hilary [week 10]: oxford literary festival

It was time to head into town to reward myself with a nice caramel macchiato. I had just finished delivering a 10-minute PowerPoint presentation on our Darjeeling Tea Single Estate business proposal, and I was in need of some refreshment.

Every Hilary term, MBAs must pass the “Entrepreneurial Project (EP)” in order to graduate. The EP counts for one class, and is broken-up into two parts. The presentation part that I had just completed (40% of grade) lasted 30-minutes in total (i.e. 10m presentation, 10m Q&A, and 10m feedback). The second part of the EP consists of an 8,000 word paper/business plan (60% of grade), and is due on the first day of Naught Week (Trinity Term). The examiners will give us back the first part of our grade as early as this Monday, which coincidentally is the first day of finals.

But before I could start worrying about exams, I was driven by a much more important mission. To wrap my hands around a nice comforting cup of coffee goodness. As I walked through the Broad Street entrance into Waterstones bookstore in the old William Baker House, something immediately caught my attention. I came across an interesting flyer advertising the Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival, which was to start tomorrow.

So, I grabbed a flyer, and made my way up the two flights of stairs to the Costa Coffee café. I couldn’t believe my good luck! I found a new reason to come back to Oxford after I graduate. From this Saturday, March 20 until next Sunday, March 28 over 300 accomplished authors will be speaking across the University.

Each event costs £10 to attend, and they do not offer student discounts (I asked). Most events will be held at Christ Church. They’ve set-up special outdoor tents near the Memorial Garden entrance off St. Aldates that extend into the Masters Garden. Other authors will speak at Corpus Christi College, the Bodleian, and the Sheldonian.

I’ve taken a break from studies to see some fellow Exonians, namely Martin Amis and Philip Pullman. This Saturday I attended “The Fantasy Tradition at Oxford” at 2pm with authors Philip Pullman (Golden Compass), and William Horwood (Duncton Wood). I bought the “Golden Compass” for £7.99 and had Pullman sign it for me. I told him about my blog, too, but he seemed…confused/disinterested.

Next Saturday, Martin Amis will be speaking on his new book, “The Pregnant Widow.” I don’t know much about the book, but it appears rather miraculous how a widow can get pregnant – surely there must be some dramatic way around this?

There are many other fun events that I wish I could attend, but just don’t have the time. For example, the Director of the British Museum Neil MacGregor spoke at the Sheldonian about “A History of the World in 100 Objects.” On a sassier note, Dr. Brooke Magnanti will speak more about her literary career as blogger-cum-author where she recounts her days as a high-end call girl to pay for her doctoral studies at Sheffield.

I strongly urge you to pick up a schedule at either Blackwells or Waterstones, or simply walk down to Christ Church and follow the signs. I look forward to making the Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival a regular tradition for my family.

hilary [week 9]: hello press

I’m a seasoned veteran by now. It’s been nearly 6-months since I arrived in Oxford to start my MBA program. I guess you can say that I’ve reached the “half-way” mark...and I’ve been blogging about it ever since.

I am so interested in recording my experiences here, in fact, that I was one of the first MBAs to respond back in October to a request from the Saïd Business School Press Office to serve as a “Public Relations Ambassador”. They invited me to sit for an interview so that they could write a profile on me. That profile was then neatly tucked away in a desk draw. For nearly a half year that profile has not seen the light of day – until last week.

Apparently, an independent contributor to the Financial Times was writing a story on “blogging, Facebook, and social networking.” The SBS Press Office reached out to me asking if I would be interested in answering a few questions, and that the writer had a strict Monday deadline. A couple of days later I was chatting with the writer over the telephone for a half hour. I followed up a day later with an email to thank him. I also wanted to make sure that he was clear on what I had said during the interview, so I included the following recapitulation:

Introduction...the problem
After heeding the mantra of my previous employer that the future of investment banking was "Dubai, Mumbai, Shanghai, or say good-bye," I crossed the other side of the Atlantic to attend the Saïd Business School, University of Oxford where our class hails from nearly 50 countries. Now I was faced with a new problem...how to stay in touch with a diverse group of 250 MBAs? Facebook emerged as the clear solution - then Linkedin.

