A Day in the Life

The Cranfield Australian Alumni recently held their annual meeting, keynote presentation, dinner and award presentation for the 2015 CAASF Scholar.  Twelve short months ago I was at that event, thoroughly (though unnecessarily) intimidated by the personalities, reputations and achievements within the room.  So much has happened since then!

At any rate, I put together a short video "hello" for the Australian Alumni, and I thought I'd share it here.  If you enjoy bad costuming, poor acting, and continuity editing errors, then this could be right up your alley!

The Great Globalisation

Lo siento, yo no hablo español.

Term 2 is complete - fin!  Finance projected, ethics pondered, people management mastered (to no degree whatsoever), and the macro economy hypothesised.  Macroeconomics was my favourite part of the course so far - a massive highlight.  I would have called myself an “economics enthusiast” prior, but now have a much fuller understanding - my news reading will be all the richer for it.  Cue a shameless plug for Cranfield’s recent rating among global MBA’s for economics - 2nd in the world, ahead of big like guns Harvard, Yale, Oxford and LBS.  But the purpose of this blog is not to talk about Keynesianism, Monetarism or the circular economy, so I’ll drop those terms and leave them there.

Now it just so happens that I’m en route from Seville (Spain) to Lisbon (Portugal).   An international trip is a pretty big deal for most Australians, probably more so than your average nationality.  And despite a preference for presenting a nonchalant, self-possessed aura of cool, under the surface I’m no exception.  International travel is amazing!  So what better time to focus on the internationality of the Cranfield MBA.

How international are we?  Well the cohort is an obvious place to start.  We are comprised of something like the following.

12 Indians

8 Russians

1 Portuguese

2 Lebanese

2 Turks

1 Cypriot

5 Chileans

4 Nigerians

1 Zimbabwean

1 Egyptian

1 Pakistani

1 Chinese (sadly under-represented)

1 American (gladly under-represented)

1 Japanese

1 Australian

1 New Zealander

1 Thai

1 South Korean

1 Colombian

1 Venezuelan

1 Uruguayan

2 Indonesians

8 Brits (who relentlessly fight for a more specific designation, usually one that explicitly excludes Wales)

Of course, I don’t really have anything against Americans.  It’s just fun to have a go at our one, Ben:

Then besides the cohort, there’s the teaching.  An Englishman, an Irishman, an Italian, an American, an Indian, a Nigerian and a German all walked into a lecture room…  That might sound like the start of a long winded joke, but in our case that’s the start of Strategy, Macroeconomics, Finance, Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Accounting and Human Resources, respectively.  

And now the real sales pitch: the travel opportunities….  Living in the UK is something of a right of passage for Australians, and it’s well documented that it gives unprecedented access to amazing travel opportunities.  I won’t labour the point too much, but Chloe and I have spent weekends in St Albans, London, Stratford Upon Avon (Shakespeare), Bletchley Park (Alan Turing and the enigma code cracking), Oxford and Cambridge.  Head outside the UK and things just get better!  We’re in Portugal now and were in Spain yesterday.  Over Christmas we got to Prague and Vienna.  We head to Paris in May for a sort of MBA olympics.  In June I head to Zambia as part of the MBA, while others head to Sri Lanka, China or Japan.  Then in September it’s back to Australia (briefly).

And I’m still not quite done.  We also have optional Spanish and French classes for people keen on learning a second, third, or nth language.  I now regret giving up Spanish classes in Term 1 due to workload.  Still, with a bit of practice I can rally enough amateur Spanish to get myself into trouble.  “¡Buenos dias, señor!  Un jamòn y niño emparedados, con una botella de vino Rio Tinto, por favor.”

Adios, mujers y hombres.

~ Craig

Kitto Model of MBA Infographics

*Niche Humour Warning*

Wow.  This is exciting.  After a lot of inspiration over the last 4 months, I shall right now share with you my first original thought-leading work in the field of strategy and business.  I'm excited for both of us.

For me, there's the prestige, the book publishing deal, the subsequent book award ceremonies, the book signing events, the inevitable speaking circuit, the honorary degrees, the Time magazine cover, and the whispers of certain Swedish prize named after a certain Swedish Alfred.

And for you?  There's the thrill of having the inside scoop on the next generation, nay, Paradigm, of thought.  You'll recognise this thrill if you happened to read The Life of Pi before it was a movie.  Or if you had a beard prior to 2011.  Or if you liked Mark Ronson before Uptown Funk.  Or if you still like Radiohead.  You're ahead of the curve.  You have Cultural Capital.

