The Final Grand Final, Networking and Exam Mode

It is Thursday of week 6 and things are starting to hot up here on the workload front. After last weekend spent working on two assignments due last Sunday and Monday, I now have 3 major assignments, a New Business Development Project and six exams to complete before I can step on the plane back to Oz on 27 March. My exam time table was published today and my 1, 2, 2, 1 split is a big improvement on last term's 2, 2, 2 schedule of exams.

Last week my elective choices for next term were confirmed and unlike most of the students I was actually awarded my first 6 preferences. I opted for a broad selection of subjects the scheduling of which will give me two clear days each week (Tuesday & Wednesday) to meet with potential employers in London. I have chosen: Restructuring and Implementation (M&A - Investment Banking - Finance based elective), Capital Raising Techniques (IPO - Investment Banking - Finance based elective), Brand Identity and Company Identity (Marketing based course taught by UK Brand Guru Wally Ollins - this course only offered to 30 places and I was very lucky to get it), Consumer Insight (Marketing), Business in China (International Business & Politics elective) and Theory and Practice of Negotiations (Soft Skills based elective which ends in week 5 giving me even more time to focus on my post MBA employment search).

Today was not a typical day for me in Oxford so I have decided to share it with you. At 7.30 am I had a breakfast meeting with team members of my New Business Development (NBD) Project. Given that we have two Canadians in our group we have been working on a business plan for a geothermal heating and cooling installation company in Canada.

Our main point of difference from existing operators is that we are focusing soley on large scale new build residential developments. Further, we are adopting a business model of a renewable energy utility company rather than a construction subcontractor model. That way we finance the installation of the units, retain ownership of them and charge homowners a much reduced rate for their heating and cooling needs that they could otherwise receive from a gas or electricity company. Hubert's Peak and the decline in the global production of oil was the subect matter of my application essay to the business school. Therefore, it is very satisfying to use some of my time here to explore the future market for sustainable energy production. As for my NBD team, we are getting along really well and enjoyed a team dinner by attending formal hall at Exter College as a guest of one our team mates (See pictures below). Exeter is the college my Dad was a member of when he attended Oxford and I have to admit, their dining facilities are a great deal more impressive than at my college, St Peter's.

At 8.45am I attended an Operations Managment class during which we analysed a casestudy on BMW. It was really interesting to learn about the pre-production processes involved in launching a new model BMW. Given the time, effort and amount of money they spend perfecting the design and engineering (1.5 million DM just for the drivers cockpit) it almost makes the price tag for a new Beamer seem quite reasonable. At the start of the class the lecturer asked us all to name the car that we drove before we came to Oxford. Never one to give a short answer, I explained that I used to drive a fleet car from time to time and that all Australian fleet cars are either Ford Falcons or Holden Commodores. I then explained the entire significance of this Australian cultural divide referencing both Bathurst and Bevins. I now reckon the class think I am a moron.

At 10.45 I met Johannah and Scott two members of my Technology and Innovation Strategy (TIS) class and we rode our bikes through snow and sleet to meet the other members of our study group to meet with QIP IRC (Quantum Information Processing Interdisciplinary Research Collaboration). The purpose of our meeting was to discuss Quantum Encryption, new technology combining subatomic (quantum) particles to transmit encrypted information. This is amazingly complex technology stretching the mental capacity of some of the cleverest nerds on the planet. It is also frightening to realise that in under 10 years people will be able to crack all known codes in the world accessing bank accounts details, military secrets, etc using a quantum computor.

The meeting wrapped up at 12.15 and I raced off to get changed for my college rugby match, a semi- final in the Cuppers against Somerville/Corpus Christie. It was still sleeting and very cold so I was in for a muddy game with thousands of scrums. Unknown to me until after kick off I had been moved from the flank to the second row and by the end of the game my ears were red raw and the gritty mud on the shorts of the props had scraped the skin off my high male model like cheek bones. A cheap mud pack and facial exfoliation indeed (See pictures below). I cannot complain though as one of our boys suffered a horrifically broken nose which was spurting blood from the its bridge. The poor bloke went into shock and I nobody wanted to look at it in case they brought up their lunch. We won the game pretty easily (27-5) and unlike last week where I made a good defensive contribution, this week I hit it up off the 5/8 and returned the ball from the kick off a number of times showing very clean hands considering the conditions. Their only decent player was the Blues breakaway, Dougie Abbott so it was nice to play against and try to better one of the boys from the OURFC. We are now in the Cuppers Final against Pembroke College on Friday 10th March at Iffley Road. Their star player is the Blues No. 8 Marcel Du Toit who studies at the business school and is a mate of mine, so I am looking forward taking him on. He is built like a front rower but runs like a back and has played a high standard of provincial rugby in South Africa.

It will also be my last game of 15 man rugby so it will be nice to finish my last season of rugby in the atmosphere of a grand final. It won't be my final ever rugby game as next term I am competing in the MBA Olympics in Paris at Sevens Rugby, a format which lends itself to my deceptively slow speed, wayward looping passes and excessive use of white electrical tape (Viva Paul Sironen!).

After spending what seemed like an hour showering off mud, I went to the 6.00pm McKinsey Consulting presentation at the business school. Management Consulting along with Investment Banking is the traditional career path for MBA graduates and McKinsey is the biggest name in the business. Although managament consulting does not particularly appeal to me I decided to go along just to see what the 'Big Mick' had to say. This is part of a strategy I have adopted of attending more corporate recruitment presentations and to practise my networking skills both with the visiting professionals and my fellow students.

I reviewed my sheet containing class member photos last night and was pleased to discover that I know just over half of my 225 strong cohort well enough to say hello or to have a beer with. The remaining half are comprised of mostly Indians and Chinese who talk funny. Just kidding, they actually speak fine, it is just that binge drinking and nude streaking through full Monday morning lectures are just not part of their culture.

Anyway that brings me to the present time, updating my blog. You will also see in the photos below a number of pictures from a Venetian Carnival themed dinner that I attended on the Friday of 4th week. It was a very 'large' affair causing me to have my latest night out since I got here and to feel shabby all the next day (See Pictures Below). Still it was very worth it as I was able to bond with my class mates. The reality is that there is only a very short period of time to make some lasting friendships here and sometimes a coffee between 15 minute lecture breaks is not enough. Sometimes you need, alcohol, a dancefloor and silly masks.

That is it from me, good night Australia!

Cheers,
Doug.