A Day in the Life of an MBA student …
Today is Tuesday.
We are four weeks into Hilary term and under time pressures. We have a full course load this term which includes Management Accounting and Control, Strategic Management, Operations Management, Human Resources, Innovation, Law, and Macro Economics. In addition, the Company project has been launched and we are deep into the Industry Analysis phase, the first of 5 reports and 5 presentations to our assigned company. In fact, our first presentation will be on Friday!
I am hoping that I will have about an hour alone to myself to check and write e-mails, but I soon discover that I will not have the office to myself. One of my group members, a structural engineer, is already there plugging away on a spread sheet. We had been working on our Industry Analysis, trying to segment the competition in the marketplace and it appears that he has cracked that nut. By charting such variables as ROI, Net Revenue, Product Categories and Total Number of Products Produced a number a competitive groupings are now apparent. Finally, we have uncovered the competitive nature of our industry but now we will have to re-tailor our approach and analysis for the presentation to the company. We have to get this right because our credibility with them is based on proving that we understand the industry in which they operate. But that will have to wait because it is case day in Operations Management, and I am lost. Flow charts, order sheets and Ishikawa diagrams are not so compatible with my non-linear thinking. Luckily one of my team mates was a plant manager for a Fortune 500 manufacturing company; she can do these things in her sleep and is going to give us a tutorial at 08:30am. One of the first things you learn is to capitalise on your team-mates strengths and experiences because you learn just as much outside the classroom.
09:00am and it's off to class.
Your classes are like your work meetings. The lectures are the status reports and general staff meetings. They define the goals and objectives for the week and for the term. I feel like I barely got by with Paul Coughlan in Operations Management. A review of Process Management and Costing will have to go on my agenda for the weekend. It is now 12:30pm and time for lunch. One of the great benefits of studying at Trinity is the atmosphere of the campus. This is truly made evident by the Commons Dining Hall. It is quite a regal setting in which to sit down and have a quick cafeteria lunch before heading back to the group office. With just about 45 minutes before Management Accounting and Control some of us finish our assignments while others just talk and joke around. With Accounting there is no getting around the work; you just have to put in the time. Pat McCabe is quite generous with his time, so if you do the work you will do fine.
15:30pm and it's time for a short break.
Our group is using the time to finalise our individual assignments for the Company Project. Our Spreadsheet wizard presents his case for the competitive segmentation and we all agree that a new approach is needed. We will have to find the time which unfortunately will have to be Thursday night for me. We have a Law lecture in the afternoon which I must attend, but one of our group members is an Attorney, so he will work on the Power Point charts illustrating our new analysis. That's all we can do on the project today because tomorrow is Case Day with John Murray. We know that Catherine Williams will be depositing a week's worth of readings for us to digest overnight in preparation for the case. So the Company Project is on hold for another day. Nobody wants to look like a fool and not be prepared for Case Day. There are only 33 of us in the programme. While those small numbers benefit the student with personal attention, it does require you to be prepared for classes.
5:30pm and classes are over for the day.
We have a mountain of reading to do, which we will try to divide amongst the group. We have set a game plan for our Industry Analysis presentation and each member has an assigned deliverable to complete by 10:00am on Friday. Just when I am beginning to think that every minute of my day has been assigned to a task or assignment, I notice another group member drawing on the board. That member, an Internet Designer and E-Commerce specialist, has drawn a beautiful rendition of a pint of Guinness with "Friday Night" written on the glass with the words "Keep Your Eyes on the Prize" written into the foam.
The one thing I forgot is that we are never too busy for fun!