INSEAD insight

I am now an INSEAD graduate and alumnus. It feels strange. For the past 10 months, we were running a race. We began unbelievably quickly, lunging down the racetrack, at times feeling like we were going to fall on our faces. Then as we got to the top of the hill, gasping for breath, we saw the beautiful horizon in front of us. We kept on at it, knowing the end was near. Finally as we passed the finishing line, our legs still felt like running - but now we’re back in a different type of race, in another paradigm.

Just 2 months ago I was only just settling down in France, apprehensive of driving a manual car on the other side of the road and speaking as far as possible in French.

Soon I figured my way around and didn’t need the GPS all the time. I got used to cooking food using French ingredients, enjoying bread, cheese and wine. I loved having long conversations and evening walks with my housemate after dinner. We made bold weekend driving trips to distant parts of France. And now I’m happy making dinner reservations in French and not relying on the phrase ‘Parlez vous anglais?’ so often anymore.

Just 10 months ago, I started my first term at the INSEAD campus in Singapore. Being Singaporean, I felt obliged to help classmates settle down. Then I was voted into the Students’ Council which resulted in me getting to know the administration better. Club work took up the rest of my time - the most scarce resource in the early months at INSEAD. My mind was spinning, not just with the new concepts we had to learn, but with meeting people from all parts of the world with backgrounds very different from mine.

Just 1 year ago, I was in London, meeting up with some new classmates at a chic wine bar. We were curious, asking lots of questions about each other. The perennial question was, “Fonty or Singy?” which means, “Are you starting in Fontainebleau or Singapore?” The financial crisis had yet to explode, and we were young, optimistic and ambitious.

1 year later we are slightly less young, but still optimistic and ambitious - even if we have to wait a bit longer for opportunities to come our way. There will be reunions and many gatherings as I know people are planning to return to Singapore to work, or look for work.

So, life will go on. But life will never be the same, after INSEAD.

Even as I contemplate my own future, I’d like to know what readers want for this blog after I graduate later today. Thank you for the support and the encouraging notes!

I receive questions or comments every 1-2 weeks on average and it is heartening to know that some of you appreciate the hands-on information I’ve shared.

Of course, INSEAD’s almost over for me, and my main plan thereafter is to post a link to point visitors (who usually find this blog via search engines) back to my main blog. Archives of my INSEAD blog posts will still be available.

However, I may update this blog periodically with some INSEAD news - most likely from the Alumni side as I intend to pay my dues and join the club. Like I said before, this is only the beginning, not the end! And it may give would-be applicants a good idea of life after the MBA, as part of the growing INSEAD family.

Post a comment to let me know your thoughts, if any.

Our career rep Abs just posted this on Facebook and I’m so pleased I have to share it with everyone. Among employers in Europe, INSEAD is the most preferred b-school (LBS coming in second). Likewise, INSEAD is the most preferred b-school in Asia, among all the business schools in that region.

Walk tall, INSEADers…

Goodbyes are so hard to say. So, we at INSEAD have made sure that there are many opportunities to say near-goodbyes as we approach the end of P5. I say near-goodbyes because we may still see each other during the graduation, and many will be at the grad trip - and even after that it is not the end, is it?

First, after our Cabaret rehearsal this evening, I had a BBQ dinner with fellow Singaporeans and my boyfriend R, then was planning to head home with my housemate, and then to meet AB, a fellow jazz-loving classmate at her place. I gave a lift to JT who was going to the same Chateau in Samoreau for the Chinese BBQ party, which I ended up popping by as well. I moved to the other side of the building where the party was just starting, with lots of P3s and their friends, some of whom I met and somehow ended up in a photo with them. There were even a few potential INSEAD applicants, and I must applaud them for their due diligence in not only attending today’s Open House but also going for our parties.

While there were torches and candles, the place was still dark so I was going around saying “Hi! I can’t see your face but you are…?” and we’d use the light from our mobile phones to see each other. I know I met a few more P3s this way, but as one girl said, she probably won’t be able to recognise me in broad daylight!

