Back for P2 and an all-too-short break...

Well, here I am...just 5 days after P1 got over, back in the library trying to sort through the amount of reading to be done for the Marketing class tomorrow.

Having said that, my first impression of P2 is that the intense theoretical concepts may not be as much as was the case in P1. Rather, there will be a lot more group work and assignments. Only time will tell...

All in all, while the break was relaxing, the opinion all round is that it was too short. Well...

We're done with P1!

We're done with P1! The exams got over today and the passage of Period-1 seems like the proverbial blink of an eye! Deeper introspection, however, tells me that these have been two amazing months.

I have met so many interesting people and the diversity in INSEAD continues to amaze me everyday. Really! One can get a little tired of hearing this, but if you remain objective and open to new experiences, you learn so much by just talking to people! And put together 153 people building on this, the effect is exponential!

Just as the last exam got over today, the social "reps" of our class (regular students like me) did a great job in arranging for a party right outside class. You could see the stress lifting off everyone's shoulders, bidding us a forlorn farewell alongwith a secret promise to return in 2 months ;)

Yes, I use the word stress intentionally because I have to fact it, the last few days have seemed like an eternity and have been stressful. Many of us had tucked the experience of exams away into the deep archives of our minds...never again to be re-lived. So, this week was an awakening.

The exams were tough overall, but I think I should pass them all. We've got wagers running on who's going to make it to the Dean's list: the "geeky" lot to the cynics amongs us, but really a bunch of very smart individuals in my book - top of the class. It will take something to make it to the Dean's list here and I tip my hat to the lot that does. I, in the meantime, rest safely in the knowledge that I stand nigh a chance to influnce that outcome. Then again, old habits die hard.

Period end party is in just over half an hour, so I gotta run. See you all in P2!

4 down, 1 pain-staking more to go...

Well, thats 4 of the 5 exams done...as of 43 minutes ago. What can I say? Crashed and burned in Prices & Markets and Finance. Accounting went OK...as did LPG. But then again, with the system of relative grading in place, you really never know how you've done.

Some of the stories coming out of the P4s is scary, even if you DO take it with a spoonful of salt. Appears to be a negative correlation between one's performance and one's eventual grade...particularly with varying means and standard deviations forming the grading Z-curve. Speaking of which...Statistics is the final exam tomorrow and I reckon I better read up a bit...lest it goes the way of P&M.

Tomorrow at this time...AH!

We got "PUSHANed" !

All right, my Prices & Markets prof, Pushan DUTT is turning out to be one of the most interesting, dynamic professors I have ever studied with. Helps that the man knows his stuff too.

To illustrate my point, he came to class yesterday, a little "drug-abused" (the legal ones of course, as he wasted no time in informing us). But its not just the things he says...I have seen my fair share of pretenders. The man relates his innuendos with the flow of the class brilliantly!

For those who aren't aware, he comes across as a typical bread-to-the-bone Calcuttan. Calcutta is a city in India and he exhibits several traits typical of Calcuttans. High intellect, chain-smoker, an obsession with economics and economists...I could go on.

Consider some of his recent comments in class...

1. "My 6-month old daughter has 2 toys in her hand and still tries to pick up a third one. I dissuade her by explaining the opportunity costs of going for the third toy -- she loses the first one."

2. "Porn is an extremely interesting industry for economists to study (Yeah right!)"

3. "Game theory is a hammer and the whole world is shiny brass nail"

4. "I hate Microsoft. Don't ever piss them off though. They will stemroll you over."

And my personal favourite...

5. "Computers don't have big, ugly levers banging on the screen the way typewriters did. But if you do see them, you need to think about smoking something else!"

Good stuff ! I'm gonna feel bad once his last class is over...

Karaoke night...

A few of us went out for a night of karaoke last week. The outing had been on the cards for a while and there was more than a level of expectancy for many of us.

The place was called K-box, located bang in the center of downtown S'pore. I arrived with a couple of friends while the rest of the gang had already settled in. I must admit, when I first entered the place, I thought I was in the confines of one of S'pore's several dodgy bars. Dark, dungeoneque and a trifle decadent. See, I have been to karaoke bars in the US and they look very different...you have a corner for yourself, sure...but here, you got an entire room to yourself.

At first, I thought it was rather cut-off...but there was a coziness about the place that began to grow on all of us as time went by. Apart from my friends, there were a couple of tourists as well: a New Zealander named Richard who sang just like the Bee Gees front-man and looked a lot like someone I still haven't put my finger on. Damn, I hate when that happens. Anyway, we walk in and everyone was sitting there slightly purplexed as this guy was screaming out a song in Mandarin. Others were still trying to figure out how to use the remote.


The party then really kicked off with the ladies offering their rendition of an old "No Doubt" number. Stamatia, Laura and Shirine really let it rip and got things moving for the night. Ricard and I took turns with a couple of numbers and things were really flowing. After a while, someone realised that a few of the guys had been really quiet. So, Wajih was pulled out of the comfortable cocoon of his couch and thrown to the deep end. Only problem: once there, we had to kinda work hard to get him back! He just sang and sang and sang. To make things worse, our friend Kunal had this strage inkling that Wajih needed help with the song (Yeah right!). It was great stuff though. And since this is also Aussie-Kiwi week, I'll just say: Good on ya mates!


