A Merry Christmas, and a Happy Year 2007
Christmas break is so welcome. Since 2 thirds of Fonty intake is going to Singapore for at least P3, people got burned out packing things, emptying room, taking flights, and still to come moving in Singapore. Of these 2 thirds, about half are celebrating end of year in Asia, the other half going back to families. It felt great after so much time so far away. For Xmas dinner, I was lucky enough to have this bottle of wine (pic) -a family tradition each year. Just what life should be: sweet, yet grandiose, immensely rich, yet generous and easy. I wholeheartedly recommend this fabulous wine, and this particular vintage.
Before I can really relax, I still have my professional assignments to complete (see previous post). First one down: I have recommended to change the current Manager, interviewed and turned down the applicant, and provided guidelines/profile/deadlines for recruitment of a new Manager.
Next up, I have set up a meeting with the acquisition target's board. I'm not sure how much you can do within one week, but at least want to end up with a clear schedule of next steps (due diligence, financial analysis, etc.).
Two questions I am consistently being asked: what INSEAD MBA is like, and what I will do afterwards. To me, it is so obvious. The MBA is invaluable (strengths building, network etc.) and I am getting ready to tackle BIG challenges to come, whatever they may be.
I guess most people believe that MBAs lead to Corporate positions, and can not envisage them as a path to entrepreneurship. I'll have more answers in P3, when the entrepreneurship path will start in earnest, but to me there's no question that INSEAD will be a major block of my entrepreneurial skills.
P3 is going to be crazy too. So many people have expressed interest in visiting me over. I have taken maximum credits, and will start courses for which I have applied to INSEAD.
My blogger anonymity will be tested too, as some electives are not very crowded... I'll need to be astute on this!
For now, let's enjoy the remaining days of this fabulous year.
To all my friends around the world, to all INSEADers, to my beloved section, my cherished House mates, to my family and you all, dear guests, I wish you health, good fortune, and happiness in 2007. May it be a wonderful year to accomplish your dreams!
Happy New Year.
PS: Just after I posted this message I was approached by a company I had known before going to INSEAD, whose family management is aging with no possibilities of succession. This is another INSEAD strength: brand recognition. The owners would like me to consider entering the firm's capital in exchange of taking over management. Another thing to reflect about during my "break". Pros: it seems a good business, quite big, involving China, Japan, India, Australia etc. Cons: labour and capital-intensive, in a very unionized environment... Instantly some electives flashed in my mind: Negotiations, Realising Entrepreneurial Potential (ie. How to take over existing businesses), Power and Politics, Corporate Governance. In addition, I should consider joining some of the industry-related clubs at INSEAD...
I'm not getting overexcited either -as there's no free lunch in life, however cool that may sound, would be at the expense of super intensive work and intense stress... Hum, I have 6 months to decide on this one too...
Girls by the way, I'm single, and becoming eligible... Please send your emails ;-) You must accept that I won't be very available for the next 5 years though :-(
Click here for the INSEAD Greetings Card animation:
http://www.insead.edu/greetings/Click here to learn about WPF:
www.wpf.orgLabels: Entrepreneurship, Management Issues, Private, Singapore
Do what I say, not what I do...
Exams are over! Finally, P2 is over...
The last 2 days were tiring. Corporate Finance Policy was very long, although, as some pointed out -I fear for the curve :-( -not as tough as expected. Many people wanted an extra day to fully grasp the intuition. I was part of them. In the end, CFP was very insightful in terms of mechanics and intuition. I'm convinced that since we all seem to grasp it during review time, a mid-term part exam would be ideal, just like in Prices and Markets.
Strategy was long too (22 pages on Plasting Molding, Machinery etc.) but I guess I managed it well.
The last one -a group case on Leading Organizations- was funny. It was about how a successful business got into trouble of reorganisation, evolving from continuous growth to sudden recession. The new manager changed the structure, not realising that the whole fit then needed adjustment in Culture and Incentives. From entrepreneurial, family-like, it became functionally siloed, corporate-like. Incentives became misaligned.
As we were recommending the Innovation-based, entrepreneurial spirited, participative, non-siloed firm, I was bemused by the fact that what we recommended for the Firm, we did not apply to ourselves as a group. In a way, just like in the case, from a well performing group in LPG, someone decided to change the structure, and misalignment started to crack all over the place...
Indeed my team decided to go for a silo approach: 3 or 4 sub-teams on a different aspect, Power Politics, Culture, Strategic Design. No shared culture, no common incentives -or short-term gross margin (grade) vs. long-term project goal (network), silo approach structure, change of structure without changing the whole system fit: in the case, the end result did not look very good...
Taking this approach, we did as best as could be, but you can only do so much with this much... I'm so past the point of bickering with some group mates that I let it go. I'd be surprised if we make it better than the poor managers of the case though.
