Four months ago I predicted that I may be able to normalize my posting schedule. Apparently my skills as a forecaster are dubious at best. More pressing matters have consumed my attention; furthermore, the "MBA advice" aim of this blog has run its course. Everything I posted earlier on this blog contains the most pertinent material for those who are considering getting their MBA by traditional means. Therefore, my subsequent posts will focus more on just relating the balancing act that takes place during the closing months of the program.
That act includes my post-MBA career efforts and research, - in an economy as dubious as my commitment to this blog - my interest in the presidential race, my firstborn starting school, my current job, my class schedule, my self-directed education efforts and my brother's summer wedding. The takeaway is that the end is getting more difficult and compressed, not easier. Albeit, the classes I'm taking are much more attuned to my interests, so I am more eager to do the necessary work; however, that just adds more time spent for school.
I'm also finding my interest diverging and competition for my attention is increasing. This race is of particular interest to me and I find myself reading accounts on it instead of my bedside textbooks. Paired with the challenge of exploring new career opportunities in this suspect economy and my time is well allotted.
At the bottom of the list is this blog and the aforementioned reason in particular: this blog has served its purpose. There is no further reason for me to continue adding comments that add no relevant value to the reader or myself. If you stumble across this blog, I encourage you go back to the first handful of posts and glean the material there. The later posts are the Long Tail of this blog and only applicable to a small niche of readers.
With that, I promise to make one more post to this blog and will do so at the conclusion of my MBA program at SMU. I will wait a couple weeks, maybe a month after graduation, to make the post so I can internalize the whole episode; and the post will be geared at passing judgment on m experience through a traditional part-time MBA program, specifically at SMU.
So, until then.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Friday, January 11, 2008
The Countdown Continued
(Continued from previous post)
In summary, I still see the value of the traditional MBA for myself and for a significant portion of other MBA candidates and holders. The network I am building, the forced effort I am exerting to study, test and develop skills, and the salary bump all make the value of my MBA have a high NPV.
The Horizon Value
The next eleven months spell the culmination of my graduate work. I will be working on my concentration coursework in Finance and Strategy, evaluating my career path, talking with industry leaders in target employment sectors and balancing work and family time. Additionally, I've bought a number of supplementary reading materials to augment my studies at school. All of this is geared toward maximizing my growth potential in the outer years, as I get farther away from my degree award date.
I expect a large bump to come once I switch positions with my current company or transition to a new employer and industry. The large bump will take care of the my MBA investment, but the sustainable returns will be based on growing my compensation five, 10 and 20 years from now. I will have the benefit of coming out of the program as an experienced professional since I've been working full-time as well. The best indicator for future career growth is a history of increasing responsibility and challenge. The same litmus test can be applied to MBA programs.
A number of MBA candidates struggle through their core requirement classes, which constitutes 50% of the program, with a singular focus: "I can't wait to get to my concentration work, because then it all becomes much easier." This is disconcerting. This degrades the value of the MBA. This shortchanges candidates on their growth potential in the outer years.
While it does take some time for most candidates to readjust to the challenge of the classroom setting and time management, coursework needs to be increasing in difficulty, challenge and content. To choose otherwise does not maximize the value of the investment. Our goal as MBA students is to develop the tools that accelerate and sustain growth: that only occurs when chosen courses are increasingly more challenging and dense.
This is what separates the Movers and Shakers from the Riders. When I sit down to interview candidates, I am interested in someone that has routinely demonstrated the ability to set higher standards for herself. I expect nothing less of myself. I'm excited for the challenges this year's coursework will bring.
In summary, I still see the value of the traditional MBA for myself and for a significant portion of other MBA candidates and holders. The network I am building, the forced effort I am exerting to study, test and develop skills, and the salary bump all make the value of my MBA have a high NPV.
The Horizon Value
The next eleven months spell the culmination of my graduate work. I will be working on my concentration coursework in Finance and Strategy, evaluating my career path, talking with industry leaders in target employment sectors and balancing work and family time. Additionally, I've bought a number of supplementary reading materials to augment my studies at school. All of this is geared toward maximizing my growth potential in the outer years, as I get farther away from my degree award date.
I expect a large bump to come once I switch positions with my current company or transition to a new employer and industry. The large bump will take care of the my MBA investment, but the sustainable returns will be based on growing my compensation five, 10 and 20 years from now. I will have the benefit of coming out of the program as an experienced professional since I've been working full-time as well. The best indicator for future career growth is a history of increasing responsibility and challenge. The same litmus test can be applied to MBA programs.
