Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Month 3 - Now convinced that 7 hours qualifies as "sleeping in"

by: Marc Folch

Now that we have had a few months to get settled in, the MBA program is decidedly starting to feel like home. The learning curve is steep and sleep still a rarity, but I am getting used to it.

Admittedly my time scarcity is partly of my own making. I decided before I came that relationship building was one of my key goals and as a result I have taken on quite a few extra curriculars. It is still important to get above average marks, but I would not recommend the pure "bookworm" approach to anyone doing an MBA program because you forgo much of the program's value.

The biggest time drain for me comes from the fact that I was elected as the peer rep for my class, so I arrange all the tutorials and act as a liaison between the students and faculty on academic matters. I try to make it as easy as possible for my classmates to learn and take away the key material from each class. It is a big job (particularly around test time), but I thoroughly enjoy helping others so I don't mind one bit. I believe that the best way to succeed in life is to help others around me succeed. If you have the opportunity to be elected to any positions, take them! The experience is invaluable and it often lets you expand your network in ways that would not normally be open to you.

When not running tutorials, I am often playing rugby, exercising, or hanging out with classmates over a beer or a meal. The rugby team is a lot of fun, but gave me a black eye for Industry Week when the school paradeed us in front of all the big employers in downtown Toronto. On the bright side, at least they won't forget me!

The camaraderie and bonding you do with classmates by being on a team is not something that can be replaced by class sessions or even by a night out at the bar. There is something about battling together against a common foe that brings people together and makes the connection stronger.

Overall, the people in the program here are amazing and I have already made many friends which I will be keeping for many years to come. I am glad I came to Ivey.

Marc Folch
___________________________________________
MBA Candidate (October '08)
Richard Ivey School of Business
University of Western Ontario

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Women @ Ivey MBA

by: Cecilia Liu

The society has developed in a way that swipes away more and more the differences between men and women, which is one reason why more and more women are stepping out of the traditional roles and showing up in MBA programs and active on the business management stage. On the other hand, women are still shouldering some unique pressures, or even more of them than are men, once they choose to step onto such a competitive career path.

It has to do with the role definition of men and women at work and in personal life. At work, performance measurement for women is no different from for men; actually, diversity and equality at workplace is more of a trend and something good employers have to maintain. On the other hand, women’s share of family responsibilities, in general, have remained larger than the share of men during the course of societal change towards more women participation in management roles. For women in management to deliver an overall increased magnitude of responsibilities from both work and life, and perform well, they need to develop their own strategies, both short-term and long-term.

A few thoughts for those women who are currently contemplating on pursuing an MBA. First, do your due diligence. Conduct your in-depth market research on the functions and industries that you want to focus on for your future career. Make a self-assessment of your past and become able to articulate your strengths and weaknesses and post-MBA career plan. Then come to a clear answer as to why you want to do an MBA at this point in your career. This whole thinking and evaluation process will help you clearly define your goals for pursuing an MBA, go for it for the right reasons, and choose the right school.

Next you need to secure all the supports and resources necessary for you to complete your MBA. Better have the timing work in your favor. If you are in any kind of serious relationship, make sure the other part of the relationship is willing to provide you serious mental and spiritual support for your effort. You also need to plan yourself so that you enjoy sufficient financial capability to sustain the whole MBA program. The more resources and support you have, the better you will be off.

Third, you can count on the fact that you will need very good time and stress management skills to make the most out of your MBA program. So if you already have such skills, start to sharpen them by picking a good book to read, talking to incumbent MBA’s about what an MBA life is like, and getting mentally ready for a big challenge ahead.

Last but not the least, women do face the unique burden of building and raising a family, if they choose to go through that course. No matter this comes before or after the MBA program, the extra work and responsibilities are real and significant. As such, female MBA students had better make good career planning to work around this issue, so that they are not strained when this piece of task has to interrupt you suddenly from your career. Again, timing and social support are the two biggest factors you want to give deep thoughts on.

Your MBA decision is a big one. Make the most out of it. And enjoy it!


Cecilia Liu
MBA Candidate 2008

Thursday, October 4, 2007

Balancing MBA and a Family

Traditional MBA program is quite a demanding experience, here at Ivey the workload is kicked up a notch yet, due to the fact that it's delivered in one year format. So how can somebody manage not only to be successful at Ivey but stay effective at managing their family as well? I had a chance to pose the same question to Grace. Grace moved from China with her family to start her one year Ivey MBA experience.

"When I decided to do my MBA a year ago, I was concerned if I could survive the program at Ivey while taking care of my son. I understood that it was an ambitious decision for me to pursue an MBA as a mother of a four-year old son. The first moth at Ivey proved that it was particularly difficult to commit to both MBA coursework and motherhood.

However, I was able to successfully manage my time to fulfill my commitments thanks to my parents' coming over from China to look after my son for me during the day and my increased time management skills over the course.

Now, even though I feel the MBA program at Ivey is quite intensive, I dedicate one to two hours every day after dinner to be with my son telling him stories, teaching him songs, or playing games with him. On weekends, I typically spend a whole day taking my son and my parents to nearby parks, beaches or farms. I enjoy very much the time with my family and I feel that I can balance my study and life very well." (Grace Shi, Ivey MBA Candidate 2008)

So here you have it, managing both family and MBA is tough but none the less doable. Grace and four other classmates of mine, all with families and kids, are my role models when it comes to effectively managing one's time while balancing personal and professional commitments.

George

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

24 / 48 hour reports, Jack Bauer style

Question: if Jack saves the world every time in 24 hours why can’t we, and the guy doesn’t even have an MBA?

Non the less, Ivey group reports are feared by some and are mentally compared by others to an experience which is as close as you come to slavery in the free world (right.., I should be careful here and make a note that I make an implicit assumption that slavery is not a pleasurable experience for majority of us). Fortunately, I’m here to shed some light on this urban myth. Having gone through both the 24 and 48 hour reports, I can honestly say that, like majority of students, I survived this experience and actually fared fairly well, apart from a slight lack of sleep that is, and we all know that sleep is overrated anyways.

So as it turns out, like a lot of things in life, the experience of a 24 or 48 h report is what you make out of it. There’s no question about it, it puts teams under a lot of pressure to deliver high quality end product within a very aggressive timeframe. However, you can also look at it as a battlefield where your tactics and theories can get a reality check.

Following is my brief recollection of a group report experience. As I’ve mentioned in one of my previous posts we got assigned to our learning teams at the start of the program. Those were also the teams that we worked in for the 24 hour report. Right at noon on Thursday we got a case and associated questions which would be at the foundation of our report. The case that we got was Harvard case dealing with rise and fall of equity research group at US investment bank Lehman Brothers. The case was about 30 pages, which is a bit longer than a typical in-class case. The primary focus was issues of leadership and organizational change. The report was due 6pm the day after, with presentation slides due four hours after that.

Looking back, it was a challenging experience with the hardest part being the issues around trust and control. Real challenge was that since we didn’t work on any significant deliverables as a group before there just wasn’t a sufficient level of trust. Each one of us was trying to write our own equal piece of the report and then attempt putting it all together. I lead the group through the initial analysis, brainstorming, and structuring of ideas. We ended the day at 12pm with a clear outline of the report, feeling pretty good about our progress.

