March 2009 Archives

My blog’s being hit by lots of comment spam (over 13,000 since launch) and I’ve received multiple warnings that the bandwidth limit is being reached, which means that you may not be able to see this site until next month when my limit is reset. Hopefully nothing of the sort will happen! Begone, evil spambots!

In other news, I am really glad that I can go to Fonty, and am now waiting to hear back from prospective employers. I prefer quality not quantity and so would rather apply well to a few companies I feel I’d fit well in, than lots of companies just for the sake of it.

I’m also getting some assignments done, overseeing some club stuff, meeting up with people I used to collaborate with, and spending more time with family, especially with my grandmother who’s in hospital. I’m also going to confirm which car to rent in Fonty. Meanwhile, Career Services has started sending me a couple of leads specific to my area of interest, which is quite thoughtful. I once harbored plans of working overseas, but I think it’s better to be based in Singapore since I’m now happily attached to an alumnus who’s working here.

I’ll also be attending an INSEAD 06 alumni’s wedding on Sunday, and in April another wedding of 2 INSEAD 06 alumnus. One day, someone should compile a book titled ‘INSEAD - the greatest love stories’ featuring all the INSEADers who married each other.

The INSEAD CV Book is starting to reap results for me.

I got a call this morning from a headhunter who referred to my CV in the INSEAD CV Book. She cited my extensive digital media experience (8 years) and found it remarkable that I also had a law degree. It sounds like there’s a position in mind. Will find out more when I meet her next week.

Turns out this recruitment agency is a Fortune 500 company, so in any case it would be great to have them looking out for me.

Earlier this week I also received some very good advice from a senior headhunter friend, which is why I’ve been spending late nights fine-tuning the standard INSEAD CV and rewriting my cover letters.

Good luck to everyone who’s also looking for a job!

Results

Got my P3 results. Not used to seeing so many 4.0s :) We generally do better for electives, although I heard you can still do badly if you don’t put in any effort. I hope to repeat the good scores for P4 and P5. My groupmates from one elective were pretty happy, too. I’m working with one of them again for a P4 elective.

Groupwork - past and present

Speaking of groupwork - it’s starting to build up. So far P4 is nowhere as bad as P3, where there were more subjects and scheduling was difficult as everyone in the group was taking different subjects at different times. However, in P4 people get busy applying for jobs, which is not an easy thing to do considering the economy.

The Ding bell (which as part of INSEAD tradition you are supposed to strike if you’ve been dinged for a job), will be brought back, thanks to a fellow student council member, HN. At the same time I’ve learnt in my Psychological Issues of Management elective that we should not be succumbing to self-fulfilling (negative) prophecies! However those who do get dinged will hopefully get treated to a drink at the bar.

For P1-P3 core subjects, you get paired with people who have different backgrounds. For P3-5 electives you can usually choose your own groupmates. As a result of this freedom of choice, we tend to join people we already hang out with. In a way it’s convenient because you know the people, what their strengths are, and are more likely to hit the ground running. However that also means you don’t get to work closely with lots of other people, and there may be a higher chance of groupthink. It’s a tradeoff we have to make. Also I’ve found that you can sometimes learn more by not having any ‘experts’ in that group. It’s good if the expert sets the tone right and guides the rest but is also open to suggestions, but bad if the expert decides on everything and makes others feel sidelined. Let’s see how it goes ;-)

Also, in classes where we sit at tables instead of being in the amphis, the groupings have become more obvious. I decided to break the trend today and sit with people whom I didn’t know. We introduced ourselves and got along well. I know we all have different objectives at INSEAD, but one of mine is getting to know people I’d otherwise not have the chance to meet. We only have 10 months together, and in some cases, 2 months max (if we happen to be in different campuses for the other 4 periods). Sure, in the years to come if I need help I could still look up the alumni directory, but it’s even better if we knew each other in person already.

Remarkable networks

Interestingly, the partner of one of the classmates I had just met at the table, emailed me an hour after class asking about for my help on a research project. Small world indeed! You really never know what you may be doing with the people you’ve met… or their significant others.

And even people whom I met at the INSEAD open house, who are interested in applying to INSEAD, have been helping me. One of them, MT, came over to chat with me and we exchanged contact details. I decided to add him to Facebook and Twitter too. One day I Twittered that I was looking for a specific type of job. and he gave me not just a lead but also a contact person in another part of the world. What’s amazing is that I didn’t plan for any of this to happen - I was simply happy to help people and answer their queries about getting into INSEAD - and when I needed help, I received it. That’s the spirit!

Something interesting happened in class today, but because some of you reading this may be new INSEADers who might take this elective, I will avoid giving too many details which could influence your own answers and give inaccurate results, which would do you a disfavour.

We all brought our laptops to class and filled in two Excel forms which generated a certain number. My score for the first assessment was very low and I realised people around me were scoring several times that number. (After officially reporting my score, I tinkered around with the Excel form, changing one of my answers to something I felt was less ‘harsh’ to see if my score would go up - and instead it went further down! So I really was an extreme case.) The professor then keyed in our numbers in a certain order. Then we did the second assessment and this time my score was fairly high.

