It's hard to believe that my classmates and I are in the final stretch of our first year in the Jenkins MBA program at NC State. Four more weeks till exams are over! Then, a few short days of rest or travel before we begin our summer internships. Time has definitely flown by and it's hard to believe I'm halfway through my MBA already.
Looking back on my first year I have the benefit of hindsight and there are a few things I've realized. I see now that I shouldn't have been so stressed the first month of school. Yes it was hard. Yes, I wondered at times if I could handle the work load, but I realize now how quickly you adapt. It's so much easier to consume large amounts of knowledge each class period now and actually understand how to apply it. Note I said easier, definitely not easy!
Another thing I've realized is that I haven't taken full advantage of getting to know my professors. I am well aware of the benefit of building strong relations with classmates and how my network will be one of the most valuable things I gain in B-school. I'm only recently realizing the same could be said for my professors. They have a vast amount of academic knowledge and many have great industry experience as well. I plan on making it a priority next year to get to know my professors better and to seek out more interaction with them. They are always communicating a willingness to interact with us outside of class and I should take advantage of the offer.
For more ways to get the most out of your MBA experience, Poets and Quants has another good article you should check out here. 25 ideas to make the most of your MBA
My life as a first year MBA student in the NC State Jenkins Graduate School of Management.
Showing posts with label NC State. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NC State. Show all posts
Monday, April 11, 2011
Saturday, January 15, 2011
The Techno MBA
Xerox, within it's PARC group invented the ball mouse, some of the first personal computers and the first graphical user interface (GUI) but failed to truly capitalize on their ideas. Apple computer was the first computer company to popularize the GUI in its personal computers and we all know the success Microsoft had in taking all 3 of these technologies mainstream. Meanwhile, although Xerox is a high tech company involved in a multitude of technologies, they are primarily known as a photocopy company.
Why is it that some companies produce great ideas in R&D but fail to capitalize on them? A major focus of the Jenkins MBA here at NC State is on real world experience coupled with an emphasis on how technology plays a role in today's business environment. I enjoyed a recent lecture in my Management of Technological Innovation class where our professor referred to us as Techno-MBAs. Most traditional MBAs operate in the realm of managing existing products rather than creating new innovation. He explained that in business today there is often a gap between R&D on one side and existing product management on the other. One goal of this program is to turn out graduates who can operate in the fuzzy middle. The Jenkins MBA will create graduates who can take the exciting but unproven ideas that come out of R&D and filter them to find value where a new product or service can be created. The challenge will be to manage the process in the middle, as a liaison between the inventors and the managers. We will learn how to translate management needs into ideas for R&D and how to identify potential new innovations that will end up creating value and ensure good ideas are not lost in obscurity. This concept excites me and I'm looking forward to diving deeper into this topic!
Why is it that some companies produce great ideas in R&D but fail to capitalize on them? A major focus of the Jenkins MBA here at NC State is on real world experience coupled with an emphasis on how technology plays a role in today's business environment. I enjoyed a recent lecture in my Management of Technological Innovation class where our professor referred to us as Techno-MBAs. Most traditional MBAs operate in the realm of managing existing products rather than creating new innovation. He explained that in business today there is often a gap between R&D on one side and existing product management on the other. One goal of this program is to turn out graduates who can operate in the fuzzy middle. The Jenkins MBA will create graduates who can take the exciting but unproven ideas that come out of R&D and filter them to find value where a new product or service can be created. The challenge will be to manage the process in the middle, as a liaison between the inventors and the managers. We will learn how to translate management needs into ideas for R&D and how to identify potential new innovations that will end up creating value and ensure good ideas are not lost in obscurity. This concept excites me and I'm looking forward to diving deeper into this topic!
Monday, January 10, 2011
Another Beginning
Classes started again today. It's a good feeling to be 25% of an MBA! I think this semester will be a little more challenging than the first semester but also very interesting. The second semester of a full-time MBA program is usually where you start studying the core program classes in Marketing, Finance, Operations, and in NC State's program, Supply Chain Management.
For a relatively newer MBA program, our Supply Chain Management program is highly rated and we have a great reputation with major companies for producing great graduates in that area. I'm currently pursuing the Supply Chain concentration and my two Supply Chain focused classes should give me a great idea if this is truly what I want to pursue here at the Jenkins MBA program. I'll definitely be posting on my experience with this concentration as the semester progresses. Stay tuned!