Morning of Friday was spent writing and editing individual pieces of the report. Even though we were running a bit behind the schedule we were moving along nicely.
And then we got a real curve ball. One of our professors came in and gave us a little “hint” which if taken literally meant reversing course of the report 180 degrees at the 19th hour mark. And as they say, the rest is history.

The shear number of lessons that I took away from the 24h report experience is impressive. Apart from the obvious chance to apply the material that we’ve learned in class, team dynamics, leadership, project management, and the list goes on.

We had our second group report last week at the end of second module. The report was the extended version, running for 48 hours. This time around it was a lot smoother, with us being able to manage and delegate well and even finish the report ahead of schedule. Lessons that we’ve learned from our first experience still vivid in our minds we fine tuned the project to deliver a much better results this time around.

That sleep thing… So do any of you recollect how much did Jack sleep during the 24 hours? Wonderful world of TV comes to my rescue again when I’m looking for parallels.

Saturday, September 1, 2007

MBA program research

This post is primarily geared for those of you in the MBA program research phase of the pre-MBA process. I thought I would share couple of ideas about finding an MBA program which is right for you.

Good place to start is to think about what is it that you want to get out of an MBA? Whether it's strictly more money, career growth, or learning aspect that you find appealing. Once you have figured it out, it’s good to keep it in the back of your mind when you are doing your MBA program research.

Next, try to outline your strengths (eg. strong analytical ability, leadership, teamwork, etc.). Being realistic about it is going to help not only in the MBA search but also in the later MBA career search.

Combination of strengths and your goals should give you a pretty good idea about the types of MBA programs that you should be targeting. At this point you should be able to narrow it down to 5-10 schools.

Then there’s a question of fit. The tricky part about fit is that it works both ways. From school’s prospective they are ultimately looking to maximize the number of students successfully placed in high paying jobs. As those students would not only look good on career placement reports, helping to justify high cost of the program, but will also be a generous alumni, providing future support for school. Programs also want to ensure that each student contributes positively to school’s learning environment. On the other hand, you, as a candidate, want to find a best program that would help you accomplish and exceed your goals while being a good personal fit, lets call it a fun factor.

Once you have narrowed the list of schools down to 5-10 schools you can try to prioritize those schools by putting together a list of factors that makes each school different. Those factors can include average starting salary after graduation, tuition fees and cost of living, rankings, program length, class size, just to name few. Depending on how important each of those factors is to you, assign weights (1-10) to each one of them. Adding up the results for each program would tell you the top picks.

Now it’s time to roll up your sleeves and make plans to meet some of your top picks in-person. I would say the easiest way to start would be to find one of the MBA fairs in your area. If you are lucky, all the schools on your list would be there to meet you. You can even go as far as email each school’s admissions and try to set up personal meetings before the fair. If you are lucky, some might even offer to take a look at your qualifications and do an interview if they think that you might be a good fit.

Use an MBA fair as an acid test. Approach all of the schools on your list and ask admissions if your background /goals are a good fit for a program. Make sure to talk to some of the alumni and current students to get a sense of what each program is looking for, both personality and background wise.
If you get a good feeling from talking to both admissions and students don’t hesitate to ask about possibility to visit the school and sit in one of the actual classes. That should give you a much better sense of a fit. You can also try to email both professors and current students to see how responsive they are to answering questions.

MBA fair links:

http://www.topmba.com/mba_fairs/
http://www.thembatour.com/

I’ll be one of the students representing Ivey at the MBA fair on September 23, 2007 in Toronto. Hope to meet some of you there.


Good luck!
George

Useful MBA resources

Going for interviews majority of employers expect you not only be well versed in the MBA material but also be aware of the industry and economic trends. I found the following resources quite useful for both coursework and for career related research.

Coursework related:
How to read financial reports (Guide by Merrill Lynch)
Various MBA topics (Financial Times)

Career related:
Vault guides
Wetfeet guides

Sample case interviews:
McKinsey
BCG
Baine

News:


Economic research:
The World Bank
IMF - International Monetary Fund
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

Monday, August 27, 2007

How to Make the Most of MBA Fairs


by: Niki Healey
Manager of Ivey MBA admissions

Knowing that in the next few months there will be plenty of MBA Fairs happening around the world, I thought it would be useful to share my thoughts on two things: how to make the most of attending an MBA fair, and what benefit you can get from attending these events.

If you've never attended an MBA Fair, stepping into a room with 30, 40, or 50+ tables from different MBA Programs around the world with several thousand other prospective MBA applicants can be an overwhelming experience to say the least...The MBA Fair is not a great place to do preliminary research on schools - it is too busy, and your time with Admissions staff will be fairly limited. My view on Fairs is that they are a great tool to help firm-up the shortlist of schools you intend to apply to. This implies that it really is necessary to do some background research on the schools you're targeting prior to the Fair. As mentioned, your time speaking with the Admissions rep at a table is short, so to use up your questions asking things like 'what is your GMAT requirement' or 'when do classes start' is really not the best use of your time! Think of the MBA fair as your opportunity to make a strong impression on members of the Admission team...this will be good motivation to do your homework on their respective schools! If you can stand out in what is often the chaos of a Fair, you are leaps and bounds ahead in the game of differentiating yourself to the Admissions committee!

...

Find the rest of this and other related posts at Ivey MBA admissions blog

Thursday, August 23, 2007

First Impressions (Fall Cohort)

By: Marc Folch

So... All the applying, GMAT writing, interviewing, reference chasing and waiting have paid off. I am now at what many consider to be Canada's premier MBA school.

What is it like? Well, there is a lot of work for sure. Full classes haven not even started (we are doing an optional preparatory knowledge course) but we are waking up for class that starts at 8:00am and goes straight to 5:00pm with a good 3-5 hrs of homework after.

I suppose when you are cramming a full MBA (normally 2 years), into a year and two weeks, there is not much time left for a slow ramp up. You really need to hit the ground running. Good thing I brought my Nikes.

It's a very collaborative environment here and we do a good bit of group work, but this translates to our social life as well. Even outside of class there is an incredible attitude of brotherhood/sisterhood in the program and any time you need a hand with something, there is always someone ready help.

The staff here are also like nothing I have ever encountered at an academic institution. The profs are interesting and know how to relate the material to the real world in a way that makes it relevant and forces you to think about the big picture. That was my biggest frustration with undergrad, it was often too abstract.

As for the admin staff, they are amazing. Most admins either treat you like a number or just don't care. Here, they are on the ball and will bend over backwards to help. When I first arrived, I couldn't get in touch with my roommate because his phone was off so i figured i might as well ask an admin. Within 5 minutes, she'd tracked him down to an international student orientation and had someone pass him a note to call me with my cell phone number. Never seen anything like it!

Overall, I'm impressed. We work hard, play hard, will sleep when we're dead.

Marc Folch
MBA Candidate 2008 (Fall Cohort)
Richard Ivey School of Business
University of Western Ontario

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

Industry week (Recruiting begins)

Hard to believe that it has already been three months since the start of the MBA program. What I find even harder to believe though is that we are starting our main recruiting cycle fairly shortly. So one might think that it is happening way too fast and that might indeed be the case if you are thinking in-terms of a two year programs. When it comes to the Ivey one year MBA experience it somehow ends up feeling more or less like a natural progression.

