More farewells

The weekend was marked with couple of farewells and some beers to celebrate the end of MBA. It was tough but it was inevitable as all great things should come to an end. We did go to the Lowry outlet where our graduation ceremony will be held next year and I can’t believe I missed visiting that place for one year. It was quiet atmosphere with some nice restaurants and pubs to chill out. We did go to a Mexican restaurant and I was so impressed with the cuisine. It comes close to the spicy recipes which I am so used to back home. I would definitely want to go there again. So that was the celebration to say good-bye to one of my dear friends and wish her loads of luck with her career. Manchester is still enjoying extended summer but personally I am looking forward for the snow. Hope all new students are not missing the climate which they are accustomed to back home but when it snows they all would love it. On that positive note of waiting for the snow I sign off and will be back to share more little later.

The final frontier

The final frontier has been conquered and the last piece of academic work has been submitted to the Uni. Called up all of them to congratulate and wish them good luck and had a great laugh at many incidents during the course. One thing most of us were good and consistent at was the last minute rush in submitting all the assignments. We all believe the best comes out of us when we are only under pressure J I am sure not many of you would agree with us but you will have to experience to believe in what I say J All in all it was experience totally worth it and we still stay in touch as close knitted group. We do have plans to have a formal get together to meet everyone but I doubt if that would happen as many of them already gone home. The school is also planning to arrange some meeting but nothing finalized yet. So its time to start partying and will come back to you all with more on that later.

More from the campus

The end is almost here and just one more assignment to submit which marks the end of an eventful and very important in our lives. As earlier mentioned, few students already left home and many of them on their way now.  So the weekend is going to busy and cramped with farewells and good-bye parties which I am not so looking forward to. It is hard to say good-bye for me. On the registration front, three weeks have been very interesting and I take this opportunity to thank the Salford Uni for giving us a chance to work on behalf of the Uni. I did meet couple of MBA students who were all excited to be part of the class. The marquee was full of action with various clubs to be registered for and great promotional offers for the students. I did go there every day after work posing as new student and just having fun. Was tempted to be part of cricket club which I couldn’t last year as I was busy with my academics but this year is going to engage me in a different way. New students from various nationalities including Cyprus, Middle East, Bulgaria, Germany, France etc at the registration really kept us busy but it was enjoyable helping them out. I will have to go back to my final assignment but promise to come back with more news form the campus :)

The buzz in the campus

Its time for the new term to begin, new faces on the Uni campus with new hopes and aspirations. The buzz on the campus with check-in, registrations and the marquee where all the fun activities happen is all making us feel nostalgic churning out the memories of those early days when we stepped into the Uni. People have been very accommodating and welcoming when we were here so we extend the same hospitality to the newbies. Some of us have been given the opportunity to work the international check-in and help the new students in the registration process and we thank the international team for that. It not only keeps us busy but also gives us a chance to interact with the new students and help them out. We do come across all types of questions as it ain’t that easy to start living in a foreign country but we do our best to make it easy and smooth transition for them.

The students coming in will definitely enjoy their time in the Uni and will carry a wealthy experience when they walk out. Wishing them all the best and if you anyone of you reading this blog are coming to the Uni please do ask for me at the international check-in desk and I should be able to come down in a jiffy :)

The Wrap Up

Time has come to wrap up the projects through presentations and reports. While some are busy preparing for their presentation, some are running after their clients to fix a date and time. Some are already done while some haven’t started yet [like me ;-)] and it is all acceptable in the professional world. Deadlines and extensions go hand in hand, clients are occupied with so many activities that sometimes they may not respond – we all need to learn to live in a world of uncertainty and I am sure this will go down as a great experience to all the students. Next week is going to be a busy and eventful week. I will also be celebrating my one year completion in UK shortly. There have also been some farewell parties as few decided to leave already. I am sure when they go back richer with all the experience and knowledge gained during the course. It is hard to bid adieu but technology is shrinking this world and making it a smaller place to live in. Social networking will keep us closer and hence “never say goodbye”.  On that note, I go back and start working for an eventful week next week and hope everything goes well.

The Entrepreneur

Zdravstvuite everyone!!! Hope all is well with everyone. As I mentioned earlier, focus now shifted to the project and that’s the only thing we can all think of at this time. Client meetings, checking with tutors to see if they are on right track, running around etc have been routines of all of us. I am sure we all will get there eventually but how much we are enjoying this journey is what matters. Things have changed so much since the course started and we all have totally different dimensions now. Some of us never intended to be entrepreneurs but now giving serious thoughts to it. I personally had no intentions to set up my own firm and was expecting a career move up the ladder through this MBA. But with all the theories in my head I am sure I will make my corporate life complicated by questioning everything. This may not be the case with everyone as the theories they absorbed will make them better equipped in the corporate environment. The last sem on Entrepreneurship and Innovation has now made me more inclined towards starting something on my own. I don’t know what is it going to be and when is it going to take shape but the idea of becoming an entrepreneur itself is so exciting. There are so many external factors which aren’t under my control and can influence my plans. But when you are passionate about it nothing can keep you away from it long enough for you to give up. So on a note of optimism I sign off to persuade on my idea of entrepreneurship.

