michaelmas [week 6]: group-work assignments

Most people know that the hardest part about getting an MBA is getting in. I agree that statistically this is true, however, at Oxford they really make you earn that degree! Just in case you don't believe me, I've included a copy of our Study Group's workflow chart below:

You can see that in addition to taking 6 courses during Michaelmas term (e.g. Accounting, Finance, Marketing, Microeconomics, Statistics, and Strategy), we also have 8 group-work assignments due. These assignments range from 1,500 to 3,000 words each with another few pages of charts and Excel calculations included in the appendices. These are huge undertakings that would not be possible without the combined efforts of our Study Group members: Babacar, Christoph, Emily, Mosima, and Keerti Prasad. Some other MBAs aren't so fortunate.

With all of this work, of course, it is important that you keep it together lest you suffer a nervous breakdown like John Nash. The work can feel quite overwhelming when you are also spending your weekends applying for jobs, or waking up at 6am each morning for rowing practice. The demands are great, yet, the Oxford MBA is only one year long so you want to fit as many experiences in as possible. Since group-work assignments typically count for 40% of your grade it is important to try and maintain internal harmony within a Study Group that you had no say in, and which was specifically comprised of people with different work backgrounds and cultures.

Our group has now submitted 5 out of 8 group-work assignments. There is no refuge, however. One assignment is due at 11pm, and before you have a chance to celebrate another one is due just 22-hours later...the onslaught continues. My advice to incoming MBAs would be to stand back and take a healthy perspective. For example, our iconic Accounting professor Tomo Suzuki said, "while it may be discouraging if a teammate is not pulling their weight, that is okay, provided they reciprocate later in other ways, such as with a job". Tomo is a very practical man!