Frog to Dragon: HEC MBA & Tsinghua MBA Blog

Posted by Pam at 26 April , 2010

Hey there!
Spring has finally arrived!

Violets blooming all over the campus woods

What can I say, I’m very glad I could pack away my coat and enjoy again nice walks around the campus. Flowers are just about everywhere these days. Everybody is in good mood :)

It is also time to look back as we have now completed our second Core phase.

During this period, I have learned about:
– Business Economics
– Corporate Finance (in French)
– Decision Making
– Organisational Behaviour
– Management Accounting & Control (in French)
– Strategic Management (in French)
– Sustainable Business Strategy

Like in Core 1, I didn’t know much about any of these topics.

I confirmed my strange taste for Financial Accounting as I enjoyed the classes we had in Management Accounting. This is big news for me and I’m now starting to include this skill into future career options. (Seriously, who’d want to include Accounting as a career option!)

I may say that this period has been as life changing as Core 1. But maybe as a continuation. I felt that Core 1 was a “Reset” time, while Core 2 was about (re)building my expectations.
I’ve definitely started to think of career options in a different way and now I’m seriously considering options that would have sounded wild when I left my job, just under a year ago.

Tags: Academics, Life on campus
Posted in: 2. At HEC MBA , Just me | No Comments »

Posted by Pam at 19 April , 2010

Building a bridge in the forest

Last week, we went to something truely unique about the HEC MBA: The Leadership Seminar at St-Cyr, where we spent two days. One in the Coëtquidant center, in the forest. The other one at the Penthièvre fort, by the sea of Brittany.
For the record, St-Cyr is the highest level French military academy, where cadets train to become officers of the French army. It is considered to be one of the more prestigious Grandes Ecoles.

And, yes, it was a blast :)
We didn’t get to play with arms but we had plenty with all the rest.
We learned to quickly understand people’s key skills in a team. We learned to trust our team mates. We learned to trust ourselves too.
We woke up early, and experienced things we never had before. We faced our fears and conquered some of them.

I can seriously say I felt priviledged to be part of such a programme.
It was fantastic and I’m sure all of us will have lots of happy memories of these two days :)

PS: Yes, I had my share of cramps and bruises afterwards.

Tags: HEC events
Posted in: 2. At HEC MBA | 1 Comment »

Posted by Pam at 2 April , 2010

Last week we had a conference cycle called Visions of Leadership.

Theodore Zeldin at HEC Visions of Leadership

This week long event was opened by Theodore Zeldin and saw leaders from a broad range of sectors. I was certainly impressed by the diversity of ways one can be a leader in. We had, of course, people coming from the corporate world, but also from smaller businesses and start-ups. Further from the typical MBA target, we saw ambassadors, sportsmen and a former head of the French army in Afghanistan.

It was a very interesting discovery for us. Not all leaders are charismatic and the “Follow me to my vision!” type. Some were more collected and exhibited a more serious demeanor. Some came with the notes and presentations while others could just sit in their chair and start talking. Some were shy.

One of the things this week left me thinking about was, actually, how we started the cycle.
Just before the conferences started we were all given a bag with instructions and, amongst other things, Theodore Zeldin’s book: Conversation: How Talk Can Change Our Lives. This book matched not only his opening speech but also made sense of the cycle and further.
Indeed, I believe that meaningful conversations can change people. It stems from a desire to share things and learn from others. One could even say that writing this blog is a way for me to have a conversation with you readers.

Anyway, philosophical ponders…

Tags: Academics, Books, HEC events
Posted in: 2. At HEC MBA , Just me | 2 Comments »