Question the Answers !!

Hello everybody, hope all is good in the hood. We have just finished the last piece of academic work that we need to submit and now left with all the time to focus on our project work. Most of us have been given some challenging projects which is keeping us very occupied. Two more peaks to conquer and then we are out in the real world. While some chose to go back home, some want to pursue opportunities here. Few others venture into starting their own firms and some like still toying with the idea of entrepreneurship. Never the less, this course has caused immense change to our capabilities, broken few myths and changed lot of perspectives. At the end of the day how well we utilize the knowledge gained will define the level of success. We surely made lot of friends in this process and many of those will stay for each other going forward. We also made few mentors who would guide us whenever we hit a stumbling block. One of the basic learning was to never accept anything on the face of it and observe everything critically. My analytical thinking has definitely improved and I always try to get to the bottom of everything I come across now. Sometimes the critical questioning makes it complicated and may lead to chaos. But chaos is good and every time there is chaos, things would change for better. While I struggle with my complexities to figure out what next, I leave all of you with one of my favorite quotes “Question the answers”.

A thing about Economics

Hello all, I know it has been a little while since I last met you all through my blogs. But As I mentioned earlier, it’s my assignments and the client project keeping me busy, in fact more busy than ever. I remember I mentioned the famous quote on education and how it enables us to discover our own self. I am sure there will be few out there who tend to disagree with me. The general notion is that real world experience is significantly higher than the knowledge gained in a class room. Trust me folks, I was one of them. However some different circumstances lead me to school and as I come to the end of the course I started to realize how it changed lot of things in me. Especially the third sem has been a great learning and during this process it lead me to a whole new world. Some of the corporate ideologies remained mystery to me while I was working but now I began to unravel each of them in a logical manner. The module on entrepreneurship has taught immensely and I wish I had more time to spend in the class rooms on that specific module. It helped me understand a thing or two about economics which hold the key to many issues a company faces. Every economic policy is like a snowball and gains strength over a period of time and the impact will be huge on not just corporates but the entire working class. I only dreamt of working for a corporation but now my opinion has changed for better and thanks to the MBA. On that note I leave you all to start understanding the basics of economics which will be very beneficial and form the fundamentals of any business.

Education is a progressive discovery of one's ignorance

Amigos, going through a very busy period of student life. As I said in my previous blog – It aint over till it’s over, the best part of MBA is in progress. We all have been allocated different projects with a variety of clients from different domains. Some of us got something they have done before but some ventured into unexplored horizons. This project will give us an experience of working real time for a client and this is precious especially for international students. It exposes us to the real world and the nitty-gritty of working for UK based clients. University has done a commendable job to find clients for all of us and everyone is satisfied with their projects. The challenge lies ahead in making a mark with the clients we work for and carry that to our prospective employers after the course. I personally am working for something very different form my technical experience and enjoying the challenge. This is a very busy time for all of us and I would like to put a note ahead that I may not be around too frequently. But I promise that I will share all my experiences with you. So this is going to be a shorter one and I would leave you all with a note from a wise man – “Education is progressive discovery of our own ignorance”. I would come back and elaborate more on that when I see you all next time.

It ain't over till its over

Hello all, here I come with my experiences of last week of MBA – fun, exciting, eventful and little bit emotional. Fun coz we all done our presentations of innovative business ideas. Exciting coz some of the ideas were really intriguing and very much do-able. Eventful coz it was our last week of class room sessions. Emotional coz we don’t get to see each other sitting in the class room listening to our lectures anymore.  The presentations really planted a thought or two in our minds – we can do it. We all had some expectations out of the course, some of them met, some of them not met, some unexpected areas explored, some new perspectives to our careers. That’s how life is; you will never get exactly what you want. It may sound philosophical but that’s reality. I personally had no intentions to start my own business and came here to boost my career with this MBA. Now I am seriously interested in pursuing my business idea and who knows where it may lead to. I am sure majority of us felt the same way. Education may not teach you as much as you learn in the outside world with your experiences. But education is a an eye-opener and will bring new dimensions to your thoughts and vision. That is the main purpose and that is served. We all have interesting things lined up for us, client projects, couple of assignments to wrap up and so it aint over yet. However we all will sorely miss the fun of lecture sessions for sure. On that note, I leave you all and will come back for more on the client projects etc. So as the wise man says – It ain’t over till its over.