And here it is...

The Kitto Model of MBA Infographics

Some critics of the Kitto model have pointed out that a 2 x 2 Matrix contains, by definition, 2 variables - no more and no less.  To such criticisms I reply:

"You're smart, and you have a keen eye.  But we're not in engineering school anymore, buddy.  If you're issue has more than two parameters, you're just not doing it right."

Let me explain via the BCG Matrix, one of the most traditional 2x2's (yes, they can be abbreviated thus).  If we're entering unfamiliar waters now, Wikipedia or your local MBA-administering institute of higher education can help.  With the BCG Matrix we find Relative Market Share on the x-axis (horizontal), and Market Growth on the y-axis (vertical).  Two parameters.  A 2 x 2 matrix.  A perfect fit for the Kitto Model.

But what is the BCG Matrix really considering?  Let's dig deeper.

Relative Market Share
 - Current product revenue
 - Total cash sales of all competing products

Market Growth
 - Past performance
 - Current economic climate
 - Future economic climate
 - Customer preferences
 - Any effects of technological change
 - Personal intuition
 - Any number of other factors...

Now occasionally the 2 x 2 can break down.  Luckily, in these instances we have the line graphs of Micro- and Macro-economics to fall back onto.  And if we're really stuck, Porter's 5 Forces can at least provide a credible framework from which to admit defeat.

So there you have it.  See you on the other side of fame.

~ Craig

Filling Some Blanks

Aaaaaaah Christmas.  You wonderful, magical holiday.  This year, gone is the family, heat, cricket, beach, prawns, and paradoxical winter paraphernalia of an Australian Christmas.  Here are the friends, snow, European getaways, mulled wine, shrimp and fireplace-warming reality of a UK Christmas.

And thus Term 1 has ended.  Amazing.  While I rest on the couch, having reacquainted myself with leisure reading and exercise, it occurs to me there are a few things I’ve failed to properly document over the last 12 weeks.  With time now on my side, I’ll try to fill in a couple of the blanks.

Two short weeks ago our heads were glued to textbooks.  When they weren’t, our hands were glued to our pens, and our pens to our exam papers.  The glue didn’t help.  At all.  

To what was our attention affixed?  Here are a few highlights.

Accounting

A traditional MBA foe.  More difficult, yet much more interesting, than it’s often credited (or debited).  With a steely determination and a dextrous calculator hand, we balanced balance sheets, reported income, stated cash flows, documented variances, priced transfers, and ratio’ed ratios.

Decision Making and Data Analytics

We waxed lyrical about multiple and serial regression.  We formed and subsequently rejected null hypotheses with a scientific level of pragmatism.  Over the break I read Freakonomics, which is probably the absolute perfect epilogue to both this subject and:

Economics of Organisations and Strategy

Hawks.  Doves.  Lines, curves, axes.  Within these runes are a clear articulation of supply and demand, of elasticity and marginal cost, of predatory and limit pricing.  A subject fit for Hermione Granger herself.  (Over the break I also read the final Harry Potter, and I would appreciate the withholding of judgement.)  Some formal learning in economics was one of the major things I was looking forward to about studying an MBA, and it didn't disappoint.

Other Highlights

 - Negotiating venture capital agreements with real start-up companies,
 - Creating a marketing plan for launching Premier Inn in Australia (featuring Karl and Susan Kennedy from Neighbours),
 - Turning our study group’s idea for a household inventory management system (patent pending) into a detailed business plan,
 - Placing 3rd with Frank, Aya and Ben at the European final of the AT Kearney Global Prize (picture below), and
 - The workload.  While not an academic topic in itself, this one aspect has been the most defining part of the experience, and deserves a bit more explanation.

The Workload

The last post was about a WAC - an original Cranfield form of assessment over 24 hours.  Fortunately, we only get two of those a term.  So a normal day is presumably a bit more manageable, right?  Well, no, actually.

An average day (for me) starts on campus at 7:30AM with a learning team meeting.  Here we discuss the case studies and readings that form the pre-work for the morning’s lectures.  Those lectures typically run from 8:30AM to 12:45PM, and generally are more discussion-focussed than formative.  Hence the need for pre-work.

In the afternoon there is typically an extra curricular activity (coaching, careers events, guest speakers, etc) for a few hours.  Squashed around this, the afternoon/evening needs to be spent on preparing for the following day’s lectures - reading course material and case studies, discussing in study groups, etc.

Then there’s assessment work.  This gets shoe-horned somewhere in amongst simply ‘keeping up’.

