Day 14 & 15: Spring is here...but why am I indoors!

Spring is finally here!

Spring

At last spring is here! As if on cue, students and residents lazed by the Charles River and soaked in the first rays of the spring sun. From a dreary gray and cold place, Boston seems to have come alive. People are jogging at the park, biking at the trails and basking in the glorious sun. It's such an amazing site to wake up one morning and see the canvass completely changed to bright greens and colorful blooms. I do hope it stays this way. Being accustomed to a tropical climate, this is nirvana for me.


Lessons from School

In as much as I'd like to go out and enjoy the warm sunshine, I will have to stay indoors and enjoy the intellectual sunshine from within the confines of our classroom. The course has shifted to a higher gear, if this goes on my brain will implode. Along with it come more sleepless nights, frayed nerves and at least for me, missed breakfasts. Working late nights has left me with the stark choice of more sleep or breakfast. I have chosen the former and to ensure that I get a modicum of sustenance, I would just pass by the snack bar in the morning and grab a banana or bread and coffee (I swear I've never drank this much coffee in my life). It's usually enough to sustain me until lunch.

I'll go straight to the point today, since there is hardly anything much to share. Another two full days of classes indoors have once again yielded a treasure of learnings.

Operations:

• Excellent execution and mediocre (not lousy) strategy will beat mediocre execution and excellent strategy
• Putting in place a winning operations structure prevents people from doing ordinary work since they will have  no choice but to perform and eventually assimilate superior work processes and culture

 Marketing:

• Arbitrating market information is the key to success over competition
• Follow the consumer journey and you won't go wrong with your marketing innovations
• Emerging market segmentation needs to look at product features, quality and pricing juxtaposed with the competitive context

Business, Government and the International Economy:

• China and the US are in a tight interlock brought on by their overdependence on each other, it will take significant time and effort to extricate one from the other
• China is trying to flex its muscles and assert its independence from the US since it has realized rather belatedly that its export-led growth has made it too over-exposed and vulnerable to the US
• Russia on the other hand, did not get the support it needed from the US, and instead rebuilt its institutions on its own
• The US on the other hand, was much too busy living in the shadows of the cold war that it failed to recognize the unique opportunity to turn Russia into an ally instead of a foe
• Russia, Singapore, China and India curtailed social and political freedoms (in varying degrees) in order to put their countries on the path to social growth
• Key Question: What is society prepared to surrender in exchange for prosperity?

I would have wanted to dwell more on this question but I suppose Prof. Dick Vietor will be revealing the answer to this somewhat vexing question.

In the meantime, many thanks to our insightful and dynamic professors for the invaluable knowledge and frameworks they have taught and will continue to impart to all of the students here at AMP batch 182.

I suppose I'll stop here for now. It's getting late and I still have a ton of cases to review.

Note: My blogs are a week off and as of this writing, it's freezing cold once again. I guess I shouldn't complain, Asia is going through a heat wave with temperatures hitting 40C, in some cities. Things are so busy over here that I only get to write occasionally, so I apologize if things are not current.

Day 12 & 13: A Sunny Afternoon with the Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox playing at Fenway Park, their home turf. Go Red Sox!

Fenway Park

Finally I was able to cross the river and spent most of the afternoon with the Red Sox. It was totally unplanned. I had just come from the gym and was ready to settle down and do my cases, when my phone rang. On the other line is my good friend Carol Dominguez, my Advanced Management Program (AMP) classmate and a fellow Filipino. She was insistent that I end my nerdy ways and join her at Fenway Park, where the Red Sox were playing. I'm not really much of a baseball fan, I've never seen one up close and live, so the invitation never really excited me. I would much rather read Prof. Marc Bertoneche's lecture notes on Financial Management or Prof. Dick Vietor's lecture notes on Business, Government and the International Economy. But Carol was insistent and after much cajoling, parenthetically I think there was also a threat of bodily harm somewhere in our conversation, I reluctantly relented.

What happened next, was the most exciting thing I have ever witnessed. The Park was overflowing, and the excitement was palpable. Carol and I bought baseball caps (I wonder how my wife will react when she knows I have added another one to my already overflowing collection of baseball caps) in order to blend and be part of the action. By the way, Carol, ever the take-charge super lady, got us tickets that was very close to the home base so we could see all the action.