Eventually more P5s arrived and we talked about our plans for the future. Seems quite a few may be returning to Asia, for work and/or holidays. I am very happy that classmates like HA (aka HLTH) will be working in Singapore, and RS will be going around Asia with his family until he returns to McKinsey later in the year. And at least another INSEAD couple will be moving to Singapore. Maybe I shall organise a gathering for our cohort in Singapore.

So, it is not the end of the INSEAD story! It is only the beginning of a lifelong relationship, all over the world.

In my final Ethics class I raised the question of whether anyone would sign up for the MBA Oath. I added that I had just read a media report saying that even students from even INSEAD have signed up. Curious, I went to the website and found one INSEAD signatory*, from a much earlier promotion. Would the rest of us sign it?

My question brought mixed responses. Some would sign it, and felt that most of our cohort would, too. Others said there was no need to sign it, and just because some signed it and others didn’t, doesn’t mean that the non-signers were unethical. A good point raised by a classmate was that, in contrast to other Oaths like the Hippocratic one for doctors, how can this MBA Oath be enforced?

While surfing around for opinions on the MBA Oath I read a comment from another b-school student that signing the Oath may imply that his school’s curriculum is lacking in an ethics focus, i.e. it would backfire.

Our professor threw a question back at me - Should there be an INSEAD Oath? I said, on its own merit that was feasible, but now, why have an INSEAD Oath when the Harvard Oath has already gained so much publicity? Launching our own INSEAD Oath may imply that the Harvard version is lacking somewhere. (And wouldn’t it look like a ‘me-too’ reaction?)

Finally, another classmate said that we should re-iterate INSEAD’s existing values and that should cover it. There’s no need for a separate Oath. I think most of us agreed with that.

Personally, I am curious to see if, many years down the road, any signatories from this oath are able to stand by what they’ve sworn. Their names are on the website and the media can hold them accountable. Many are Harvard MBAs, likely to become top executives of major companies. Hopefully the Oath will reduce the chances of another Enron. But a once-off signing with no follow-ups and no enforceability would make it less effective.

Another cynical comment I read online said that this Oath was cleverly set up to help MBA grads look better as they search for jobs in a difficult climate. I disagree because many employers won’t necessarily prefer someone who signed it as opposed to someone who hasn’t. There are so many other qualities; no MBA grad, even from the same school, is exactly alike.

So the conclusion is, if you want to sign it, by all means, go ahead! It may improve the way we do business, or it may not. But if you don’t sign it, it doesn’t mean you are unethical either. Nobody is perfect and even those signing it may one day be forced to make an uncomfortable decision.

In the meantime, I am following the MBA Oath on Facebook and Twitter to observe it.

[ Update: 3 INSEAD alumni have signed the Oath ]

We can now vote for our best professors for core subjects and electives on the Intranet.

I’m curious as to how the voting system works. Hypothetically, if there are two outstanding core subject professors, one in Fonty and one in Singapore, and most students on both campuses vote for them, isn’t it more likely that the one in Fonty will win because there are more students there?

Unless, of course, that professor taught most of us in P3. This is quite possible for the July promotion, as P3 in Fonty is in the dead cold of winter and so many Fontysiders tend to move to the Singapore campus. Hence, I think an outstanding professor who taught most of us in P3 stands the best chance of winning the best core subject.

As such, my pick for best Core subject professor is Ilian Mihov for Macroeconomics, and I think he may stand a pretty good chance of winning once again. My next bet is Michael Witt for International Political Analysis.

I think our P1 Microeconomics professor, Brett Saraniti, also rocked, and it’s great that he is returning to teach at INSEAD. Even though I wasn’t interested in a career in Finance, I liked both our Finance professors, Pierre Hillion and Theo Vermaelen, who were entertaining in their own ways. I liked our Organisational Behaviour classes and how, even after they came to an end, we could still talk to our professors (Alan Filipowicz) and Henrik Bresman about real life situations.