A number of MBA candidates struggle through their core requirement classes, which constitutes 50% of the program, with a singular focus: "I can't wait to get to my concentration work, because then it all becomes much easier." This is disconcerting. This degrades the value of the MBA. This shortchanges candidates on their growth potential in the outer years.
While it does take some time for most candidates to readjust to the challenge of the classroom setting and time management, coursework needs to be increasing in difficulty, challenge and content. To choose otherwise does not maximize the value of the investment. Our goal as MBA students is to develop the tools that accelerate and sustain growth: that only occurs when chosen courses are increasingly more challenging and dense.
This is what separates the Movers and Shakers from the Riders. When I sit down to interview candidates, I am interested in someone that has routinely demonstrated the ability to set higher standards for herself. I expect nothing less of myself. I'm excited for the challenges this year's coursework will bring.
Monday, January 7, 2008
The Countdown Begins: Eleven Months
Using the posting frequency of late, that means I've only got five more posts left before the end of school. That's with a simple average. If I degrade my posting frequency at the same rate that has taken place over the last six months, it's more likely I'll post only three more times. I'll make that my goal. Under promise, over deliver.
Since the last post I have completed another two classes and gone through the final significant break before the mad dash to the finish. I resume coursework tomorrow.
A summary is in order, and in the spirit of the new year, I'll look back and provide a glimpse of the future.
The Past Year
The Value of the MBA, Revisited
The score was about six to four in my favor: 66.6% of the classes were well worth the funds, time and energy while 33.3% could not fill a 50-page "how-to" tome. I have reasonable expectations that this average will improve over the next 12 courses because I am in charge of the classes and professors with which I complete my degree. I'd lay odds that the ending tally with be at least a 75-25 split.
The question then becomes "Is it worth it?" This is a question that is explored ad nauseum - see my friend Josh Kaufman's website the Personal MBA for additional information - and it is popular to disparage the MBA's value. When you consider that a Harvard MBA will run about $75,000 for tuition, books and fees (excluding opportunity costs, room & board, etc.), the MBA student declares that she is okay with the $18,750 going toward the sup-par 25%. Most opponents of the MBA argue that the last sentence is beside the point: instead, why pay $75,000 in the first place for a degree that has dubious results?
Now keep in mind that I have the confirmation bias present because I am personally invested in the success of the MBA; however, I'm going to attempt to present a cogent argument in support of the MBA with the qualification that my argument only supports 20% of the current MBA candidate and graduate population. MBA dilution has occurred due to the presence of the other 80%.
I'm going to divide the percentiles above into two groups: The 20-percenters I will call "Movers and Shakers" and the 80-percenters will be called "Riders." Rather than focus specifically on the Movers and Shakers group in the context of the MBA realm alone, let's expand this group to be 20% of industry professionals and leaders. The remaining 80% finds itself standing on the shoulders of the Movers and Shakers.
The strata within the Movers and Shakers is diverse. Some individuals have doctorates while others are college or, even worse, high school drop outs. There are visionaries, managers, creatives, quants and all types represented. Different learning styles are represented and different foibles play vice to members. At the end of the day, a single template does not apply to the entire group.
Riders on the other hand, capitalize on the Movers and Shakers work. Schools of thought are dispersed by Riders once introduced by Movers and Shakers. It's the symbiotic relationship of the alpha and beta group dynamic: alpha members innovate while beta members propagate.
Group members choose their own path and at times they create it. And once a path is forged there will be followers. The path that enabled one person to be successful with enable others. As more and more people tread the path, its value will decrease, scarcity being what it is.
I need to summarize before this metaphor gets out of hand. For the longest time, getting a high school diploma was a mark of success. Then government mandated education came along through the 12th grade and scarcity shifted to the undergraduate degree in higher education. Undergraduate work is still a market indicator for employment but not as scarce. Less than 20% of the working population has a graduate degree and it is the scarcer for resource. It is the stronger market indicator. And people naturally see it as more valuable.
The graduate degree is not nearly as valuable as it once was, but it is valuable nonetheless. But it is not valuable to everyone. In the same way that it made more sense for Mr. Gates to drop out of Harvard because the opportunity costs were too high to stay in school, the opportunity costs with the MBA are too great for a certain strata of Movers and Shakers. But that doesn't disparage the value of the MBA for the entire population. For some people, the MBA makes absolute sense because of yields on a scale that are negligible to others.
And I absolutely agree that the value of the MBA will continue to decrease as long as supply continues to come on the market. That is beside the point. The MBA still holds value today. The time value of money may indicate that it is the optimum choice.