Looking forward to tomorrow

Tomorrow is going to be an interesting day. The reason is we, all MBA students have been asked to come up with our own ideas as Entrepreneurs and pitch them to the rest of the class. The idea can be about anything and everything. We have had brain storming sessions multiple times so far and we are now trained on how to go about these brainstorming and how to come up with something out of nothing. Last week we have gone through problem solving exercises using various tools and techniques. We have been then given a case on restaurant and asked to use these tools to come up with solutions and quantify the benefits of these solutions. We have been divided into teams again and everyone came up with commendable presentations. As we draw close to the end of the course, we all have become skill full presenters thanks to all the practice and assessments we have had so far. One of the key learning’s from the course is ability to work in groups and presentation skills. Anyhow enough said on last week and my focus is on tomorrow. We are divided into two teams and two ideas will be selected from each team which will go to next round and it will come down to one idea that will be selected as the best. I do have an interesting idea and I did discuss with my colleagues but I am not going to let the cat out of bags for now folks. We can pitch in anything crazy, weird and out of the world. However there is a criterion to fulfill academically too. So that’s why I say – looking forward to tomorrow. Will come back and share all the experience with you guys :)

The fag end

As we have come to the fag end of this course, the real test lies now. The end is going to be very exciting as we have some interesting assignments and projects to accomplish before we completely claim ourselves as MBA graduates. Students who have finished their course last year should be getting ready for the graduation ceremony scheduled for next month. The ceremony is held only once in every year around July for all the graduates and post graduates and hence some of them like us have to wait till next year though we will be completing the course by Sep this year. Thinking ahead, it is going to be a great occasion and very precious one for all the hard work done and I can only imagine how students this year would be looking forward to it. However it might be too early for us as we have few more things to be done before we can start thinking about it. The last sem is packed with lots of interesting tasks like choosing your own entrepreneur and constructing your theory on entrepreneurship. That is just one part of it. The next part is coming up with your business idea and pitching it to the students and lecturer to have their feedback. We have just concluded a presentation last week where we dealt with a problem of a restaurant and used several problem solving tools and techniques to come up with our recommendations. And now comes the best part, the individual consultancy project. This is where you work for a company doing a live project based on the requirements of the client. University provides all assistance in finding a client and a project that suits the profile and experience every student carries. As I have mentioned earlier this module is all about entrepreneurship and leadership skills with innovation and I can’t think of better ways of learning these apart from those mentioned above. I don’t want to give away too many interesting things in this blog and want to keep you all glued till my next blog, so stay tuned for more :)

Made in Manchester

June 19^th 2011 was an eventful day in Manchester marked with the parade at the city centre displaying creativity and talent from different communities. It is an annual event celebrated to demonstrate the iconic status of the city and this year was the second time it was being celebrated. The theme was called “A voyage of discovery” where around 59 floats are built inspired by creative ideas from various communities at a workshop in Castlefiled. The parade started from Liverpool road at around 2PM passing through Deansgate, Albert Square, Peter Street and ending at the same location where it started after couple of hours. There were 80 groups and over 1800 people taking part of the parade and the spectacle was witnessed by over 70 thousand citizens on the streets. The floats, the costumes and the dance was marvelous to watch and it brings all the Mancunians together with a feeling of pride and honor to be part of such a great city. Some of the prominent floats which gathered everyone’s attention include a giant Gulliver figure, Pirates, Lancaster bomber to name a few. The vent apparently generated around 4m£ for all the firms participated and a nice stage for those firms to market themselves. This also helped to boost the city center business amidst the turbulent times. This was recorded as one of the best civilian events witnessed by large group of people overtaking the last year’s event. There was choirs singing and music played at Albert square while the parade was passing by. People came out in large numbers with families and friends to witness the event and everyone had a joyous day out. I was fortunate to be part of the event with my friends and will post few pictures which describe the event much better than my words. Proud to be a Mancunian :)

Third Sem

The study trip is over and we were all given a week’s break to reflect on the journey so far  in MBA and also what lies ahead. So we are all back to school after the break and feel so fresh and rejuvenated. The advantage of Salford MBA is it gives proper breaks for students to refresh and get ready for the next sem. This sem is going to be completely different with focus on entrepreneurship and leadership skills. We are already a week into it and everyone enjoying the module as it is all about exploiting opportunities and creating something out of nothing. There were so many myths about entrepreneurs and business men and all those myths laid to rest after a week into this module. We are all encouraged to think differently and come up with ideas which can create a huge value in its own domain. We had brainstorming sessions in groups and the ideas that came out were very innovative and exciting. Then we had a workshop on how to go about implementing the ideas and turn them into meaningful businesses. Salford MBA insists on entrepreneurship and most of us now thinking about creating jobs for ourselves. This is actually the way forward in a world economy currently we are all going through. There were also interesting insights into how to get your business funded and how to deal with failure. The inspirational videos on various entreprenuers form around the world, the innovative ideas everyone came up with and the inputs form the experienced professors charged us up and the thinking perspective of all the students now given a new dimension. For now the task is to choose an entrepreneur of our choice and write an assignment about them which should be lot of learning in the process. So I sign off for now and will come back to share more details on this module with all of you later.

