The V3BLUE team represented by Puneet Gandhi (team captain), Aditya Priyadarshan, Amit Mehta and Ritesh Saxena are very eager and excited to be here. And why shouldn't they be! Their school held an internal competition to determine the best of the best in which 27 teams participated! I think so far this is the school with the largest internal competition (with BU coming in a close second with, I think, 22 teams in the internal competition). Our very own Professor N. Venkatraman visited their campus earlier this year and the team fondly recalled how they enjoyed his lecture. They did get to sit in on Prof. V's Mastering IT Strategy class this last Thursday along with Prof. Hatten's Managing Social, Political, Technology and Economic Risk - perhaps for some last minute cramming for the competition! It was refreshing to see visitors participate in the class discussions when they sit in on BU classes and I'm glad the team had a very positive experience there.
They were struck by the similarities between their school and BU's style in the classroom - they also regularly have c-level executives visit and speak to the students and we all agree that while our schools have some excellent teachers, getting to meet and interact with executives of innovative and pioneering companies is one of the things that makes b-school worthwhile. The differences they saw were mostly related to the facility, the classroom layouts and the presence of student name cards; at their school too, the professors usually define their own pedagogy.
Their preparation for the competition involved reading up on seamless mobility, Motorola's business, their competitors and with lots of case competition experience between the four of them, they're very confident they'll do well at this event.
Along with "discovering America" they're really pleased about getting to meet new people they can relate to and we are indeed pleased to have them with us this weekend.
Friday, March 30, 2007
Team MotoFone
I didn't get to chat much with the MotoFone team represnted by Bryan Lares (team captain), Leslie Elliott, Purvi Shah and Ben Manwaring. They remarked on how well organized the committee and the reception was last night and they're looking forward to winning the prize. The selection process at their school involved students sending in an application that was evaluated by a faculty and student panel and individuals were ranked and the final team was formed.
More on MotoFone later!
More on MotoFone later!
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Team KRZR
I finally managed to track down the KRZR team on the 9th floor. Joe was appropriately contrite about standing me up for our earlier interview session and I made him promise to name his first-born after me so we're all good. He was very excited to be part of the competition (and who wouldn't be!) and commented that "this makes me feel like a normal adult!". The idea of getting together with peers to solve a real-life business case with real-life constraints and considerations really appeals. Sometimes in the BU MBA life (as I'm sure in most other programs too) one does get quite caught up in cases and homework and papers that we forget what its like to be part of a contributing workforce - I definitely can appreciate that point of view! The fact that there is prize money associated with this makes it all the more exciting.
The team did some prep work before the competition by getting together every other week or so to do some research on the telecom industry. According to Joe, the one thing that is so amazing about the world we live in today is that information is so easily available and accessible and the rate at which information travels is mind-boggling. We talked about life before Google and online libraries and how writing papers and doing research was limited by the size and quality of physical libraries when we were in undergrad. Joe is very cognizant about the challenges of making information relevant in today's world and I think this case competition is the perfect arena for him and his team to showcase their ideas on this.
The team did some prep work before the competition by getting together every other week or so to do some research on the telecom industry. According to Joe, the one thing that is so amazing about the world we live in today is that information is so easily available and accessible and the rate at which information travels is mind-boggling. We talked about life before Google and online libraries and how writing papers and doing research was limited by the size and quality of physical libraries when we were in undergrad. Joe is very cognizant about the challenges of making information relevant in today's world and I think this case competition is the perfect arena for him and his team to showcase their ideas on this.
Team ROKR
Team ROKR is represented at the case competition by Ryan Hudson (team lead), Garrett Dodge, Damian Fernandez and Bala Venkatrao. They were one of the first ones to arrive at SMG. The selection process at their school to determine which students were going to participate in the global competition was decided by their Innovation Club sifting through applications. They mentioned that it didn't take them long to choose the best team to represent their school in the competition.
The team was quite relaxed and clearly pleased about the short commute to BU. Garrett mentioned he had a lot riding on this competition since he had to cut short his Spring Break vacation in Costa Rica to attend this event and considering he had no tan, one sympathises.
In preparation for the competition, the team mentioned that short of getting to know each other, bonding, forming and norming, they didn't do any specific research or preparation for the competition - although even if they did, they're probably not inclined to share this the night before the case is released.
BREAKING NEWS - Research at a top business school reveals that there are definite synergies between IT strategy and Foosball. The exact correlation is still to be documented but the team feels confident that there is potential for a startup brimming here.