Facebook/Linkedin solution...
Facebook was such a popular choice, that the incoming MBA class actually migrated over from the "Incoming Student" intranet site to the new "Said Business School - Class of 2010" Facebook page. Part of the reason was that Facebook not only allowed for richer content, but also proved to be a better vehicle for communicating with past and future Oxford MBAs. Facebook proved so valuable to me as President of the Oxford Finance Club that I even launched a "Finance-OBN (Oxford Business Network)" Facebook page to publicize group events.

Blogging solution...
Nevertheless, as useful as Facebook and Linkedin have been to our MBA class in helping us coordinate and publicize activities, they couldn't quite capture the "human narrative" that old-fashioned blogging filled rather nicely. During the application process, in fact, I derived the most benefit from Googleing "Oxford MBA blogs." This led me to both the "official" Oxford MBA blog (for which I am now a contributor), and all the way to India where I regularly read (and contributed) to Pagalguy.

It became clear to me that no matter how glossy the MBA brochure, nothing could replace the down and dirty nitty gritty narrative of personal experience that others so kindly provided on these blogs. Having benefiting so much from the kind postings of others, I decided to give back to others by launching my own blog called, "Confessions of an Oxford MBA." Through Google Analytics I can see that my blog currently reaches thousands of readers in 45 countries from New York to New Dehli.

*I'm very curious to read this Monday's weekly FT "MBA Report" to see if: (a) they even run the article (b) do they mention me explicitly (quote) or implicitly (c) if they do quote me I hope it reflects well on SBS and myself. I'm sure I'll write an addendum to this blog post if they run the story in some form or another - it was a great experience either way.

hilary [week 8]: hector sants, ceo of fsa

Before choosing Oxford for my MBA, I had visited several other business schools. I was surprised to learn that in just about every instance, other business schools were geographically and culturally separate from the larger university. One thing that appealed to me about Oxford was the fact that the Saïd Business School is an integral part of the University of Oxford.

Many of the people whose names splash the headlines of the Financial Times come and speak at Oxford. In this way the business school benefits from Oxford’s 800-year history of educating leaders. Last Friday was no exception. Fresh from his morning interview with the BBC Today show, Hector Sants returned to his alma mater to deliver the Annual Lubbock Lecture in Management Studies to a packed theatre at the Saïd Business School, entitled “UK Financial Regulation: After the Crisis.”

Having served the past three years as CEO of the Financial Services Authority, Mr. Sants had already handed in his resignation in February, but with 6-months left to go in his term, he had a new announcement that he wanted to make at Oxford. As President of the Oxford Finance Club, I attended the event, and I was also invited to the boardroom afterwards to have dinner.

During the dinner, we followed Chatham House Rules allowing us to speak freely, but on the condition that opinions remained anonymous. We all shared a good laugh when I pointed out the fact that Mr. Sants and I would both be looking for jobs this summer. It just so happens that the FSA is hiring. I was surprised to learn that regulators get more exposure to global capital markets than investment bankers. I also suspect that regulators will be in high demand over the next few years as the financial services industry waits nervously to see what new rules will be meted out.

Mr. Sants’ tenure as CEO of the FSA began inauspiciously in July 2007. He had the misfortune of being appointed just weeks after two hedgefunds at Bear Stearns unexpectedly collapsed. This was followed by the American Home Mortgage bankruptcy in August. During these early days of the recession few had ever heard of collateralized mortgage obligations, or credit default swaps.

It was only a matter of time before the spill-over effect rippled across the Atlantic. The first to fall in the United Kingdom was Northern Rock in February 2008. Next, the British government nationalized part of Lloyds Bank and RBS. The FSA quickly found itself thrust into the limelight.

When the dust finally settled, the FSA received mixed reviews on its handling of the economic crisis. Many viewed the FSA as having too light of a touch for an industry that had witnessed regulatory concerns dating back to 1995 when Barings Bank collapsed. It appears that lax oversight may have once again contributed to a repeat of corporate excess.

To combat these criticisms, Mr. Sants emphasized during his speech that the FSA needs to be more proactive, including intervening earlier. Mr. Sants formally announced tougher consumer protection rules governing the sale of financial products to the public. He declared, “We will now seek to proactively intervene earlier in the product chain to anticipate consumer detriment and choke it off before it occurs.” This new “outcomes-based” approach to regulation replaces the previous “principles-based” regime. The FSA will continue to follow a broad set of principles, but the big difference will be much stricter supervision.