It was a very exciting game, for awhile I thought the Red Sox would not win but they managed to pull through in the 7th inning. The crowd was just euphoric - "human waves after human waves" were moving around the stadium, like some well-choreographed terpsichorean act.

Well some good things do not last. I needed to return to school to surprise-surprise, STUDY!


Pan Xenia and Filipinos in Boston

Pan Xenia Fraternity Brothers

When I was much younger, my work brought to me to several countries around the world. I've even lived in many of them. And true to form, wherever I go there is always a Filipino. Boston or must I say, Harvard is not an exception.

The night before, I had dinner with Eymard Altoveros, a fraternity brother in Pan Xenia, who was visiting en route to Los Angeles. It was very nice of him to just drop in. Come to think of it, I see Eymard more often than some of my other fraternity brothers.

Anyways, we had Chinese for dinner and explored Harvard Square. Ever the wanderer, Eymard, made big plans for going around downtown Boston the following day.

Lastly, I also had dinner with two Filipino law students who are about to finish their Masters of Law in Harvard Law School. Good luck PJ and Gem in your coming exams. And Gem congratulations on your forthcoming wedding!


Saturday Classes

As if classes and case studies from 8am until 11pm was not enough, we also have classes on Saturday. Harvard's AMP Program, according to several university ranking groups, is truly the gold standard. Not only is it the longest but it's also the most intense. Those who attended a similar course in other ivy league universities, attests to this. (Why they would do such a thing to themselves is beyond my comprehension). That being said, I feel affirmed that I opted to go to Harvard.

Our marketing class in the morning continues to throw out nuggets of learning. At the rate Prof. Das Narayandas is going, I'll have gold bullions by the time I come home. Our topic was innovation. I will try to use short-hand in expressing this so I apologize if it seems ambiguous.

• Figure out the value of the innovation and examine how to innovate the entire value chain (think Apple)
• Don't make the mistake of giving away the innovation for free in order to preserve the main business - you could miss out on an even bigger opportunity
• Resist the tempation to push the innovation through the same pipeline, otherwise you will not maximize it or worse, you might kill it
• The performance-price and communication matrices are an excellent guide in identifying the positioning strategy for your innovation

Prof. Cynthia Montgomery, the sweetest and yet one of the most intellectually hard-punching professors I've met, chimed in with the reminder that all strategies must:

• be internally consistent, where the various parts support the whole
• have dynamic consistency, in order to be adaptable while being true to the core idea (the core idea is the hub that supports the various spokes of the strategy)

I will need to go, and...you guessed it...study! Needless to say, here are some more photos.

Carol Dominguez, my classmate, at Fenway Park

Let the game begin!

Referees heading to a huddle to review a call

So that's how they clean the field

Harvard Pinoys, PJ and Gem, Law School studes

Special Session with Professor David Moss

Prof. David Moss introducing his lecture on the US political system and its impact on the economy

David Moss

According to his official bio, Prof. David A. Moss is the John G. McLean Professor at Harvard Business School, where he teaches in the Business, Government, and the International Economy unit. Professor Moss's research focuses on economic policy and especially the government's role as a risk manager and has published three books on this subject.

My favorite is "A Concise Guide To Macroeconomics". It's an easy to read book that strips macroeconomics to its core concepts and is used as an anchor to discuss more complicated issues as the book progresses. Professor Moss is able to translate difficult economic theories using simple English. It has none of the jargon that usually accompanies reference materials on economics and if he did mention a "heavy word", he would take the time to explain it.


The US Political System and the Nation's Economy

I must admit that I was slightly disappointed with his lecture. It was much too America-centric and I was grasping at straws trying to figure out what it meant to me as a business executive, as a Filipino and as a member of the global community. But before I go there, here are the core points of Prof. Moss' presentation.

1. The increased partisan and ideological polarization in the US congress, which used to happen only during election times, has become a 24-hour spectator sport.
2. Unfortunately, this has resulted in legislation that is too heavy on ideology and is bereft of compromise, which has historically produced the best pieces of legislation (e.g., health care, fee public education, etc.)
3. In order to restore and revitalize America's "culture of democracy" the academic community, business and the political establishment need to come together and put America first

My ever-dependable study table

It all sounds good but as I said, what do I do with this information. So in the quiet confines of my room, I decided to deconstruct what he said and tried to apply it to a context that is more relevant to me.

