For the BGSU football fans out there, keep in mind that Black Friday (November 27th) is the day of the big game between BGSU and our rival school, the University of Toledo. 

In sports, it is quite arguable that coaches are teachers.  On the other hand, are teachers coaches?  Should students receive direction and motivation from professors at the graduate level, or is it up to the students to be self-motivated?  Is it a combination of both? 

What do you think?  Who should be held accountable for student performance?  Who should be held accountable for student conduct?  At the same time, who should be held accountable for teacher performance?

I leave you with a closing thought from “Coaching Advice: ‘Coaches are teachers’”: “Remember, not every classroom has desks.”  I believe that this is as relevant in sports as it is in business and in life.  Learning experiences are around us everywhere.  As a student, it is up to me to actively learn, not limiting my learning to the confines of a traditional classroom.

This brings to light some major concerns about the fast food industry and franchising in general.  Clearly, open communication is critical.  This includes sharing cost structure information, as the parent company and the franchisees carry separate budgets.  Competition with rivals in the industry (such as McDonald’s and Wendy’s) is integral to survival, but to what degree and at what cost?  Is matching offerings and prices of discount menu items (typically called ’dollar menu’ items or something of that sort) always practical?

Anyhow, I am pretty excited about a speaker who is coming to campus on Monday.   His name is Tim Augustine.  From what I have heard, he is very energetic and very knowledgeable about networking.  For anyone, networking is a valuable tool and skill. 

A preview of Tim Augustine’s philosophy can be found at his blog.

As a soon-to-be alumnus of the full-time MBA program, I have been actively pursuing full-time employment for after graduation.  Well, recently I stumbled upon an interesting revelation in the midst of the application process.    

Much is said in business about “thinking outside the box”.  We need to be creative and innovative.  We need to be able to adapt to change.  We need to take new perspectives and find new meanings.  On the flip side is a more reserved approach to business.  We need to be able to be effective and efficient on a consistent basis.  We need to be able to carry out daily tasks and adhere to certain routine tasks.

In the job search and application process, both a traditional mindset and a creative mindset are needed.  This applies to all employers, not just some, although some employers may appreciate creativity and innovation more than others do.  Regardless, in answering application and interview questions, there are the obvious meanings of questions, and meanings beyond what is stated in the questions.  While I was aware of this, I found out that paper-based and online assessments contain more open-endedness than meets the eye.  Ethics is critical, and I thought that some of these questions were intended to catch people stretching the truth or flat-out lying.  While this may be the case in some instances, in other instances employers are really checking to see if we have critical thinking skills and transferrable skills.  In the case of transferrable skills, we might have them and not even know it.   

Do not misunderstand my words: please always keep honesty in mind when applying and interviewing for jobs.  Tell the truth.  Be ethical.  Be authentic.  At the same time, remember that what you learned from past experiences, whether at a full-time job, as a full-time student, in a social organization, etc. may be useful at any time later in life.  I do think that it is possible for a person to be so far outside the box that he/she becomes impractical.  However, in completing online assessments while applying for jobs, there just might be no limit to how far outside the box we can be. 

In addition to field trips as a part of the MBA program, we also went on trips through the MBA Student Association (MBASA).  While I personally was not able to attend the Detroit trip, I was able to go to both Chicago and Columbus.  Stops in these metropolitan areas included the Henry Ford Museum, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, and Nationwide Arena. 

All of the opportunities to travel are pretty cool.  On my trips, I got to know some of my classmates better, met a bunch of people at the different companies, and learned a lot.  As a member of MBASA, the class trips allowed me to also take some time to enjoy other tourist attractions.

What can I say?  If you are up for the MBA challenge, definitely consider sending us your application.  More information can be found at the full-time MBA home page.  Until next time, have a great Halloween weekend and take care!

Part of the personal finance equation is bargain hunting–i.e. looking for good deals at a lower than expected price.  Numerous students bargain hunt.  Graduate students typically bargain hunt.  I bargain hunt.  Some of my peers bargain hunt.  The desire to bargain hunt is both practical and satisfying.  By finding nicely priced goods and services, I can spend less and save money.  At the same time, I can put my critical thinking skills to use and see just how well I can do with bargain hunting.  A recent find was an all-in-one printer/scanner/copier/fax machine at a regular store price of $90 and MSRP as high as $110 to $120, for the outstanding clearance price of $45!  I purchased the second-last one in the store for myself and then went back and got the last one for my uncle’s family after I told my uncle about it.    