One night in Paris

Hello all and I am back with more news from my France trip. As I have already shared my academic experiences in Rouen Business School, it is time to move to Paris. We were given a day to explore Paris and we tried to make the most of it. We had a farewell lunch after checking into hotel rooms. One of the striking features of French is the food they eat where they don’t waste any components of food and eat it as whole. So we tried testing our tasting buds with some fish while some vegetarians stuck to the usual. French food will impress those who like to experiment new recipes. Right after the lunch we set out on our tour around Paris city. The city is magnificent in its architecture and every building is worth taking a notice. As we were running on a tight schedule we visited the Louvre museum first. It literally takes you days to see the length and breadth of the museum so we winded it up in a jiffy. Then the best part – Eiffel Tower. It is nicknamed as iron lady and is the most visited paid monument in the world. It was built as an entrance arch marking the centennial celebrations of French revolution. The first two levels can be accessed through stairs and elevator but the third level only through elevator. We decided to be adventurous to take stairs till the second level and pushed some of us who were not too keen on such adventure. We remained as a team till we reached the second level and the view form there of the entire city was breath taking. An engineering master piece, it gives a wonderful view of the city which is so lively and jubilating. The cameras were too busy capturing in all poses with the city in the background. The learning’s on French culture, the strong economy and their excellence in technology and fashion stood at one level and the joy you receive from being on top of Eiffel tower is at a different level altogether. We dint feel like disembarking the tower but time was running out and we had to move. As soon as we got down the tower was illuminated with lights and I have no words to describe the experience of seeing it. We held back and just spent our time appreciating the beauty of it enhanced by the glow. Illuminated Paris trip in the night is a must and I strongly advice it to everyone who intends to visit Paris. There are different modes of transport to visit all the historical spots of the city – through bus and ferry but unfortunately we couldn’t do both due to the time restrictions we had and only settle for bus trip. Later we were busy scouting for nice restaurants and walking on the streets of Paris late in the night. The whole experience was short but worth as once in life time. The next day we bid adeua to the city of love and flew back to Manchester. I take this opportunity to thank the Salford MBA administration once again for providing a wonderful experience through this visit. On that note, I sign off churning out the moments spent in Paris :)

Tour De France - Part 1

At the Le Havre Port

Bon jour everyone. I am now back from the France trip and have lot of things to talk about. This study trip organized by the University has been a great source of learning and exciting at the same time. We have visited Rouen Business School which is among the top 5 business schools in France and is one hour drive away from Paris. Rouen is a small town but is considered to be a global village as it is home for internationally diverse students from different continents. It has world class infrastructure and some really high profile teaching staff. We have been so lucky to be part of the study trip with Rouen Business School and I would like to thank Salford business school for providing this opportunity. First things first, it was a nice time off after the hectic and demanding schedule of the second semester. Then it was a great experience to meet students of this business school and share our thoughts with each other. We were put up in student accommodation which was 10 mins walk away from the school and had lectures for three days on variety of topics which were not only interesting but also very educating. First day lectures started off with international finance and world economy from a high credential professor who was part of advisory board of French government at one point of time. That speaks volumes about his credit and the kind of insights we had on European economy from him. The session was very informative and also gave us an index on how these elements would impact the future business leaders. We then had wine tasting session in the evening where we were explained about different types of wine and how they were produced in France. You can’t separate wine form French and it is essential to know about it. The next day session was on Ports, how it functions as one entity with several sub-entities in it functioning on their own. Port functioning is a very complex structure and requires extraordinary levels of co-ordination among several departments. The story behind a small fruit which we buy form a super store starting from its origins and what does it take for that to cross oceans and reach you on time enlightening. The session was followed by a visit to the Le Havre port to witness the daily operations by being present physically. On the last day we had two sessions starting with French culture and followed by HRM in globalization. This was a very engaging session as everyone shared their thoughts on experiences with French people and how unique they are in certain aspects. The second session complemented this with different theories on HRM and how to formulate HRM strategy for a multinational business especially which has a presence in France. The next day we were off to Paris for a day and you all have to wait for my next blog to know more about it J

Strategy - The more I read, the more fascinating it gets

I know I been away for few days but hope everyone is doing excellent. Still enjoying the summer with trips to York and Bolton Abbey but at the same time finishing assignments and preparing for exams. While I consider the first semester of my MBA as a big eye opener, the second semester has been a great learning in terms of education. I have already mentioned about Strategy module and how enlightening the theories are. During my professional career, I always had questions about the functioning of the organization on few opportunities and the idea behind few decisions taken by the top management. Some of the theories discussed during the module and the research I have conducted personally while attempting the assignments have enabled me to relate it to the unanswered questions I encountered in my professional career. The module is also educating by unravelling the strategies behind enterprise organizations like Apple, Dell etc and critically analysing their strategic moves.  The primary benefit of this MBA is the critical analysis ability that is developed in the process. For instance, while my friends talk about introduction of a new technology or a gadget or one company acquiring another, I personally question myself what was the reason behind that particular move, what mileage can it gain by performing that certain task, what could possibly be the benefits and disadvantages in the long run etc. This is the difference MBA brings to one’s personality. The inputs gained form the lecture sessions, questions the professors leave you to speculate and explore, the assistance you receive whenever you hit a road block are all satisfying. While I say this, it is also intensive and not for those who want to come here and have some fun. This is a course which tests your time management skills, dedication and diligence. It demands efforts from your end but these can definitely pay off at the end. The second semester has been quite demanding in terms of group work, presentations, shuffling between different teams for different assignments but at the same time has also prepared us to meet the challenges in the business life that lay ahead of us after the course. The assignments are done, presentations delivered, group brainstorming sessions completed and now it all comes down to the exams next week. I sign off on that note to continue with my preparation and request all of you to wish me luck with my exams. Love and more to all.