Here is what I came up with:

1. The Philippines has traditionally been torn apart by the politics of personality. Thinking about this, I cannot help but ask whether our politics is anchored on any solid ideology and if it somehow is, does our political system allow for continuity of vision?
2. The good news is that our political system and business leaders are working together. The bad news is that I am not sure whose interest they are pursuing or if the Filipino is even part of the equation.
3. Our education system, being chronically underfunded and for the most part, the bastion of the rich, has seen better days. Our good educators have gone and sought greener pastures outside of the educational system. (As I shared before, I teach in one of the best universities in Manila and I can attest that our teachers' salaries are not exactly on top of the income pyramid.)

I'm not too sure if I am too pessimistic or if I am giving our country a fair shake. But for the sake of our children and our children's children, I do pray and hope that I am wrong or at the very least, that someday I will be proven wrong.

Got to go back to my studies. Here is what my spartan room looks like.

My thinking chair

Hallway leading up to my room



The bed - my favorite place

My room

My Living Group's Den

My Living Group's Living Room

My Living Group's Conference Area for our case discussions

Our Living Group's fully stocked pantry

Day 10 & 11: More Marketing Surprises

Marketing

Just when I thought that I had learned everything there is to learn about marketing, I get reminded of a marketing altruism that I have forgotten.

Marketing is about making the customer the HERO.

It sounds so simple for indeed it is. For those of us in the profession, it is so easy to get caught up in the different exciting and powerful aspects of brand building that often we lose focus on the customer and we end up releasing material that makes our brand the hero. Perhaps, it is no wonder why some launch and even multi-million peso advertising campaigns fail to catch fire. This is because far from focusing on the customer the campaign has focused on the brand or worse, on the technical details of the advertising campaign.

Anyhow, here are a couple more points I brought home from the class discussions:

• Innovation must be a winner across the value chain to ensure acceptance and ensure limited or no resistance
• As a senior leader in one's organization it is so easy to lose sight of one's responsibility to act in the best interest of the shareholders, the trappings of power can sometimes make people inward looking
• Any business must be able to answer this question convincingly - who are you and why must you matter to the customer?
• Intense business competition does not need to be a zero sum game - when done smartly it can result in market expansion
• There are 4 corporate drivers of shareholder value - the firm's strategic business design, efficiency of asset use, reward system and corporate culture, and capital structure and cost of capital
• Value based (read: EVA) is becoming a pervasive philosophy in many successful companies, replacing traditional metrics such as EPS, etc.

Confused Weather

The weather in Boston is in a strange place right now. It cannot seem to make up its mind on whether it wants to be winter or spring. Hence, I have in my cabinet winter clothes and spring clothes. One of my classmates even brought 5 suitcases of different clothing.

Anyhow, back to the salt mines for me yet again! In the meantime, let me leave you with pictures of confused plants. Even they can't tell if it's still winter or already spring.

A Special Session with Prof. Michael Porter

Michael Porter making a point during his presentation to AMP Class 182 at Harvard Business School

Face-to-face With An Icon

One of the best things about the Advanced Management Program (AMP), and I suppose it's also because I am after all in Harvard, is that you have special presentations from larger-than-life persons, such as Professor Michael Porter. Mr. Porter, for me, is the rockstar of the business world. I would never have imagined that I would be in the same room with him, much less come face to face with him. If I could have it my way, I would have gone up to him and had my photo taken with him. But no, this is Harvard and we're not supposed to do such a thing, after all having a restrained intellectual disposition is supposed to be the norm. Being Pinoy however, I couldn't help myself and somehow found a way to, at the very least, document that him and I sat in the same conference hall.


His Talk: A Perspective On US Competitiveness

A lot of instrospection has been happening in the US since the American dream collapsed, or to put it in another way, got derailed. Harvard has initiated a system-wide review of what ailed the American economy, its educational system and what are the next steps to cure it and prevent it from happening again.

