MBA Student blog about the life and times at the Asian Institute of Management
I'm proud to announce that ten of my classmates passed the very challenging Chartered Financial Analyst Level 1 exam last June. I heard the exam was very difficult that it makes the Financial Management exams a cake walk.:P
Here's the list of our finance whiz kids (in alphabetical order):
I attended a lecture of the AIM Policy Center's Energy Policy Series entitled "Shaping California's Energy Future: Protecting Economy and Environment" and the guest lecturer was Terrence O'Brien, Deputy Director of the California Energy Commission.
I attended the talk because energy is such a hot topic these days-- with the rising cost of fuel, the mad scramble to find the best alternative energy resource and its effects on the world economy and other markets. Mr. O'Brien gave an overview of the California government's initiatives in promoting "Green" energy, i.e. renewable energy and the specific programs the state governments are undertaking. There was also a discussion on what the Philippine government is doing in this front and members of the audience were given copies of the "Renewable Energy Act of 2008."
The talk was very informative and it raised issued of "food vs. fuel," or the use of land to cultivate the necessary plants for fuel in lieu of using the land for agriculture. As always, the ball is in the government's hands in terms of creating the balance between the two, assuming a clear-cut policy is used. I also learned some bad news: According to Mr. O'Brien, indicators point towards an increasing trend in fuel prices and there won't be significant price reductions in the horizon. Bad news indeed.
The lecture made me look forward to the next part in the series which would cover food and climate security amidst the challenges in energy.
Thanks to Kapil Dhar, I found the results of the QS TopMBA.com International Recruiter Survey 2007, in which the Asian Institute of Management ranked #11 in the Asia-Pacific business school list. Recruiters deemed AIM behind the likes of Insead Singapore, Melbourne Business School, AGSM, Macquarie (MGSM), CEIBS, NUS, Monash University, HKUST, IIM Bangalore, and the Nanyang Business School.
This find was pretty timely, considering that people in our MBA class are becoming more and more wary of placement-related activities. Of course, the results of the QS survey can be encouraging or discouraging, depending on how you look at it.
Last Friday, our New Products and Services Development (NPSD) class under Prof. Jay Bernardo went on a field trip to Corregidor Island as part of our opportunity seeking exercises. The objective of the trip was to have our NPSD groups think of a venture that can be successful in the island.
Thinking of a business in Corregidor Island is a bit of a challenge. It's basically a World War II ruins site with a rich military history-- the Battle of Corregidor was fought there and it was temporarily the seat of the Philippine government during the war. There are plenty of old bombed buildings, big guns and natural formations that has made Corregidor a viable tourist spot. Our group has meet briefly and we are considering an option that leverages on the island's location and very peaceful atmosphere.
Professor James Neelankavil will be having a talk here at the Asian Institute of Management about the Fortune 500 companies in a little while.
For those who are unfamiliar with Prof. Neelankavil, I got this little write-up from Ms. Eloisa Osabel from the Marketing department to give you an idea who the speaker is:
The Asian Institute of Management (AIM) is privileged to have Professor James Neelankavil as one of its distinguished faculty roster. He earned his AIM MBM degree with distinction on 1972. He later pursued his Doctorate Degree in Philosophy, major in International Business, minor in Marketing from Stern School of Business, New York University. Despite his accomplishments and international degrees that he completed, he appeals to be very simple. Yet, he exudes a dignified aura as an international educator.--
It was after his graduation in AIM when he was inspired by Dean Gabino Mendoza to start his teaching career. As he stated in the interview, his teaching career was developed by "serendipity, not by design." He joined the AIM faculty on 1973.
He became very interested in the field of International Business, a well-diversified discipline that includes study of economics, finance, management, marketing and operations. Even before "globalization" became a byword, he had the vision to develop internationally competent business leaders.
His teaching career is driven by his zeal to keep on learning new things. One of his sustained passions is to study the trends of the Fortune 500, and distinctly identify the key success factors that can drive the potential entrepreneurs.
He keeps himself updated and well informed with the trends and developments in the international business arena. His teaching philosophy is based on being always attuned to the level of each student. In each class, he makes sure that everyone achieves a valuable learning experience that will inspire them to be leaders in
their companies, and the world at large.
My group in my New Products and Services Development (NPSD) class organized a walking tour of Bindondo, the oldest Chinatown in the world. This little activity is actually part of the class to do something interesting, and at the same time, get some sparks of inspiration for starting a little venture. Our guide for the tour was Anson of Old Manila Walks.
