Silence before the Storm

Ever get that feeling in the pit of your stomach of an eerie calm just before the chaos ensues and havoc is wreaked?

Right now- we have no readings.
No projects
No assignments to hand up.

Next week- we have 2 final exams.
The following week we have 4 final exams
Then the following Monday we have one last exam.

So.... I think I might... you know... not blog until I have more free time.

So- I guess I'll have to make this blog 'sode count!

I have decided to take strategic marketing after all next semester.
I am looking forward to the Christmas Party on Friday.
I am looking forward to a nice loooooong 3 week break starting 2 weeks from Monday- with all I have to do is catch up on sleep, DVDs and novel reading, visit with family coming over to Ireland to see me, exercise, see Dublin, finally and finish the Financial Reporting and Principles of Finance assignment due January 9th...

Because the next 3 weeks is probably going to be absolute hell from a time management point of view, and I know I'm going to have to dedicate absolute and total focus to the subjects at hand. And I know that my focus is not optimal right now- so Saturday I'm going to go to lengths to ensure my ability to focus is optimized by taking the day off and going into town for... well... lunch and whatever I feel like! Maybe shopping... Keeping it cheap, of course.

Hmmm..... what in the world can say that's both amusing and insightful about the elections? Isn't it ironic that the Minority government was taken down because the vocal minority is screaming for Liberal Blood to be spilled? I say vocal minority because the majority of Canadians don't care about politics, and frankly I don't know if I can blame them. Voting is not your civic duty- participation in the political process is. The process involves far more than dropping a slip of paper into the cardboard box every 4 years- and the process is not something that Canadians feel works in their interest. They don't see politics as something that benefits them because there is no real interactive process evident. The interactivity is only present on voting day, because first past the post voting method of representation is a corrupted form of democracy. They feel powerless to the decision making process, and the government- administration or institution has done little to ensure the participatory challenges are resolved.

The administration is looking into revamping the process to include representational voice- that's certainly a start.

In the meantime, don't blame people for not caring about Politics. They just feel that Politics doesn't care about them.

Stupid Canada

Recently, The Globe and Mail (the preeminent erudite Canadian news daily) started allowing "Comments" on the articles, where readers could publish a critique of the article or issue- pending editorial review.

The Star- another Toronto news daily cancelled it's unmoderated discussion forums a few years back after it evolved into little more than a flame-fest. The Internet is still an imperfect medium for communication. People often approach the superhighway knowing that they are anonymous and, ergo unaccountable and say hyper-critical things without ever dreaming of being held to defend their arguments.

Having said that to put things in context- the Globe & Mail's comments are all devolving into a Liberal bashing fest. Where did all this acrimony for the Liberal party come from? OK- fair enough- the Gomery Inquiry- but calling the Liberals crooks and saying it's time for a change is just stupid because there are no non-crook alternatives available in the Canadian political landscape.

What's more- Canada must be adopting the American approach of blaming the political party and politician for all events, political and apolitical alike. How the hell is "Trusts poised to soar" about how a new tax scheme unveiled to motivate investment in Income Trusts is something to be critical of those "Snivelling Liberals" and "Spineless Socialist"????

What the hell is snivelling anyways?? One who snivels? Snivel- while we're using archaic words- here's a few more:
ragamuffin: One who dresses oddly or funny.
Cad: An uncouth person.
Uncouth: a to act in a cad-like manner.

One Down

I feel the cold hand of impending exams clutching at the back of my neck.
I have just finished the first exam- it was OB, it was open book and it was easy. Now that OB is done- I can go back to being a total asshole.

I have seven more exams, and 2 assignments. For the assignments- me and a partner are dissecting the Annual Report of Amazon (the online biblio-retailer).

We're also under pressure to select our courses for next semester. I've selected Strategic Marketing, Negotiations, and Business Ethics.

Although- strategic marketing is a late entry- there are a number of taxation, accounting and finance electives, and a glaring lack of marketing electives next semester, so people complained. It was- as the administrator explained a matter of finding someone to teach it.

Now- they have the elective, they have someone to teach it, and they even have the time- and all the marketing-interested students were all ready to sign up... but now all of us don't want to sign up after all. I'm not going to say why- just because this blog is an open resources accessible to anyone, and it's not in my opinion constructive to voice it here now, but suffice to say- we are almost unanimous in our apprehension of the course after being given a little more information.

So- now that I have possible one more elective available, maybe I'll take Small Business management and Entrepreneurship. Maybe I'll take Project Management and Business Planning (apparently it's a very useful and informative course and quite easy).

Or maybe I'll go the administrator, and deal with the issue head on. Tell him that I realize the trouble he's gone to, inform him of my apprehension of the course, and see if there's some way we can find a solution.

I am thoroughly enamoured with Business Ethics though, despite the fact that it's on weekend to allow Part Time MBA's to participate. (It's Friday night and Saturday morning in the second half of the semester). It just means I'll have to visit my German sister in the first half of the semester and during the break.

And as far as negotiation goes- I've done some negotiation training. I read and applied the famous book Getting to Yes, and found an immediate improvement in the places where I used it. Negotiation skills are not just business skills- it's life skills, and like OB, it's probably going to be one of the courses that teaches me more about myself and equips me with both hard skills and soft skills to make me more effective in life in general. That's my goal here in the MBA. It's not just picking up business skills- it's making myself more effective, gaining confidence, learn how to learn from my mistakes better.

That, and learn how to not crawl into the corner, crying and shaking, curling up into a ball when someone asks me to draw up a campaign or departmental budget...

Don't hate me...

Why is there so much acrimony towards MBA's? I've encountered so many people calling me arrogant and snotty since I started the MBA, and I don't know if it's fair to not realize a correlation.