Recognizing that for the majority of students it’s the career enhancement aspect why we are ultimately here, Ivey places a big emphasis on trying to tightly integrate the career management activities into the curriculum. Right from the day one we are encouraged to take advantage of the fact that Ivey has such a resourceful career management team. The way it’s structured is by having individual Relationship Managers focusing on particular industry segments, such as consulting, finance, and general industry.

So now let’s take a look at a more specific career management activity to-date. Two weeks ago we had the “Get Connected” industry week in Toronto. Its purpose was to meet and get to know a variety of interesting companies. The beauty of it was that the whole week was pre-arranged for us. The recipe for success was simply to add Ivey students and mix and mingle.

The week was packed with networking events, information sessions, and career coaching activities. We had presentations and networking events going back to back starting at 8am and sometimes going until 10pm. For those of you curious about some of the companies that participated in activities that week, starting with management consulting firms – McKinsey, BCG, Bain, Oliver Wyman, Monitor, AT Kearney, Deloitte, IBM, ZS Associates. Finance – RBC, Scotia Capital, CPP, CIBC, BMO Capital markets. There was also number of general industry representatives. The one that particularly stood out for me was Google.

Overall, it was a great week, lots of useful contacts, tons of insightful information that we would not have had otherwise. The real test is going to come in less than a month when the main recruiting cycle starts!

Till next time,
George

Saturday, August 4, 2007

The Strategy Paradox - Book review

I got this book based on the recommendation made by one of Corporate Strategy professors at Ivey. Coincidentally, one of my friends invited me to this book's release event. Michael gave a very interesting and insightful speech and as the result I was left itching to grab the book and dive into his ideas deeper.

This book turned out indeed to be quite a treat. The Strategy Paradox is a "collision between commitment and uncertainty". Michael not only identifies the challenge that managers face everyday: in order for a strategy to succeed resources have to be committed to it, but at the same time future by its nature is inherently uncertain and therefore there is no way to know if the strategy that they have chosen to pursue is the "right" one. The example analyzed in the book is the famous Betamax vs. VHS bet that Sony made back in the days.

The idea developed in the book is a J&J strategy of hedging strategic choices by investing a small portion of resources into creating independent strategy options. Those new initiatives take on life of their own and become alternative realities. Moreover, if one of those options takes off it will get absorbed back into the main business, ultimately helping to shape the overall company strategy.

I do recommend this book as it not only has interesting ideas about selecting the "right" strategy but is also very well written.

Till next time,
George

Thursday, August 2, 2007

Playing on a Seesaw vs. MBA experience

Have you ever played on a seesaw? I’m sure many of you have. As it turns out, it is not only a fun physical exercise, but it teaches us about important concepts in physics, statistics, and negotiations. And with any luck, I will try to illustrate that it also might teach us a lesson or two about MBA grades.
In one of my posts I mentioned that marks are probably one of the hardest ways to differentiate yourself in an MBA program. I’ve received number of emails from readers curious to find out why that might be the case.

Throughout our lives we are instilled with a notion that being great means being better than your peers. In high school we were happy when we got the top grade in class even though it might have been only 72%; it was all the same, as long as we were at the top of the hill. That is precisely why the question of whether one would chose a $10,000 bonus if it was the highest bonus in the company or a $25,000 if it was a lowest one becomes hard to answer. It is as true in an MBA as it is in any other environment, and probably even more so in the MBA as everybody here is a type-A personality and everybody is aiming for a win.

Let me make myself clear here, what I’m not trying to do is to prove that marks are not important, as they definitely are. Especially if you are targeting Top Five consulting and finance firms, they are going to be scrutinizing your MBA grades in addition to other quantitative pieces of information such as your Undergraduate marks and GMAT score.

What I am trying to convey here is that while concentrating on maintaining good marks there has to be a definite focus on trying to differentiate yourself though other means, such as extracurricular activities, your professional network, depth of knowledge about the industry, and the list goes on.

By now you are probably wondering why I threw in the seesaw analogy at the beginning of this post. The reason being is the intimate curve. It is near and dear to a lot of us here in the MBA program, even though it does feel a bit tight at times. Curve is a tool which statisticians refer to as a normal distribution, in reality you can think of it as a semi-flexible seesaw; the central point being the mean value. If the two people at sitting right at the opposite ends of seesaw they are two standard deviations away from the mean (central value). Interesting property of this type of distribution is that 68% of values fall within one standard deviation away from the mean and 95% fall within two standard deviations away from the mean. Furthermore, a lot of distributions of values in the world fit well under this type of description, and the ones that do not fit are sometimes force fitted.

And now the big secret that schools and majority of employers know about: mean value of MBA grades is 78% with standard deviation of approximately 2%. If we assume an average class size of 100 students that translates into 68 students being somewhere in the 76 to 80% range as far as their final marks, another 27 students being somewhere in the 74 to 82% range, one or two students around 72% and finally two or three in the 85-90% range. Combined with the fact that dean’s list is top 25% of the class, grades might mean that the difference between student on a dean’s list and the one who is not on it might be in the order of a tenth of a percent.

One thing that I didn’t mention when I introduced the concept of a curve is the fact that it has to balance on both sides of the mean. The seesaw analogy comes in handy here again, as similar to the game, if somebody is on one side there has to be somebody on the other side, at approximately the same distance from the center for seesaw to balance. You can think of a curve as playing on a seesaw with multiple people on each side.

And finally one curious fact about the curve, let’s take a hypothetical situation: say Bob decides that his future depends on getting 88% in an ABC course, he works nights and days, doesn’t sleep or eat to get that grade. At the same time John works hard as well but tries to maintain some sort of a balanced lifestyle. The curious thing that John starts to discover soon enough is that even though he is putting solid effort into the course, his mark for ABC is starting to slide because there has to be somebody offsetting Bob’s outstanding results on the “other” side of the mean. At this point John gets scared as he also wants a great job which depends on him being on the dean’s list, so John decides to up his efforts and cut back on sleep for the next couple of weeks. To Jane’s surprise, her marks in ABC are suddenly sliding quite fast to “balance” both Bob’s and John’s increased contribution. But now comes the B-School reality, at the end of the day any school is faced with a choice: would they rather have Jane really upset despite the fact that she paid $xx,000 for the program and put solid amount of work into the course while John and Bob would be quite happy with their marks, or would the school rather have everybody not unhappy to various degrees. Hence a tight curve with a fixed mean and resulting need to differentiate yourself through means other than marks.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or comments about this or any other posts on this blog.

Till next time,
George

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Two months into the Ivey MBA experience

School is getting progressively busier with each week's passing. Now that we are more or less getting used to the rhythm of studying we are getting career stuff thrown into the mix.
First, I want to mention couple of words about the courses that we are taking as part of the second module. The courses are: Managing Financial Resources, Accounting Control for Managers, and Designing and Executing Strategies. I always thought Strategy to be quite interesting subject so I was definitely looking forward to that class. Moreover, I was always fascinated by financing activities of companies and as the result was also looking to forward to Finance course. Lastly, to be absolutely honest, I had mixed feelings going into the accounting course based on my undergraduate experience.
I remember taking the introductory accounting course as part of my management minor and having to spend hours figuring out if financial transactions were either credits or debits and then recording them in company ledger. So now you can imagine a bit of skepticism I had when David Sharp, our accounting prof, told us that he is going to make accounting fun... yet somehow in my mind fun wasn't the first synonym that came to mind when I thought of accounting.
We are now about a half way through the module two and my biggest surprise, so far, came from the fact that I'm actually finding accounting FUN. Let me explain myself here, before you think that George has finally lost it. The type of accounting that we learning is a managerial accounting, the type which looks at assessing health of businesses, whether or not banks should grant a loan to a business, and all kinds of other neat things that I can actually see being applicable to the real world. Moreover, professor Sharp has a unique ability to make accounting material seem much more interesting and indeed fun.
Strategy and Finance courses are even more interesting and informative than I originally anticipated. That is not to say that I'm finding either of them easy. There's lots of reading and studying for each one of those courses. So far I've been finding that the best way to stay on top of coursework is to spend 4-5 hours on a typical weekday, working on the next day's material, and 6-7 hours on each Saturday and Sunday to do some career related work and pre-reading for the week ahead.
As a closing comment I would like to leave you with a following thought: Trying to differentiate yourself in an MBA based on marks is probably one of the hardest ways to do it. More on this later.