Then the professor revealed a matrix (he joked that all self-respecting MBA professors have to use matrixes!) and suddenly I found myself in the best possible quadrant, having a combination of the two positive leadership attributes. The other 3 quadrants reflected different combinations of these characteristics (being present or absent). Because of my very low score for assessment #1 I found myself at one extreme end of the matrix, which made my little dot stick out conspicuously from the cluster of dots in the middle. The professor singled out my dot and a few other people’s dots that lay on extreme ends of each quadrant.

Someone asked if cultural differences would affect the scores and while it was possible, I also noticed that the classmates who had the highest and lowest scores for one characteristic (which reflects a certain personal value) were both from the same country and from the same sector.

Later on, a few of us were still discussing the findings and how my score was so extreme in the best segment. I said I was influenced by my own mother, who would question my reactions to things when I was younger, and so now I think more like she does. In fact, her score might even have been more extreme than mine, because she managed to rise up in the business world, got featured in business publications and still has lots of loyal employees under her who remember her to this day.

I’d love to discuss this further with people who have already taken this test. In any case it has been very encouraging for me. Of course a test alone may not be indicative of real life. What we say is different from what we do, although it may be a close enough comparison. Having the potential to be a great leader is very inspiring.

Alumni and classmates have spoken of the “INSEAD Effect”, whereby couples break up when one partner is studying full time at INSEAD.

You may wonder, “Is INSEAD really that bad??” Admittedly, the workload is tough, and you won’t be able to spend as much time with your partner as before. If the couple is living apart, the long distance relationship may be an added strain. But conversely, couples that are studying at INSEAD together may become closer. Similarly, some people choose to go to the Asia campus because their partner is also posted in Singapore or a nearby city.

Some of us have in fact experienced the “Reverse INSEAD Effect”. Either classmates hook up with each other, or with alumni, or couples get engaged (which just happened to a guy classmate of mine). I and another female classmate are currently dating alumni who happen to work in the same company. Now, how coincidental is that! :)

On a related note, I heard rumours that I’d like to nip in the bud. A classmate of mine asked me today if the alum I’m going out (whom I call R in my main blog), was actually my groupmate, RB!

Firstly, RB is not yet an alum. My boyfriend is another R and he is an alum. Also, RB is now doing his exchange in Wharton, so how can I be going out on weekends with him?! :P Anyway this is amusing. I think our other groupmates would keel over with laughter (or something else) if we ever got together.

That’s all I wanted to say for now. Job applications will be keeping me busy!

Finished 3 days of China Strategy and it has been amazing. Don’t have time to give a lot of details (have to prepare for 3 classes tomorrow, plus job search) but let’s say it’s been so fascinating, better than I had hoped. If it continues, and I’m sure it will, I strongly recommend INSEADers who have some interest in China, to take this course.

For me, the main points were the global-to-local and local-to-global issues facing MNCs and ambitious Chinese companies; questions of ethics versus profitability/competitive advantage, and Guanxi, which was a huge area of discussion every day.

Our professor WC did everything he could to give us a better understand of the Chinese mindset. He told us that as a teacher, he treated us like his children and he really went out of his way to look after us. He said this experience has showed that despite being out of China/Taiwan for 10 years he still has inherently Chinese behaviour :) I’m not complaining there.

Had a pleasant surprise at the China Club dinner last night, when I met the man behind KFC China’s success (to be precise, part of the ‘Taiwan Gang’ of elite overseas Chinese recruited to run KFC in China). He told me his book was selling at Borders. I joked that he should’ve told Borders and they could have arranged an autograph session. That gave him an idea: He said if any of us bought his book, he would autograph them for us as he would be returning on Day 3 to participate in the panel. I informed some classmates and the professor, and then I another classmate CS headed to Borders to buy some of his books. The proceeds go to help the education of poor children in rural China so it is totally worth it.

We received lots of good advice from our speakers. Even among us students - those from China, those of us overseas Chinese, and non-Chinese who worked in China and/or spoke the language, and even non-Chinese with no background in China at all, had different angles and questions to ask, which made this an intellectually interwoven fabric of fine Chinese silk :)

I seem to have a penchant for bidding for courses that inevitably stretch across the weekends. On the plus side, I’d have cleared one elective in just a few days (not counting the final group assignment and presentation a few weeks later). And we get Executive treatment at MBA rates :P

This Friday, Saturday and Sunday will be spent on China Strategy. On Friday our Chinese professor WC gave very substantial information on China’s growth, which we all know as phenomenal, but there were extra insights. He also invited a very good speaker from KFC to share with us how they’re winning the fast food wars with McDonald’s through their entrepreneurial spirit, Chinese-oriented leadership and willingness to introduce dishes that Chinese like. In contrast, McDonald’s has stuck firmly to its global image and made relatively few changes to its menu, bringing in Western executives to address issues that are inherently Chinese.

It’s been excellent so far. Everybody I’ve spoken to has said it’s great. Even a classmate from China told me she’s learning something new. Now that’s the spirit! Looking forward to more great insights today (Saturday) and tomorrow. Tonight we’ll also be having dinner at China Club, thanks to our sponsors.