Mr. Porter talked at length about US competitiveness. His core points are:

1. There are 3 determinants to competitiveness - endowments, macroeconomic competitiveness, and microeconomic competitiveness - all of which are interdependent and may follow a chronological path
2. Endowments create a foundation for prosperity, but true prosperity depends on its productive use
3. Fiscal policy, monetary policy, human development, political institutions and rule of law are the ingredients that determine macroeconomic competitiveness, but does not sufficiently assure high productivity
4. Ultimately, productivity depends on improving the microeconomic capability of the economy and the degree of local competition. This is fueled by
• the quality of the business environment
• sophistication of company operations and strategy 
• the state of the development of business clusters in a particular area or geography

My Thoughts

Needless to say, his perspectives are US-centric, however I felt that it had a flavor of protectionism about it. Creating business / economic clusters within the US would necessitate the return or at the very least the holding back of investments in other markets that have these efficiencies. But then again, if I were an American what Mr. Porter said would make perfect sense, since the creation of clusters would create employment, improve consumption and eventually increase economic growth. Taking this farther, there is no escaping the reality that it is in the best interest of the global economy to see the biggest economy in the world get up on its feet once again.

If I were to localize his points on competitiveness and apply these in the context of the Philippine economy, I cannot help but be troubled. I suppose, I would ask the following questions:

1. Endowments
• Is the Philippines resource rich?
• Do we have the right natural resources or susbstitutes that the economy needs to grow?
• Are these resources accessible?
2. Macroeconomic competitiveness
• Do we have the appropriate fiscal and monetary policies in place?
• Are we properly invested in human development?
• Have our political institutions and rule of law reached a level of maturity that will enable it to sustain economic development in the short and long-term?
3. Microeconomic competitiveness
• What is the quality of Philippine environment?
• Do our domestic industries / businesses have the appropraite operational and strategic capabilities?
• Are our business / economic clusters strong enough to compete in a global environment?

Conclusion

I supppose the answers to some of these questions are pretty obvious, for some it requires a fair bit of data gathering and soul-searching. As I further my appreciation and deepen my understanding of factors that lead to economic growth and its increasing interdependence, I cannot help but feel envy for those countries that have progressed significantly and have consequently provided a higher standard of living for its people. Yet on the same breath, I cannot help but feel a great sense of uncertainty about the future prospects of our country - the Philippines.

It's time once again for me to work on my cases. As I go through all my subjects, I am finally able to crystallize an approach to the Personal Case that I am supposed to put together at the end of the course. The beauty is that as the approach evolves it gets richer and multi-dimensional.

Day 8 & 9: A New Beginning

The Baker Library houses the world's most extensive collection of business materials.

A New Beginning

The Advanced Management Program (AMP) has switched gears and is now into what can probably be called specialized subjects. Our professors who initially taught us the basics of Finance and Accounting are now teaching their subjects of expertise. In these two days we covered a pretty wide area, yet the richness and depth of the subject was not at all compromised. These are:

• Leadership and Corporate Accountability
• Leadership in Organizations
• Strategy
• Business Government and the International Economy
• Financial Management

While there has been no deterioration in the quality of instruction and the richness of the learnings, my brain is slowly turning to mush. I have gone passed burning the midnight oil and I think it won't be long before I burn the lamp itself. I've been getting an average about 5-6 hours of sleep daily and I've been skipping breakfast and dinner. Breakfast because I'd rather sleep and dinner because I have not been getting enough exercise and since I cannot burn calories, I figured I'd manage my intake.


Key Learnings

The campus provided residence of the Dean of HBS

On the first day of class, our Harvard Business School Associate Dean and Executive Education Chair, Prof. Das Narayandas, did warn us that we will be learning a lot in this course and he compared it to drinking from a fire hose.

Unfortunately, trying to capture what I learned and transcribing it into this blog is a rather similar exercise. If I am either saying something incomprehensible or even the obvious, I can assure you that the reality is far richer and provides richer texture. To prove the point, I already have nine leather binders containing all the notes I copiously reproduced and filed staring at me at this very moment.

• Similar to the Du Pont analysis, a country's GDP, C+I+G+(x-m)=C+S+Tx, captures the different areas of economic performance. Measured against a country's context and strategy reveals a lot about a nation's health and future, allowing business to accurately capture opportunities and threats.
• Strategy is about asymmetry. It is about evolving through time to make yourself constantly relevant across all your constituents.
• Leadership is the perfect balance of ethos, logos and pathos. Parenthetically, it sounds so simple yet I feel that this whole topic will unravel and reveal more of its mysteries as the course continues.
• Appropriate business behavior is the convergence of economics, ethics and law.