Sunday, July 8, 2007

Team as a functioning unit at Ivey:

In the first week of classes we all were assigned into learning teams of 6-7 people. Each learning team got a nice mix of cultural and educational backgrounds. On average each team has two international students, one female student, and the rest of composition is pretty random. Learning teams are designed to maximize learning experience in the program by helping to digest the material before the class.

As experience has shown, diversity in learning teams has both its strengths and potential weaknesses. The main strength of diversity lies in the ability to leverage individual strength to achieve results beyond just a simple sum of work by each member. (Ex: Think Bob and John can do a case analysis in two hours each. However, chances are that their case analysis results are going to be quite different because they made different assumptions based on their past experience. Now if they will work together, the result is going to be quite a bit more comprehensive as it will consider both of their insights but might not include some of the information that they would have included in their individual report) One potential weakness of diversity lies in the fact that the difference in backgrounds might make it harder to reach a common ground. (Ex. Lets think back to Bob and John example: if it takes them individually two hours to do the case it might take them now up to three hours to do it together as they will have to incorporate consideration for their join analysis into the report)

General rule of thumb: Each additional team member might add up to an hour for a team to reach consensus.

That being said, majority of teams gelled well together right from the start. Of course there was some natural tension during the first couple of weeks as teams figured out the best way to function as new learning units. It was interesting to see that over the first module each team adopted a unique working style. Some teams meet to brainstorm ideas and other teams meet for couple of hours a day to work through all the cases together.

To help each team bond better Ivey puts us through “trial by fire” by creating common challenges for each team. One of these challenges was the goal to win in team sport competitions during our orientation week. Our first module started to build team strength further by including two team presentations for the communications class. The biggest test of how well each team functions came during the 24 hour report at the end of Module 1. Read more about on this in an upcoming 24 hour report post.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or comments about this or any other posts on this blog.

Till next time,
George

Saturday, June 16, 2007

First Module

It's hard to believe that we've been here for more than a month already. The time is flying by faster and faster further we get into the program. We have our first round of exams next week for Module one courses. Module two courses start the day after we are done with the exams for this module.

First module courses were: MDU - Making decisions under uncertainty (Quantitative heavy course with lots of Statistics material), LPO - Leading people and organizations (Leadership analysis of difficult management decisions), CM - Career management (Self-analysis of our career goals, strengths, weaknesses, etc.), CE - Communicating effectively (Works to improve communication/presentation skills), TCM - Total career management (Course with Career management geared to help us build our resume/cover letters).

Our exams consist of a 24 hour report for LPO. 24 hour report is basically a case that gets assigned to our learning team and then we have 24 hours to put together a report. And then present it to a group of managers. MDU has a separate in-class three hour case exam. CM has a final paper that we have to put together based on the results of all self-assessment tools. CE has a final presentation.

Sunday, June 10, 2007

First month @ Ivey

Come to think of it, it’s been a month since our MBA experience has started. What a ride it's been so far, and it only seems to be picking up more and more every week. With a full mix of social and school activities the experience has met and exceeded any of the expectations that I had before starting the program.

The program is definitely an intense experience, considering that we barely had a month of classes we already have exams coming up in short two week. So the ramp-up period doesn't really exist and yet majority of students are caught up to all the material through either working within groups of students, individual study, or working one-on-one with professors. At Ivey I came to realize that one of the most important parts in the one year program is the support structure that insures that nobody falls through the cracks and ends up missing part of the material. Part of that support structure is a continuous feedback loop with our professors. For example, it's not a rare occurrence to get an email from a professor thanking a student for an excellent point made in class.

Another unique feature that I came to appreciate even more in the month that I've been here is the interactive nature of the program. Professors don't lecture at you; class learning is a collaborative process that resembles a multidirectional conversation. It's really fascinating to see the learning lessons unfold right in front of you, as the result I find, to my own surprise, the retention level is a lot higher than in any course that I've taken before.

Thursday, May 31, 2007

Ivey MBA costs

Here are couple of costs that one might want to consider when planning for the Ivey MBA*:

Tuition: $59,000
MBA student association fee (includes health insurance): $900
Casebooks (mandatory): ~ $4,000
Appartment rental: $600-$800/month
Lunch: $5 - 6.50/day
Bus Pass: $74/month
Average taxi ride: $10

*Based on costs in 2007

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Orientation Weekend '07

by: Andrea Jang

Senators from the October cohort began “O-Week” for the May ‘08 class with a Wine and Cheese event at the Spencer Leadership Centre. Sipping on Pellar Estate Wine while munching on crudités, we became further acquainted with one another and met the our buddies from the October cohort. This event was definitely a great way to end the intensive two-week Pre-Ivey Program, while bringing students and faculty together in an informal setting.

As we moved into the night, groups headed out to the Taphouse on Richmond Street. The diversity of the crowd and eclectic mix of music definitely showcased the budding Beyonce’s and JT’s in the May cohort! Exhausted from Friday’s class and social activities, we headed home to rest before Saturday’s outdoor events.

Saturday arrived cool and breezy, some students even anticipated chances of rain. Armed with Starbucks mochas (taken from the Executive MBA breakfast), we donned our new Ivey t-shirts and marched into the South wing of Spencer to hear Don MacDougall reminisce about effective leadership in the workplace. A brief lunch followed along with meeting with our highly anticipated learning teams. As the sun began to emerge from behind the early morning clouds, we sported our colorful wristbands and headed outdoors to the vast landscape of Spencer’s backyard.

Pitted against one another in various learning team exercises, energetic groups brought a spirit of determination to win to the field. However, as the competitions ensued, the casualty rate increased exponentially. Key learning from Saturday: effective leadership involves not only playing hard, but also playing safe while having fun! The non-injured teammates regrouped for a delicious dinner barbeque at Spencer. While we snacked on the s’mores, Krista announced that the red team won by a mere half point! To celebrate, we moved to one of the main “Ivey” hangouts, the Barking Frog, to party the night away. With its multiple dance floors and strategically placed bars, the October and May cohorts continued to mix and mingle; without getting too up close and personal. J

Sunday proved to be a wonderful culmination to the weekend’s festivities. At the Waltzing Weasel, groups of students tackled the mini golf course and took a couple swings at the driving range. Definitely a key bonding session, newbies at the range received valuable pointers from the more experienced golfers in class.

Overall, the weekend proved to be a valuable experience for everyone and Orientation Weekend was a great introduction to an amazing year ahead!!