Easter Time !!

Salvate all, hope everyone is around. Its Easter time which means time for prayers, get-together, shopping and celebrations. Easter is celebrated on a grand scale in all parts of UK and Manchester is no exception. There are events organized by the council and some by other private societies at city center. The buzz in the market streets makes it lively and appealing. There will be discounts and offers on many items sold in major stores like Next, Debenhams etc., which means its a great opportunity for shopaholics to fulfill their appetite. The restaurants, nightclubs and pubs will also be bustling with great deals, food and live music to let your hair down. On top of all these, summer is exhilarating here with sunny and breezy days. So you would see lot of young crowd soaking under the sun and living it up wherever you go. Trafford center is one place to visit during Easter time. If I havn't mentioned about Trafford center in my previous blogs shame on me :(
Because it is one of the biggest shopping centers in the whole Europe and is just stone throw away from city center. The Trafford Center is popularly known for its vivid and quirky resemblance to a rococo/late baroque architectural style and is home for plethora of retail stores, cinema, restaurants and other fun activities. An ideal day out in Trafford center would be shop till you drop, when you drop grab some yummy Nando's chicken (I would highly recommend coz its my all time fav which even beats my fav grill chicken back home in India) and then some bowling to digest the food. There are other fun activities too if you aren't great bowling fan. There is no better time than Easter to visit Trafford and loosen your purse strings. Ladies would love it and wouldn't want to leave the place so boys better watch out for your credit card bills ;-)
So it doesn't matter if you are an atheist or religious but Easter is fun here. I personally spent the Easter weekend in Manchester and now cooling my heels in Leeds with couple of my old buddies. Can't tell you guys how much I am missing Manchester and just raring to get back. While this is the buzz outside for Easter, university takes off as most of the students and staff go on a holiday. There will also be some events organized by student council for those who stay back. Alright now, I have to get back to studies and prepare for my exams and assignments. Well let me reveal you guys a little secret about my MBA. There will be a study trip to abroad all expenses paid by the University as part of your curriculum and that is going to happen in the month of May for us. The best part is where we would be going to and I am not going to reveal that now. You should watch out for my next blog for that, so stay tuned folks ;-))

Second Semester

"Hey its me again..plain to see you again..." that’s the song "Voice" from Cheap Trick which I thought would be appropriate to say Hello to you all :)

Enough of innovation now and lets talk about second semester of MBA now. This semester was full action with interesting modules like Strategy, Supply Chain, Project Management etc. I have already talked enough about Strategy in my previous blogs so would like to keep it short. It was a great exposure on strategy with right composition of theory, case studies and simulation. Simulation has come to an end and everyone of us were asked to present reflecting our learnings. Then followed by an assignment critically analysing the theories on strategy. This is an outstanding way of learning as strategy is such an important aspect in any business. There was supply chain module which discusses different ways of increasing the efficiency of supply chain which gives competitive advantage for any organization. There was also project management which deals with scheduling, organizing resources focussing on cost, quality and time in achieving any common objective. The class was divided into teams to chose any project and critically analyse the extent to which it was a success or a failure. The main advantage is the tutors carrying substantial amount of experience in respective fields which gives more insights into the theories and their application in real life during the sessions. Assignments will give scope to research into each module and contributes to the learning. This will enable the student to be well equipped with the concepts, history of their evolution and the application. The other aspect which made this semester interesting was doing multiple assignments and working with different set of people. We were continuously on our toes and running from pillar to post to get things done. The last week was a marathon week packed with presentations and assignments and when it was over we all understood the importance of organizing ourselves and handling stress. That’s what happens in the real world when we get out, there will be occasions testing our capabilities and highly stressing with packed schedules where you need to do different things at the same time. I am glad that we had to go through this and it was the hidden agenda. On that note, I sign off to continue with my assignments and simultaneously prepare for the exams. Wish me luck folks and I talk to you all soon.