The new FSA approach to regulation ratchets up the dial on government heavy-handedness – perhaps too far. For example, reform on an institutional level will at the very minimum entail annual stress tests for banks. His speech also alluded to a possible “insurance tax” on financial institutions to offset systemic risk. Mr. Sants summarized his position as follows, “Higher capital and liquidity will reduce the probability of failure.” Mortgage companies will also be policed by “mystery shoppers” who will be monitoring lending standards. Many wonder whether the FSA is going too far, or not far enough?

Despite these recent overtures, however, the FSA must still contend with the very real possibility that a Tory victory in the upcoming months may entirely uproot the institution that Mr. Sants has worked so hard to reform. Time will tell whether the money and political will exist for the FSA to succeed.

*At the request of the Saïd Business School Press Office, this blog was posted on the website "BusinessBecause" in an article entitled, Hector Sants Makes FSA Announcement at Oxford University.*

hilary [week 7]: Q&A student panel

Now the tables were turned. Slightly over one year had passed since that blistering cold February night when I set course across the Atlantic with Lisa for my Oxford MBA interview. I strategically scheduled my interview during an “Open Day” to maximize my visit. Now flash forward to Friday where I found myself seated opposite 60 eager applicants as part of an MBA student panel.

Owing to its relatively small size of 250 MBAs, the Saïd Business School interviews every short-listed MBA candidate before accepting them. Granted - some applicants opt for the telephone interview, but I was SO determined to get admitted into my top b-school choice, that I left nothing up to chance - and flew to Oxford to meet my maker face-to-face. Following my interview, I waited four painstaking weeks before learning their final verdict.

Similarly, many of the applicants who had come today were approaching the end of their journey, hoping for the same release. As I walked into the Rhodes Trust Lecture Theatre to sit next to some of my MBA classmates, I felt all eyes descend upon us, eager to glean whatever nuggets of wisdom they could find. First question…

How did you go about picking an Oxford College?

The University of Oxford is comprised of 38 colleges and 6 halls, of which 35 colleges currently accept MBA students. This is quite an impressive statistic – higher than Judge at Cambridge– indicating general acceptance of the newly minted MBA program within the larger University. The three colleges that don’t accept MBAs include Nuffield (alumnus Mohamed El-Erian), Somerville (alumnus Margaret Thatcher), and University (alumnus Bill Clinton). Every college boasts its own history, replete with rich tradition and fabled alumni. Colleges typically provide housing, food, religious service, and a Middle Common Room (graduate community) to MBA students apart from the b-school. You really can’t go wrong with any of your choices.

About one-third of the class becomes members of the de facto business college, GreenTempleton. Colloquially known as GTC, GreenTempleton offers housing right across from the b-school at Rewley Court, making it a popular choice for MBA with spouses, and families. Another 40 MBAs journey to St. Hugh’s where it is rumored to share a border with Scotland due to its geographic distance. Although I must confess it’s difficult to take issue with a college that has its own private-label wine.

For those yearning to become a member of a top sporting college, then you might do well to choose Brasenose. With its entrance idyllically situated opposite the Radcliffe Camera, Brasenose also has new housing near the b-school. In addition, "boaties" proudly display their “black and gold” as they can claim the oldest boathouse in the world (founded 1815).

Referred to as “the House,” few would pass on a chance to join Christ Church where they filmed the Harry Potter dining room scenes. This year we regularly played poker in the same MCR where Albert Einstein spent his time in 1931. But get ready to work. Their novice rowers practice perhaps more than any other college – often 8 times a week! After all, the novice rowing competition held during Michaelmas term is called the Christ Church Regatta.

As you walk down the centuries old Turl Street you’ll discover three very ancient colleges: Exeter (1314), Lincoln (1427), and Jesus (1571). Exeter’s view overlooking the Radcliffe Square has been consistently voted as the “best view in Oxford.” Exeter offers sumptuous en-suite housing, but you have to trek to Cowley to get there. In contrast, Lincoln offers centrally located quarters on Bear Lane (City-Centre). They’re so small and cramped, however, that you would have to travel to Greece to find something more Spartan. Finally, few colleges can out fillet Jesus and its MBA disciples when it comes to best food.

Whiles it’s impossible to profile every college, I certainly recommend taking a walk down Oriel Square toward the old cobble-stone Merton Street where you will pass Oriel before reaching Corpus Christi and finally Merton. All very beautiful colleges, you can often tell how old they are based on whether they kept to the traditional stone slab quads, which Corpus and Merton have, or whether they transitioned to the ubiquitous green lawn made fashionable in the 1850s. Oriel prides itself on having a strong rowing tradition, and this year they took a surprising number of MBAs (circa 15). Whereas Corpus is cozy, Merton is monolithic.