Andrea Jang
MBA Candidate 2008
May 2007 Cohort

Sunday, May 20, 2007

First week of classes – The Ivey Difference:

Following is a quick recap of my first week of classes at Ivey. Looking back at it, it flew by in an absolute instant. 8 hours of classes a day did take some getting used to.
Monday we had a full morning of introductions to the program from faculty and staff. Following the introductions we had lunch break and then came a part we’ve been waiting for: LPO (Leading People and Organizations) team simulation.

I’ve heard from students in the previous cohort that Gerard Seijts was an excellent professor, but nothing prepared us for the eye opening case that we’ve got on Monday afternoon. Not to give it away for future students, it was a real treat, with professor expertly directing the discussion along the path for it to finally unfold into a beautiful story. The feeling most of my colleagues got was one of one of being a participant on an amazing journey. I personally, don’t think I will ever forget the lesson I’ve learned during that session. The four hour class flew by like a speeding train and at the end I was left yearning for more.

Tuesday we dove deeper into the actual process of learning with cases. And in the afternoon we came back to another leadership case discussion which expanded on leadership challenges that we’ve covered in the first class by providing new challenge situation.

Wednesday was another amazing class experience. We had a heated forum about Function of a Firm. The two speakers were Kevin O’Leary, founder of Softkey which in 1999 sold to Mattel for $3.7 billion, and his opponent Wade Oosterman, co-founder of Clearnet which was acquired in 2000 by Telus Corp. for 6.6Billion. It was unbelievable to have business people of such a high caliber answer our questions about importance of shareholder in a company and wealth creation in general.

The day continued with a warm welcome from Major and COO of City of London. Both of them talked about the important role Ivey is playing in community and later entertained our questions about business environmet in the city.

After a lunch break we had our first Career Management class with Lyn Purdy. This class places emphasis on helping us discover ourselves better with discussions around the reasons for choosing to pursue an MBA and particular career paths. We’ve also looked at a case of a person who followed traditional high earning jobs just to discover personal vacuum at the end.
I’m finding that case method is really effective in putting ourselves in somebody else’s shoes and trying to discover an effective decision for this situation. This particular Career Management case was also designed to help us think not only about the effective decision at that particular point but also to think through the decisions that would help us avoid ending up in the same situation of a personal “gridlock” in the future.

Thursday was a community action day. To illustrate the fact that Ivey not only talks about caring for community but also takes action when it comes to making positive community impact Ivey MBA studnets participate in Reforest London initiative.

Friday we had another special treat in form of a class with Dennis Shackel, an amazing communications guru recognized with multiple Teaching Awards. The communications class felt more like individual coaching session with professor helping each and everyone of us feel part of the discussion while helping us identify ways to communicate more effectively. Multiple times he engaged members of audience to drive his point home. The class experience felt really fluid, with Dennis pulling-in personal facts about class members from his memory and inviting students into the conversation.

The day concluded with presentation from Career Management group. Through the transition from two year to one year MBA format career management became much closer integrated within the curriculum. Director of Career Management group discussed the value that Executive Career Coaches play in the Ivey MBA experience and how their role differs from that played by a typical Career Councellor. We were also advised to take a more proactive approach to the career search and preparation through engaging in early conversations with Coaches/Relationship Managers responsible for our particular industry of interest.

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Leadership Quotes:

"Leadership is not a designated position...it's a phenomena. Leadership is....People following people because they want to...not because they have to." ~Larry Wilson

"Of all the biographies in the world, most deal with men who have talked themselves upwards. More than all of the scientists, writers, saints and doers combined...speakers have always ruled, and they will continue to rule. The smart thing is to join them." ~Bruce Barton, Advertising Legend

"If business is your game, don't be a dabbler. Find your passion, pick your game...and focus." ~Jack Welch, Chairman, General Electric

"I never worried about becoming a successful person. I wanted to be a significant person." ~Nido Qubein, Business Author/Consultant, Recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor

"In order to do something you've never done, you've got to be someone you've never been ." ~Les Brown

"If I went back to college again, I'd concentrate on two areas: learning to write and learning to speak before an audience. Nothing in life is more important than the ability to communicate effectively." ~Gerald R. Ford, Former President, U.S.A.

"The road to happiness lies in two simple principles: find what it is that interests you and that you can do well and when you find it put your whole soul into it - every bit of energy and ambition and natural ability you have." ~John D. Rockefeller III

"Formal education will make you a living, self-education will make you a fortune." ~ Jim Rohn

"I don't want to find myself in a nursing home someday thinking all I did was play it safe." ~Charlie Eitel, CEO Simmons Mattress

"The people who tell the stories rule society." ~Plato

"Champions aren't made in the gym. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them - a desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have last-minute stamina, they have to be a little faster, they have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than skill." ~Muhammad Ali

"Before you can inspire with emotion, you must be swamped with it yourself. Before you can move their tears, your own must flow. To convince them, you must yourself believe." ~Winston Churchill

Sunday, May 6, 2007

Ivey MBA + Kids

By: Amy Gibbons
Ivey MBA -May 2007 Cohort

Ivey Kids

While the Ivey Moms and Dads are busy, the Ivey kids can find lots to do in London. I asked my niece, Madeline (age 4), for all her favorite things to do in the city.

City of London Programs & Services
Information on parks, swimming pools, skating rinks, neighborhood day camps & community centers.

London Public Library
Check out the Kid’s Space on the London Public Library’s website for all programs and services.

London Children’s Museum

“Play together, learn together” is the museum’s motto. The museum is hands-on and interactive and focuses on the educational and social development of children from infancy through age twelve.

Storybook Gardens
The attractions at Storybook Gardens are designed to meet the specific needs of children from infancy to age twelve.

Adventures on Wonderland
“Adventures on Wonderland” is London's Largest Indoor Playground Facility for children 13 years old and under. They offer interactive, energetic play where kids can explore with their minds & bodies.

The Little Gym
Programs are targeted at children from infancy to age 12. Classes include: movement, music, gymnastics, sports, exercise, games, listening and cooperation.

Ivey Parents

This short list of parent resources reflects the recently expressed needs of students. If you are looking for other services, please feel free to contact me at AGibbons.MBA2008@ivey.ca.

London Children’s Connection
London Children's Connection is a non-profit, family-focused organization providing high quality child care/early education programs and related services for over 4000 children and their families in London and the surrounding area. The Children’s Connection can also help you find childcare facilities.

Western Day Care

Before & After School Programs
Contact you child’s school Principal for information about programs. Many schools offer these types of programs on site.

The London YMCA Child Care Services

The UCC Flexible Child Care
The UCC Flexible Child Care program offers drop-in child care on a per hour basis.

Friday, May 4, 2007

“The 10 Things I’ve Learned” – Advice to Incoming Ivey MBA Students

By: Lorraine Wong

Prepping for cases, attending learning team meetings, absorbing information at Career Management clinics… oh, and I almost forgot, going to class! A typical day in the life of an Ivey MBA student is a real test of time management skills. The first week back in a classroom was a big change for me, but overall, I found that the transition to life and school in London, Ontario has been relatively smooth. Of course, instantly gaining 67 new friends doesn’t hurt! To give you some insight into my Ivey experience in the last two months, I’ve put together a list of 10 things

I have learned:

1. Yes, Guinea Pigs
It was a bit risky, but we took a chance on joining the inaugural class of the new one-year MBA program. Given Ivey’s reputation as a leading business school, we are confident that the quality of the Ivey MBA would be maintained, if not improved. So far, so good.

