Three reasons to be happy today

1) Only 48 hours left and I meet Andrea in NY for the weekend!
2) My MacBook Air arrived today....!
3) The North Shore Mountains are powdered with the first snow!

Life is good!

Old and new world:

 

Ein Prosit….

Time to bring some German culture to Vancouver. We celebrated a little Oktoberfest at my new place. Various German beer, Bratwurst and Krautsalat. That all was accompanied by some authentic Oktoberfest-music from Sepp Vielhuber and Band: Ein Prosit der Gemütlichkeit….

Herrlich!

The highlight was my friend Henrique form Brazil and his girlfriend Nina who showed up in a Munich T-Shirt, with some Apfelstrudel and original Hacker-Pschorr beer (my favorite). Awesome!

Apple’s Christmas time

Studies are going on… today, I optimized my personal utility by skipping Managerial Economics classes and having breakfast instead. Probably one of my best decisions during the studies so far.

Until yesterday, my grades were following the principle as less effort I put in as better the grade is. Fortunately, I got a Marketing assignment back yesterday. This grade was worth the effort again: 50/100. Grader comment: “are you sure that you submitted the right document”. In my opinion: a bit harsh statement - but anyway, good to know that you still get 50% with a wrong document. Minimum level is defined.

Tomorrow is an Apple press conference. Rumors talk about the final release of the new MacBook Air for which I have been waiting since five months. At the moment, I feel like a child waiting for Christmas.

Anything else: Weather is still unexpected good. Meaning: sailing season is not over yet. Was sailing with the some second years who attended the MBA-regatta in Italy recently. We had a nice Beneteau 36.7 racing yacht and these guys has really known how to utilize its full potential. Was great learning for me.

Four weeks done… time for a first review

Time is still running. Yesterday, we finished our first big project (Capsim) with the final presentation. Our team simulated a Larry King Show interview where we talked about our success. Worked quite well actually.

A other group did a really outstanding video which I want to share with you. Don’t miss it to watch: 

After four weeks MBA it’s also time for a first review. Was it worth it so far?

The answer is certainly “Yes”. I managed to settle here. The classes gives me the opportunity to practice my English each day which has definitely helped to improve (even though there is still a long way to go). I met many interesting people, make some good friends and had a lot of fun. And finally, I had some good learnings in the lectures. Dan Skarlicki who teaches “organizational behaviour” for example. His lectures gives a fantastic overview about the soft-skills a business leader needs to succeed in today’s business world.  

Nevertheless, there are also drawbacks. In summary, I had expected to gain more insights out of the MBA program. So far, it feels for me more like a Bachelor than a Master program. I already applied most of the lecture contents in my previous jobs – often on more sophisticated level. Therefore, the value of the lectures is pretty low so far.

In addition, I had expected that an MBA program is more connected with today’s business and economic challenges. Lets take the exchange rate war between US, China and EU as an example: it is certain that the result of this conflict will have impacts on the worlds economy’s – have we discussed that in classes: not yet. Instead, we are working with cases which deal with 15 to 20 years old business challenges.

Fortunately, there is still The Economist for gaining some more background information. Definitely more useful to read these articles then some of the readings for classes.

Later today, I will have my first Thanksgiving dinner of my life. Looking forward to having some good turkey and wine.

LiveJournal Tags: blog,mba,sauder,vancouver,capsim

Campus Life…

Last time, I wrote about this case for CoastalContacts. Finally, I got 75 of 100 crappy points. I had definitely expected more. At least, everybody got a gift card for a free pair of prescription glasses. Not so bad anyway.

But life goes on. Thursday was the last round of a computer simulation of a company called Capsim (www.capsim.com). It’s a bit like Civilization, but without tanks. We were divided in groups of five and played this game over six rounds/years within the last three weeks. Our team had a hard time at the beginning as we screwed up the first four rounds. However, finally we rocked the game. Learning: be patient and wait for your chance.

My team at work:

The last round was celebrated with a karaoke-night in downtown sponsored by the school. We had a pretty good time there and even better in the club afterwards. To be with 40 completely drunken MBA student in a gay club is definitely a unique experience (not sponsored by the school).

Finally, some more small impressions from Vancouver. First, the creative side of Tom, our supply chain professor.

The others photos we took recently while we were sailing in English Bay. Actually, its perfect weather for going sailing at the moment. Still sunny and warm but much stronger wind compared to the summer. Some Videos will follow soon.

One last thing:
I moved into a new house. My new address is:

Matthias Hartmann
Cypress Street 2057
V6J 3M2 Vancouver, BC

Find me on Google Maps