Winning the competition is vital since Garrett needs the cash to pay for his Costa Rica vacation.
The team was quite relaxed and clearly pleased about the short commute to BU. Garrett mentioned he had a lot riding on this competition since he had to cut short his Spring Break vacation in Costa Rica to attend this event and considering he had no tan, one sympathises.
In preparation for the competition, the team mentioned that short of getting to know each other, bonding, forming and norming, they didn't do any specific research or preparation for the competition - although even if they did, they're probably not inclined to share this the night before the case is released.
BREAKING NEWS - Research at a top business school reveals that there are definite synergies between IT strategy and Foosball. The exact correlation is still to be documented but the team feels confident that there is potential for a startup brimming here.
Winning the competition is vital since Garrett needs the cash to pay for his Costa Rica vacation.
A note about this blog
The information you are about to read is about the various schools participating in this competition but they will only be referred to by their team names as per the rules of the competition. Any comments that associate a team with a school will be deleted by the administrator - me.
Oh and by the way, I cannot be bribed :)
Oh and by the way, I cannot be bribed :)
The Reception
The formal reception was held at the SMG building - BU's School of Management building - at 595 Commonwealth Ave. in the 9th floor ballroom. Our ballroom is a perfect place to mix and mingle and Mary Sforza, the events coordinator, and her excellent staff made it a lovely comfortable place to do so. MIT showed up early (or was it on time?) and the rest sailed in on the bus from the hotel with Nicole Bludeau bringing up the rear with two members of the London School of Business. Jim McGroddy was reliably at hand to usher folks upstairs and the mingling began.
It was a very relaxed atmosphere with teams meeting other teams and professors and Deans working the room. Wines, cheeses, fruit and assorted nibbles were at hand and the Case Competition Committee members were very good with making the teams feel at ease and indeed at home.
Associate Dean Chalykoff started with his opening remarks on how excited he was to be present in the midst of representatives from the world's best business schools. We did miss Wharton (who, unfortunately, had to pull out of the contest at the last minute and were not there to defend their title) - maybe they weren't up for the challenge! But as Dean Chalykoff said to the competing teams, "our loss and your gain!" In all seriousness though, apparently Wharton pulled out because of personal (or perhaps personnel) reasons and we sincerely hope that all is well with them. Dean Chalykoff enthusiastically welcomed all the students and introduced Sr. Associate Dean Lawson as the Chief Operating Officer who ensures that all the tough jobs associated with getting things done get.. well.. done! Dean Lawson rightly said that an international competition of any kind is unique in management education. I agree with him in that we are very lucky to be able to have this opportunity to come together as a large intellectual force bringing our respective strengths to the table for a healthy joust.
Dean Lawson then introduced Josh Cleveland, the President of the MS-MBA Association, as a fantastic example of what the BU MS-MBA is all about and I'm sure there isn't a single person on campus who would contest the fact that Josh is a tremendous leader and an all-round terrific guy to boot! Josh acknowledged that he couldn't have pulled it off without his committee and the support staff. He did make it a point to introduce me, which I thought was lovely.
I do realize at this point that many of you reading this blog may not know who I am. I'm a 2nd year MS-MBA student at BU graduating this May with concentrations in Strategy & Business Analysis and Marketing. I responded to an open 'Blogger Wanted' advert sent out by Josh and the committee and I'm very pleased to be part of this event and am privileged to be able to bring the thoughts of our fantastic entrants - hopefully I'll get to speak with all 44 of them!
Jim and Steve worked on the case competition committee last year as well and they did point out that not much has changed in the organization of the event. Last year's event was a huge success with everything going off without a hitch so why mess with a winning formula, I guess. Steve did mention one reason why he volunteered to work on the committee one more time and I'm sure many of the other members echo this sentiment - we get to be part of a community that comprises of some of the world's best MBAs from amazing schools. What could be better than that.
Here's Steve's tip for the teams - it's all about stamina. Tomorrow's 24 hours are going to feel like 36. It's important to stay fresh.
Good luck all!
The Case Competition Committee members:
Committee Chair – Josh Cleveland
Internal Comp. Coordinator – Jim McGroddy
Web Development Coordinator – Sean Chen
Facilities Coordinator – Manu Goel
Volunteer Coordinator – Jeff Symons
Finance Coordinator – Jingjing Li
Guest/Com Coordinator – Steve Gerety
Marketing Coordinator – Divya Sood
Recruiting Coordinator – Natasha Bastien
It was a very relaxed atmosphere with teams meeting other teams and professors and Deans working the room. Wines, cheeses, fruit and assorted nibbles were at hand and the Case Competition Committee members were very good with making the teams feel at ease and indeed at home.