Case Method

The case method continues to amaze me. The professors here at HBS have a nasty yet intellectually mystifying way of teasing out key learnings from the tapestry that are the cases. They teach and untangle the case with such passion and energy that as a student, you cannot help but get caught in it. Yet there seems to be order in this madness. I notice that they will spend the first 30 minutes of the class establishing the basics of the case, another 30 laying out the correlations and then the last 15 minutes throwing the core principles for you to take and absorb.

As a part-time educator, I cannot help but be amazed. The method is quite different from what we have back home. For starters, our educational system is anchored on a question and answer methodology but for those universities who have used the case method, I find that the treatment seems a bit bland or clinical. I suppose the way they do it here in HBS asks so much from the professor. Not only does it demand mastery of the case and expertise of the subject but also the ability to think on your feet and lead the discussion.

Talking about cases, I will have to sign out and read 2 more cases. Ciao!



Baker's Circle with its view of the Harvard campus in Cambridge, across the Charles River

Day 6 & 7: One Last Hoorah on Finance & Accounting...and Easter

The great city of Boston, a wonderful mix of the new and the old.


Easter in Boston

I finally got the chance to explore Boston. Harvard Business School (HBS) was kind enough to organize a tour for all Advanced Management Program (AMP) participants. The tour took us around the Cambridge area where Harvard and MIT are located. (A part of Harvard lies across the river, on the Boston side). Both campuses are just astounding in their architectural beauty, and contrary to what some people might believe, collaborate with each other on many diverse yet important issues and undertakings.

Since its founding in 1636, Harvard University has relied on the generosity of its benefactors. In fact the school was named after one of its benefactors, John Harvard, a young English clergyman who bequeathed the College his library of four hundred books and half of his estate. (Unfortunately, the library burned in a fire).Today it is considered the is the oldest institution of higher learning in the US. Harvard's history, influence, and wealth have made it one of the most prestigious universities in the world. As of 2011 its endowment fund is worth USD32Billion.

Boston itself is an eclectic mix of the old and the new. It has a very strict building code which requires that all new construction adhere to the red-brick color of its older houses. The result a unique and well-designed blend of old and modern structures.

Just one last note on Boston, I have personally not spent that much time in the US on my own - it's usually with family and friends. As a result, I have always seen the country as a homogeneous continent that is not as exciting and culturally diverse as Europe and Asia. This trip however belies all that. Underneath the appearance of a common and "bland" nation, are nuanced cultural differences that any visitor to the country ought to see. The architecture, fashion, values and (yes) English use are vastly different from West to East and North to South. I must say, I have not given this country the attention and appreciation it deserves.



Finance & Accounting's Last Hoorah!

Monday marks the end of the module on Introduction to Finance and Accounting. While the areas we covered are rather basic, the insights I gained are truly valuable. The formulas for the most part, except for this metric called ROCE (Return On Capital Employed), are nothing new. The insights and manner by which our Professors have taught it and demonstrated it in action, via the case study method, gives a more vibrant appeal and provides an entirely new texture for me. Let me attempt to summarize key points I committed to my Daily Diary (it's a note-taking system that HBS asked us to use in order to gather and document insights we got from the course).

• Finance is the management of its 3Pillars, liquidity, financial structure and profitability, never push one at the expense of the other. The 3 Pillars are can be used in diagnosing the financial health of any business (another approach is via the DuPont analysis that involves margins, asset turn-over and leverage), drill down each component of the pillar using well-established business ratios
• Each business has a self-sustainable growth rate that when plotted across time becomes the self-sustainable growth line. Growth below the line means management is too conservative and not seizing opportunities. Growth above the line means the business will explode soon as it does not have the resources to sustain or maintain growth. The challenge is to be cognizant of this line and develop strategies to mitigate the impact of business performance.
• CFO (Cash Flow from Operations) should be the obsession of the CFO (and CEO)
• The time value of money needs to be at the center of any discussions involving the evaluation of business opportunities. Setting financial and investment benchmarks is an iterative process involving senior members of the organization and considers - (1) risk, (2) cost of money, and (3) risk premium

Incidentally, this being the first week of our classes, the different courses of the Introduction to Finance and Accounting module were taught by different professors whose field of specialty is not Finance & Accounting. It again reiterates the point I made earlier about the quality and depth of talent in HBS. The professors are ambidextrous it blows my mind.