All considered, my routine (and it’s different for others) generally sees me packing up around midnight.  I live off campus, so have a brief drive home before starting again the following morning.  The reality is, there could be another 6 hours in the day and I probably still wouldn’t get everything ‘properly’ done.  Needless to say, managing self and workload is vital.

Now, all of that varies day to day, but that would be an average day for me in Term 1.  I’m aware some of my colleagues put in less time (i.e. they are likely smarter than myself), while others put in more time (i.e. they are presumably more diligent than myself).

Yes, it’s intense.  Seriously intense.  BUT, it’s amazing!  When the alarm goes off in the morning I’m pumped for another day.  And as my Christmas break winds down, I’m impatiently awaiting the beginning of Term 2.

Hope you’ve had a great Christmas, and a happy new year.  Cheers to 2015!

~ Craig

The Good, the WAC, and the Ugly

Sure, I probably said last blog that I’d dedicate this post to a discussion of our timetable.  But I can do that any time.  Today is a special day, and I thought it would be a great opportunity to provide some direct insight into a Cranfield mainstay:

The WAC

The WAC (Written Assessment of Case) is essentially a 24hr assignment, handed out 4PM Friday afternoon and due 4PM Saturday afternoon.  It’s an achievable 1500 words (excluding appendices), but the biggest challenge seems to be in coming up with valuable insight, keeping under the word limit, and collating meaningful appendices.  The WAC’s reputation precedes it - I’d heard plenty about it before arriving here.

With that short introduction, I’ll attempt to give you a quick hourly update over the next 24 hrs.  Wish me luck!

1530

3:30PM Friday afternoon.  We receive the WAC in 30mins.  Work on other topics started this morning at 0730 after a late night, so things aren’t optimal.  For the next 24 hrs I’ll be relying on my years of studying Strategic Coffee Consumption in the Global Business Environment (SCC).  I hope to gain a professorship on that topic in later life.

With 30mins to go I’ll quickly brush up on cash flow statements, ratio analysis and variance analysis.

1600

WAC received.  Topic = consideration of hostile takeover of GSK by KKR (both are major pharmaceutical companies).  Report required for CEO and board of KKR, analysing 2013 annual report of GSK and financial statements.

Our team has split up for 60mins to read the case material.

1500

Still reading.  Annual reports are long...

1800

Team has regathered, had a few clarifying questions, tried to fumble out some meaningful insights, but did more fumbling than 'insight'ing. Will start calculating all the ratios we can think of, because that seems the logical thing to do.

1900

Team has preliminary values for most fundamental ratios. A couple of points to clarify. All off now for stream meeting to discuss with 31 stream mates. Hoping to corner the accountants in our class for help.  Will either bribe or threaten them... Haven't studied Negotiations yet...

2000

Reasonably successful stream meeting. Haven't shared notes with everyone, but clarified a few technicalities, got a couple of ideas for additional insights, and verified that we're not too far off the money.

2100

Separated into groups. Gary and Ranjit clarifying ratios and compiling calcs. Craig, Anuradha and Michel working on appendices - showing working of ratios and citing assumptions.

2200

Tensions rising. Some members' work more complete than others (probably due to workload, but objectivity lost at this stage), and wanting to move on. Some members unwell, and a level of snappiness has set in.

2300

Team review of final calcs complete. Not necessarily complete team cohesion. More work required on presentation of calcs for appendices, but generally all happy(ish) with the numbers.

0000

Calling it a night. Remaining appendix work split up. Some more numbers / formatting work to do in the morning, but suffering from a late night the previous night.  Driving home to bed.

0100

Took some time to unwind after getting home. Checked the Aus news to help take my mind off things. Australian politics hey? Zzzzzzzz

0200

Zzzzzz

0300

Zzzzz ACID TEST RATIO! 

0400

Zzzz WACS!!!! Zzzzz

0500

Zzzz CV!! CAREER!! Zzzzz

0600

Zzzz CHLOE!!! PRIORITIES!!! Zzzz

0700

Zzzz ALAAAA- *snooze* -AAAAAAAAARM!!!!!

0800

Breakfasted. Showered. Travelled. Claimed computer. Cursed Macbook (separate grievance). Gary's found a possible calculation error. Coffee.

0900

Calculation error reviewed. Agreed on one correction. Not agreed on another. No time to argue, finishing touches on appendices to complete.

