GNIW – Smurfit MBA Blog

F.O.M.O

MissingOutImg_1-900x578 — F.O.M.O – Fear of Missing Out – Anxiety that an exciting or interesting event may currently be happening elsewhere

I’m not sure whether it’s something that I developed while living in London, where there is always a reason to be out, or something that was always in me, and has in fact developed me. Regardless, it is making this chapter a little hectic.

I have just returned to Dublin to do the MBA in Smurfit, after six years working in the UK. A lot of thought went into my choice of school having offers in both London and Dublin. Smurfit’s highly regarded name, a part scholarship and the option to move back in with the folks, made the potential return to my MBA investment in Smurfit stand out a mile.

Was it the right decision? Definitely. The last six weeks has been a whirlwind, but an extremely interesting, engaging and thought provoking whirlwind. The quality of the lectures, as a result of combining high caliber students with world-class faculty and teaching methods, makes you really want to be there. FOMO rating (1-5) on missing lectures, 4.

Golf, Rugby, Entrepreneurship, Thought Leadership, just a handful of societies to get involved in. As newly appointed Chairman of the Golf Society, which I got by default from being the only new MBA to attend the final outing of last year’s society, I am now tasked with organising a calendar of events for the year. On Thursday night, my Competitive Strategy study plan was hi-jacked by an Entrepreneurship event, which I must admit was well worth attending. FOMO rating on missing Society events, 4.

This coming Monday, Global Network Week (GNW) commences. The GNW program is an initiative of the Global Network for Advanced Management (GNAM) and is designed to provide students from participating GNAM schools with a rich foreign immersion experience. You have the opportunity to travel to schools abroad, including Yale, or staying in Dublin, where the theme of the week is “The Three Pillars of Innovation in Ireland Technology, Food and Culture”. The aim of the week in Dublin is to “drive innovation and create value by connecting leading global business schools, their resources and their stakeholders. Initially I wasn’t going to take part in GNW because I didn’t want to travel abroad, and if I chose the week in Dublin I would have to drop one my three electives in semester two Executive Decision Making, Strategy Execution and Entrepreneurship) each one of which I really wanted to do. Roll on Week 4 and with the GNW buzz is in the air, FOMO creeps in. The thought of an amazing GNW week in full flow right on my doorstep, while I procrastinate about studying financial reporting for the mid-November exam, got the better of me. FOMO rating on missing GNW week, 5. FOMO rating on dropping a module, 5. Answer, do it all. You can see where this year is going.

I think I can speak for the class when I say we are up to our eyes. My mother thinks that ‘they’ are giving us too much ‘overtime’, as she probably spoke to me more when I lived in London than she does now, when we share the same roof. However, I have explained to my folk, it is all great, I’m enjoying the overtime, and everybody wants to be there. My only challenge is ranking things accurately on the FOMO scale, so I don’t get my prioritisation wrong.

Colin Dunne ~ Full-Time MBA

Global Network Week 2016

Here at the UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School, we are proud to be a member of the Global Network for Advanced Management, alongside other top business schools like Yale, IE and EGADE (visit GNAM website). The Global Network Immersion Week (GNW) Programme is an initiative of GNAM that is designed to provide students from participating GNAM schools with a rich foreign immersion experience.

The Global Network for Advanced Management connects member schools with diverse regions, countries, and cultures, and economies by facilitating interaction. Through one week immersion programmes and online courses, participating schools host fellow GNAM institutions for seminars, visits, and interactions within local economies.

The UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School will be participating in the GNW Programme again this year, for our third year running. We will be hosting an intensive one-week course in October 2016 and June 2017 that will be attended by MBA students from both our school and all other network schools.

Global Network Immersion Week gives UCD Smurfit MBA students the opportunity to pursue intensive study at another network school, in a focused mini course that leverages the perspectives, programmes, and faculty expertise of that school. Alongside their counterparts from elsewhere in the network, students attend classes, tour local businesses, and meet with experts focused on current business problems.

