first TMA submission

My first TMS submitted! I'm very concerned in case I have deviated from the question. Let's wait and hope for the best.

first meeting

I just got back from our first group get together. For the first time on the road I was stopped by the "polizei". "Auslanderausweis" checked, "driving license" checked, car registration card checked! Alles gut. Not, quite sure what they were looking for.

Got home, and I feel really tired, and damn hungry. What's fast to cook???? hmmm ... can't think of anything else - curry, done. It's on the stove now.

Being the first get together, we were not entirely sure how we should structure the session. In the end it was kind of unstructured discussion revolving around organisation culture, politics, structure, CEO being snobbish and pain in the neck, "tough-guy" / "macho-man culture,  intra-competition between internal service providers, clashes of two cultures due to merger, contractors/professional dependency in organisations (IT, audits, legal) .. and all sort of other things that have one way or another relation to the current topics of B713. 

Trevor who's joining UBS said he does not know his organisation structure. In fact there is none. All he knows is that he will have 3 direct reports. Nothing else, nothing more. I found that to be very strange. It turned out that it's just the way it is in UBS and most likely the same in Credit Swiss. Alstom is "kindergarten" in comparison to UBS, according Adrian (who's already with the bank). Hmmm..

We got into a discussion on how much we get to see the products of work. I was the odd one ... almost none when I think about it. We realised that it has some relation to the structure of the organisation -- mine is Matrix, and it's difficult to get make things happen in such org. 

 

first tutorial

I just came back from our first tutorial at the Movenpick Hotel, Zurich. 16 out of the total of 18 students were present. Quite a good turn out.

I had been wondering if half a day would be sufficient to cover all the topics in the agenda. It turned out, wasn't quite. But, we managed to cover most of the key points.

I got to be in a group of four with Trevor (an IT contractor, soon joining UBS on permanent basis), Adrian (an employee of UBS, involved in client advisory) and Chris (a business owner in hospitality). Hopefully, it'll be a productive group moving forward. We agreed to meet on regular basis, which is something I'm looking forward to.

a few more Days to go

I have just come back from a short break in South of Switzerland / North Italy, and as usual the momentum for study has mellowed down a little. Likewise my focus on work - especially when I saw the number of red (unread) emails in the inbox ... sigh ,..

It turned out the name of my tutor was announced on the StudentHome web page. First thing first, introduce myself to him. Shortly after, the first three TMA (Tutor Marked Assignments) were also posted. Sounds like the right questions to start off the course. I slowly gain the momentum again. This time, I have to find a good way to keep the pendulum at the right frequency, constantly and consistently. 

my new study desk

special present to my other half

I got my wife an iPhone .. there goes her time. I hope she doesn't forget to cook ..

winter, bless my study

After some bright, relatively warm past few weeks, winter has come knocking on the door. At 6.30 yesterday's evening, I looked out my office windows and the darkness outside gave that depressing sense of winter. It's probably a good way of welcoming winter by kicking off with my MBA. Cold, gloomy, wet, and ... busy studying. Now, that will keep winter short.

Let's reflect what I have been doing in preparing for 1 November.

Since the day I got the study pack, I have been reading the MBA handbook. I'm probably half way to completion. It's a good "big" piece of preparatory reading. Most of the chapters are common sense you can say, but there are one or two which are pretty special. To start off, there is this discussion about being assertive, aggressive and .. I dont remember the third that is way opposite of the two. There may not be anything significant about this topic. But, if you analyse it properly and try to think of characters within your workplace that are either assertive, or aggressive, you will realise that it's easy to locate the latter, but not the former. On the surface the two look pretty much the same, but in actual fact there is a big difference. I have to say that out of the top manager colleagues I worked with, talked too, there is only one person who falls into the category of assertive. There are many who are pure aggressive - I begin too see how pure agressive although may make you God in some organisation and job, and as long as you have strong "god father" back-up, it won't last. But being assertive could take you miles further.

After some bright, relatively warm past few weeks, winter has come knocking on the door. At 6.30 yesterday's evening, I looked out my office windows and the darkness outside gave that depressing sense of winter. It's probably a good way of welcoming winter by kicking off with my MBA. Cold, gloomy, wet, and ... busy studying. Now, that will keep winter short.

Since the day I got the study pack, I have been reading the MBA handbook. I'm probably half way to completion. It's a good "big" piece of preparatory reading. Most of the chapters are common sense, but there are one or two which are pretty good. To start off, there is this discussion about between assertive, aggressive and .. I dont remember the third that is way opposite of the two. It may be trivial the first time you read it.

what's wrong with the password??

This thing about the student page of OU is pissing me off. All of a sudden, the password is no longer accepted - attempt to reset failed as it cannot find my record. I hope this is a one off situation.

On another note, I begin to see why doing MBA also tests your physical condition. After a month of break, I started my routine Sunday badminton again. It was a good game, and I felt pretty fresh afterwards. But, the morning after it hit me pretty hard - partly my body was probably also telling me age is catching up. I felt like I was gonna get sick, if you know what I mean. Thank god, it didn't turn up so today. Lesson learned: not to get sick in the next 3 years! now, that's the biggest challenge of all.

my student page

After some digging around, I finally managed to get my user ID and password for my OU Student page. It's quite frustrating that I had to find my around to get these. I'm not sure if these were sent to me by post but never arrived, or it it has been overlooked, or it will be sent.

But, it's good that I have them now and able to access my student page.

I realise that are tonne of infos I need to run through and I probably need a couple of hours to familiarise myself with the content and page structure. Thereafter, I hope it will be a breeze.

The page seems a little slow from my office.

finally, i'm in

Finally I am in an MBA course, a special journey for the next 2.5 to 3 years. Out of the a few that I applied to, I decided to go with Open University UK. Various reasons for it, the key ones being:

1. The 3 accreditations they carry, and the first with all the three for an "open learning" uni.
2. Local tutor support
3. Residentials closer to home (could be in Belgium if not UK)
4. Value for money
5. Being specialist in open learning, I don't think I will get it wrong in choosing it

I made the first payment of 4.6 K sterling and today, I receive the first set of materials by DHL.

My first reflection - why do I do it?

I gave a long thought about this - should I?

I was once offered sponsorship by my employer, about 4 years ago. It was one of the two options placed on my desk - big increment or MBA sponsorship (with 3 years bond upon completion). The bond put me off, the money sounded more appealing, and I didn't see an MBA a necessity or if I needed it. Fast forward to a year ago, my opinion changed - it may not be a necessity, but to move on in my career I begin to see the disadvantage I will have without it. Hence, this big decision.