decision
Before there was 1 - there was 4: Hong Kong/Beijing; Hong Kong/Tokyo; Santiago/Buenos Aires; Dubai/Bangalore.
The Dubai/Bangalore trip was popular however there were two drawbacks: the time to be spent in the air and the school was finding it difficult to find a tour operator. However, the school said that if the class voted for that trip, the would work something out. This trip got a boost earlier that day when a manager from Emirates Cargo came to talk to us about his company and what it is like to travel to and visit Dubai.
The Santiago/Buenos Aires team brought in a case of wine to help "smooth" the voting. The Hong Kong/Tokyo team had a member that was willing to pay for all drinks on the flights! All is fair in the voting process apparently.
The rules were set out - simple majority of votes wins. There were 35 students casting votes - first group to 18 votes wins.
ROUND 1
Hong Kong/Beijing dropped out of the voting. There was a general feeling that this trip was two cities in one country although vastly different.
ROUND 2
Dubai/Bangalore dropped out.
Down to South America and Asia. The bidding war went up when it was pointed out that there may be free drinks on international flights and promises of fully paid nights out were flying all over the place.
FINAL ROUND
Hong Kong/Tokyo is the WINNER!!!
Everyone is very excited and looking forward to the trip - not just because it is the culmination of two years of seriously hard work.
The Dubai/Bangalore trip was popular however there were two drawbacks: the time to be spent in the air and the school was finding it difficult to find a tour operator. However, the school said that if the class voted for that trip, the would work something out. This trip got a boost earlier that day when a manager from Emirates Cargo came to talk to us about his company and what it is like to travel to and visit Dubai.
The Santiago/Buenos Aires team brought in a case of wine to help "smooth" the voting. The Hong Kong/Tokyo team had a member that was willing to pay for all drinks on the flights! All is fair in the voting process apparently.
The rules were set out - simple majority of votes wins. There were 35 students casting votes - first group to 18 votes wins.
ROUND 1
Hong Kong/Beijing dropped out of the voting. There was a general feeling that this trip was two cities in one country although vastly different.
ROUND 2
Dubai/Bangalore dropped out.
Down to South America and Asia. The bidding war went up when it was pointed out that there may be free drinks on international flights and promises of fully paid nights out were flying all over the place.
FINAL ROUND
Hong Kong/Tokyo is the WINNER!!!
Everyone is very excited and looking forward to the trip - not just because it is the culmination of two years of seriously hard work.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
EMBA Information
If anyone would like information about doing an Executive MBA - particularly at the University of Calgary, I would be happy to have a conversation or provide information about either the program or anything else surrounding the requirements.
Leave a comment with your email address and I'll send you an email. I can delete the comment afterwards so that your email address isn't visible online for long.
I look forward to hearing from people!
Leave a comment with your email address and I'll send you an email. I can delete the comment afterwards so that your email address isn't visible online for long.
I look forward to hearing from people!
Friday, October 10, 2008
No shortage of fodder
With the current financial "crisis" going on, there is no shortage of people being affected. From the young (RESP) to the old (RRSP) to the middle-aged (both).
Every class that we are in is talking about it - from International Business to Leadership. A lot of questions, but not a lot of answers.
Every class that we are in is talking about it - from International Business to Leadership. A lot of questions, but not a lot of answers.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Optimal Class Size
The University of Calgary Executive MBA program has just had a new intake for the graduating class of 2010. The class is 51 students strong. The class two years before (that just graduated) was 52 students strong.
Our class has just 35 students. Is that an advantage or a disadvantage?
I think both. Smaller class size allows students to get to know each other better, but also means that you have a smaller network with which to draw upon.
I imagine that the break even point for the course must be close to 35 students. Given the success in Calgary over the past couple of years, we were all surprised at the small size of the group. One would expect the demand for executive education to be quite a bit higher, but we seem to have been a "gap" year.
Does that mean that we will get less to spend on our International Trip? Time will tell.