Again, I have to go to read some more cases. In the meantime, let me share some photos I took when I went around during the Easter weekend. By the way, Happy Easter!

The closest thing I will get to the beach this spring (summer in Manila)

Sailing is a big thing here in Boston

The Boston Town Hall

A bronze plaque honoring the Celtic's Larry Bird

A view of the HBS campus at 8:30 am

The inscription speaks for itself

Vanderbilt ancestral home that was donated to Harvard



The view to from the other side of the bridge (my room  is on the 5/F of the red brick building on the right of the bridge) 



Day 4 & 5: Finance, Finance and more Finance...and Accounting

Finance & Accounting

Our Finance & Accounting foundation module began this week and I am having what you can refer to as an improper dalliance with Finance and Accounting (F&A) at the expense of my first love Sales and Marketing (S&M). In fact the topic is slowly becoming a obsessive interest. The more I learn about it, the more I truly appreciate its value. The better I understand its inter-dependence the more invaluable the insights become.

There were a couple of times when the thought of taking a Masters Degree on Finance crossed my mind.This might sound heretical, especially to the Finance purists, but the more I get to know Finance and Accounting (F&A) the more I see its similarities with Sales and Marketing (S&M). Consider the following:

1. F&A tells the story of a company and at any one time captures its business health; S&M is the story of consumers and captures their buying health
2. F&A allows for a thorough diagnosis of a company by looking at its operational, financial and economic operations; S&M allows for a diagnosis of consumer buying, aspirations and their environmental context
3. F&A is an arbiter of conflicting business viewpoints and is the glue that binds business strategies; S&M is an arbiter of conflicting consumer and corporate needs and is the glue that binds strategies
4. F&A is the glue that binds short-term and long-term business planning; S&M is the glue that binds short-term and long-term product planning
5. F&A can be a catalyst for business change; S&M can be a catalyst for change in consumer behavior

I know I am oversimplifying and potentially comparing apples and bananas; and I certainly do not mean any disrespect to either discipline. All that I am saying is that there are some congruences that I never recognized.  The bottom line is being a disciple of Sales & Marketing, I never thought Finance & Accounting could be this much fun.


My Excuse


The caseload


Things have become frenetic the last couple of days and as a consequence, I have not been able to update this blog. The cases and other reading materials have been piling up and I often find myself staying late in the night reading and analyzing case materials. There are also online materials and supplementary classroom discussions that students are required to attend in order to enhance their learning and prepare them for integration outside the confines of Harvard Business School (HBS).

The other nice thing about the Advanced Management Program is the networking opportunity. All the CEO's and senior executives of several companies worldwide are in attendance. That is why HBS goes to extra lengths just to provide students the chance to interact with each other. The truth is, if we were left to our own devices we would just coop ourselves in our rooms and study. But I am glad that they have organized, Inter-Living Group coffee get-together and dinners, Friday night themed socials and best of all private dinners with the professors.



The view across the river from my room

 But one thing is for sure, first chance I get I will explore what lies across the river.

In the meantime, you guessed it, I need to go back and read my cases.

Day 3: The Living Groups

It's so easy to forget that we are only on day 3 of Harvard Business School's Advanced Management Program. That's because of the voluminous number of cases that we have to read, prepare for individually and that we need to discuss with what is called "Living Groups".

Living Group 52's conference facility flanked by our pantry

Living Groups are essentially groupings composed of 8-9 individuals from very diverse backgrounds. My Living Group for example is made up of individuals from several continents and countries, backgrounds, expertise, race and gender. Harvard puts so much importance in this concept that our sleeping quarters are clustered according to Living Groups. My group has its own living area, conference room and a well-stocked pantry.