Now- I can understand how people in general are cynical towards Managers and prospective managers just because so often managers have to make the tough decisions about the future of the company that affects the lives and livelihood of the members of the company without consensus of the other members of the organization. There must be some powerlessness felt by them. Additionally- many driven and successful professionals- those who have worked excruciatingly hard, sacrificing plenty to attain a certain level of success. People with that focus may intimidate others who have different priorities. Also- people who have attained that success at a young age tend to have a confidence or arrogance that (understandably) sets other off. However- they see that the MBA is common to that type of person, and think that the MBA causes it- meanwhile- if anything I've found that the MBA tends to dissuade arrogance because of the intensity that it exposes the candidate to, and the quality of intellect that the participants have. Theoretically- it could humble someone who is untested, and give them perspectives of the world, and mature them.

In conclusion- if someone is cynical towards MBA's, perhaps they could use a little MBA exposure themselves to open their minds and get a different perspective on things- realize how to deal effectively with others, what would be considered effective management techniques in dealing with other people, and what would be considered mature and professional approaches to dealing with others.

People People...

OB- basically People Skills 101 and a core course of the MBA. Right now an extremely hot topic in management. If someone has honed communication skills, is respected- even liked- and know how to read others in order to motivate them, they are (theoretically) going to ultimately be effective managers.

While there is a great deal of resistance to Organizational Behavior as anything more than touchy-feely navel gazing- it is perhaps the subject that could make or break one's effectiveness managing the most important resource of their organization- the human resource.

It's more than just "This is how to be nice to people"- it's how to listen actively, and how to use that active listening to use effective people management as a strategic advantage over your competition. Why it can be perilous to play certain political games- and what it will mean to you as a manager if your employees are unhappy- how to realize they're unhappy, and what do about it.

All of it gets brought home with Case Studies from the real world with demonstrations of these principles and skills in action. That's the difference between navel gazing and hairy-fairy people skills- the case studies which show just what the results are- and what the implications are of handling things badly.

Nexus of Ethics

Enron was the last time now, I mean it!
No! Krispy Kreme was the last straw! Now they're getting tough and cleaning things up!
No! Refco...

Corporate Governance and ethical management may have once been the butt of jokes for MBA's, but now students, faculty, and administration are keening to the idea that Ethical management is not just a great idea- it's crucial in order to graduate healthy and progressive managers.

There will always be a dilemma facing management. Sometimes, if not often- ethics and strategy have a zero-sum relation. At least- that's how it's perceived, and ethics, quite frankly is seen as an academic past time, as opposed to a scope for decisions. There are variables that have to be addressed when dealing with any decision, and in a utopia, the variables being addressed include ethical implications. However, it seems that many take the approach that the variables to be satisfied do not include ethics. It is my belief, and I am certain I'm not alone in this- that there is room among measures of a effective campaign to include ethics along with shareholder gain, market share, volume processed, cost savings made, efficiency attained, and of course- perhaps most importantly- kudos attained by the decision maker and the implementer.

When it's a key balance between strategy and ethics; ethics versus market share, ethics versus share holder gain, and ethics versus cost savings, etc... scope of ethical values is even more important. It's not a time to expend the need for ethics, quite the opposite, the ethical ends should guide the means. Just as in any of the other elements, where a certain qualitative or quantitative measure differentiates between a success and a failure, ethics should be among those measures. While ethics may seem heuristically antithetical to some, I insist that it is the essence of effective management.

Day 63

It's now been 2 months and 1 day since my arrival in the land of Green and Leprechauns.

I've learned plenty of Business skills- both practical and applied as well as theoretical. I've learned a depth comes with management, as a depth can be present in anything if you approach it looking for depth.
Here's some things I learned about myself

• I've learned that about myself- my leadership style and management style.
• I've learned that when I work 100 hours a week- I tend to lose my imagination and my ability to think conceptually is hamstrung.
• I can live on 6 hours sleep every night during the week.
• I don't mind living without TV.
• When surrounded by people with startling intelligence- I suddenly feel very cloddish and slow.
• When feeling overworked and stressed- I have to remind myself to smile and joke around.
• I will always probably be looking at the future and not the present.
• I will always have something gnawing at me- even though I ignore it and never admit it- it's still there.
• When I'm overworked- my level of attraction goes down- I am not attracted to anyone but the Beady eyed friend- who is back in Toronto.
• When working hard and under stress- My appetite for vices is voracious! Because I can't let myself smoke, don't like to drink, don't gamble and screw hookers- I tend to eat junk food. I learned a few years ago to substitute- so I eat low fat popcorn and diet soda, but I also indulge in wine gums and chocolate bars. Mmmm!

I love Paris in the fall

I am of two minds of the Paris riots. On one hand, I can relate with the fear the French must have right now, and the anger that must be building for the recent violence.

On the other hand- I can empathize with the deep rooted acrimony the immigrant youths must feel if the environment is as people describe.

It's a complex issue with a depth that can't be summarized in our dailies headlines or our 6 o'clock news soundbites. Much like North American Natives, sometimes people feel comfortable when the second class citizens are pushed out of direct view.

On the other hand- the Government has a duty to protect the peace, and more specifically- create an environment conducive to production of economic means. It has to protect the middle class, because they are the workforce. If they feel threatened, productivity will drop, and the National Production Level will plummet, our Balance of Payments will slip into deficit, and the economy will quickly fall into ruin. All careful economic planning will be for not, and it's possible the economy will never recover.

Alarmist? Perhaps!
Realistic? Perhaps not!

All I know is that without security- productivity plummets. Also- a safe worker is a worker consuming goods and services and a susceptible target for marketing campaigns - which also keeps the whole economy strolling along.

And that's what I learned in my MBA so far.
Organizational Behavior, HR, Economics, Marketing and Accounting (Accountants are always alarmist, but call themselves realists).