Our class has just 35 students. Is that an advantage or a disadvantage?
I think both. Smaller class size allows students to get to know each other better, but also means that you have a smaller network with which to draw upon.
I imagine that the break even point for the course must be close to 35 students. Given the success in Calgary over the past couple of years, we were all surprised at the small size of the group. One would expect the demand for executive education to be quite a bit higher, but we seem to have been a "gap" year.
Does that mean that we will get less to spend on our International Trip? Time will tell.
International Trip
Where to go? Where to go?
As part of our course at the University of Calgary EMBA program (just to increase my Google hits!), we go on a 10 day international trip. The class has established a steering committee and each group (6) has to make a presentation on a trip to two different cities in the world where international business can be examined.
I'm pretty sure that most of the class doesn't want to do Western Europe or the US, so likely it will end up being Asia. Last year's class went to London and Paris. Asia has a large emerging market and there are plenty of opportunities.
As part of our course at the University of Calgary EMBA program (just to increase my Google hits!), we go on a 10 day international trip. The class has established a steering committee and each group (6) has to make a presentation on a trip to two different cities in the world where international business can be examined.
I'm pretty sure that most of the class doesn't want to do Western Europe or the US, so likely it will end up being Asia. Last year's class went to London and Paris. Asia has a large emerging market and there are plenty of opportunities.
Friday, August 29, 2008
First year done....
1 year. 2 semesters. 16 weeks. Whatever you want to call it - we're all done the first half of our program.
While I think that everyone had a better understanding of the demands that the second semester would have on our lives, the amount of work was still a surprise. Finance, Managerial Accounting, Operations and Economics dominated our lives for a long time.
I struggled with the Economics the most - which is ironic because of my BA in Econ. Finance is the other bug bear for me. I enjoy it, but I think that the "fuzziness" of it, makes me desire the "strictness" of Accounting.
While I think that everyone had a better understanding of the demands that the second semester would have on our lives, the amount of work was still a surprise. Finance, Managerial Accounting, Operations and Economics dominated our lives for a long time.
I struggled with the Economics the most - which is ironic because of my BA in Econ. Finance is the other bug bear for me. I enjoy it, but I think that the "fuzziness" of it, makes me desire the "strictness" of Accounting.
Friday, May 2, 2008
How to Bid for the Olympics
One of my favourite parts of the course is that every Friday we are in class, a guest speaker comes and talks about their company, their career or one of their projects.
This week we had Roger Jackson come to speak. He is one of the most successful Canadian Olympic athletes, has been instrumental in working with the science of sport in Canada and is currently working on the "Own the Podium" initiative to increase the number of Canadians winning Olympic medals over the next couple of Olympics (something we have not been very good at in the past).
However, he was not here to speak about any of that. He talked to us about working on the bid team for the London 2012 Olympics. There was a huge infrastructural hurdle to get over, getting the public and the media on side as well as communicating what the differentiator for the city would be to the Olympic bid committee. It was very interesting and I can't imagine taking on such a daunting project.
Two things I picked up:
1) Always hire people smarter and brighter than you: I've always known that this is a good idea, one that my last employer was very good at.
2)"You don't get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate" - my new favourite business saying.
They ended up winning the bid (by 4 votes) against Paris. Winning the bid is just the first step, but what a step it was.
This week we had Roger Jackson come to speak. He is one of the most successful Canadian Olympic athletes, has been instrumental in working with the science of sport in Canada and is currently working on the "Own the Podium" initiative to increase the number of Canadians winning Olympic medals over the next couple of Olympics (something we have not been very good at in the past).
However, he was not here to speak about any of that. He talked to us about working on the bid team for the London 2012 Olympics. There was a huge infrastructural hurdle to get over, getting the public and the media on side as well as communicating what the differentiator for the city would be to the Olympic bid committee. It was very interesting and I can't imagine taking on such a daunting project.
Two things I picked up:
1) Always hire people smarter and brighter than you: I've always known that this is a good idea, one that my last employer was very good at.