The way Harvard has designed the program is to first allow the students to review the case on their own - to maximize and enhance individual learning. This is immediately followed by a meeting with the Living Group where each one shares his thoughts about the case. In this context, the Living Group discussion further enhances individual learning as the student is now able to incorporate the views of several individuals. In my experience, this is also the appropriate venue to seek coaching from the subject expert in the group. In so many respects, the Living Group discussions have more flavor than the plenary case discussions since the Group allows for a more thorough discussion of the various angles and possibilities of the case.

It comes then as no surprise that we dedicated the entire day to nothing but improving group dynamics. We had a workshop on rules, norms, expecations, feedback and effective facilitating. It might sound so fluffy but over dinner we all agreed it was a valuable exercise and an investment in the right direction for it allows us to be more efficient moving forward.

 Tomorrow we will being tackling Account and Finance basics. Again, we have 3 cases to discuss over breakfast but before I go, I'd like to share with you a couple of quotes I got from todays session.

"We always teach others how to treat us."

"80% of all problems at work are caused by conversations that never happened." 

Day 2: The Dam Has Broken

Case Discussions

The dam has broken and all inhibitions have been thrown out the window. This is the second full day of the course and already it's hard to keep students from not expressing their thoughts. Contrast this to the first day when there was still a lot of hesitation and Prof. Das had to resort to a few class management techiniques every now and then. By now I have also fully embraced the idea of participating actively and I have to plead guilty for being one of those who refused to be shushed. But still the professors are still gently allowing the students to become even more comfortable with the case discussion method; I expect that as the cases become more challenging it won't be as easy anymore.

I am really beginning to like the case discussions. Just when you think that you've figured out the case, some bright boy from across the room would throw a completely novel thought that would turn the case on its head. And because of this, the discussion takes on an entirely unexpected but highly productive stream. I have no doubt in my mind that I am in the company of intellectual gods, who despite being immensely succesful in their corporate careers have shed their cloak of corporate invincibility and are slugging it out with the rest of us. These individuals are either global CEO's, owners of  global company chains or at the very least senior officers of their respective corporations. The humility and the commitment to learning simply astounds me.

Of couse, I should not forget to describe the unparalleled quality of our professors. Being in our first week, Prof. Das, who is also the Chair of the Advanced Management Program, gave all his faculty members at least one slot each in this week's cases. Hence, you see our Finance or Operations or Strategy professors tackling a case that is completely out of his / her field of expertise. Yet they pull it off with such aplomb that you have to remind yourself that this is not their field of expertise. This only underscores the level of intellectual fire power that the professors and Harvard as a whole has tucked within its hallowed academic walls.


Course Content

 That being said, we are still way off from completing our journey. We have not even touched the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Just to give you a flavor, I've listed the subjects that we will be covering during the course of the program.

1. General Management
2. Accounting & Finance
3. Negotiations
4. Financial Management
5. Leadership in Organizations
6. Leadership and Corporate Accountability
7. Strategy
8. Marketing
9. Competitive Advantage Through Operations
10. Business Governement and International Economy

To be honest, I'm not quite sure how this can be tackled in the context of a case discussion but I'm sure our professors in Harvard have figured this out.

In the meantime, I'll have to go to my class!



Each AMP participant's flag proudly displayed in Harvard's Case Discussion Room



Day 1: Small Victories

AMP 182 Opening Session in Aldrich 112

Opening Session

We had our first plenary session today, all 169 of us were at the Aldrich Hall, eagerly awaiting HBS Associate Dean and AMP Chair Das Narayandas' opening remarks. He took us through the usual audio-video clips of previous AMP participants' testimonials, the calendar and work-load for the entire duration of the program and gave us insights on how to make full use of the sessions. 

What struck me most were the following insights:

1. Establish your goals early on and be as clear and vivid, in this way you will be able to isolate and digest the firehose of information and learnings that will be coming your way
2. Reflect on these learnings everyday and ask yourself how you can apply this in your organization
3. Prepare - participate - give. The case study method, which Harvard pioneered, requires that you share your thoughts in order to learn because in doing so you are actively in the moment and are able to capture the diverse thoughts and collective experience of the group
4. The subject matter that will be covered in the entire duration of the course is so immense, I actually once described it as an MBA on steroids

Case Study

Today we had our first ever case study (we were to have two more in the afternoon). I think our professors are slowly trying to get us used to the case discussion method, hence the content and pace of the discussions are still relatively easy. I must admit though that I was a bit nervous at first because (a) I was in a room full of really smart and successful senior executives; (b) this is Harvard; and (c) I have not done a case study since college, and those case studies are nowhere near as thick as what we tackled this morning and in the afternoon.

But what I am particularly eager and proud to share with you is that I chose to participate actively in the discussions and I brought up a couple of points that were readily accepted by our professor, one of which was a particularly unique insight. I know it's nothing special but it's about taking one steady step at a time.



My Living Group team mates

 Because of the case studies, our Living Group worked together for the first time. As I mentioned before it's such a diverse group and I honestly think that I am particularly fortunate to be working with these individuals.

Lastly, I just can't believe that we have already tackled 3 different cases today. I am getting the hang of it and frankly enjoying it. On Day 1 alone, I have so many take aways that I think are so relevant to my company's current business objectives. I am sure there will be more as the days go by.

Got to work on my cases again -- I have 2 particularly thick ones to read tonight! Until tomorrow...ciao!

Day 0: The Start



The Baker Library houses the biggest collection of business-related materials

 The day really began at 9am when I arrived at Harvard Business School. It was a relatively light day, I suppose after having 181 batches before us spread over the last 60 odd years, they purposely planned that all the administrative matters be dispensed with before the serious mental and yes, physical heavy lifting began. In a nutshell the day was highlighted by

• a lecture on how to read/discuss cases
• campus tour
• administrative overview
• opening dinner

Living Groups

I have pretty a small room that measures about 15x5 meters. It has a single bed on one side and a huge study area on the other (to remind you that you are here to study). It also has a small private bath.

The participants are arranged in what is known as a Living Groups composed of about 9-10 individuals from different disciplines, nationalities, industries and gender. I think I am the youngest in my group. Each living group is assigned to a particular living area that has its own case discussion / conference table, pantry and living room. The rooms are built adjacent to this living area.

But what is so awesome about my room is that I have a wonderful view of the river. I was told that every morning brightly colored ducks would wade and swim on it (anyone care for balut?).

Across the river is Harvard Square, the general area where I lived the last couple of nights. It's only about 15 minutes walking distance away. I'll probably do that over the weekend when I go to mass.

Reading / Discussing Cases

The major activity of interest for me personally was the Reading / Discussing Cases lecture done by a Harvard Faculty, Mr. Bill Ellet, who authored a book on the subject. Not knowing who he was, I had the privilege of engaging him in a conversation during the pre-session coffee break.

His approach is very easy and intuitive and is premised on two core points

1. The human mind knows instinctively what is important and what is not - use it to your advantage. His example was meeting a grizzly bear face-to-face in the wild. The brain processes information in a split-second, concludes that it is dangerous and will therefore prompt you to make a decision.
2. Being busy executives, we have so much experience sifting through facts and data in order to arrive at a conclusion. It's no different with case studies. Case studies are narratives of information / data, some useful some not. It's up to the reader to draw his conclusions. So don't read it like a book for contrary to what Paula Abdul says, it has no beginning nor an end.

I'll be trying his approach in a few minutes and see if it works for me. By the way, did I tell you that by the time this course is over, we would have read, analyzed and discussed more than 200 case studies. That's like 3 cases a day. So sleepless night here I come.

 Harvard Business School Tour

Any orientation program will not be complete without a tour of the 33-acre Havard Business School campus. Our guide told us that the HBS campus was donated by a certain Mr. Baker in the 1920's at what was then probably a significant amount of USD5M. Harvard Business School itself was founded in 1908. Today Mr. Tata of India, an AMP alumnus is erecting the new home of HBS' Executive Education program at a vacant lot next door, the 36th building in campus, at an astronomical cost of USD55M. All the buildings on campus are named after very rich benefactors who either donated money or had these buildings constructed for Harvard.

Oh and did I tell you that I now have an official hbs.edu email address that I can use forever. Obviously, it was meant to (a) establish a communication route between AMP participants, AMP graduates, who are bestowed HBS alumni status and the HBS administration; and (b) to impress the outside world. I haven't quite figured out what to use it for so I guess I'll use it when I fill up mailers in department stores and Internet subscriptions to house all my junk mail - just kidding of course.

Let me leave you with some photos I took during the tour. In the meantime, it's back to the case study for me - my first in HBS.