In the video below, Executive MBA student Dermot Boyle & Full-time MBA student Ashish Babbar discuss their experiences of the 2015-16 Global Network for Advanced Management.

Avril Donohue ~ MBA Alumni Relations, Communications & Events

Global Network Immersion Week – IE Madrid

It was in mid-October that many students from the class set sail for the four corners of the world, or at least Europe and North America, for Global Network Immersion Week (GNIW). This is a week where MBA students from all over the world, which are part of the Global Network of Advanced Management (GNAM – as was so artfully recreated at the wine-tasting in the photo above), exchange schools for a week. The goal is to allow the students to immerse themselves in the culture of the host school, and to meet, network with and learn from students from different schools, countries and backgrounds. Each school hosted a different business topic for the week, where the students could discuss and debate relevant issues that are happening in the world at present.

While some of the class traveled to Yale, Vancouver and Istanbul, my adventures took me to Madrid and IE business school, along with four of my classmates. The topic covered for the week was ‘Europe at a Crossroads’, covering some of the major economic and political issues affecting Europe at present, such as the Eurozone Crisis, the rise of nationalism, and the competition coming from emerging economies. IE provided some of their finest lecturers to provide some insight on the various issues faced by Europe, with a particular emphasis on the recent struggles Spanish economy. In line with this we had a pair of company visits to a start-up accelerator and an innovation centre, which are part of the process of sowing the seeds of growth for the economy in the future.

As a treat they also provided us with a lesson on the Spanish wine industry, followed by a wine-tasting of some of the finest wines Spain has to offer, along with a Flamenco show. This turned out to be a highlight of the week, and everybody enjoyed the frivolities well into the evening, and in some cases, night.

However, it wasn’t all fun and games. We were divided into teams of five, and at the end of the week each team had to make a presentation on a different issue faced by Europe. I was joined on my team by people from China, Mexico, Colombia and Canada, and we had to present on ‘The Rise of Nationalism in Europe’. While Scotland and the Basque people’s calls for independence are widely known, it surprised me to discover just how many other parts of Europe are facing the same issues at present.

Overall, I would say that the week spent in Madrid was an incredible experience, a view shared by my colleagues that accompanied me on the trip. While we didn’t quite manage to solve all of the crises facing Europe, we did take away some valuable learnings that we can draw upon in our academic endeavours. Even more so, we made some connections throughout the week that we can call upon in future, in both a professional and personal capacity.

Patrick Farrell ~ Full-Time MBA

Semester 1 Draws to a Close

Today, our FT MBA students sat their last exam which marked the end of Semester 1 for the academic year 2015-16. Semester 1 is always intense and challenging for MBA students. Many students are International and many have not studied for a number of years. However, once the initial apprehension passes and everyone gets to know each other students make great progress working individually and in teams to meet the requirements of their modules. As well as the academic side of the programme, students immerse themselves in the various MBA clubs and the Social Committee is active to ensure that everyone has time to blow off steam after major deadlines throughout the Semester.

Semester 1 saw students travel to the USA, Canada, Spain and Turkey as part of the GNIW and the UCD Smurfit School welcomed students from Turkey, the USA, China, Mexico and Canada. Two students were lucky enough to travel to Bangalore, India to represent the MBA at a GNAM Conference. We welcomed three exchange students from Mexico and China and these students make a valuable contribution to the MBA experience. Students began the journey of developing their self-concept through the Leadership Development Programme and commenced their Career Search. We were delighted to gain a new MBA mascot in the last few weeks when one of our students and his partner welcomed a beautiful baby girl into the world which helps to put the daily stresses of life into perspective.

We envisage that Semester 2 will be as challenging and rewarding as the first semester. Students will travel to the UAE and India or South Africa as part of our Doing Business in International Markets module and will also take part in an international study trip to China. Students will liaise with Companies to choose an exciting Capstone project to work on during the Summer term and the diverse range of option modules available will satisfy many students desires to learn more about the topics of Entrepreneurship, Competitive Strategy, Management Consultancy and more. MBA students will continue on their self-development journey as part of the LDP programme and the Career Search will gather momentum in Semester 2 – it’s all to look forward to!