What are some of the good bargains you have found?  On what are you willing to deficit spend?

I have participated in fantasy football before–maybe 3 times in my lifetime.  Twice, I partook in budget rotisserie leagues, which require participants to pick teams within a budget (a “salary cap” in sports terms) and then earn the best performance statistics possible.  Here, participants could have identical players on their teams as long as their team budgets permitted this.  Once, I participated in a drafted head-to-head league.  In this league, we took turns drafting players and then had our drafted teams earn the best performance statistics possible in head-to-head team competitions.  Here, participants could not have any identical players, which to me is more realistic. 

A couple weeks ago, the new cohort started the “Paper Nation” simulation.  In it, four people were elected as team captains and then picked teams.  They will learn more about their objectives around the day of the simulation.  Meanwhile, my capstone strategy course recently started the “Mike’s Bikes” simulation.  Here, we are working in much smaller teams, so we just picked teams by word of mouth asking around.  Unlike “Paper Nation”, “Mike’s Bikes” will take place over a number of weeks. 

When thinking about fantasy sports and business simulations, I realized how similar they are to each other.  In both fields, the participants must have an understanding of the different numbers and other factors involved.  The strategies may vary from team to team, or the strategies may be identical.  Also, the style of the simulation and the capabilities and limitations vary.  Regardless, there are opportunities for the participants of both sports and business simulations to make adjustments. 

As there are different rules and stipulations in the various simulations, a participant or a team may do better under some conditions and worse in others.  With fantasy football, I did much better in picking a team in the drafted head-to-head league; I took 2nd place there.  On the other hand, I struggled in the budget rotisserie leagues; I finished towards the bottom of the league the first time and then improved a bit, finishing in the middle of the pack the other time.   

With Paper Nation, I knew that I was on a really good team.  We started in last place but worked our way into 1st place by the end of the simulation.  Since Mike’s Bikes has more time allotted to test and understand the numbers, and because there are 6 teams instead of just 4, there may be even higher levels of competition.  Thus, although my team is currently in 1st (we started in the middle of the pack), we might not be able to hold our ground.   

Overall, there is excitement in simulating the operations of a sports team or some other corporation.  I learned a lot and had a lot of fun doing ”Paper Nation”, and now I am starting to catch on with “Mike’s Bikes”.  In the meantime, I might try to participate in a casual fantasy basketball season this year, as my favorite professional league is the National Basketball Association.  It is good to know that fantasy sports leagues are out there for me so that I can get my fill for simulations after graduating with an MBA.  Of course, the full-time job is the real deal, but I also still need to make my post-MBA employment a reality.:)

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For many people, taking the GMAT is the most gut-wrenching aspect of applying to MBA programs. What many people are unaware of though is all the help that is available. For starters, there are books galore, classes and practice exams. Unfortunately, many times these can be costly and there’s no guarantee they will help each individual.

Thankfully, there are some free options available. Many university organizations will help sponsor free practice test days. A quick search from Kaplan’s website found free GMAT practice exams on February 14th here at BGSU and one in Toledo on February 21st. You can search for free events in your area on their website by clicking on their “Find a Free Event” link. Another great and free option comes directly from GMAC itself: GMATPrep. GMATPrep is free test preparation software available for anyone to download. According to their website, GMATPrep software features:

• A 15-question practice section for each type of GMAT question, with answers and explanations for each question
• 2 full-length computer adaptive practice tests with answers (detailed explanations of answers are not included) 
• Accurate computing of Verbal and Quantitative scores, which you can use to judge how prepared you are for the actual GMAT exam
• A comprehensive math review
• Real-time scoring

One of the best features of GMATPrep is that is actually uses the same technology as the real GMAT. This gives applicants a higher sense of security that they are properly preparing for the exam. In the end, the GMAT is something to take seriously, but not to fret over. There are plenty of opportunities to prepare for the exam available to MBA applicants.

Have you already taken the GMAT? How did you prepare? Any secrets of the GMAT you discovered? Feel free to share your comments.