February, 2009

Greeting!

Tuesday, February 24th, 2009

Nhi-Huong Huynh, Fiscal Specialist

Hello all! My name is Nhi-Huong Huynh, and I am a Fiscal Specialist for the Technology Management MBA. I’ve joined with the TMMBA team for couple months. My current responsibilities are including Financial Analysis, Budget Reconciliation, Tuition and Fees.

I’ve enjoyed getting to know the students and provided them tuition fees breakdown and payment deadline for every quarter. Also, I can give out FAFSA information for students who interested in getting Financial Aid, so feel free to contact me. Welcome and best wishes to all TMMBA students.

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Why I chose the TMMBA

Friday, February 20th, 2009

Teagen Densmore, TMMBA Student

Halfway through my first quarter of the TMMBA program, I can absolutely say that I picked the right program for me. The TMMBA has great professors, helpful staff, a schedule that works for me and ice-cream! OK, ice-cream doesn’t really compare to the first three things I mentioned, but it sure is nice to have some frozen yogurt while your brain catches its breath during break.

The TMMBA is a rigorous program, certainly not for the faint of heart, but if you are looking for immersion into a great program, the TMMBA is worth checking out.

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What time is it anyways…

Friday, February 20th, 2009

Hani Rachidi, TMMBA Student

The TMMBA has started to stretch my time more than I had initially anticipated. From my first couple of months in the program this is my typical week at bottom of the post. I imagine from talking to a sample of colleagues this is the norm and a larger range of min to max hours invested exists but I would say no more than +/- 8hrs.

The time invested, though, does not reflect the real learning returns. The study of Business is so fluid and so dynamic. I found that I can learn one concept in five minutes and a whole other in five weeks. The richness of the curriculum and the caliber of the students in the program have met my expectations so far. Since practicing the concepts in this program in the real world make the learning stick and refine it I am starting a measure that I will update through each blog post. I am calling it the Relevance Factor. It measures how relevant the learning in each course is to my job. Two components will make up this factor:

1. T – Aided in thought processes or discussions at work – did it get me to an answer faster or more thoroughly
2. I – Implemented a concept or learning from the program to my job

So far I have implemented Feedforward (a concept introduced by Prof Greg Bigley on giving/receiving feedback) in my workgroup. 1pt for I.

So far I have used learnings in Rev Recognition from an Accounting perspective to understand at a more fundamental level a project that I am working on in the Rev Recognition space. Understanding the pros and cons of recognizing revenue in either a time of sale or amortized manner (over a period of time in increments). 1pt for T.

Relevance Factor = 2

The schedule:
Mondays – Team Meeting 1 to 3hrs
Tuesdays – Preparing for Wed class 2 to 4hrs
Wednesdays – Attending class 4hrs (incl dinner and after class chats)
Thursdays – Attending review session 1 to 3hrs (incl team quick synchs or after class chats)
Fridays – Preparing for Sat class (only every other week) 1 to 3hrs
Saturdays – Attending class 8 to 9hrs (incl breakfast and after class chats)
Sundays – Homework usually due or Preparing for upcoming week 1 to 4hrs

Range of hrs spent 18 to 30hrs (when week incl Sat class)

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The Semiahmoo Experience

Friday, February 20th, 2009

Lucas Perin, TMMBA Student

The MBA kicks off with an intensive orientation week. Ours was to the Semiahmoo resort. We had our first classes on Team Buiding, Accounting, Microeconomy, Statistics and “Presentation Techniques”, and, most importantly, we got to hang out with each other.

I was very impressed with how great the professors were. I had high expectations, and my expectations were exceeded by far. I really learned a lot in the first week, but we barely get to see the resort – the schedule is packed. When we were not having classes, we were studying for the next class. Well, most of the time. My group was pretty good at hitting the bar at night and we got to know each other way better. And it helped a lot.

On the last evening, we had an impromptu Karaoke “competition” – it was not part of the program. We had a rather large number of people (mostly engineers) trying to hook up a computer to the Semiahmoo bar sound system, while another rather large group of people (again, mostly engineers) was trying to find a way of getting free karaoke songs on YouTube. It worked. One of the other bloggers (don’t know if I can tell who it was) sang “Landslide” beautifully. And a Microsoft colleague sang a song from the Phantom of The Opera quite professionally.

All in all, a good end for such a good start.

