OwenBloggers: Isha - MBA '08

Here comes the rain again

It’s raining. No, it’s pouring cars and dogs. Actually in Poland we would say that it’s throwing frogs. But the phrase is irrelevant, the intensity is. I’ve been waiting for this rain like salvation, in a way. I thing I have bloged enough about the weather over the summer – had to write about something when I couldn’t write about my internship – but it was all about heat and humidity, not about rain. Sure it rained in between now and then, but that was just a drizzle.

More important should be the reason why I was waiting so impatiently. You might think that when you have high humidity you don’t have a drought. Apparently one does not exclude the other. So yes, rain is good.

On a side note, British Air announced earlier today that they will split the replacement of their aging 747’s between Boeing 787 Dreamliner (24 planes) and Airbus A380 (12 planes). I just finished a case last week contemplating the feasibility of A380 R&D and trying to value the NPV of the project without knowing demand. One thing I can say is that product conversion rates sure make a difference. I’m still not convinced and question whether I want to get into a double decker and fly long haul.

Song of the Day:
Eurythmics - Here Comes the Rain Again

Technorati tags: Owen Graduate School of Management, Owenbloggers.com, Business School, Boeing, Airbus, Eurythmics, Weather, Vanderbilt

Rubbing elbows

Monday night we had the inaugural OCS event for the season. As much planning as it took it was worth every minute away from schoolwork. Four spectacular cooks (Jim Bradford, Yvonne Martin-Kidd, Craig Lewis and Richard Willis) prepared dishes that would satisfy even the most demanding individual. We had: brazed red onion and flank stake tacos topped with crème fresco; pork mushroom tamale topped with spicy sauce; halibut, scallops and shrimp chiviche; cilantro pesto quesades, grilled shrimp, hot (temperature wise) goat cheese and salsa appetizer served on jalapeno toasts.

But the food was only a part of it. The ambiance was extraordinary. As one student put it “It was an exceptional  event.” I think that a big part of it was th e ability to rub elbows with the Dean, and the other professors,  at his house. I don’t think it’s common or even possible at possible at other b-schools. How do you pick a handful that you would invite to your home when the student body exceeds a 1000? It’s a little easier when the whole of student population is about 450, including all Master of Accountancy and MS Finance students. It’s also easier when the Dean is a member of the club organizing the event (yes, he did pay dues) and in general professors are eager to get to know students. On the other hand you have students eager to rub elbows with the professors, especially with home made margaritas in hand.

It is easier to establish a personal connection when there is a connection to be made. Just like seeing someone wave their hand at you as they are driving by, just to realize that it’s the professor you will have next mod. It’s this connectivity that later on pays of for future students as you become a part of the alumni network. I always get replies to my e-mails asking for help or information. Maybe it’s because I’m lucky, but maybe it’s because at Owen we are a tightly knit community that cares and supports each other.

Song of the day:
Eurythmics - Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves 

Technorati tags: MBA, Vanderbilt, Owen Graduate School of Management, Owenbloggers.com, Owen Culinary Society, Business School, Networning

Getting greener?

Political campaigns have an amazing reaction on media – suddenly talking about issues that normally get buried deep in the oblivion of irrelevant even unwanted information. When media raises a topic, interest groups become heard and suddenly the politicians react by incorporating those issues into their campaigns. On one hand, this interdependence fuels election machine and on the other, it educates the public. WSJ has had a “green” article just about every issue over the past several weeks. Everything from Wal-Mart branding it’s green strategy to green hotels and the right to line dry clothes.

Green sips into all publications lately, Business Week had an article about a Formula One designer changing gears and designing energy efficient cars. However in all this green talk few people are mentioning the green on a large scale. Who really cares about emissions and pollution, right? All of the individual efforts won’t amount to much if there is no general, and by that I mean government, interest in the issue. As long as lobbyist sweet talk politicians into opposing legislation that will help clean up our rivers, lakes, air and soil, we will not get any greener. They might, but that would be a completely different shade of green...

I don't think that event closing off land to development will change much.  It's a step, but a tiny one and there are miles more to go.

Technorati tags: Owenbloggers.com, Environment, Green Movement, politics, democrats

Do you trust the rankings?

First time this week I woke up without an am deadline. There has been so much going on over the past few days, but I was too spent to write about it. For starters, Microsoft suffered a defeat in the European court implying a change for many international giants doing business in Europe, especially if they are industry leaders. The WSJ article said “In Europe, the case was followed with the attention normally paid to the travails of royals or the fate of national soccer teams.” I this does not convince anyone how crucial this case is, I don’t think anything will.