Yesterday, we presented in our Self Mastery, Arts and Spirituality (SMARTS) class and my group focused on Buddhism and how its beliefs and teachings on spiriutality relate to modern theories on personality development. I found the topic very hard because (a) I don't know much about Buddhism and (b) I don't know much about psychology.
If you're wondering what an MBA student is doing in a class about psychology and spirituality, well that is what the SMARTS elective is all about-- exploring topics like self mastery, intuition and spirituality and relating it on how to become a better leader and a better person.
Going back to our yesterday's presentation: our group came from the perspective of giving the class a sort of like a primer on Buddhism and showing how it maps to some of the psychological models we discussed in our previous classes. I had the difficult task of presenting the psychology part and I must say my appreciation of my assignment was simplistic and it showed when I presented.
After our group finsihed presenting, our professor, Prof. Cecile Manikan, asked the class to grade our group in the open. Of course, I was expecting choruses of P or P- (For more information on the grading system in AIM, read this post.) given how I bungled a few questions, but to my surprise (and relief) the class was clamoring for an HP. Prof. Manikan commented that the class was starting the game of "You scratch my back, I'll scratch your back."
She then asked our group what grade we deserved. One of my group mates came up to the plate and said "D-" for the effort. I then told came and said I deserved a P- because I found the topic very hard and I felt that I was only able to scratch the surface of the topic I was assigned to, and I added that a few days of research can really give me a few insights on Buddhism and psychology, compared to actual Buddhist. (Now I'm asking myself what was I thinking at that moment.)
So Prof. Manikan recorded an HP (which was in between a D- and a P-) for our group.
Then the second group presented and did a fine job on presenting Sufism, the mystical branch of Islam. They were able to answer the questions adequately and went through the same process of being graded by the class. The class again trumpeted "HP" but then Prof. Manikan asked two people in the class and those two people said the second group did better than our group. Then Prof. Manikan asked for consistency as she wondered how can the second group get the same grade as ours when they did better. She commented that the process is a social negotiation, so feel free to say your piece. The result: the class settled for giving our group a downgrade of HP-.
During the whole negotiations part, I kept mum. Why? Because I kept thinking to myself: If I feel I deserve a P-, any grade higher would be a bonus. But then I realize that the "going rate" was pretty high anyways and I may be lowballing myself for thinking that way.
As I drove home, I still can't find a resolution to the what you deserve and what you ought to get.
I saw this post about the University of the Philippines, my college alma mater, originally from Pink Fever and I then realized that the article she cited was written by Prof. Maya Herrera, our professor in Financial Management 2 (FM2). I knew she was a fellow "Iskolar ng Bayan" (Scholar of the Country) but I did not know how much she valued the U.P. experience until I read what she wrote.
To cite a few lines from Prof. Herrera's article:
If you speak to anyone from UP – student, professor, alumnus - you will get no Latin slogans or apologies about how the school teaches values in spite of its outward materialism. This is not a student population that thinks about basketball games or memorizes school songs. This is not a school that chooses one statement to drill into the minds of its students.The full article, entitled Voyage, appeared first in Prof. Herrera's column in the Manila Standard Today last June 6, 2008.
This is not, of course, to say that UP does not care about values. It is that UP, in its own inimitable way, believes that values cannot be force-fed. The statue of the naked man that guards the entrance to the campus in Diliman best represents UP’s approach to all education and the respect for students that is the center of its educational philosophy. All who come to this university, regardless of origin, bring themselves naked, carrying nothing but their thirst; like the proverbial empty teacup, making an offering of self, waiting to be filled.
I chanced upon the graduation ceremonies of the 2008 Master in Development Management (MDM) class last Friday, July 11, 2008. (Thanks to my classmates Phuong Lan Vu and Me Ling!)
The event was held at the Asian Institute of Management Conference Center Manila (ACCM) and was highlighted by a keynote speech by Mr. Arsenio M. Balisacan, Ph.D, Director of the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA).
All the best and congratulations to the MDM Class of 2008!
(Note: This following article is part of the report that I submitted as requirement for my Action Consultancy. I posted my notes in a previous blog post.)
In the 1968, The Beatles went to India to learn the ways of Indian mysticism and what came out of that experience was the “White Album”—the LP that stretched the Beatles’ musical range the same way “Sgt. Pepper” did for them two years earlier. For The Beatles, the trip to India meant evolution.
Forty years later, I go to India for my Action Consultancy (AC) and experienced things that had a similar effect on The Beatles—I learned about new things in business and culture, and my worldview expanded dramatically.