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Before the first class…

Friday, February 20th, 2009

Lucas Perin, TMMBA student

Make no mistake: the TMMBA starts at the welcome reception. Before the reception we had to fill some questionnaires that would help sort us into groups. At the reception, we had our picture taken for the yearbook, and then the program director and a former student tried to tell us how hard the program was. And we got a bag quite full of books and pre-read materials.

In summary, the TMMBA depends very much on the pre-reads. It is a good program that covers a lot of material. It is well-recognized. And it is short. The catch is that you will have to read a lot of material before the classes, between quarters and even before the program starts.

We got assigned to read the whole material of the “Team Building” class (some HBR articles), an entire book and a couple chapters from another book for “Financial Reporting & Analysis” (fancy name for accounting), some material for Microeconomics, the “Blue Ocean Strategy” book and some chapters for Statistics. To do that, we had about six weeks.

We then got to meet our groups. We are assigned to a group of about five students for the whole length of the program. Apparently the questionnaire works – my group is a very good fit for me.

After the reception, time to get started. Most people will tell you that doing the pre-reads (in particular, the Accounting pre-read) helps tremendously on being successful in the program. I did. Time will tell.

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The TMMBA and I

Thursday, February 19th, 2009

Amit Ghosh, TMMBA Student

I am about 7 weeks into to TMMBA program at the UW. So far, its been a very eye opening if hectic journey. Life has been a blur of Accounting, Strategy, Microeconomics and Statistics. Throw in student presentations, midterms and a 9 month old baby (in my case) and you have the makings of a perfect storm.

Despite all that, I absolutely enjoy the fact that I have already started looking at business and financial news with a new kind of understanding. For instance, now that I know that for a business, Revenues are not the same as Cash Flow. I understand what VCs and financial experts mean when they ask startups to focus on Cash Flow to stay alive in this downturn. On that note, check out this very interesting presentation that a VC firm, Sequoia Capital, gave at a mandatory meeting to 100 CEOs. http://slideshow.com/presentations/244-sequoia_outlookpdf

The basic program itself has been structured to cater to busy professionals, so the program staff does a phenomenal job in taking care of things you would not want to spend your time on. Your books and case studies are ordered and delivered to you before the quarter begins. Food is catered in during class times, so you do not have to rush out to grab a bite. You really appreciate these thoughtful timesaving touches as you try to balance your student, professional and personal lives. One of my classmates even created a blog about the food served at the TMMBA at http://tmmbafoodie.blogspot.com

Will keep writing as more interesting things keep happening..

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First things first . . .

Thursday, February 19th, 2009

Lucas Perin, TMMBA student

In the first post, we are usually supposed to talk a little about ourselves. But hey, if you wanted to know more about me, you would probably be stalking me in Facebook. So I am guessing that the reason for having a reader (hi mom!) is because you want to know more about the TMMBA. Is it hard? Is it good? Is it worth it? Let’s see how much I can help. And for quick answers to those questions, my answers in the middle of the first quarter would be: “not that much”, “oh yes” and “I still don’t know”.

It may be helpful to know that the MBA starts “for real” on the day of the welcome reception, usually in mid-November, not on the day of the first class. In later posts, I’ll detail some parts of the experience before (and after) the first class.

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I WAS RUDE!!!

Wednesday, February 18th, 2009

Kalpesh Shah, TMMBA Student

In the early 1990s, I was taking courses in software development. After the first quarter, the instructor asked the class to give feedback on each student, with 3 areas of strength and 1 area of improvement for each student.

This was not done by secret ballot. Students would stand up one by one, and the class would voice their opinions for everyone to hear. When it was my turn, the majority of the class thought that I was intelligent, good at spotting problems and solving them and very helpful. When it came to the liabilities side of the balance sheet, the class was unanimous: I was rude. Of course, this was shocking to know. When I was pointing out their mistakes, I thought I was helping my classmates. I did not realize that I was perceived as being rude.

A big part of a manager’s is to get things done through other people. Being rude will not make things easy. Therefore, I have looked to improve my people management skills ever since. After attending the TMMBA program, I certainly feel that I am a better manager than before. Specifically, “Managing People in Technology Companies” and “Negotiations” are two subjects that have helped me along the way. I also attended a 12-week seminar from Dale Carnegie that helped me be a better person.

Remember: “Perception is reality in the mind of the beholder”.

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