For a relatively newer MBA program, our Supply Chain Management program is highly rated and we have a great reputation with major companies for producing great graduates in that area. I'm currently pursuing the Supply Chain concentration and my two Supply Chain focused classes should give me a great idea if this is truly what I want to pursue here at the Jenkins MBA program. I'll definitely be posting on my experience with this concentration as the semester progresses. Stay tuned!
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Ultimate Power Speak
Ultimate Power Speak is part of our MBA 500 Career Effectiveness class in the Jenkins MBA program at NC State and something that I think gives us a leg up on other business schools. Ultimate Power Speak is a company that prepares people for effective communication whether it's one to one or to a room of hundreds. I think that this class module will help our MBA students to come out of the program as a more polished product than when we entered.
I recently stumbled across this web video of a politician giving a campaign speech and I couldn't help but thinking how he could use a class on communications skills. From the video it's hard to tell if he's running for political office or is trying to jump start a professional wrestling career!
I recently stumbled across this web video of a politician giving a campaign speech and I couldn't help but thinking how he could use a class on communications skills. From the video it's hard to tell if he's running for political office or is trying to jump start a professional wrestling career!
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Career Coach
One of the things I appreciate about the NC State MBA program is the availability of 2nd year students to function as our Career Coaches. Obviously we also have the Career Resources department in our program but what I enjoy about the student career coaches is that they understand what we are thinking and experiencing right now because they were in our shoes just last year. The benefit to this is that they know the best strategies for landing an internship and what employers are currently looking for in MBA graduates. They are also helpful in navigating the program and classes themselves or just for general advice. The NC State MBA program as a whole has a very team oriented, positive attitude which I love and there is definitely an atmosphere of cooperation rather than competition within the program.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
It's Business Time
In a previous post I mentioned that after graduating from college I realized I felt more suited for business than for counseling. I worked with behaviorally challenged children for the first 11 months out of college and while I really enjoyed working with most of my clients, the work didn't intellectually challenge me and I didn't see a future in that field. Also, regularly chasing an 11 year old who went on rampages through his elementary school while the principal called the police to remove him from the school didn't help things.
Fortunately in 2001 I met a retired CEO who became my mentor and through his connections he recommended me for a position with a healthcare management company. I started there in the Fall of that year and was with the same company until this year when I transitioned into the NC State Jenkins MBA program. I worked my way up to the position of managing the department I initially started with and became a key member of the project management team. I gained a lot of valuable experience there because it was a medium sized company where I was able to operate at a higher level than I might have been able to do so elsewhere.
What I found that I really enjoy about upper management is having an input in the overall direction that a company is headed. I'm the type of person who likes to understand the big picture and have a hard time when I can only focus on one small area of responsibility. Being part of a business management team is something that excites me because I enjoy the practice of business. Strategic vision, operations, and execution are things that stimulate me intellectually and areas I wanted to learn more about by going back to school for my MB. I think having my MBA education will complement the skills I've previously learned through my work experience and I will come out of the program a much stronger manager than when I entered.
Fortunately in 2001 I met a retired CEO who became my mentor and through his connections he recommended me for a position with a healthcare management company. I started there in the Fall of that year and was with the same company until this year when I transitioned into the NC State Jenkins MBA program. I worked my way up to the position of managing the department I initially started with and became a key member of the project management team. I gained a lot of valuable experience there because it was a medium sized company where I was able to operate at a higher level than I might have been able to do so elsewhere.
What I found that I really enjoy about upper management is having an input in the overall direction that a company is headed. I'm the type of person who likes to understand the big picture and have a hard time when I can only focus on one small area of responsibility. Being part of a business management team is something that excites me because I enjoy the practice of business. Strategic vision, operations, and execution are things that stimulate me intellectually and areas I wanted to learn more about by going back to school for my MB. I think having my MBA education will complement the skills I've previously learned through my work experience and I will come out of the program a much stronger manager than when I entered.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
A Cohort
A group of individuals having a statistical factor (as age or class membership) in common. - Merriam Webster Online Dictionary
One of the main factors for me in choosing the full-time MBA program over the part-time program was the opportunity of going through the program with my classmates in a more intensive cohort during most of my first year. Since all Business Schools require some core business courses before you start heading into your chosen concentration, you often get the opportunity to take the same classes together in the early part of your MBA program.