1000

Appendix work done, although waiting on final input from others. Where have the last 2 hours gone??? Haven't written a word of the report; realise priorities haven't been well managed.  How do these numbers become words??? Will read last WAC quickly to get in the writing mindset. Coffee.

1100

Report writing commenced. Additional time spent collating appendices. Reasonable report structure complete, basic intro section written, opening sentences of each other section drafted.

1200

Reasonable progress on report. Written 600 words, although will edit heavily at the end if time permits. Busy morning. Lunch break. In fact, after mindfulness session yesterday, am calling this a Lunch and Smile Break. On some level this is a lot of fun. Spring in step on the way to sandwich purchase.

1300

Lunched. Coffee'd. Chocolate in hand. Saw 2 people at lunch who were reviewing their final draft. Swore at them.* Realised again my priorities haven't been optimised. Need help from some kind of Optimised Projects consultant...

1400

Report coming along. Other students also coming along. Loudly, and in groups. Impatience rising. Moved to quieter location. Gave fake congratulations to another classmate casually strolling past having finished. Swore at them.*

1500

Getting there getting there getting there. Exec summary drafted. Final appendices in. Focussing on completing essential tasks before trying to fine tune. Couple of good ideas won't fit into the report. Nobody will read about the interesting z-value!!!

1530

Not now.

1555

Stop stop stop! Must upload!

1558

Uploading to Turnitin. Submit? YES YES!

1601

Oooooooooooooooh baby! Well that was crazy. No word from teammates for a couple of hours. Did they make it?

You know what? This is a fun way to do assignments. Well, 'fun' is not the right word. It's good though. Intensive, but now it's 4:05, heading to pub for a pint with other spent souls, and am pretty happy with the final submission. It won't change the world, it contains good and bad bits, but it's a satisfying result under the circumstances.

1630

London Stout, you little ripper!

*References to swearing are for effect.  I'm a professional.

Community - Blue Team 2

It’s been a few weeks since my last post, but I’ve been busy.  I promise.

Cranfield takes pride in this.

“We have the busiest MBA in Europe, quite possibly the world.”

“We give you more work than you can do.  It’s deliberate.”

I’ll explain more about that next time, but for now I’d like to talk about my learning team.

Have you ever watched NBC’s Community?  It’s a comedy based around a study group at an American college.  The similarities to our Cranfield learning team probably start and finish with the literal: it’s a study group.  But the show is hilarious.  I’m not one to shy away from unnecessary analogies, so I’ll make comparisons for the benefit of Community fans.

Gary

Gary’s our local Brit, although coming from Wales he may prefer I be a bit more specific.  I won’t be.  Prior to starting the MBA, Gary had held senior IT director positions at a couple of UK water services company.  He loves photography, scuba diving and cooking.  As they say, however, the proof is in the pudding.  Our team’s yet to have Gary’s pudding, so I’ll believe it when I see it.

Gary’s an ESTP, for the psychology enthusiasts.  His Belbin teamwork styles are: Shaper, Implementer, Complete/Finisher.  More importantly, he considers himself a bit of a James Bond.

Being the more experienced member of our team, there are natural analogies with Pearce (still some 20 years younger then Pearce, mind you).  Gary has a propensity for being comically offensive, although this is generally deliberate and endearing, unlike Pearce.  Gary’s our most outgoing and talkative personality, bringing an element of both Jeff and Britta to the team.  He also drives a Porsche, so…

Ranjit

Ranjit’s a mechanical engineer from India.  He’s led a nomadic life working across India for Honeywell.  Most recently, he was working in turbocharger manufacturing, satisfying his love of travel and fuel-powered performance vehicles.

Ranjit’s put in the ENTP box, contributing Shaper, Specialist, and Resource Investigator roles in our team.  He claims to identify with Jesse Pinkman.  I’ve never watched Breaking Bad, so I’ll assume this is a good and honourable association.

Bringing a calm but direct communication style, Ranjit has an element of Abed about him.  He carries himself with an air of self-assurance (the good kind), hinting at Jeff.  He’s also the youngest in the group, although any comparison with Annie there is pretty misleading.

Anuradha

Anuradha has an economics / banking background, and has travelled from India to be here.  She's into travelling (luckily), national parks & wildlife, textiles and reading - both fiction and non-fiction.  This should add value to our upcoming marketing assignment, which falls into the grey area between those two.  She's also prone to whiling away the hours deep in thought.

Anuradha is an INTP type, naturally falling into the Teamwork, Monitor Evaluator and Specialist roles within a group.  She'd say she's normally the sweet, caring spirit, but would like to work on a more assertive, powerful persona.  Perhaps we'll have a Daenerys Targaryen subplot forming over the next 12 months. 