Take Student A who saddles the fence between being a Mover and Shaker and being a Rider. This person is content to settle somewhere in middle management. They are currently making a respectable salary and they know that they will eventually get to a higher salary. If they can append the salary to a sooner date, however, they stand the chance of a better life earlier.
Student A is going to work part-time and thinks that she can accelerate her career five years. Her initial investment will be a lump sum of $75,000. At graduation she will jump her salary $25,000. We'll assume a discount rate of 10% on the money she could have invested. So here is the breakdown:
Lump Sum: $-75,000
Discount Rate: 10%
Payment Periods: 7 (2 years in school)
FCF, Years 3-7: $25,000
The Net Present Value of this decision comes out to +$3,020.
Pursuing her MBA makes sense for Student A, UNLESS she can increase her opportunity cost of capital, or find a project that yields a higher net present value. But for a large proportion of the population, they can't. A select few can. Many just aren't in a position to do so because they either don't know how, have other personal circumstances, can't commit unless their money is on the line or a myriad of other reasons. The MBA is a viable vehicle and it works and makes sense for them.
I have my reasons for why I started my program. Thus far they have panned out. When I have the benefit to employ some hindsight bias, I may question whether the MBA really bumped my career/salary as much as I hoped it would. For a segment of people, it will bump their salary and they will have a positive NPV. I hope to be one of those.
(Reflection continued in next post)
Since the last post I have completed another two classes and gone through the final significant break before the mad dash to the finish. I resume coursework tomorrow.
A summary is in order, and in the spirit of the new year, I'll look back and provide a glimpse of the future.
The Past Year
The Value of the MBA, Revisited
The score was about six to four in my favor: 66.6% of the classes were well worth the funds, time and energy while 33.3% could not fill a 50-page "how-to" tome. I have reasonable expectations that this average will improve over the next 12 courses because I am in charge of the classes and professors with which I complete my degree. I'd lay odds that the ending tally with be at least a 75-25 split.
The question then becomes "Is it worth it?" This is a question that is explored ad nauseum - see my friend Josh Kaufman's website the Personal MBA for additional information - and it is popular to disparage the MBA's value. When you consider that a Harvard MBA will run about $75,000 for tuition, books and fees (excluding opportunity costs, room & board, etc.), the MBA student declares that she is okay with the $18,750 going toward the sup-par 25%. Most opponents of the MBA argue that the last sentence is beside the point: instead, why pay $75,000 in the first place for a degree that has dubious results?
Now keep in mind that I have the confirmation bias present because I am personally invested in the success of the MBA; however, I'm going to attempt to present a cogent argument in support of the MBA with the qualification that my argument only supports 20% of the current MBA candidate and graduate population. MBA dilution has occurred due to the presence of the other 80%.
I'm going to divide the percentiles above into two groups: The 20-percenters I will call "Movers and Shakers" and the 80-percenters will be called "Riders." Rather than focus specifically on the Movers and Shakers group in the context of the MBA realm alone, let's expand this group to be 20% of industry professionals and leaders. The remaining 80% finds itself standing on the shoulders of the Movers and Shakers.
The strata within the Movers and Shakers is diverse. Some individuals have doctorates while others are college or, even worse, high school drop outs. There are visionaries, managers, creatives, quants and all types represented. Different learning styles are represented and different foibles play vice to members. At the end of the day, a single template does not apply to the entire group.
Riders on the other hand, capitalize on the Movers and Shakers work. Schools of thought are dispersed by Riders once introduced by Movers and Shakers. It's the symbiotic relationship of the alpha and beta group dynamic: alpha members innovate while beta members propagate.
Group members choose their own path and at times they create it. And once a path is forged there will be followers. The path that enabled one person to be successful with enable others. As more and more people tread the path, its value will decrease, scarcity being what it is.
I need to summarize before this metaphor gets out of hand. For the longest time, getting a high school diploma was a mark of success. Then government mandated education came along through the 12th grade and scarcity shifted to the undergraduate degree in higher education. Undergraduate work is still a market indicator for employment but not as scarce. Less than 20% of the working population has a graduate degree and it is the scarcer for resource. It is the stronger market indicator. And people naturally see it as more valuable.
The graduate degree is not nearly as valuable as it once was, but it is valuable nonetheless. But it is not valuable to everyone. In the same way that it made more sense for Mr. Gates to drop out of Harvard because the opportunity costs were too high to stay in school, the opportunity costs with the MBA are too great for a certain strata of Movers and Shakers. But that doesn't disparage the value of the MBA for the entire population. For some people, the MBA makes absolute sense because of yields on a scale that are negligible to others.
And I absolutely agree that the value of the MBA will continue to decrease as long as supply continues to come on the market. That is beside the point. The MBA still holds value today. The time value of money may indicate that it is the optimum choice.
Take Student A who saddles the fence between being a Mover and Shaker and being a Rider. This person is content to settle somewhere in middle management. They are currently making a respectable salary and they know that they will eventually get to a higher salary. If they can append the salary to a sooner date, however, they stand the chance of a better life earlier.
Student A is going to work part-time and thinks that she can accelerate her career five years. Her initial investment will be a lump sum of $75,000. At graduation she will jump her salary $25,000. We'll assume a discount rate of 10% on the money she could have invested. So here is the breakdown:
Lump Sum: $-75,000
Discount Rate: 10%
Payment Periods: 7 (2 years in school)
FCF, Years 3-7: $25,000
The Net Present Value of this decision comes out to +$3,020.
Pursuing her MBA makes sense for Student A, UNLESS she can increase her opportunity cost of capital, or find a project that yields a higher net present value. But for a large proportion of the population, they can't. A select few can. Many just aren't in a position to do so because they either don't know how, have other personal circumstances, can't commit unless their money is on the line or a myriad of other reasons. The MBA is a viable vehicle and it works and makes sense for them.
I have my reasons for why I started my program. Thus far they have panned out. When I have the benefit to employ some hindsight bias, I may question whether the MBA really bumped my career/salary as much as I hoped it would. For a segment of people, it will bump their salary and they will have a positive NPV. I hope to be one of those.
(Reflection continued in next post)
Friday, November 2, 2007
No Promises
Two months. That's eight Friday's of clicking the "Dismiss" button on my Outlook Alert instructing me to "Post to Blog." It's a matter of priorities and waxing philosophical about my MBA efforts has not been one of them.
I'm now half way through the program and I've started working on my concentration coursework.
Sidebar: I didn't fully explain the concentration option at SMU in previous posts. Many business schools have a set curriculum for the MBA programs they offer. SMU allows its MBA candidates to focus on the specific disciplines after completing the core coursework. The program is 48 credits in length, 20 of which are dedicated to core coursework. The remaining 28 credits can be allocated as the student deems. My concentrations are Finance (14 credits required) and Strategy (14 credits required). So every one of my remaining courses will be either Finance or Strategy.
The ability to choose concentrations is a big selling point for SMU and was key for me. My undergraduate work was in liberal arts and appealed to the more qualitative side of business. Returning to school was partially motivated by the desire to bulk up on the quantitative skills. I can focus on that at SMU.
END SIDEBAR
Within my Strategy work I'm focusing on the more quantitative courses as well, specifically in Mergers & Acquisitions, Game Theory and Private Equity & Venture Capital. My Finance concentration courses will lean toward more of the Corporate Finance and Valuation side of the discipline.
This week has been spent going over my Spring '08 courses. I am applying for a course SMU offers through the Strategy department called the Venture Capital Practicum. When evaluating programs, be sure to research the types of Practicums (self-study/portfolio experience) they offer. This type of course is the laboratory for the classroom material. In my case, I will be assigned to a VC firm and manage a proposal and recommendation from a business seeking funding. I will perform the due diligence, evaluation, etc. and do so under the tutelage of the VC firm partners. Very valuable. I hope my application is competitive enough to be chosen.
This Fall semester also marks the beginning of a program that SMU offers that is virtually exclusive to the school: the Associate Board program. The name is misleading; the program is a mentoring program where SMU assigns area business leaders -- all senior executives -- with students interested in the industry/business in which the mentor works. I received the mentor I chose and have begun the process.
During the course of the mentor/mentee relationship, I can expect to build my industry contacts by 15-20 persons, learn hard skills for the industry, focus my resume for the industry, and on and on. This program is more valuable to me than my degree when it comes to securing a position in the industry and with the company I want to work. The degree is valuable, however, my mentor will help me lay the groundwork for post-Grad employment quicker than the degree.
This is a quick summary of some of the things going on. I make no promises that I will post more frequently, but hope to do so again in a few weeks.
I'm now half way through the program and I've started working on my concentration coursework.
Sidebar: I didn't fully explain the concentration option at SMU in previous posts. Many business schools have a set curriculum for the MBA programs they offer. SMU allows its MBA candidates to focus on the specific disciplines after completing the core coursework. The program is 48 credits in length, 20 of which are dedicated to core coursework. The remaining 28 credits can be allocated as the student deems. My concentrations are Finance (14 credits required) and Strategy (14 credits required). So every one of my remaining courses will be either Finance or Strategy.
