THE END

The MBA programme is over for the class of 2007-2008. We had our last MBA class on the 13th of June.

The Cambridge MBA has been one of the best years of my life.

The key highlights/learnings (in no particular order) on the MBA for me were

1) Meeting new friends and learning their ways
2) Learning from my peers
3) Though provoking lectures and sessions
4) Salsa dancing on Tuesdays
5) Pub-nights on Thursdays
6) Global Consulting Project in Portugal
7) Lord Dennis Stevenson's Leadership-In-Action sessions
8) Learning that in business the most important thing is the "people" (clients/associates)
9) Relationships matter - who you know is very important in Business (Networking helps)
10) Performance matters - delivering consistently is important and rewarded well
11) Group work with some of the brightest people I have ever met
12) Learning Operations Management at the Leyland factory
13) Discovering Capital Markets and Innovative Accounting
14) Hosting the Oxford team for the Oxbridge sports event
.... . ........... so on and so forth the list would be never ending

Above all the Cambridge MBA has been a self-discovering journey for me and I have enjoyed every moment of this journey.

After completing my Individual Project, I will be starting a Business Technology consulting company with a colleague of mine. I'm quite excited about embarking on the entrepreneurship journey and look forward to put all the skills I learnt on the Cambridge MBA to good use.

I hope this blog was useful to folks who are/were interested in the Cambridge MBA to get an insiders view about the programme. I would highly recommend the Cambridge MBA to anyone who is aspiring to obtain a holistic management education and bond with the best.

I will no longer be updating this blog with my Cambridge MBA experiences. In case you need any additional information or want to contact me please feel free to email me.

End of Easter Term

The MBA May Ball on the 8th of June was a great fun filled event for us. It was the last formal social event for us. We danced, drank and had a gala time.

Looking back it seems as if we just started the MBA journey yesterday and now it is already over. We had our last class on the 13th, with Kevin Roberts the CEO of Satchi & Satchi talking about the future Mega-Trends. A very befitting talk to end a great year and a fabulous journey.

On the 12th of June, Lord Dennis Stevenson talk about Leadership, handling set-backs and entrepreneurship. I should say the Leadership-In-Action programme hosted by Lord Stevenson was one of the best things on the Cambridge MBA.

We have finished all out classes now. I will start working on my Individual Project from Monday the 16th. I'm all excited to get started on the project and learn more about how Software as a Service is catching up in the Financial Services industry.

The busy weekend of fun

This weekend has been quite demanding and full of fun.

We started out the festivities with dinner on Friday at my friend Georgi's house. Sofo, Georgi and Nini (the wonderful little one), laid out an exquisite Georgian spread for us. I should say that the Georgian food is quite different and is wonderful.

We then started out the Saturday afternoon with an Indian get-together. It was cool to catch-up with everybody from the sub-continent and enjoy the pot-luck as well. In the evening, we went to Roupen's place to enjoy a Lebanese dinner. Roupen and David laid out a great spread before us and we enjoyed the authentic Lebanese food in style. It was a lot more fun with 7 kids running all around the place.

Sunday has just began and we are going to have the MBA May ball in the evening. Looking forward to more drinks and a great party.

It's the final season of the MBA program and I'm having a great time!!!

Geox - Mario Moretti Polegato

Yesterday we got to hear from Mario Moretti Polegato, the famous enterpriser from Italy. In a period of 13 years since starting his company, he has become the 3rd richest person in Italy and one of the top 300 in the world.

All this by selling shoes in an already competitive "shoe" business?

He came up with the idea of the breathing shoe. Most shoes have a rubber sole and it traps the heat and moisture caused by perspiration. He researched (by accident) various ways in which the shoe sole can be made to "breathe" and finally developed a membrane that brings about "ventilation". The sole is made of millions of 'capillaries' that helps the shoe to breathe and prevents water from entering.

A very simple idea that is a great solution to a universal problem. None of the big players wanted to buy his solution, as they did not see the advantage. Hence, he decided to make shoes on his own. That is when the magic started.

Geox is now sold in 68 countries and ranked #1 in Italy for footwear brands and 3rd worldwide in the lifestyle-casual footwear market.

"An idea is worth more than a factory" - has been his motto. He has over the years built an empire that employs around 30,000 people. They key to his success is to propagate the creation of new ideas within his organization.

For more info on Geox feel free to visit their web-site at www.geox.com