Anuradha has a quiet, team-focussed and peace-loving spirit.  However, give her the table and she’ll communicate firmly and directly.  She brings something of Shirley to the group, although not in any negative ways.

Michel

Michel has a banking, manufacturing, Lebanese & Brazilian background.  That’s quite a mix.  His most recent roles were pure banking: corporate credit relationship manager and assistant branch manager.  He’s into most outdoor activities, particularly hunting, swimming and debating.  I would argue the latter is more an indoor activity, but given his penchant for debating that would be playing straight into his hands.

Michel’s also an INTP, bringing Plant and Specialist roles to the team.  He doesn’t quickly identify with any particular characters, but he has a bit of a Jeff Goldblum vibe.

Like Ranjit, Michel has a bit of Jeff (Winger) about his quiet self assurance.  He’s probably also the trendy one of the group. With his interest in hunting, expect Michel to feature prominently in any campus paintball episodes.

Craig

Well you can read my previous post to hear about me, but here’s some supplementary information: I've been diagnosed an INTJ according to the Myers-Briggs's, and my prominent Belbin learning styles are Monitor Evaluator, Plant and Shaper.

That’s all about the team for now.  Next time I’ll explain more about our schedule.  In the meantime, enjoy some Community.

~ Craig

Welcome to Cranfield

As my own version of the famous “Cranfield MBA Experience” ramps up, I think it’s worth reflecting upon the path that has led me here.  I’ll certainly find this therapeutic, so if you find it uninteresting it will have still served one purpose.

Firstly, I’d considered an MBA ever since completing my undergraduate degree (mechanical engineering) in 2008.  That year saw the height of Global Financial Crisis action, which caught my attention.  Having had absolutely no interest in business or finance prior to late 2008, I suddenly found myself regularly up late at night watching The Business on ABC.  The world of finance was related to the real world.  Business decisions affected people.  Real people made terribly difficult decisions, and sometimes terribly.  The world was complex.  I wanted to be involved.  I went to my first MBA fair a few months later.

Fast forward to 2012, and I felt like I had sufficient engineering experience to make the most of further study.  My then girlfriend, Chloe, was desperately keen to move to the UK, and I liked the idea.  I shortlisted the top 5 UK MBA’s, and noted that the seemingly obscure “Cranfield School of Management” was in a quiet area Chloe and I had separately visited and both loved.  Besides being a prestigious business school, Cranfield had a particular focus on personal development.  It caught my attention, but an MBA was still a dream.

Chloe and I got married on September 7th, 2013.  It was a perfect day.  On the last day of our honeymoon in Sri Lanka, we went on a tour of Colombo with a British couple, Rhys and Helen.  During the 5 hour tour, we were struck by the parallels between this couple and ourselves.  They were celebrating their wedding anniversary, they had honeymooned in one of our favourite places, Rhys was an engineer who had moved into management at my age, and he was the Managing Director of a major equipment supplier for my specific work in Australia.  Plus, we liked them.  It felt wonderfully coincidental.  Conversation continued:

“Actually, Chloe and I have been thinking of moving to England.”

“Oh really?  Where are you thinking of going?”

“Well my dream is to do an MBA there, and there’s a university called Cranfield that I’m aiming for at this stage.  We’re being realistic and keeping options open though.”

“Really…?  Actually I went to Cranfield.  That’s an excellent place to do an MBA.”  

I was wide-eyed.  I knew only a little about UK universities, and I’d been sceptical about what I could find online.  Here was someone I liked, admired, could relate and aspire to, and this serendipitous meeting was the strongest recommendation I could receive.

Fast forward through months of effort and further research, a GMAT exam, discovery and contact with the Cranfield Australia Alumni (finding even more inspirational individuals), the written Cranfield application process and interview, and I found myself accepting a position in the 2014/15 Cranfield MBA.

Somehow, on top of all that, I also received the Cranfield Australian Alumni scholarship.  If I can be open, this process has felt eerily like the path I’ve been dreaming of and working towards had been laid out before me.

On our first wedding anniversary, 7th September, 2014, Chloe and I flew to England to embrace everything on offer over the next 12 months.  I’m so excited!  And I look forward to sharing the journey with all my colleagues, and with anyone who might be interested.  Whether I actually have time to share it with Chloe remains to be seen.

Next time I’ll introduce the amazing members of my study group.  If you’ve ever watched Community… it’s even better.

~ Craig