We wish all of our students, alumni, colleagues and friends of the MBA a very well-deserved, relaxing and happy break over the Christmas period and we look forward to what is to come in 2016.

Yvonne Harding ~ FT MBA Programme Manager

Global Network Immersion Week – Sauder Business School, Vancouver

As mentioned in previous posts, Smurfit is part of a global network of MBA schools, which offers you the opportunity to sit a course in another business school for a week. It’s a great experience and one worth taking if you get the chance. I chose to go to the Sauder Business School in the University of British Columbia, Vancouver. The course was entitled ‘Clean Energy and Green Infrastructure – Innovation at the Nexus of Politics and Society’. With an MSc in Renewable Energy Development and having worked in the energy sector for 7 years prior to my MBA, I jumped at the chance. It also meant I had an excuse to catch up with some friends I hadn’t seen in years.

The course really struck at the heart of global economics in the context of global warming, and how greenhouse gases (GHGs) can be reduced or offset. Needless to say, the concepts are simple in principle but incredibly difficult in practice. They require buy in across the board and with many other societal pressures acting on governments around the World, the global warming issue is often pushed down the pecking order.

Carbon taxation, carbon offsetting and market-driven GHG reduction policies were explored. Examples of where these market-driven measures were working were contrasted against regions of the world were no such economic drivers existed. Furthermore it is the developed countries of world that are the largest emitters of GHGs and the developing countries that have the greatest carbon offsetting potential. As you might expect the offsetting concept is fraught with political tensions regarding economic development.

In 2012 China overtook the USA as the World’s largest emitter of GHGs. This is primarily as a result of its enormous fleet of coal fired power stations. The scary thing is that its rate of increase of GHG production is much higher than all other major contributors. In fact the other major contributors are flat lining with the exception of India. So what is the global solution to this global problem? British Columbia and western Canada may play a big role in this over the coming years and decades.

British Columbia and the neighbouring province of Alberta have enormous shale gas reserves and the potential for exporting liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Asia is very real – shortest distance to market. Per unit electricity produced LNG emits almost 50 per cent less GHGs than coal. With increasing international and national pressure (global warming and air quality), conversion of China’s coal fired power stations to gas fired power stations is one of the front running solutions to clean up China’s contribution to global warming while not impacting on its economic development. For a country on the other side of the Pacific Ocean to prove to be a major part of China’s power solution shows just how interlinked the economies of the World have become. With the Paris summit on climate change just around the corner, this subject is going to become very topical over the next weeks and months.

So that was just a snapshot of my week in Vancouver. A lot more went on that week but as they say ‘what goes on tour, stays on tour!’

Finbarr Coghlan ~ Full-Time MBA

A Most Awaited Week Off!

The days were getting longer, the nights were getting restless and the weekends were growing boring due to pressing deadlines when the tactically placed GNAM Immersion Week trip came to our rescue. Desperately waiting for 16^th October, it was getting harder to spend the last few days in class before flying to our respective locations for GNIW (Global Network Immersion Week).

And finally the day came when we, in a group of nine (one had already reached New York by this time), were at Dublin airport to fly to New York for an extravagant weekend to party hard in NY before starting with our Global Network Week at Yale SOM on Monday – Oct 19^th. Landing at JFK, ‘Competitive Strategies’ were discussed among the group to leverage the most out from the Friday evening. ‘Human Resources’ are most privileged ones with god’s gift of a brain (and competencies!), which they utilized to analyze the ‘Economics’ of the places they can visit and understood the ‘Game’ that is going on between various pubs to attract customers.

After a few initial hiccups (OMG – someone left their iPhone and passport in cab) we reached Times square. Then we started looking for a place to begin our evening. Financial Accounting is not everybody’s cup of tea but fortunately we had a financial accountant who helped us find a lovely, economical bar in Times Square.