Arguably the oldest college in Oxford, Merton (1264) basks in resplendent glory of having developed the first archetypal “quad,” which was later adopted by the other Oxbridge colleges. Following one of the stranger Oxford traditions, Mertonians observe the “Time Ceremony” every October where they hold hands and walk backwards around the Fellows’ Quad while drinking port in order to maintain the space-time continuum. You might think that after all this revelry it would be difficult to walk straight, let alone think straight. Nonetheless, Merton regularly outperforms its peers academically by finishing toward the top of the Norrington Table every year.

If you believe in the Golden Rule: that he who has the gold makes the rules, then you might want to consider St. John’s, which is the richest of all the Oxford Colleges. This is also where former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair went to school. They are rumored to have the largest wine cellar in all of Oxford. With a rather large endowment in its own right, New College has trained several Hollywood actors including Hugh Grant and Kate Beckinsale. The New College Cloisters, along with its giant oak tree, were featured in the movie, Harry Potter: Goblet of Fire.

Meanwhile the more judicious among us should deliberate the merits of Magdalen College, which has educated two US Supreme Court Justices. Famous for having its own deer park, Magdalen was rumored at one point in its long history to keep the number of deer equal to the number of teaching fellows. This undoubtedly placed enormous pressure on faculty not to defect, lest they be served a never-ending staple of venison. But the biggest kept secret is that Magdalen offers free housing to the one MBA it accepts.

Although the answer I provided during the actual Q&A wasn't so in-depth, I do believe that I communicated the same basic point. There is not one perfect Oxford College. They all possess a unique charm. The larger point to be made is that this collegiate system is what separates the Oxford MBA from other b-schools. And if you find this enchanting, then choose Oxford!

*During the Q&A I was asked many other questions related to jobs, families, work/life balance, etc. Please write a comment below specifying which topic you would like me to address next*

hilary [week 6]:

hilary [week 5]:

hilary [week 4]: valentine's day

A month has passed since I last saw my fiancée Lisa. I actually think that we've handled being apart much better than expected. Unlike some other couples where MBA really stands for "Married, But Available," Lisa and I have kept focused on what's really important to us: our wedding later this year, and making lots of money!

I attribute our success to several factors. We Skype almost every night. We constantly send little "pings" back-and-forth between our iPhones during the day. It also helps that I'm constantly distracted by studying, applying for jobs, and participating in extra-curriculars (e.g. student government, finance club, and rowing). Although I can't speak for Lisa, I imagine that it helps that she's working full-time, and has her family nearby.

That being said, at least half of MBAs decide to bring their significant other with them. There exists a strong support network here at Oxford for couples and families. But regardless of the level of support, I've noticed two things. First, there is a difference between married couples with kids, and those without. The two groups tend to "hang-out" in different circles, which is fine, because there's plenty of both to go around. Second, I observe that to keep the relationship healthy the spouse MUST find some kind of work, whether paid or unpaid (volunteer work). This can be complicated because of work visa issues, but I think that if someone wanted to, they could always find a job labeling Darwin's butterflies at the Oxford Museum of Natural History.

It also helped tremendously to make special visits every so often to see one another. This Valentine's Day Lisa flew to Oxford to see me. I picked-her up at the airport, and after spending one night at my college accommodations ("The Exeter Estate & Gardens"), we spent the weekend at the Randolph Hotel. The Randolph normally costs £215 per night minimum, but they have a special arrangement with SBS where they charges £150 per night, and this includes a hot breakfast. This amounts to a significant 30% in savings at one of the swankiest addresses in Oxford! In order to qualify for the discount, however, you have to coordinate with the front desk at SBS, which acts as a good safe-guard against non-MBAs qualifying for the discount.

Through the kind beneficense of our friends, Lisa and I enjoyed a sumptious dinner at the Christ Church Grand Dining Hall courtesy of Nisheeth, followed the next day by lunch at Lincoln College - thanks to Harpreet. We ended our vacation with Lisa's first Formal Hall dinner at Exeter College. We had a great time although the Valentine's Day vacation was too short to do much travelling outside Oxford. Especially because I had assignments due that Monday and Tuesday. At least Lisa gets to see that I really do work hard here. Enjoy the pics:

hilary [week 3]: