Great video!
Saturday, October 25, 2008
EMBA Information
If anyone would like information about doing an Executive MBA - particularly at the University of Calgary, I would be happy to have a conversation or provide information about either the program or anything else surrounding the requirements.
Leave a comment with your email address and I'll send you an email. I can delete the comment afterwards so that your email address isn't visible online for long.
I look forward to hearing from people!
Leave a comment with your email address and I'll send you an email. I can delete the comment afterwards so that your email address isn't visible online for long.
I look forward to hearing from people!
Friday, October 10, 2008
No shortage of fodder
With the current financial "crisis" going on, there is no shortage of people being affected. From the young (RESP) to the old (RRSP) to the middle-aged (both).
Every class that we are in is talking about it - from International Business to Leadership. A lot of questions, but not a lot of answers.
Every class that we are in is talking about it - from International Business to Leadership. A lot of questions, but not a lot of answers.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Optimal Class Size
The University of Calgary Executive MBA program has just had a new intake for the graduating class of 2010. The class is 51 students strong. The class two years before (that just graduated) was 52 students strong.
Our class has just 35 students. Is that an advantage or a disadvantage?
I think both. Smaller class size allows students to get to know each other better, but also means that you have a smaller network with which to draw upon.
I imagine that the break even point for the course must be close to 35 students. Given the success in Calgary over the past couple of years, we were all surprised at the small size of the group. One would expect the demand for executive education to be quite a bit higher, but we seem to have been a "gap" year.
Does that mean that we will get less to spend on our International Trip? Time will tell.
Our class has just 35 students. Is that an advantage or a disadvantage?
I think both. Smaller class size allows students to get to know each other better, but also means that you have a smaller network with which to draw upon.
I imagine that the break even point for the course must be close to 35 students. Given the success in Calgary over the past couple of years, we were all surprised at the small size of the group. One would expect the demand for executive education to be quite a bit higher, but we seem to have been a "gap" year.
Does that mean that we will get less to spend on our International Trip? Time will tell.
International Trip
Where to go? Where to go?
As part of our course at the University of Calgary EMBA program (just to increase my Google hits!), we go on a 10 day international trip. The class has established a steering committee and each group (6) has to make a presentation on a trip to two different cities in the world where international business can be examined.
I'm pretty sure that most of the class doesn't want to do Western Europe or the US, so likely it will end up being Asia. Last year's class went to London and Paris. Asia has a large emerging market and there are plenty of opportunities.
As part of our course at the University of Calgary EMBA program (just to increase my Google hits!), we go on a 10 day international trip. The class has established a steering committee and each group (6) has to make a presentation on a trip to two different cities in the world where international business can be examined.
I'm pretty sure that most of the class doesn't want to do Western Europe or the US, so likely it will end up being Asia. Last year's class went to London and Paris. Asia has a large emerging market and there are plenty of opportunities.
Friday, August 29, 2008
First year done....
1 year. 2 semesters. 16 weeks. Whatever you want to call it - we're all done the first half of our program.
While I think that everyone had a better understanding of the demands that the second semester would have on our lives, the amount of work was still a surprise. Finance, Managerial Accounting, Operations and Economics dominated our lives for a long time.
I struggled with the Economics the most - which is ironic because of my BA in Econ. Finance is the other bug bear for me. I enjoy it, but I think that the "fuzziness" of it, makes me desire the "strictness" of Accounting.
While I think that everyone had a better understanding of the demands that the second semester would have on our lives, the amount of work was still a surprise. Finance, Managerial Accounting, Operations and Economics dominated our lives for a long time.
I struggled with the Economics the most - which is ironic because of my BA in Econ. Finance is the other bug bear for me. I enjoy it, but I think that the "fuzziness" of it, makes me desire the "strictness" of Accounting.
Friday, May 2, 2008
How to Bid for the Olympics
One of my favourite parts of the course is that every Friday we are in class, a guest speaker comes and talks about their company, their career or one of their projects.
This week we had Roger Jackson come to speak. He is one of the most successful Canadian Olympic athletes, has been instrumental in working with the science of sport in Canada and is currently working on the "Own the Podium" initiative to increase the number of Canadians winning Olympic medals over the next couple of Olympics (something we have not been very good at in the past).
However, he was not here to speak about any of that. He talked to us about working on the bid team for the London 2012 Olympics. There was a huge infrastructural hurdle to get over, getting the public and the media on side as well as communicating what the differentiator for the city would be to the Olympic bid committee. It was very interesting and I can't imagine taking on such a daunting project.
Two things I picked up:
1) Always hire people smarter and brighter than you: I've always known that this is a good idea, one that my last employer was very good at.
2)"You don't get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate" - my new favourite business saying.
They ended up winning the bid (by 4 votes) against Paris. Winning the bid is just the first step, but what a step it was.
This week we had Roger Jackson come to speak. He is one of the most successful Canadian Olympic athletes, has been instrumental in working with the science of sport in Canada and is currently working on the "Own the Podium" initiative to increase the number of Canadians winning Olympic medals over the next couple of Olympics (something we have not been very good at in the past).
However, he was not here to speak about any of that. He talked to us about working on the bid team for the London 2012 Olympics. There was a huge infrastructural hurdle to get over, getting the public and the media on side as well as communicating what the differentiator for the city would be to the Olympic bid committee. It was very interesting and I can't imagine taking on such a daunting project.
Two things I picked up:
1) Always hire people smarter and brighter than you: I've always known that this is a good idea, one that my last employer was very good at.
2)"You don't get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate" - my new favourite business saying.
They ended up winning the bid (by 4 votes) against Paris. Winning the bid is just the first step, but what a step it was.
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