For electives, I thought most professors were not bad, but as I have to pick one, I would choose the one that gave me skills I could use for the rest of my life, and who was also kind enough to follow up with me, beyond the classroom. So Horacio Falcao it is.

An indication of a professor’s popularity is the number of sections his electives have been alloted, the minimum number of bid points required and finally, the length of the waiting list. Positive word of mouth from students who’ve taken those electives will encourage the new intake to sign up as well. In some cases, you can also view the evaluation scores given to the professor by previous cohorts.

The last two months I’ve had amazing opportunities to bond closer with my Electives professors and even other professors who haven’t taught me before! Firstly, at the end of P4 I went on the Building Business in India trip and got to know Patrick Turner better (another professor with strong word of mouth recommendations and many rounds of electives!). I will definitely keep in touch with him when I return to Singapore. Then I had 2 dinners at the home of Lourdes Casanova and Soumitra Dutta, the author of ‘Throwing Sheep in the Boardroom’. I met up with him again to discuss a tech project. And, inspired by playing piano at their place, with their encouragement, I am now performing at the Cabaret.

At church, I chatted with INSEAD Dean Frank Brown and his wife and was impressed with his humility and his ‘frank’ sense of humour. Then we met Chan Kim and overshot our appointed time listening to the advice he was giving us, beyond Blue Ocean strategy. It was enlightening and I hope we will indeed meet again when he visits Singapore.

So it seems that my INSEAD experience is ending on a crescendo. But hopefully this will only be the first movement of the symphony of my life.

I’ve had an interesting conversation with some classmates and thought I should post it here.

At INSEAD, I’ve noticed that where you spend your first two periods (4 months) will distinguish you for the rest of your time here. Firstly, people tend to be closer to other people they’ve spent their early days with. Also, people tend to be associated with the characteristics of the campus. Singapore campus people are supposed to be laid back, casual, island-hoppers. Fonty people are supposed to be more hardworking and competitive. Of course, as with all stereotypes, not everyone fits the bill.

What I didn’t expect was that those from the Singapore campus are called ‘Singaporeans’ - whether they really are citizens or not. I know it is fairly easy for top foreign talent to get Permanent Resident status in Singapore, but not that easy!

So, when I met a few Fonty people for the first time here in Fonty, the conversation ended up something like this.

Fonty person: Hi! Where are you from?

Me: Singapore!

Fonty person: I know, you’re from the Singapore campus. But where are you from, originally?

Me: Singapore!

It was amusing. As I related this story to another Fonty classmate who I met on the Singapore campus (i.e. a fellow exchanger), he said, “Funny how there’s a name for the Singapore campus people (i.e. “Singaporeans”) but the Fonty people aren’t called French.”

While this is true, I have heard fellow ‘Singaporeans’ call the other group various Fonty-related names, usually in relation to how they seem so much more hardworking and volunteer their opinions more readily in class. I myself call them ‘Fontysiders’.

Of course, years from now, we may forget these little nuances and distinguish ourselves based on graduating class. With more time, we may simply remember ourselves as INSEADers. And that’s all that matters.

I’ve had my happiest day at INSEAD so far. Saturday morning began with a church rehearsal followed by lunch with WY and a visit to Picard. Pretty normal so far. The weather wasn’t that nice, but at least the people were.

Then I discovered some new stores at Avon which had pretty good deals and noted down the prices. I went home, bumped into my landlord and learnt that he has boosted the wireless internet signal strength. So far it’s holding up well!

With my newly-empowered surfing abilities, I went on Facebook and was invited by my Algerian-French classmate AB to join her for drinks. I told her I’d meet her after dinner.

I went for dinner at the home of two INSEAD professors (the same couple I mentioned earlier) and got to meet more P3s who are going for the Brazil trip. I was invited again to play the piano and this time was accompanied by French classmate BC who also played the piano. He sang with such passion that we are now forming a Cabaret team! My housemate had arrived by that time and we also got her to sing, heheh.