Life outside classroom

Interesting sport competitions in the campus

Indian cricket fans celebrating world cup victory in semi-finals

What’s happening everyone? We in Manchester are enjoying the early days of summer and with the day light savings reversed, the day seems to be longer. We have already talked about the summer so let’s move onto something else now. I have focused inside classrooms before and its time the focus is shifted to outside where there are so many activities going on and how students enjoy these. Salford University offers so many opportunities to make the stay at the University memorable with things like Student Union, Students In Free Enterprise (SIFE), Student life award to name a few. These activities bring a lot of zing to student life in this university and they are all great fun. I am associated with few groups like SIFE which offer great chances to increase your network. Networking is the key and no such opportunity should be missed especially for post graduate students as it is one of the roads to progress the career. So being part of these groups which engage in voluntary work and other activities would widen the network which comes real handy while looking out for a job. Some of the undergraduates leading different projects as part of SIFE are very talented and very skill full. While leading a project on their own can prove hectic for post graduate students, involving in one or more of these projects can be fruitful for them. There are also sport events conducted by some of these groups and in fact there is a club for everything from cricket to rugby to football. So students who can better manage their time are at advantage. The other day there was a screening of world cup cricket match by one of the student societies and I was lucky to be part of it. The match was nail biting and fans were in full force equally from side. The atmosphere was electrifying and it was a great relief when we ended up on winning side J. While this was on at one of the University bars, outside there were other sports organized by another society and it was fun catching a glimpse of that too. Student union elections just concluded and voting option was online too which made it lot easier for many of us. These positions in Student Union come with responsibility and at the same time provide great visibility to the elected ones. Some of the candidates were campaigning aggressively for their victories. Student Life award provides opportunity for voluntary work, attend workshops and contribute to the University outside their course which helps them to run for student life award at the end of the academic year. Interlink is another program that needs a special mention here as new students will be assigned a mentor who will arrange some trips to the local places to help them better accustomed with the culture and atmosphere. Some of the trips arranged in this program can be really cheap and if you are here please don’t miss out on this program. I have to get going now but will be back with lots of news from the campus, till then hasta-la-vista J

Football and Manchester

Olá everyone, hope all is well. I am done with the assignment and fingers crossed for the results. Summer is here and it came bit early this time around. It is such a welcome change after the winter and no more jackets, electric heaters and it is great to be soaked in the sun. It also marks the end of football season for the year and that reminds me we never talked about football. Football and Manchester has a long standing association. Manchester is famous for the game and Manchester United club is one of the richest and strong club all over the world. They play football all through the calendar year expect the summer break. I personally was a great fan of cricket till I came here but football fever is slowly catching up on me. It is like a religion and had great following with fans treating their star players as demi-gods. Manchester United stadium is a must visit and f you get tickets to Man Utd Vs Manchester City then you are lucky and you can talk to your kids about it too. Man City is another rival club to Man Utd and people give their tooth and eye to get a ticket to watch these teams play. I am privileged to work at the stadium on match days as a kiosk assistant as I get to sneak into the games now and then. The stadium is a beautiful piece of architecture built in 1910 with a capacity of around 68,000 and is second largest in England after Wembley. The buzz in the stadium especially during the matches against Man City is something which has to be felt by being present and can’t be described in blogs. Fans go berserk every time a goal is scored. Wayne Rooney is the highest paid and has superlative fan following. For all the football lovers staying in Manchester is a great blessing. For those working on match days like me, we can earn few bucks and at the same time enjoy the buzz. When I talk about it with my friends back home they all envy me and ask me for some pictures and souvenirs to bring for them. I will try to post couple of pics in this blog for you all. Football can also be a great topic to talk about while you try to socialize with people around here. So if you are in Manchester you better know about footballJ. Man Utd is leading the points table with couple of games left for the season and let’s hope they emerge winners against strong opponents like Arsenal and Chelsea. On this note, I leave you all to go and know more about football and Man Utd while we all here hope for a Man Utd win this season, love and hope to all :-)



Strategy - What about it ??

Ok guys, I am back now after a sumptuous meal and now working on my assignment. While I do that, thought I would share a bit about assignments, projects and my favourite module. As you all know MBA is a course for experienced professionals and hence it is more practical oriented than academics. We have plenty of case studies and project work which gets us familiar with the real business world out there. So all the modules are aimed to test the practicality of the academia and also relate it to the past experiences each student carries. The best of them all and my favourite is the strategy module. This module is divided into theory, case studies and simulation task. Theory tells you all the research that has been made and what different authors have to say. Case studies will give you the facts how different companies followed their strategy and what was the end result of it. The best part is the simulation where you are in a virtual business environment and you need to make decisions based on the data available. The class was divided into teams for the simulation task and we were given a project to run a car manufacturing company in a virtual environment and decide on the strategy about how many cars to be produced, how much to be invested on promotions, work force, R&D etc. The market environment and the demand for different type of cars is provided to all the teams and each team should formulate their strategy to be competent. Earlier I had a feeling that it is just a game and doesn’t reflect the real world. But as we progressed into later weeks of this simulation task, we all realized how it exactly works in the market out there. As a strategic manager none has access to all the information in the market and there is no proved formula that a business can follow to be successful. Had that been the case all the companies would have been successful and running into profits and there would have been no management school existent to teach. The reality is on a careful analysis of the data and speculation of the market you have to make important decisions. All the teams were asked to put in use the theories proposed on this subject into our simulation strategy and then critically analyse these theories based on the experiences we gain out of the simulation business. This gives an opportunity to the students to understand all the theories and how to apply them successfully in a business when they graduate out of the school. We have a group presentation and an assignment at the end to showcase our understanding of all the theory and also critically analyse them. This is a perfect example of the approach every academic student should be taking and I am very glad that the University is following this approach. So on that note, I leave you all to speculate about the theories and their implementation in real world while I get back to my assignment for some critical analysis. I will come back to you guys soon to share how my assignment went on. Love and more !!