2. Thinking Cross-Enterprise
The most engaging cases we have reviewed so far in class have been the ones that allow two or more instructors to take us through the various issues affecting one company. For example, the “IT” instructor does not only delve into specific IT issues, but also integrates aspects of leadership into the discussion.

3. Speak Up!
Participation in class discussions frequently count for at least 30% of your grade. That being said, contribution marks are awarded based on the quality of comments as opposed to quantity. Class is a “safe environment”, so we shouldn’t be afraid to speak up.

4. Teamwork
On the first day of class, we were assigned to learning teams that comprise 6 or 7 students from various backgrounds. In my team, there are two engineers, one IT consultant, an HR specialist, an investment banker and me (miscellaneous accounting and finance person). The different perspectives that each of us have really contribute to the lively discussions in our meetings, while our different skill sets allow us to rely on each other if we are weak in any specific areas.

5. “Work Hard, Play Hard!”
Various local establishments have benefited handsomely from our class. Every week, our schedules are packed not only with school-related events, but many social outings. Formally, there are two Social Reps who plan official events (this week, there’s a mini-golf tournament and a beach day). Informally, we frequently get together at local bars and restaurants, in addition to playing volleyball, basketball and golf.

6. Making Some Big Decisions
A one-year program means we have to make decisions fairly quickly on our post-MBA career path. Last week, our class went to Toronto where representatives from various companies held mock interviews and information sessions. Career Management did a great job of pulling everything together; now it’s up to us to narrow down our choices, research the available opportunities and begin preparing for interviews. Recruiting season begins in less than two months!

7. 24, no, 48 hours
The infamous 24-hour reports are truly a unique experience. Two weeks ago, my team was immersed in a case that was given out to us at 1:30pm on Wednesday. A written report was due at 3pm on Thursday; 5 hours later, the PowerPoint presentation slides were due! The next day, each team made a presentation to the Faculty and several executives from industry. To avoid losing sleep two nights in a row, our team developed a timeline/schedule and clarified the responsibilities of each team member.

8. “The Country Club”
Some of us have described the Spencer Leadership Centre as having a “country club” feel. Although I heard how fantastic the facilities are at Spencer, I did not fully appreciate it until I was sitting on the balcony of the lounge during the 24-hour report, looking out at the beautiful surroundings, on a much-needed break. There are beautiful lounges, new lockers, beach volley-ball pits, a basketball court, and a restaurant (much nicer than the cafeteria on main campus!). And on most days, you can see a gopher or rabbit on the grass!

9. Not Just Talking, but Communicating
A component of Module 1 focuses on the importance of communicating effectively. Watching videotapes of ourselves making presentations in front of the class, we quickly learned the importance of “planting”, moving our hands above the shoulder, and removing “filler words”.

10. Endurance is Key
Congratulations on making it to number 10! It’s easy to get worn out quickly in this intense program. There are many things going on simultaneously and sometimes it’s difficult to keep up. This experience is like a marathon, so I just try to pace myself and know that I can count on my classmates for support.

“This experience is really what you make of it.” I can tell you that this was repeated to us a few times in the first week of class, so I will be the first to pass this on to you. You may have heard this already in your past, but at Ivey, it really is turning out to be true. We only have a year together, so we have to make the most out of this experience!

Lorraine Wong
Ivey MBA Candidate, 2007

Monday, April 30, 2007

First day @ Ivey MBA

Today was the first day of Ivey Preparatory Knowledge Program (PKP). The MBA is finally starting to feel real.

I flew into London, Ontario around noon yesterday (April 29, 2007). Despite its small size London has its own airport, which is very convenient. My first surprise came as I boarded the direct Winnipeg - London flight to discover the plane surprisingly full. After getting into London and taking couple of minutes to unload my stuff at the Bed and Breakfast, I ventured out for the rest of the day exploring the neighborhood. So far, I’m left with a very favorable impression of London. The city definitely has a university town feel to it. Considering that there are 350,000 permanent residents in London and 60,000 seasonal students the city feels much larger than it is just by the shear number of young people that you see around the city. At least that’s my first impression. Starting in the summer MBA Cohort we get the unfortunate part of seeing the tale part of the student body (to my disappointment that also includes the better looking part of the student body) migrate back to the places of their permanent residency outside London, at least until September.

OK, now a little bit about the Ivey PKP program: it is designed to ease students back into the study routine while reinforcing the foundation of skills necessary to hit the ground running when the actual program starts. The PKP program consists of three modules, first four days are Quantitative Skills, the next two days we will live and breathe Economics, and the last three days focus on Accounting Skills. The classes run from 8am to 5pm with couple of breaks in-between. The 8 hours of classes a day will definitely take some getting used to. My second surprise came when a saw the number of people that are attending the PKP, according to the rough count there was 52 of us out of the class of 69. As the result, one of the bonuses of the PKP program is a chance to meet and work with majority of your classmates before the start of actual classes.

The material taught today consisted of a morning session which started to build on the fundamentals of statistics. For me that was a much appreciated refresher. The afternoon session dealt with modeling a case problem using MS Excel. We’ve learned number of Excel tricks that will most definitely come handy in couple of weeks when we will start analyzing actual cases.

With that in mind I’m off to doing my homework for tomorrow,

Till next time,

George

“MBA as a life for school, or school of life”

So here I am, sitting at yet another Starbucks in yet another city. But somehow this feels different… oh yes, I landed in London, Ontario this morning, the Preparatory Knowledge Program starts tomorrow, and the actual MBA program begins in two short weeks.

Let me start by explaining the meaning behind the opening statement. How does an MBA differ from any another graduate degree? MBA is designed to arm its graduates with a knowledge toolkit that will help the transition into the middle management positions. What its not, is another research based graduate degree. At its best, it’s a much more practical degree than anything else out there.

The majority of potential students look at an MBA as a program that will give them the skills necessary to contribute to their future success by helping to accelerate the career while contributing to their personal development. When researching programs I looked for a slightly different angle: a program that would provide me with a learning environment I would be totally immersed in, and hence become an accelerated school of life.

Why an MBA journal?
Before writing this journal I did a quick search of MBA students’ insights. Reading those insights, I came across a large number of amazing stories of accomplishment and luck. Unfortunately, there is a fine line between the motivational pull of high accomplishment and mildly discouraging push of overachievement. I will be absolutely honest, one of the main reasons for writing this journal is to share the fact that you don’t have to have a stellar past in order to get into a prestigous MBA program. For a lot of students the MBA becomes a life changing experience by helping them to realize their full potential.

I don’t think I would be doing anybody a favor if I used this journal to self-advertise. I’m writing this journal with the following goal in mind: share my MBA and pre-MBA experience to help future students with difficult decisions associated with committing to pursue an MBA. My hope is that this journal will at least partially alleviate anxiety associated with the whole MBA process.

Who am I?

I’m a strong believer in the fact that people are at least partially products of their past and it plays an important role in shaping our values and thinking.