After dinner I headed to another part of Fonty and found AB and her housemate PR there. We headed over to their place where I discovered that AB and PR are fellow jazz lovers. I told PR about my jazz piano lessons and listened to lots of artistes, particularly French jazz which is what I was looking for in France. Then I played some of my own compositions and they liked it a lot. They asked me what I was doing, getting an MBA! PR has requested I play the piano at the INSEAD bar.

After that episode of self-rediscovery, I went home. Then I got a call to fetch my housemate home so I drove out again. All in rainy, cold weather. I am overall happy and strangely not tired. The only downside is that I will not get much sleep before church rehearsal in the morning followed by the actual performance. I know it’s not going to be perfect but I certainly hope the worship will be smooth and that I will play a constructive part in it.

Now, to sleep!

I’ve decided to put myself up for the Cabaret. Have posted my availability on the INSEAD Music Lovers’ Facebook group. If it happens, it happens. If not, I will just enjoy the show!

As a performer, my style is jazzy, which is why I believe I would best fit into that genre, although I can easily do pop and rock as well. I can sing too, having won a contest a few years ago, but am happy to let someone else take the limelight. Or it can simply be a three-piece band - it doesn’t have to be complicated. I am happy to play some latin jazz as well. I also do electronica provided we have a suitable keyboard.

I write and produce my own music in my home studio. I’ve led two jazz bands and played in two concerts held by my music school. Prior to that, as a classically-trained pianist (I finished Grade 8 but decided not to do the Diploma in Music as it clashed with my undergrad law studies) I also performed at various school concerts and various church events. As such I don’t get very jittery about such things and will focus more on playing my part in the band.

Also see my philosophy about how playing in a jazz band is how moderns teams should be working - having a framework we agree on yet allowing flexibility for each member to improvise freely, giving each other the chance to shine.

So, shall I be a performer or just a member of the audience? Any takers?

So, here I am on a fine sunny day in Samoreau, surfing the web on a canoe.

To be precise, the canoe is upside down, and I am resting my laptop on the base of the canoe. Before you make a call for 911, rest assured I am not sitting in the river near our cottage on a capsized canoe, but quite safely on our landlord’s garden lawn.

The reason for my unusual position is that the wireless internet connection is strongest around this point, because my landlord indicated where his wireless transmitter was located in his home, and so I am now standing outside his locked-up house (he is only around on weekends) trying to pick up the good vibes. At least he was kind enough to let us use his existing connection. I was told by many people that things here are so slow, by the time I set up my own independent Internet account, it would be time to go home to Singapore.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m loving my stay in France. The food and wine are great, we are soaking in the culture and the sunshine, and being in P5 we are truly enjoying ourselves. However, in France it does take a while for things to get fixed. The Internet issue is a minor problem, in fact…

A more serious example: A pebble flew into the windscreen of my housemate’s car. She made an appointment to get it fixed at the nearby Peugeot workshop. Then a couple days later, she had a flat tire. The car was towed to a second workshop as the first one was closed. So now she has to fix the tire (where she was quoted a whopping 360 euros, not including towing charges) at one workshop, then fix the cracked windscreen at another workshop. After some waiting she was told she actually had to fill up a form to authorise that work be done. She was not told this earlier on, or else she would have obviously done this immediately. Fortunately in the end, after some effective negotiations, the cost of the tire replacement was covered. But why would it be so expensive, and why would it take so long?

I am also writing a note to our landlord regarding the newly-renovated cottage which has some defects, like a door that can’t close properly, a leaking sink, a tap handle that flies off because of a missing screw, among other minor things. I heard that French workmen don’t come back just to fix one or two simple things they omitted to do properly the first time. I hope our list is long enough to warrant a second visit.

In the meantime, I will continue enjoying the fine weather while surfing atop this canoe.