What did I learn from my Action Consultancy stint? I could classify my learnings into four main areas: (1) Infosys as an organization, (2) Indian bureaucracy, (3) innovation in the enterprise and (4) international culture.
Infosys as an Organization
For starters, I learned about the company I worked with—Infosys Technologies, Ltd. Prior to going to India, I did not know much about Infosys. I knew about it from one of the cases we had and that was it—Infosys was an Indian company that grew along with India’s IT boom in the 1990’s. But after going though with my AC, Infosys was more than just a company we discussed in the case room. I learned about its history, business units and values hands-on and I also got to know what the company was all about.
Infosys is one of India’s well-respected companies because the Indian people see Infosys’ success story as a national success story— people’s lives improved as Infosys grew. Its longest serving CEO, N.R. Narayana Murthy, is an admired public figure, more like a likable version of Bill Gates of Microsoft. Indians saw working for Infosys a big deal— I heard of a joke that once a store owner knew a customer was working for Infosys, he’s raise the prices by 25%. It was that much of a deal to the Indians.
Speaking of employees, the Infoscions (as the Infosys employees would call themselves) are very competent bunch who are very open to collaboration. I observed how evident the peaks and valleys of work is in Infosys—people are generally in a relaxed mode (as demonstrated by the number of people lounging in the food courts and the ubiquitous Café Coffee Day) but have no qualms in putting in hours and hours during crunch time. The people I was able to work with could get quite overly meticulous about certain matters but they are also very open to asking for help from others. They also take pride in being affiliated with Infosys and consider themselves well taken care of by the company.
However, Infosys high reputation still primarily stayed where it started—in India. Outside of the subcontinent, Infosys is seen solely as an Indian phenomenon. I seriously believe that this is the reason the company has advocated the importance of being more “global” as it grows. In my stay in the Infosys headquarters in Bangalore, I saw the tremendous effort the company is making in trumpeting the “Flat World” (from Thomas L. Friedman’s book “The World is Flat”) as a means to instill a global mindset to its employees and highlight the importance of being a global company, rather than an Indian company.
I also think that the campuses scattered around 13 cities in India are signs that Infosys wants to prove something to the world. The campuses (termed as Development Centers or DC’s) are places that seem to be larger than life. I was able to visit two campuses (the HQ in Bangalore and Mysore) they were just awesome. I personally think the Mysore DC is the corporate version of Disneyland, with buildings drawing inspiration from the Parthenon to a Spanish villa to a modern glass orb. If the DC’s are meant to impress clients, I think they will get the job done. But a city planner or an architect may have differing opinions about the DC’s.
Infosys stands out in India because it is situated in an irony—the DC’s are well-maintained, clean, and complete with landscaping, but take a step outside the gates and you will see the opposite. I often wonder how the organization deals with India and all its flaws of poverty, government inefficiency, and poor infrastructure.
Indian Bureaucracy
I experienced first hand how bureaucratic India is in processing my papers at the Foreigners Registration Office. The person who helped me get my papers done was a hard-worker who had to slug it out with the Indian bureaucracy. I guess people here are already used to the molasses-like movement of government agencies and red tape. I observed that people give a big fuss about semantics and have mindset that is more inclined to hamper the movement of documents than to facilitate it.
To a certain extent, Infosys is not completely spared from this bureaucratic mindset. The company plays the bureaucracy game with the government, the banks and even suffering from certain inefficiencies internally. Perhaps Infosys has grown too big for its own good on some of its units.
Innovation in the Enterprise
My project provided me with new insights on innovation and how to manage it in a very big organization like Infosys.
When I came to Infosys, I though my project was a totally new initiative that the folks from the Innovation Lab cooked up. But only after one meeting, I learned that the company had started to systematize its innovation processes, but fragmented into different units. The project’s grand vision is to integrate all the innovation activities into one universal platform for all business units.
This enterprise-level way of innovating is truly challenging for an enterprise like Infosys because of the sheer size of the company. To illustrate, imagine a very good idea from the Facilities unit that could be very useful for Finance. Someone from Facilities will field the idea into the Innovation platform and someone from Marketing will take notice and link the idea to the people in Finance, with or without going through the traditional brainstorming process. On paper, it’s a wonder, but the real challenge lies in the implementation.