The ability to choose concentrations is a big selling point for SMU and was key for me. My undergraduate work was in liberal arts and appealed to the more qualitative side of business. Returning to school was partially motivated by the desire to bulk up on the quantitative skills. I can focus on that at SMU.
END SIDEBAR
Within my Strategy work I'm focusing on the more quantitative courses as well, specifically in Mergers & Acquisitions, Game Theory and Private Equity & Venture Capital. My Finance concentration courses will lean toward more of the Corporate Finance and Valuation side of the discipline.
This week has been spent going over my Spring '08 courses. I am applying for a course SMU offers through the Strategy department called the Venture Capital Practicum. When evaluating programs, be sure to research the types of Practicums (self-study/portfolio experience) they offer. This type of course is the laboratory for the classroom material. In my case, I will be assigned to a VC firm and manage a proposal and recommendation from a business seeking funding. I will perform the due diligence, evaluation, etc. and do so under the tutelage of the VC firm partners. Very valuable. I hope my application is competitive enough to be chosen.
This Fall semester also marks the beginning of a program that SMU offers that is virtually exclusive to the school: the Associate Board program. The name is misleading; the program is a mentoring program where SMU assigns area business leaders -- all senior executives -- with students interested in the industry/business in which the mentor works. I received the mentor I chose and have begun the process.
During the course of the mentor/mentee relationship, I can expect to build my industry contacts by 15-20 persons, learn hard skills for the industry, focus my resume for the industry, and on and on. This program is more valuable to me than my degree when it comes to securing a position in the industry and with the company I want to work. The degree is valuable, however, my mentor will help me lay the groundwork for post-Grad employment quicker than the degree.
This is a quick summary of some of the things going on. I make no promises that I will post more frequently, but hope to do so again in a few weeks.
Friday, August 31, 2007
It's Fall in Dallas. And it's 104 Degrees F.
I have a sinking feeling that the posting frequency is going to stay like this for a while. It's been three weeks since my last post and it feels much longer.
I am now through the second week of the Fall semester, Mod A (25% complete). This semester is quickly shaping up to be the most onerous thus far. Between work, school, family and referee assignments my schedule is full. At least it's the best season of the year.
* * * * *
I wrapped up the summer semester the first week in August leaving a healthy two week break before the next round of classes began. It wasn't that healthy.
These breaks can be your death knell. For many of us, after pushing for a long period without coming up for air, when the break does finally come, not only do you mentally check out, your body takes a break also. Your immune system goes AWOL. The slightest strain of anything in the air attacks you and sets you back for the entire break.
Of course, you have enough time to recover; however, this time I spent so much time physically recovering, I left no time for mental recovery. The most difficult thing after a break like this is getting motivated again. You see the same cases you have during undergraduate. You're still going over your core coursework that most likely is not all that interesting to you. And it's still nice outside. Again, for those of you who look down on the MBA, people that overcome this alone should develop at least some level of respect.
Bottom line: Avoid breaks if you can. Just suffocate yourself for two years. At least, that's what I'd prefer.
* * * * *
This semester's first module presents the final two core courses of the program; it's all electives and concentration coursework after this.
My schedule includes:
The Ops course covers the following:
The Strategy course covers the usual as well:
I am now through the second week of the Fall semester, Mod A (25% complete). This semester is quickly shaping up to be the most onerous thus far. Between work, school, family and referee assignments my schedule is full. At least it's the best season of the year.
* * * * *
I wrapped up the summer semester the first week in August leaving a healthy two week break before the next round of classes began. It wasn't that healthy.
These breaks can be your death knell. For many of us, after pushing for a long period without coming up for air, when the break does finally come, not only do you mentally check out, your body takes a break also. Your immune system goes AWOL. The slightest strain of anything in the air attacks you and sets you back for the entire break.
Of course, you have enough time to recover; however, this time I spent so much time physically recovering, I left no time for mental recovery. The most difficult thing after a break like this is getting motivated again. You see the same cases you have during undergraduate. You're still going over your core coursework that most likely is not all that interesting to you. And it's still nice outside. Again, for those of you who look down on the MBA, people that overcome this alone should develop at least some level of respect.
Bottom line: Avoid breaks if you can. Just suffocate yourself for two years. At least, that's what I'd prefer.
* * * * *
This semester's first module presents the final two core courses of the program; it's all electives and concentration coursework after this.
My schedule includes:
- Strategic Management; and
- Operations Management.
The Ops course covers the following:
- Process Analysis and Improvement
- System Design
- Project Management
- Queue Management
The Strategy course covers the usual as well:
- Industry Analysis (Porter's Five)
- Competitive Advantage
- The Value Chain
- Competitive Intelligence
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