Anyway, it's all over. Now the real fun can begin!
Well, in reality, the real fun of P3 and its electives, different groups, different networks, different environments, will start after another case of Do What I Say, Not What I Do.
Before enjoying a long-needed break, I will undertake 2 real-life INSEAD assignments. So long about keeping slack.
The company which sponsors my MBA has asked me to conduct a last-round selection of a manager, and an evaluation report of a business target. Of course, I had to accept. For the least, because I wanted to try concepts, and was eager to put into practice what has been at best intuition. On the first task, OB will help. The new twist is my conviction that while skills are essentials, cultural fit will matter a lot. I am seeing the company in a "fit" systematic way, whereby its current edge could be due to its people (I can't believe I'm saying this though), but more in the light of their adhesion to core values, matched by a very flat and informal structure, and some sketches of incentives, which could be reinforced (I can't believe I'm writing this too).
On the second task, FMV and what I got from Financial Accounting will help: cash flows will be scrutinized, rate of return will include some form of cost of capital, accounts will be anatomised. While the bottom line is simple -cash is king- I will need to justify the INSEAD investment with thorough, insightul analyses.
Oh, I should not forget that whatever happens, INSEAD brings me positional and personal power too. :-)
To know more about Power and Politics in Organizations:
http://www.hs.ttu.edu/rhim5200/htm_files/0012.htmLabels: Exams, Group Life, Management Issues, P2 Courses
A case of Dr Jeckyll and Mr Hyde - the INSEAD "2S" contribution
I used to love this picture on the left. It's called "Bonaparte crossing the Grand St-Bernard pass". Now it gives me the freak...
Today we had the renowned Napoléon INSEAD Case, by Professor Ludo Van der Heyden. I've already mentioned it in an early post (Archives July). The history of the case is interesting. Last year, a July Student -high ranked officer from the French Army graduate from ESM St-Cyr- complained to Ludo about the lack of ceremonies organised in France to commemorate Austerlitz bicentennial year. As you should know, Austerlitz is one of the greatest military victory of all times, held on Dec. 2, 1805. French Cadet School St-Cyr, a Napoleonic heritage, refers to it as the "2S": 2 for the day, and S because December is their 3rd month of class in the calendar year (Austerlitz has 10 letters, like ten months). So, this INSEAD participant asked Ludo about holding a case study on Napoleon in class. Ludo prepared the case, and it has become such a classic that INSEAD decided to do the case every year on Dec. 2, our 2S in a sense.
What takeaways then? Well, this picture represents the beginning of the fall of the Great Empire. From a superlative General (read manager, team leader), he turned as a dictator into cronyism (read crooked CEO), at the very moment of this picture. Napoleon, because his Board had not been able to fire him, was in the end taken care of by the market forces (read close Generals and European Coalition).
The picture, shown at Rueil Malmaison Chateau, painted by JL David, commemorates Napoleon first personal defeat, his first warning signal of decay, at Marengo. While History books record it as another major victory, Napoleon was soundly losing when General Desaix came to his rescue. Desaix died, and Napoleon, after promising National funerals in Paris, decided otherwise and buried him as far as possible (at Col Grand St-Bernard, in France/Switzerland), and had himself instead painted in glory.
Decay has many reasons: imperial overstretch, unsustainable competitive advantage, and unfair process. Napoleon, in his Emperor part, did not recognise his team of incredibly talented Generals (Desaix, Lannes, Davoux etc.) and kept all the glory to himself, while not even listening to others.
Today, we also received the bidding results fro P3 Electives. I am very disappointed not to have gotten the "Building Business in China" which I wanted badly. Also disappointed that courses I bet like a madman did not actually needed high bidding because INSEAD added sessions to face demand... I don't think the whole process was very fair in this regard, but let's not whine and rejoice in the fact that School reacts positively to demand; at least I have a lot of points for P4 and P5. By the way, the bidding system works like this: you allocate part of all your 200 point credit to electives you really want. You get debited by the bid price of the last accepted participant. I've decided to bid all my points in every round. But, while in theory I was risking losing 150+ points on the electives chosen, with INSEAD adding sessions, I only ended up paying 50+ points, which is ridiculous. If Dean Fatas does the same trick again in P4, and I don't get Building Business in India, I'll go on a Waterloo campaign ;-)
It is somehow dangerous too because next intakes will look at the incredibly low cutting price of the star class of P3 Negotiations, and bid small, and get f***ed up because maybe adding additional sessions won't be possible.
So my advice on bidding -even though the strategy did not work fully in my case- is, bid all your points every round. At least, to end on a positive note, I got all my full credit electives.
Again, here's the ESM St-Cyr article about the case:
Labels: Electives, Management Issues, P3 Courses