With that in mind let me tell you a little bit about my own past. I was born and raised in Moscow, Russia. One of the most vivid memories of my younger years was tanks on the streets of Moscow in early 90’s during the days of “Putch” and enormous lineups of the “Prestroika” era. It was a period of a fundamental transformation for Russia from a Planning Communist economy to an Entrepreneurial Economy driven by opportunities. I remember starting my first business in Moscow in my early teens and seeing it grow rapidly in a short couple of months. I carry that experience with me as a fundamental lesson about taking advantage of an opportunity at a right time and right place.

I moved to Canada with my father in late 90’s. I earned my undergraduate degree from one of the provincial universities. In my undergraduate degree I majored in Computer Engineering and also took Business as a minor. One of the most valuable lessons that I took away from my undergraduate days was the fact that I get excited by challenges and I do my best learning through personal interaction.

Why MBA?
I view an MBA as a truly life changing experience. Like many of my colleagues, the primary goal of pursuing an MBA is the career enhancing aspect. And as the result I hope to gain a job in consulting. However, it would be too narrow to look at an MBA as only a career tool. MBA, much like a Swiss Army knife is so much more than it appears. And if you look at it as only a knife you would be missing out on the number of other significant aspects. For example, there are very few other opportunities out there to become a part of such a diverse network of business professionals. I’ve heard again and again how powerful those MBA alumni networks can be in both personal and professional respects. Moreover, the enormous challenge of an MBA that you put yourself through really helps one to discover new things about themselves. You also get to build a close relationship with your classmates that are all going to be in senior management positions in the next 10 years.

My path to an MBA started during the third year of my undergraduate degree. I started to realize that focusing on technology rendered a relatively narrow view of the word. Moreover, even though I did get good grades in technical courses they didn’t challenge or excite me. Through extensive research I realized that the MBA would be an extremely important tool to add to ensure future career success. The more I researched the MBA programs the more I became excited about it. With MBA I also found a direct relevance to my short and long-term career and personal goals.

Why Ivey?

I want to narrow down why I picked the Richard Ivey School of Business, based out of London, Ontario as the school of choice for my MBA program. It was quite an involved process, as you might have seen from my blogs on Business Week, so here I will give a condensed version of the journey that lead me to Ivey.

I started my search by identifying the main variables between different MBA programs and relating those back to why I decided to take an MBA in the first place. The frustrating part of the program search process spans from the fact that it’s a two way selection process, which is meant to ensure the closest fit between students and the MBA program. In retrospect, it not that different from a dating game, with students having to court the programs they are interested in and the programs trying to get the best students for their classes. As in any dating there’s lots of disappointment, anxiety and rejection, adjustment of expectations, and finally excitement of moving through the process and being accepted by the school of your choice.

After compiling the list of factors that I was looking for from an MBA program I tried to apply it to the group of selected MBA programs to try to narrow it down to a manageable size. I’ve started with a group of 20 schools and was able to narrow it down to five schools through extensive research. I followed with in-person visits to get a feeling for each school’s culture and to get an appreciation of value of a particular school.

The factors that attracted me to Ivey were that it definitely was one of the top business schools in the world. It is also only second to HBS in the number of cases produced. Another major factor that appealed to me about Ivey was program’s steady placement track record for the field of Management Consulting that I found immensely appealing. Moreover, students and alumni were giving the school their highest praise. The one year format is also a really attractive option, minimizing opportunity cost my saving a year of lost salaries and time away from work, while maximizing the use of living expenses.

What do I want YOU to take away from this journal?

I would like for this journal to become part of your MBA research toolkit. In particular, if you are considering top international schools outside US. I also know, based on my own experience, that GMAT+MBA Admissions can be experiences full of anxiety. I want you to feel at least a little bit less stressed out about the whole process. Each one of us is and individual with our own unique strengths and weaknesses and there is a program out there for each one of us that is a perfect “fit” for our background and goals.

Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions,
George

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Why Ivey?

by: Khalil (Kevin) J. Mouchantaf - MBA2008

When I first started researching schools, the Richard Ivey School of Business was not even on my list. However, after investigating MBA schools thoroughly, the Ivey MBA quickly rose to the top of the list.

I am a Canadian of Lebanese origin in my early 30’s. I am currently a practicing physician in Boston, US. However, over the course of my career I had become drawn to management. In addition, I was drawn to an international career. At this point in my life, an MBA makes the most sense in terms of helping me switch careers and aim for the international career. While my background is slightly different from most prospective MBA students, my aspirations were similar, I wanted to change one or all of the following: function, industry and country.

I researched and visited countless top MBA programs in the US, Canada and Europe. It was hard work to sift through the endless marketing campaigns which schools use. No wonder many students just decide to apply to a program based on reputation or rankings. I concluded that when comparing Canadian MBA programs to the ones in US, the ones in Canada have very solid and competitive curriculums but lack their counterpart’s full blown marketing machines. The latter was probably the reason why I had not heard of Ivey during my initial MBA research.

After visiting a number of US programs, I was disappointed with the low percentage of International students (around 30%), and the relatively sparse discussion of non-US businesses. I was also disappointed with the schools’ limited ability to place graduates globally, despite their powerful brands. Lastly, in today’s busy world the two year program is starting to became a less attractive option.

As a result, I started looking into European programs. Over the last couple of years, those programs have come a long way with their global reach. However, I found their respective curriculums uneven (in terms of balancing out the soft and hard skills) and placement outcomes inconsistent (each school has a reputation for focusing on one type of industry but not all three out of finance, consulting, and industry)

So what is so special about the Ivey MBA (in no particular order)?

1) Ivey’s revamped Cross-Enterprise Leadership curriculum putting increased emphases on both the soft and hard skills. The program uses the case method as a starting point, looking at each business as a complex matrix enterprise. Not to mention, that more than 35% of the cases are international. A lot of those cases are written by Ivey faculty, the second largest producer of cases after Harvard. Concerns about the case method not being best suited for teaching finance and accounting turned out to be not well founded, since a number of the Professors who teach using the case method are well published finance writers.

2) Ivey’s brilliant professors. During my class visit to Ivey, I had the chance to hear the new program director, Tony Frost. I was blown away by his assertion that the mission of the Ivey MBA is to “change our lives.” I also attended the finance case led by Professor Jim Hatch, an equally accomplished finance professor with significant experience in entrepreneurial and biotechnology finance.

3) Ivey’s admission’s office was by far the most personable and professional I had encountered. Unlike a certain top UK program, where I encountered dispassionate approach towards potential students, Ivey staff treated me respectfully. My first encounter with the admissions office was through sending my resume in order to get feedback about potential fit for the Ivey MBA. Following that, I had multiple phone conversations in order to learn more about the program. I was interviewed by a relationship manager from the career office which helped me jumpstart the process of thinking about a post MBA career. I also had a face to face interview with a member of the admissions’ committee. Everyone displayed utmost professionalism.

4) Ivey’s career placement office has come a long way in helping students locate their dream jobs, surpassing their Canadian peers. I hope they continue to do that and attract recruiters from more countries. Ivey boasts more than a 92% placement rate, with graduates entering very competitive fields, including I-banking and management consulting.

5) Ivey’s participants come from diverse backgrounds, are articulate, well accomplished, independent thinkers, self starters, and are future global leaders.

I can go on and on about my positive experience even before setting foot on campus. The above reasons sum up my decision to attend Ivey. If you were to ask me about the one negative so far, I would have to say, the school’s limited brand name, at least where I currently live in the Northeastern part of the United States. I hope this blog that George started will at least play a small role in getting the word out about our “hidden gem.”