After an energised weekend in NY, we reached Yale SOM where the five-day experience had an ever-lasting impact. We enjoyed every minute of it. It was a fantastic mix of class with students representing all of the top schools across the globe. Though returning back wasn’t easy, still we were equally eager to meet everyone back in Dublin!

In a nutshell, our bodies got reenergised, our minds rejuvenated and our soul revitalised. Hope to have a repeat telecast of the same soon!

Sumit Chopra ~ Full-Time MBA

Global Network Immersion Week at Koç University, Istanbul

Last week we had our first international MBA travel opportunity – Global Network Immersion Week (GNIW). GNIW is an optional, one-week module in Semester 1 which allows students to take a mini course either at Smurfit or at another partner university. Each of the universities offer the opportunity to work with other international students, faculty, and companies. Three of us chose Koç University in Istanbul, Turkey, where the topic of the week was From Local to Global: Developing an Effective Global Strategy. Other classmates traveled to Madrid (IE), New Haven (Yale), and Vancouver (UBC).

The classroom portion of our experience was engaging and provided frameworks that we can easily bring back and apply to our classes at Smurfit. After a brief background on the economic and political history of Turkey, lectures were primarily case based and included both local and international companies that have a presence in Istanbul. The three of us were already experts with Porter’s Five Forces (thanks, Brian!); however, we were also introduced to additional models that we can use going forward.

The latter half of the week was devoted to a business simulation with Unilever. We were divided into teams of six and had three rounds to build a global expansion strategy for products like personal care, food, and household cleaning. The simulation gave us the opportunity to apply what we learned throughout the week and to interact more with our international classmates (Chile, Spain, South Africa, Iran) as well as with management at Unilever.

Outside of the classroom, Koç provided additional networking events for us. These included company visits to Unilever and Turkcell (in case you were wondering where Ryan got that fancy hat). They also hosted an alumni networking evening at a restaurant with beautiful views of the Bosphorus. In addition to all of this, we still managed to fit in some free time for exploring the sights of Istanbul (please ask Carley about her favorite purchase from the Grand Bazaar). Overall, GNIW was a great experience and I would highly recommend it to future students.

Jessica Beloff ~ Full-Time MBA

UCD Smurfit MBA Participates in Yale Global Network Immersion Week 2015

This past week (Oct 19th – 23rd) saw students from the Full-Time MBA class participate in Global Network Immersion Week (GNIW). Global Network Immersion Week gives UCD Smurfit MBA students the opportunity to pursue intensive study at another network school, in a focused mini course that leverages the perspectives, programmes, and faculty expertise of that school. Alongside their counterparts from elsewhere in the network, students attend classes, tour local businesses, and meet with experts focused on current business problems.

UCD Smurfit School welcomed students from Koç University (Istanbul, Turkey), Yale SOM (Connecticut, USA), Fudan (Shanghai, China), Egade (Santa Fe, Mexico) and Sauder School of Business UBC (Vancouver, Canada). The theme of the UCD Smurfit GNIW was ‘Executive Decision Making’ and sessions included Executive Decision Making: Art or Science?, Corporate Decision Making: Respective Roles of Boards and Management and Individual and Social Psychological Effects on Decision Making.

Along with contemplating some Decision Making conundrums in the classroom, students went on a Company Visit to Accenture where the Director of the Centre for Innovation, Dublin discussed the decision making process around locating the new innovation centre in Dublin.

To balance the class-based learning the students took part in activities such as a Networking Event, a visit to the Guinness Storehouse, a Literary Pub Crawl and a wrap up lunch in Blackrock.

The class are just past the mid-way point in Semester 1 and having spoken to students who participated in the GNIW they viewed the week as a valuable opportunity to take stock and reflect on what has passed since the programme commenced in September and provided an opportunity through learning and social activities to energise for the remainder of the Semester.

Yvonne Harding ~ Full-Time MBA Programme Manager