2)"You don't get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate" - my new favourite business saying.
They ended up winning the bid (by 4 votes) against Paris. Winning the bid is just the first step, but what a step it was.
Friday, February 29, 2008
It takes 15 years.....to dominate the world.
Every Friday we have a guest speaker that comes in to talk to our class. Usually it is some captain of industry that has some sort of connection with the Haskayne School of Business at the University of Calgary. We've had politicians and entrepreneurs and they usually have an interesting story to tell. It's good to hear from people that have become successful and faced some hardships that they have overcome. All of them have worked hard to get where they are, but it's great to hear them and make a connection.
This is a title quote from our latest guest speaker Benno Nigg, co-director of the Human Performance Lab at the University of Calgary.
Benno was headhunted by the University from Switzerland in 1981 to come and start a Biomechanics department in Calgary. He had no idea even where Calgary was and when he accepted, he started with 5 people in an old locker room in the Physical Education building with 2 computers and a whopping 10Mb of disk space. The department has grown to the Human Performance Lab and it has become the dominant centre in it's field.
They only rely on the University for 31% of their funding (perhaps helping in it's success) but gain most of their funding from Industry and grants.
He was quite inspiring to listen to. He has worked hard to build a centre of excellence which helps a lot of Canadian Olympic athletes. He has helped Adidas test new shoes as well as helped David Beckham improve that kick.
Benno has been at it for 15 years and reckons that it takes that long to dominate the world. These days it seems difficult for anyone's attention span to remain for 15 years - everyone seems to be looking for the quick wins and then move on. Benno is 70 and still seems to be going strong (those Swiss and those mountains I bet) but has an absolute passion for what he does.
Do you have the passion to dominate the world?
This is a title quote from our latest guest speaker Benno Nigg, co-director of the Human Performance Lab at the University of Calgary.
Benno was headhunted by the University from Switzerland in 1981 to come and start a Biomechanics department in Calgary. He had no idea even where Calgary was and when he accepted, he started with 5 people in an old locker room in the Physical Education building with 2 computers and a whopping 10Mb of disk space. The department has grown to the Human Performance Lab and it has become the dominant centre in it's field.
They only rely on the University for 31% of their funding (perhaps helping in it's success) but gain most of their funding from Industry and grants.
He was quite inspiring to listen to. He has worked hard to build a centre of excellence which helps a lot of Canadian Olympic athletes. He has helped Adidas test new shoes as well as helped David Beckham improve that kick.
Benno has been at it for 15 years and reckons that it takes that long to dominate the world. These days it seems difficult for anyone's attention span to remain for 15 years - everyone seems to be looking for the quick wins and then move on. Benno is 70 and still seems to be going strong (those Swiss and those mountains I bet) but has an absolute passion for what he does.
Do you have the passion to dominate the world?
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Quiet - very busy.....but 1 semester down - 3 to go.
I'm not sure how many people are actually monitoring this blog, but it has been very quiet recently, for which I apologize.
I survived the first semester. Overall, I am happy with the outcomes, however I know that I need to work on my ability to manage my time. One of my favourite adages is "start as you mean to go on". I hope that understanding the workload up front and apportioning my time appropriately will help me feel less "overwhelmed" at the end.
Having said all that - I have decided to change employers. Not only employers, but change careers as well. This will throw my life into a bit of chaos as I will have a steep learning curve at work as well as at University.
I'll muse more on the Winter 2008 semester shortly.
I survived the first semester. Overall, I am happy with the outcomes, however I know that I need to work on my ability to manage my time. One of my favourite adages is "start as you mean to go on". I hope that understanding the workload up front and apportioning my time appropriately will help me feel less "overwhelmed" at the end.
Having said all that - I have decided to change employers. Not only employers, but change careers as well. This will throw my life into a bit of chaos as I will have a steep learning curve at work as well as at University.
I'll muse more on the Winter 2008 semester shortly.
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