Food & Spices

Hello everyone, I know I left you all after talking about accommodation in my last blog and been away for a while. It has been a busy schedule but no excuses. Now that I am here let’s talk about food which is the important thing after accommodation and especially when you move to a foreign land. Different cultures have different cuisines and I agree that it might be difficult to adjust to the cuisines of the other nation. I am not sure about the other countries but UK has to be an exception in this case. As UK is a business capital you have people from all over the world working or running their businesses here. As a result of that you get variety of cuisines that serve to almost all the nations. Since I come from a place where we eat lot of spices, I was wondering if am going to miss all that before coming here. But I was pleasantly surprised when I found so many restaurants that serve spicy mouth-watering recipes that make me never miss the home. Around city centre, there is Swadesh, Zaika and then there is curry mile in Rusholme which has got one of the biggest collection of curries in Europe from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal. This place is a must visit for all those spicy lovers to satisfy their taste buds. For Chinese food lovers there is china town in city centre which serves everything that you can name from a Chinese cuisine. For traditional English food there is English Lounge and City Café, for Italian there is The Olive Press and San Rocco, Sakura and Walrus serving authentic sushi meals and a lot others. There is Nandos which you can’t miss if you are a chicken lover as you get the best grilled chicken with lots of spices and is my favourite. Then there is McDonalds and KFC anyways for fast food to be grabbed when you are in a rush J.The best part of this blog is what I am going to tell you now. You also get student discounts in some of these restaurants and especially in Rusholme, so it is always advisable to carry your ID J. So there is a lot in Manchester to test your appetite when you come around. So let me go grab some food for myself, tata till I come back to see you guys ;-)

Roof over the head !!

Buenos días everyone, I am here after a break, longer than expected but I am here anyways :) . Hope everyone is doing great and I would like to mention few things about accommodation as roof over the head is very essential and especially for international students who come here for studies. University recognizes this fact and provides lot of options to international students. There are many places around the University like John Leicester, Matthias court etc to cater the needs of students and these places serve the basic purpose. They are reasonably affordable and provide safe and secure environment for the students. There are shuttle services which provide transport facility and hence commuting is not an issue at all. The interesting thing about these accommodations the technology which they use to make it as secure as possible and I was quite impressed when I saw it the first time. As the wise men say - healthy mind in a healthy body, it is important for students to stay fit and agile. These accommodations provide fitness centre, baseball court and other facilities to help the students and these places are clean and tidy too. You also see fun activities going on during weekends which bring the students from different nationalities together and a great opportunity for bonding. Students staying out of these accommodations will definitely miss all this however there are options available outside as well. Since there are plenty of international students coming to Salford University it is not too difficult to find people from your place who can help you to get an accommodation. Since the University is well connected through public transport commuting is easy. There are also private accommodations available in various locations which are fairly economical. So there are lot of options depending on the choice and lifestyle of yours. Hence the message to prospective students – Don’t worry about accommodation there is lot of help available. On this note I sign off but will come back soon with lots of news and activities happening at the University, till then ciao :)

Finance Management

At the VC Scholarship winners meet

Hello all, hope everyone is around. So I have been talking about my studies and life in Manchester all this while and now would like to rewind a bit and go back to those days while I was strongly considering studying at University of Salford. One of the significant reasons for me weighing highly towards Salford University is finances and I hold nothing back when I say this University provides true value for your money. There are several bursaries offered by the University for the deserving students. I am proud to be one of the Vice Chancellor scholarship award recipients which contributed heavily to my finances and through this blog I would like to extend my thanks to the University. Studies are always a major commitment especially when you are aiming for courses like MBA which require certain amount of work experience to be considered for a position in the course. Needless to say how difficult it is to quit your job and break out of your comfort zones for studies. However the decision can be made a lot easier when University offers assistance in the form of scholarships or bursaries. This is exactly what Salford University does to encourage highly talented and potential students. Apart from Vice Chancellor scholarship there are several bursaries available for the deserving student which makes their association with the University completely worthwhile.  So I acknowledge the fact that it is not just the reputation, quality of teaching and location but also the finances which need to be considered before making a choice. Education is an investment and the returns are realized in the long run. The University offering this kind of financial assistance is a major advantage for the students. Especially for merit students possessing excellent academics the Vice Chancellor scholarship is a major boost as it takes care of major portion of the investment required. Students can also support themselves working part time during their studies as there are plenty of options available in Manchester. The city being a metropolitan and a commercial business centre offers a variety of part-time work options for students and I have observed many students utilizing these opportunities to support themselves financially. Being a student and working part time also gives good exposure to the environment here before getting into full-fledged job after the course. That’s it for now and I will see you all in my next blog J

Chapter 1 contd..