The part-time program has this to some degree but because of the nature of their program (they are also balancing full time jobs) they don't get quite the same team experience that you do when your full time job is the MBA program. We also take more classes at a time and more overall credits. From 9:00am to 3pm every Monday through Thursday we are working within our cohort nearly as much as we formerly did in our full time careers. Before you start to think "Hey, I'd love to work from 9am to 3pm four days a week!" just keep in mind that is only class lecture time. There is about 3-5 additional daily hours of reading, homework, and group projects that make for a very long day at times. Oh yeah, and Fridays are often the only time you have to get everyone on your team together for your many group projects so that day gets filled quickly too. Saturday and Sunday used to be my days of rest but now they are spent catching up on readings or on our current house hunt. They say misery loves company and there is some comfort in the fact that many of my classmates are feeling a little overwhelmed as well. This first week feels like a mental equivalent to the physical demands of army boot camp so the other definition I found of a cohort probably applies just as well too.
Cohort: A group of warriors or soldiers.- Merriam Webster Online Dictionary
One of the main factors for me in choosing the full-time MBA program over the part-time program was the opportunity of going through the program with my classmates in a more intensive cohort during most of my first year. Since all Business Schools require some core business courses before you start heading into your chosen concentration, you often get the opportunity to take the same classes together in the early part of your MBA program.
The part-time program has this to some degree but because of the nature of their program (they are also balancing full time jobs) they don't get quite the same team experience that you do when your full time job is the MBA program. We also take more classes at a time and more overall credits. From 9:00am to 3pm every Monday through Thursday we are working within our cohort nearly as much as we formerly did in our full time careers. Before you start to think "Hey, I'd love to work from 9am to 3pm four days a week!" just keep in mind that is only class lecture time. There is about 3-5 additional daily hours of reading, homework, and group projects that make for a very long day at times. Oh yeah, and Fridays are often the only time you have to get everyone on your team together for your many group projects so that day gets filled quickly too. Saturday and Sunday used to be my days of rest but now they are spent catching up on readings or on our current house hunt. They say misery loves company and there is some comfort in the fact that many of my classmates are feeling a little overwhelmed as well. This first week feels like a mental equivalent to the physical demands of army boot camp so the other definition I found of a cohort probably applies just as well too.
Cohort: A group of warriors or soldiers.- Merriam Webster Online Dictionary
Sunday, August 22, 2010
This is tough...
To build a little on my last post I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed the past couple of days. I'm told it's normal to feel that way from the 2nd year students, but right now getting used to this transition seems to be a while off. Every day I'm challenged and energized by our class lectures and discussion topics but I feel like my mind can only absorb 20 new concepts a day and I'm trying to learn 50.
On a more positive note, the course material has been very interesting and our professors are good communicators. They seem to have a nice blend of real world corporate experience mixed with academia. My classmates are great too and the orientation team building activities have been really helpful. One of these activities was a ropes course challenge at Bond Park where we completed a variety of outdoor challenges to promote team building and communication. Trying to figure out how to balance 15 people on a rickety platform in 95 degree heat will teach you a lot about the people you are working with! I'm loving interacting with so many diversely talented people.
As far as the transition into the program goes, NC State has been amazing to the GAs (Graduate Assistants) and that has been such a help. Full time business school is a huge commitment for 2 years of your life and it's evident that they understand and support that. MBA programs also tend to have very beefy career support services for a couple of reasons and NC State is no exception. Because a business school's reputation is based on both the success of its graduates initial job search and how well its graduates perform in the workplace, there is a concerted effort to prepare us for our future careers. There are so many people and resources helping us to find Summer internships (already!) and potential job opportunities that it seems like you'd have to try to fail at finding a great opportunity after completing the program.
On a more positive note, the course material has been very interesting and our professors are good communicators. They seem to have a nice blend of real world corporate experience mixed with academia. My classmates are great too and the orientation team building activities have been really helpful. One of these activities was a ropes course challenge at Bond Park where we completed a variety of outdoor challenges to promote team building and communication. Trying to figure out how to balance 15 people on a rickety platform in 95 degree heat will teach you a lot about the people you are working with! I'm loving interacting with so many diversely talented people.
As far as the transition into the program goes, NC State has been amazing to the GAs (Graduate Assistants) and that has been such a help. Full time business school is a huge commitment for 2 years of your life and it's evident that they understand and support that. MBA programs also tend to have very beefy career support services for a couple of reasons and NC State is no exception. Because a business school's reputation is based on both the success of its graduates initial job search and how well its graduates perform in the workplace, there is a concerted effort to prepare us for our future careers. There are so many people and resources helping us to find Summer internships (already!) and potential job opportunities that it seems like you'd have to try to fail at finding a great opportunity after completing the program.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)