Khalil (Kevin) J. Mouchantaf
Ivey MBA- Fall 2007 cohort

Monday, April 23, 2007

Globe and Mail - MBA articles

Here's a link to the "Lessons Learned" article by Richard Bloom, published in Globe and Mail on Friday, April 20, 2007. The article talks about the Schulich MBA program and tries to identify couple of the most important "focus points" for students in an MBA program:

- Choose teammates carefully
- Don't forget party time
- Find a mentor
- Never stop networking
- Don't be afraid to fail
- Take risks

---------------------------------------------------------
Another interesting G&M article: Report on MBA schools by Marjo Johne. This article identifies number of possible specializations for students pursuing an MBA in Canada.

Friday, April 20, 2007

10 days to Pre-MBA

The floodgates of information have been opened - we have been assigned our Ivey MBA email addresses. We have also been granted full access on the ezone (Ivey web portal). With loads of information including career related info and full access to such websites as Vault and Career Leader, its bound to keep you busy for countless hours.

The past couple of months flew by so fast that it still doesn't feel real that the pre-MBA program starts in 10 days. The only thing that reminds me of the big upcoming change in my life is the increasing number of both good bye lunches with co-workers and friends and correlated to that the number of Ivey information emails.

Networking @ Ivey

Ivey Network:

•18,000 alumni
•1 in 4 alumni are in a senior management position
•Global
•Loyal

How to Start the Conversation:

•Re-assess your goals and how this individual might help
•Research their background, their industry, the firm and, of course, their role
•Email to set up meeting time – short, concise and clear on what your goals are with the meeting
•Be prompt with “meeting” time
•Structure some solid questions around industry, firm, role that will help you feel confident, comfortable and get you real information (probing is expected)

Monday, April 16, 2007

Class stats - May '07 Cohort

Total number of students: 70
Percentage of female students: 17%
Percentage of Int'l students: 25%
Percentage of students born outside Canada: 52%

Of those who filled-in their career section, listed... :

50% - Consulting
25% - Finance
15% - Entrepreneurship
10% - Other

... as their area of interest.

Friday, April 13, 2007

Ready, Set, ...

Yet another week flew by, bringing me closer to the start of my MBA program. Two weeks left until the start of the Pre-MBA and four until the start of the actual program. I almost cannot believe that I’m about to start it. The torture of GMAT and the uncertainty of the application process still fresh in my mind.
Car is sold, student loans are lined up, and apartment is ready. I do have to say that it went much smother than I originally expected. Only two and a half months ago I was submitting my application to Ivey and anxiously awaiting the verdict. Then came the challenge of the interviews and the excitement of acceptance. So for the past two months I have been running around trying to balance finishing/handing off projects at work, getting though the project management courses that I decided to take for “fun” back in January, and getting things lined up for the MBA program.
To add a bit more excitement to the mix I’ve decided to email all of my future profs and ask for the book recommendations (some of which you can find in the right menu). Needless to say I sometimes wonder if employees at Starbucks ever get tired of me, I think by now they simply view me as a part of the store interior.
Now that I have a second to reflect on the past couple of moths, I realize that I’m about to open a new and exciting page in my life, the MBA for me is full of unlimited possibilities. At the same time I'm keeping in mind the fact that an MBA is not a silver bullet that will get you the dream job, but it’s an enabler that if used as prescribed will help your optimize your efforts to get that job. But non the less it brings me a step closer to realizing my goals.

Thursday, April 12, 2007

Ivey MBA Admissions questions

Email exchange between George Kesselman and Scott Walker (Director, MBA Recruiting & Admissions for Ivey MBA)

GK:
I want to pursue a career in Management Consulting. If I chose to go for the May07 intake, does that mean I have a lower chance to find a job after I finish in the spring '08?

SW: Actually, the May cohort is perfectly aligned for the consulting industry and you would be able to maximize your consulting opportunities in the May cohort.
[also true for the financial sector jobs]

GK: I'm applying to number of MBA programs and was wondering how long does the decision process take after the completed application is submitted to Ivey? Do you have any suggestions as far as coordinating the application process for multiple schools?

SW: Once we receive a competed application, your file is reviewed and a decision to move to the interview stage is made. Once the two admissions interviews are complete we are trying to get back to applicants within 3 to 4 weeks. So depending on your availability for the interviews, the entire process could take as little as 5 weeks although it could be as much as 8 weeks. Let us know if you have a specific time frame and we will do our best to work with you.

As far as coordinating your applications, I would only suggest that you keep them straight. We read every file and more than you would expect declare that some other school is the right one for them in our application. Don't try to copy the answers, even if the questions are similar between schools. It shows when someone has not taken the time to really think about their answers to the essay questions on the application.

I hope this was helpful. Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any further questions about the Ivey MBA program or the admissions process.

Warm regards,
Scott Walker
Director, MBA Recruiting & Admissions

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Thursday, April 5, 2007

MBA '07 Curriculum

Module1:
Developing Leadership Competencies (8 weeks)
Focus on the development of personal leadership competencies.

Module2:
Developing business skills and executing strategies (16 wks)
Examine an organization’s key structures and processes, and how they are aligned with strategy.

Module3:
Competing Successfully in a Global Environment (8 weeks)
Analyse how an enterprise can compete successfully in a global environment.

Module4:
Excelling Through Cross-Enterprise Leadership (12 weeks)
Electives in key sectors such as, investment banking, consulting, entrepreneurship, marketing, operations and the health sector.

Key Dates May 2007 Cohort

DATE

EVENT

Week of April 30th

Pre-Ivey Program

Week of May 14th

Orientation Week

Monday, May 21st

Victoria Day Holiday (Observed)

Week of May 21st

- Leading People and Organizations
- Making Decisions under Uncertainty
- Managing Your Career
- Communicating Effectively

Monday, June 25th

LPO Report

Tuesday, June 26th

- Managing Financial Resources
- Accounting and Control for Managers
- Designing and Executing Strategy

Monday, July 2nd

CANADA day (Observed)

Week of July 3rd

Career Management Industry Week (Toronto)

Monday September 3rd

Labour Day Holiday (Observed)

Tuesday, September 4th

Report

September 5th - 7th

Recruiting Trip Week (Optional)

Week of September 10th

Electives Period

Week of September 17th

Electives Period

Week of September 24th

Recruiting Prep Week (No Classes)

Week of October 1st

Global Environment of Business

Monday, October 8th

Thanksgiving Holiday (Observed)

Week of November 26th

Electives Period

Week of December 3rd

Electives Period

Week of December 10th

Electives Period

Week of December 17

International Trip (Optional)

Week of December 24th

UWO and Spencer Closed

December 31st – January 1st

UWO and Spencer Closed

January 2 - January4th

UWO and Spencer Reopen

Monday, January 7th, 2008

- Marketing Products and Services
- Managing Operations
- Leveraging Information Technology
- Ivey Consulting Project

Week of February 18th

Ivey Consulting Project Week

Week of March 10th

SABRE Marketing Simulation

February 5, 2007

Elective Period

February 28, 2007

Good Friday Holiday (Observed)

February 12 – April 3, 2007

Program Culmination

April 6, 2007

Convocation

April 18 – 20, 2007

China Teaching Project and LEADER Project