Associate Dean Chalykoff started with his opening remarks on how excited he was to be present in the midst of representatives from the world's best business schools. We did miss Wharton (who, unfortunately, had to pull out of the contest at the last minute and were not there to defend their title) - maybe they weren't up for the challenge! But as Dean Chalykoff said to the competing teams, "our loss and your gain!" In all seriousness though, apparently Wharton pulled out because of personal (or perhaps personnel) reasons and we sincerely hope that all is well with them. Dean Chalykoff enthusiastically welcomed all the students and introduced Sr. Associate Dean Lawson as the Chief Operating Officer who ensures that all the tough jobs associated with getting things done get.. well.. done! Dean Lawson rightly said that an international competition of any kind is unique in management education. I agree with him in that we are very lucky to be able to have this opportunity to come together as a large intellectual force bringing our respective strengths to the table for a healthy joust.
Dean Lawson then introduced Josh Cleveland, the President of the MS-MBA Association, as a fantastic example of what the BU MS-MBA is all about and I'm sure there isn't a single person on campus who would contest the fact that Josh is a tremendous leader and an all-round terrific guy to boot! Josh acknowledged that he couldn't have pulled it off without his committee and the support staff. He did make it a point to introduce me, which I thought was lovely.
I do realize at this point that many of you reading this blog may not know who I am. I'm a 2nd year MS-MBA student at BU graduating this May with concentrations in Strategy & Business Analysis and Marketing. I responded to an open 'Blogger Wanted' advert sent out by Josh and the committee and I'm very pleased to be part of this event and am privileged to be able to bring the thoughts of our fantastic entrants - hopefully I'll get to speak with all 44 of them!
Jim and Steve worked on the case competition committee last year as well and they did point out that not much has changed in the organization of the event. Last year's event was a huge success with everything going off without a hitch so why mess with a winning formula, I guess. Steve did mention one reason why he volunteered to work on the committee one more time and I'm sure many of the other members echo this sentiment - we get to be part of a community that comprises of some of the world's best MBAs from amazing schools. What could be better than that.
Here's Steve's tip for the teams - it's all about stamina. Tomorrow's 24 hours are going to feel like 36. It's important to stay fresh.
Good luck all!
The Case Competition Committee members:
Committee Chair – Josh Cleveland
Internal Comp. Coordinator – Jim McGroddy
Web Development Coordinator – Sean Chen
Facilities Coordinator – Manu Goel
Volunteer Coordinator – Jeff Symons
Finance Coordinator – Jingjing Li
Guest/Com Coordinator – Steve Gerety
Marketing Coordinator – Divya Sood
Recruiting Coordinator – Natasha Bastien
Pre-reception reception
It's one hour before the start of the formal reception to welcome the competition entrants. We have 11 teams from Kellogg, Stanford, Sloan, UNC Kenan-Flagler, Eller, McCombs, Queens Canada, Seoul Korea, IIM Calcutta and London School of Business and I will attempt to contact each team over the next two days to bring you the inside stories of their experience as participants in this event. I know there is a palpable level of excitement and anticipation (or maybe that's just me needing to cut down on coffee today). The organizing committee is definitely all switched on and look forward to the kick-off reception tonight.
I did bump into the IIM folks who, along with Seoul Korea, attended Prof. Hatten's Managing Risk class this afternoon. They seem well rested, cheery and look forward to the contest. They did express regret that since they'll be flying out on Sunday, they may not have time to check out the HBS and/or MIT campuses but I did point out the wonders of Comm. Ave. and the BU campus (construction notwithstanding).
The teams should all be checked in to the Brookline Courtyard Marriott Hotel by now (that's where they'll be staying for the duration of the competition.
Stay tuned for more after the reception! I, for one, am very much looking forward to being in the same room as the world's top MBA minds.
I did bump into the IIM folks who, along with Seoul Korea, attended Prof. Hatten's Managing Risk class this afternoon. They seem well rested, cheery and look forward to the contest. They did express regret that since they'll be flying out on Sunday, they may not have time to check out the HBS and/or MIT campuses but I did point out the wonders of Comm. Ave. and the BU campus (construction notwithstanding).
The teams should all be checked in to the Brookline Courtyard Marriott Hotel by now (that's where they'll be staying for the duration of the competition.
Stay tuned for more after the reception! I, for one, am very much looking forward to being in the same room as the world's top MBA minds.
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