Another key issue is the aspect of Intellectual Property (IP). Given that good ideas and very good ideas will be floating around the organization, who gets credit? Also, this presents another challenge of patenting and commercialization. The idea of exploiting ideas brought about by massive collaboration would have to go through some deal of moderation and filtering, as well as organizational processes to make it work. But I still believe that IT will be playing a key role in making the innovating the whole innovation process itself, as Infosys is betting.
International Culture
I thought that I already have a good exposure to foreign culture with my interaction with my classmates in AIM for eight months, but I truly appreciated how “big” and diverse the world is with my stint in Infosys.
Apart from my exposure to Indian culture by living in Bangalore for two months, I also got to meet other international students who are part of Infosys’ InStep Internship program. I met undergraduate and graduate students from China, France, Germany, Morocco, Vietnam, South Korea and the United States, to mention a few and the interactions with them had been very, very enriching.
I was able to build friendships and connections with them and know more about their respective cultures beyond the stereotypes media has been perpetuating. The same way, I guess I was able to debunk some of the stereotypes about Filipinos my co-interns carried before. (I found out that people are generally surprised I could communicate very well in English.) I also was inspired to be more of a ”person to the world” by learning new languages, appreciating sites and locations, and being more tolerant of things different to me. As far as the “feel-good” aspect of the AC goes, I found it in the relationships I forged with the people in InStep.
Work culture in Infosys is very different from the rosy situation I experienced outside. Indians are pretty direct and would come of as mean if people didn’t know them. I also observed they argue a lot during meetings. But thing I liked about working with Indians is the fact that they are very open to ideas and are open to listening to suggestions from all sources, even interns. I felt pretty lost in my first couple of weeks but fortunately, the coordinators of the InStep program are very friendly and accommodating and they were able to guide me in my transition.
Conclusion
In my MBA studies so far, I have found my Action Consultancy stint one of the most fulfilling and enriching experiences. I got to know new cultures, learned about big business and applied the skills and knowledge I have learned inside the case room. I would say that my eight months in dealing with my classmates and discussing classes helped me perform very well in my AC project.
The Beatles sang new songs after their sojourn in India in the 1960’s. Forty years later, I also find myself singing a different tune after my Action Consultancy stint in India.
Last Tuesday, the WSGSB staff threw a BeerPub for the MBA and MM students. A BeerPub is a get-together of the students, faculty and staff over nice food and, well, beer. The BeerPub served as a welcome to our batch who just came from our Action Consultancy (AC) period and I think it was a good way for the students from the different programs and batches to hob-nob and relax. The evening was livened up by karaoke and some dancing by the indefatigable Bok Lamayan and Neil Risos.
Our Financial Management 2 (FM2) professors (Prof. Maya Herrera, Prof. Gary Olivar, and Prof. Grace Ugut) were kind enough to give us MBA folks a chance to improve our FM2 grades from our core subjects term. Only a "select" few were invited to take the exam (obviously, I got an invite) and I guess the exam was motivated to make our Asian Institute of Management transcripts look spiffier. :)
The exam was three and a half hours long and it covered the three major areas of the subject-- Fixed Income Derivatives, Project Finance and Risk Management. We were advised to bring only a four function calculator. You read that correct: four function calculator. Imagine a high level finance exam where we're using only the four main arithmetic functions. It's analogous to going to war against the United States with just slingshots and water guns.
Here are some choice quotes from the people on their thoughts on the exam:
"Bullsh*t"- Anonymous"
"Terrible waste of my time. They are enjoying what they are doing to us too much." - Anonymous
"Perfect... perfectly failed" - Starrie Sun
"I have nothing to say about the exam." - Anonymous
"The exam is their attempt to justify that the people deserved their original grades.They made damn sure they are THE finance gods." - AnonymousThe only saving grace from this exam is that your grade won't go down if did poorly in this exam.
Question: What happens when you start writing paper two weeks ahead of the deadline?
Answer: You start with ideas and then get stalled for all the smallest of reasons.
This is the case as I am writing my report on my recently concluded eight-week Action Consultancy (AC) with Infosys. The paper is due next week Friday and as early as Monday, I started writing it. So now, I'm still not finished.Well, I've finished the more objective parts of the paper, such as information about my projects and tasks, but I seem to have a hard time writing the subjective part, which covers my learnings and a few observations.
While I planned to write the reflection part in this blog as it would appear in the paper, I figured writing some notes here in bullets would aid me in my writing. So here goes, some my learnings from my AC in random bullet points:
Regnard Raquedan - Regnard finished his MBA at the Asian Institute of Management and is now teaching internet marketing there
Francis San Luis - Francis is an MBA student and blogs at The AIM Student Life
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