Here goes Amigos, my blog 3 and as promised in my previous blog, would be continuing Chapter 1 from where I left it. XMAS is colourful and pulsating in all parts of UK and Manchester city is no exception. The lights, Santa Claus, the markets, food and parties all make it worthwhile spending your vacation here during XMAS. It doesn’t stop there and goes on till the new year. For those who want to let their hair down there are so many places in here. Oh yeah the weather, I haven’t mentioned about it till now. It gets really cold during December and the snow will make it very special. I have to admit that it causes little inconvenience but it is definitely an experience. For adventure lovers I would suggest try embarking snowy mountains of Scotland during December.  Have done it myself and take my word if you are an extreme adventure lover you would treasure these moments. We had a nice gathering for XMAS at Erika’s (one of our classmates) place and she was such a wonderful host. Ok back to studies now, XMAS & New year parties were fun and then we were braced up for the exams. Thanks to the assistance from professors, we were able to take the exams head on. Honestly it was all about adapting a preparation methodology and style of expressing your learning on paper and each of us had their own. We did have some group study sessions for subjects like finance and they were fruitful. You would have all the resources accessible and you just need to find a way out to utilize them and realize your potential. The exams are formulated in a way to test the understanding of the students and not just the bookish knowledge. It is essential to know different theories but what matters is how you interpret them and relate it to professional experiences. So all said and done, the exams were finally over and we had a two week break before the second sem began. On this note, I take a break too and will come back to share more. Till then – Love and more to all.

Chapter 1

Alright folks don’t go by the title as I am not here to lecture on something but to share about my first semester experiences.  We had several modules including Marketing, HRM and Finance. Most people shy away from finance but if you get the pulse of it, it is real fun. Best thing about the course is students from various backgrounds and professors stimulating the debate among ourselves and lot of learning as a result. MBA is a true eye opener for me in lot of aspects like how management evolved over the decades and where it is heading to. The lectures are mixed with discussions, presentations and lot of arguments. Most of the times it doesn’t appear as a lecture session but a board room meeting where everyone contributes and the professors leave you with lot of questions to do reflective thinking. We also had couple of industrial trips to Port Sunlight and Jaguar-Land Rover plant. Port Sunlight taught what real Corporate Social Responsibility is, Jaguar factory was fun to visit with lot of robotics and you can’t help but observe how technology is replacing man power in every possible way. These trips were of great sources of learning for the students. We then had couple of assignments on Marketing and Organization Theory which needed lot of research and reading but thanks to the tremendous databases we have access to - we were alright at the end. Then came the big one, the mother of all assignments – Business Plan. We were asked to come up with a turnaround plan for a hotel in Manchester that went bankrupt. We were split into groups to work on it and were required to cover all areas of a business like Operations, Finance, Marketing etc. This was a killer; we spent many sleepless nights in the library scanning through every possible book, article, journals to make it a perfect business plan. Not to mention the conflicts and healthy disagreements we had which only made it better. Then the presentation, lot of rehearsals with the timer on to make sure everyone gets an equal chance and finally we delivered it. It was a great team effort and we showed the compassion while answering all the questions after the presentation. Not worried about the results as we all enjoyed in the process and it helped us realize nuances of a business plan and also the joy of working in a team. Don’t want to go overboard now and will continue about the exam preparation and Xmas break in my next..till then – Adios !!

How it all started !!

Hello all, hope everyone is doing fine. This is my first of many blogs to come giving insights into my association with University of Salford. Let me start with how it all happened. I began my research about all the Universities in UK when I made up made my mind on MBA from UK. After extensive research I came across Salford University which is one of the old red brick universities and well reputed. I zeroed in on it after I realized it is true value for money and strategically located in the right place. When I came here and entered Salford, Adelphi campus on right, Humphrey Booth house on left, Maxwell building, Newton building..it was University of Salford all over. I was so thrilled about the university and it was way above my expectations. Salford University has great infrastructure
and culturally diverse students from different countries. The staff is very helpful and the professors are quite knowledgeable and more than willing to assist all the time. Special mention about the library, awesome collection of books and borrowing and returning books will be done in a jiffy, thanks to the state of the art technology in place. And yeah there is more than one library in here. Manchester is a lively city, it is football, music and shopping that drives this place. It is such a vibrant city that none feels away from home anytime. It doesn’t take longer for anyone to claim themselves a Mancunians just like I do now. More on my experiences to follow..till then love and happiness to
all.

Catch a glimpse of what other students have to say about Salford university here :


http://www.youtube.com/user/InternationalSalford#p/u/12/Q7JUzkrODkI