An event closer to home was also published on Monday: WSJ ranking of business schools. Vanderbilt might not be one of the ten top MBA schools in the nation, and WSJ places it at 15 in the regional rankings (up from 21 last year), but we are one of 50 MBA eligible programs in the world granted full points under UK’s Highly Skilled Migrant Programme. Certain schools might be higher in newspaper ranking, but in the end, it’s the job market that dictates who comes out on top.

Talking of rankings and WSJ, I hope that the only reason the  MBA Ranking section had only men on its cover is a honest mistake and not an exhibit of prejudice and/or discrimination. Women are a minority in B-school and regardless of the efforts that schools put into recruitment it will be a long while before there a percentile split reflecting the actual gender split in the population.

Technorati tags: owenbloggers.com, Owen Graduate School of Management, Vanderbilt, MBA, Business School, Rankings, Microsoft, WSJ

Microsoft vs. EU

Another chapter in Microsoft vs. EU history is supposed to close tomorrow at 0830 BST and I am sure another chapter will begin. The expected ruling will determine how dominant companies in the market should behave towards their rivals. Microsoft also challenges the fine imposed for its monopolistic practices - a fine that amounts to almost half a billion Euro: the largest fine in history.

When the hammer falls tomorrow and of Microsoft (MSFT)looses, it will mean that rivals will be a step closer to the precious code – Window’s biggest secret. As much as I understand the need to protect innovative technology from competition, after all, it’s all about having an edge in the market, but Microsoft’s practices in imposing its software on customers are a bit tiresome, even, or maybe especially, to the less computer savvy user. As I am writing this post in MS Word on Windows platform and I will shortly transfer the text to Windows Live Writer to publish on my blog and I will check if it looks OK in Internet Explorer I realize exactly the extent of those alleged monopolistic practices.

I just hope that EU ends up being the “David” of this battle.

Technorati tags: MBA, Owenbloggers.com, Owen Graduate School of Management, Vanderbilt, Microsoft, Business School, EU, Monopolistic Practices

6am epiphany

Yes, it does happen. For some bizarre reason I woke up at six and while halfway conscious it hit me how to solve a homework problem for Management Science in Spreadsheets (Excel on amphetamine). The worst thing is that I couldn’t believe that the solution was so simple. I mean we were looking at it last night trying to figure it out with no avail. Granted, it was at the end of my “light” day that primarily consisted of corp val, too much accounting, and yes, spreadsheets. One of those 12 hours at Owen days, but I am not complaining since I got a lot done.

With such a spectacular beginning of a day, all I can hope for that the rest will be as enlightening. My morning might not be exciting, but in the afternoon I’m going on a tour of Yazoo Brewery. That should be fun, even if it’s for a class project. To top it off, today’s Swingin' Years are playing just the right music to put me in a good mood – happy with a sober dose of melancholy.

Song of the day:
Joni James – Why Don’t You Believe Me?

Technorati tags: MBA, Owenbloggers.com, owen Graduate School of Management, Business School, Vanderbilt

Economic impact on my future job

It’s not a happy moment when you are halfway through your MBA program and realize that the economy is going down, not up, and the job market is becoming shaky for all not just investment bankers in mortgages. I first started worrying when the market first fell back in March, but it seemed to be going up. It even hit and surpassed 14K. Then the credit crunch overshadowed the exuberant growth and now I wonder what will happen to me (and my classmates) in eight months when we will no longer be hiding behind Owen doors. Yesterday morning’s article in WSJ on how the economists boost the odds for recession did not improve my job searching mood. How am I supposed to feel positive about it if recession generally means less jobs and lower wages? I’ve looked at Owen statistics with average salaries, percentiles of graduates hired before graduation, etc., and there is a direct correlation between the sate of economy and the numbers. I don’t have to run regressions to see that. All I, and probably every other MBA 2008 candidate out there, want to know is how the current stock market situation will affect my ROI on business school investment.

Technorati tags: MBA, Owenbloggers.com, Owen Graduate School of Management, Business School, Jobs

Calm and composed

During the Labor Day picnic at Owen one of the 1st years told me that I looked “calm and composed” therefore I must be a 2nd year. This got me thinking: are we really that different from the incoming class that we can be picked out of the crowd. Apparently yes. I think this comes from knowing what’s ahead. Or rather the expectation of self inflicted hard labor. There is a meeting today on managing your life through Outlook- some people live by their computerized schedule. The first thing I do in the morning, even before I look at my e-mails, is to open the calendar and see what’s on the menu. There is one trick to it: keep it updated. And there is a warning – watch if your computer should fail, you will be lost and definitely not in a happy spot.