Satnam had also been conspicuously quiet, particularly since we are rather accustomed to his baritone voice constantly harping :-) All that changed once the G N' R number "Sweet Child O' Mine" came. Man, the guy went ballistic...just remember to keep the microphone close to your mouth next time mate. No, but he was awesome.

Amit had been harping all night about a song called "Can't touch this"...come to think about it, he's been saying that to me ever since I met him. What the hell? Do I look queer? So, anyway, when the song finally arrived, it was his turn to take the stage...and a great job he did too. Kyu had been kinda quiet all night as well, but he found his liking with U2's "With or Without You". I had the mike in my hand and the dude kept tugging at it! Awww, but we throated that soung out together. Great stuff !

Meanwhile, the resident metal-head, Gerritt, seemed a little disgusted by all the "happy shit" he saw around him! "Give 'em some Black Sabbath man", is all he kept saying. And congenial as we were, "Paranoid" was duly played.

Finally, things marooned to a fever pitch with a string of songs that everyone, to a man/woman, related to. We all kinda huddled together and sang a flurry of numbers together. In all, great stuff and great memories! On a parting note, since many of these friends are also currently running for Student Council elections, I wish them the very best. The pitch and your overall presentation today was awesome guys! Let the good times roll...

P1 coming to an end and a time for reflection...

In less than two weeks from now, we face the finals of our first of five periods. As always, I remain perpetually amazed at the ability of time to fly by. Does seem like just yesterday that I had arrived at INSEAD, gotten introduced to my groupmates...

How do I look at these first 6 weeks? Tough one. From a coursework point of view, after being virtually crushed by the workload in the first few weeks, things have eased up a bit now in terms of the pace of the coursework. Then again, the finals are around the corner.

For many of my classmates, this period has been a breeze. Not surprising, considering their backgrounds...investment bankers, management consultants. For me, while the course has not been very tough, the sheer pace and volume of material presented in class has been challenging. The good point is that I have learnt a lot, both from the coursework and my classmates. And the experience has been nearly everything I had expected.

That said, there has been no time at all to reflect and allow the knowledge to sink in. And I get a feeling that business education requires a significant amount of reflection. As an example, I think I need to come out with a set of "take-aways" from each of the five courses. Perhaps I will get aound to this eventually. I see this as a potential disadvantage of a 1-year MBA...although professionals with a good depth of prior experience should be able to get nearly as much out of such a program as with a conventional 2-year program.

Well, random thoughts...penned down in the midst of a "Leading People & Groups" class where we are beating to death a case about whether a fictional company should launch a shampoo that is a POTENTIAL health rish. Except that the case is not trivial at all...and as I am writing this, there is a very sensitive issue that is being debated. More about this in my next post...which I already know I am gonna enjoy talking about!

Games end in a damp squib...

Well, so much for the Games! What a dud of an end...

Last week saw us engaging in a set of 4 "games". Laid out in the Microeconomics charter, these pertained to the "Game Theory" I had talked about briefly in an earlier entry.

Essentially, Strategic thinking, wherein you base your every move after analysing your opponent's reaction three steps ahead! Both parties attempt to arrive at a "Nash equilibrium", or a mutually beneficial state of affairs. If this sounds eclectic, think of the movie "Beautiful Mind", starring Russell Crowe. He played the character of a brilliant, schizophrenic matematician named John Nash.

The games were meant to be played in a spirit of implicit collusion between the Singapore campus, the France INSEAD campus and the folks at Wharton. In other words, while you cannot explicitly indicate your strategy to your opponent, you both agree to maximze cumulative profits.

Except that someone (and we all suspect them Wharton guys), looked to only maximize their own profits and most S'pore teams got smashed. Of course, this was only the first round...we were all set to jump right back when the games were called off. Too bad...

Of anecdotes and their effectivenes...

Here's an anecdote one of my professors shared in class on Friday to make a larger point about a concept called Gaming Theory; effectively strategizing. I promise you, its worth reading!

Two B-school students have an exam Monday morning. They study hard all weekend and Sunday night comes along. They decide to go out for a drink, end up stone-drunk, hit the sack at 7 am and sleep through most of Monday. Realising they have missed the exam, they approach the professor on Tuesday with the story that they drove out far from the city and ended up with a flat tire.

They couldn't get back to school in time and plead with the professor to allow them a re-take. The professor agrees. In the re-take exam, the first question is pricing policy related and both students negotiate this quickly. Emboldened, they move onto the next question which is worth the remainder of the test! The question states rather simply: "Which tire?!!!"

The students end up giving different answer and the cover is blown.

The larger point of course, was to illustrate the utility of concepts that followed this narration. Concepts that many of us will now remember well for quite a while to come. Way to go, Prof. Dutt! This memory is filed into storage...