Someone asked me if the 2nd year was easier. I’m going to go with “no” on this one. The load is just as heavy and there is that pesky job search thing that always lingers on the back of your mind. And, of course, there is involvement with clubs and that can take a BIG chunk of your time if you don’t set your boundaries right.

Technorati tags: owenbloggers.com, Owen Graduate School of Management, Business School, Vanderbilt, Time Management, lazy cats

Incentive

As I was making another attempt at corporate val, I checked out today’s Polish papers. There I found the most amusing little not about an inventive that a director of a Polish hospital invented for his staff. Nurses received a "motivational" incentive of 1/1000 of their monthly salary. For majority this translated to less then $0.5. Yes, a great incentive indeed…

NOPLAT, FCF and getting Skyped

Rarely have I moments of such total confusion and, in a way, surrender. All of last night I spent reading the corp val book trying to figure out how to calculate NOPLAT and FCF. I am sorry to say that it is still beyond me. I see the words, I read them, I understand them, and I put them into a sentence just to wail in despair and try again. After a cozy evening with the “amazing” Valuation book I seem to have a vague idea what needs to be done. But give me time, I will get it, especially if my hopes the lecture is more helpful will become a reality. Oh yes, accounting is still looming on the horizon – 27 hours to impact.

On an interesting note, I have been approached by someone on Skype who was dead set on getting my age out of me because he only talks with people his age. I am still baffled why he would try to talk to me for 3 days in a row if he didn’t intend to talk to me if I was too old or too young for him. I know, weird.

Song of the day:

Two for One - deja vu

Waiting for my paper to show up this morning, I looked online to gauge today’s stories on WSJ. And there is was an article that peeked my interest just to leave a bad taste in my mouth. I am referring to Two-for-One Deal, Take Two article and especially a statement by one of the Democratic supporters that it’s not the idea of a female president but rather that of Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton that bothers him. It bothers me to. Well, she bothers me, but as a disclaimer, I am not saying that she will be either a bad president or bad for America.

Technorati tags: Owen Graduate School of Management, Owenbloggers.com, Politics, Democrats, Elections 2008, Business School, WSJ

Laboring

I’m tired. I have nothing to show for why I am tired, but I am. Regardless of my energy level I have enough of work to keep me going for days on end. Happily, Mondays are my light days, so I can gather my thoughts before the hardcore sleep depravation hits.

This week will be challenging, because I have my first monster of a test on Thursday (in intermediate accounting) and somehow I am having hard time getting in the groove of things.  Did I mention that info sessions start this week only adding to the already high level of “fun?”

But I should not complain. A 102 year old woman in Belgium got a letter from the local school district that a place in elementary school has been reserved for her. She admitted she has heard of second youth and reliving your childhood, she just never imagined it would entail going back to school… The administration blamed a computer glitch, and here I was thinking that we were over Y2K problems.

Today is labor day, therefore all students are laboring and the staff is not here. My paper didn’t show up this morning – first clue for a national holiday. Owen does not recognize bank holidays, which I think is for the best. I would hate to be trying to catch up on all of those Mondays off.

My scheduled study/dinner beaks is almost over, got to go and clean. Not as a method of procrastination (this time), but as necessity. The bug people are coming tomorrow and I simply would be ashamed to have them into my place as is. All I can say is: priorities and deadlines. When I am done all I got to do is MIP write-up and the highlight of my day – accounting homework. Can’t wait…

Technorati tags: Owen Graduate School of Management, Business School, Vanderbilt, Owenbloggers.com, Time Management

Get on the bus!

No, this has nothing to do with the Million Man March or Amnesty International. This has everything to do with a pink bus and the NashTrash tour. It’s not easy to describe what NashTrash is without taking its essence away, but in a simplified way it can be described as a comedy show on wheels. You get to see a few landmarks in Nashville and find out odd bit’s and pieces about them, but the main attraction is digging in the dirt of music country star related rumors and jokes as you go along.  They don’t spare anyone. And let’s not forget the songs. If you want a taste of it, check out the morning show with Al Roker video. BTW, they are funnier in person. In fact, they are so funny that my cheeks hurt from laughing so much. On top of that, the tour is strictly BYOB, and since we were on the bus in during the happy hour, we sure got happy. I must say this was one of the best WBA event’s I’ve been to, especially when it comes to getting the ladies together, getting to know each other and having fun.

Technorati tags: Owen Graduate School of Management, Business School, Vanderbilt, Women's Business Association, Nashville, Owenbloggers.com