Managing High Performing Team - Experiential Learning in the BC Tradition

by Matt

When the term “High Performing Teams” is used, the initial thought that jumps to the mind of many people may be a SWAT team storming a building or a championship sports team taking the field. While these examples certainly apply, high performing teams exist in many areas of this business world as well. From the innovations at Apple to the successes of the world’s largest financial institutions, skilled, well-orchestrated teams are often the driving force behind these achievements.

I was lucky this semester to take part in one of the most interesting classes I have taken in my MBA career, Managing High Performing Teams, taught by Professor Scott McDermott. This class seeks to explore not only how these high performing teams are created, but how we as future MBA’s can leverage their traits in the everyday work place. Through the course of the semester we were lucky to have a wide variety of speakers and out of classroom experiences in addition to our case studies and group presentations, giving us a real world look at how these groups operate.

As we explored what components made up these high performing teams, we were lucky to have some excellent speakers come to share their experiences and explain how they apply what we were learning to real life situations. From mountain climbers to the crew of a U.S. Coast Guard cutter, to members of a jazz band, all these individuals had one thing in common: commitment to a shared goal and the willingness to do whatever it took to get there.

Outside the classroom, we experienced some of these adept teams in action. A night at the Improv Asylum in the North End of Boston gave us a quick tutorial in improvisational comedy and the nuances of how four people take random situations and create comedy on the spot. We were then treated to a full show to see it happen for real. Pete Brock of the 1985 New England Patriots Super Bowl team hosted us at Gillette Stadium and showed us how a championship caliber football team comes together.

Looking back on the semester, I’ve realized a few things. Although I will likely never climb Mount Everest or take the field as a pro football player, the key attributes that bring these teams together can be applied across the business world. Possessing a common goal and collecting dedicated individuals devoted to reaching it will always produce a successful outcome.

The G51 Venture Capital Scholar Program

by Khanh

In my last post, I briefly talked about my decision to attend the Carroll School and how much I enjoyed the applied learning aspect of the program here. This time, I would like to delve deeper into my favorite program, the G51 Venture Capital Scholar, and relay my experience so far.

The program was started approximately ten years ago by Rudy Garza, the Founder and Managing Partner of G51 Capital. Initially, Rudy was working with a couple of in-state institutions in Texas, including UT Austin and Baylor University. Thanks to its overwhelming success, the program quickly grew to a national level and, as of this fall, involved more than ten top tier institutions, including MIT, Harvard, Northwestern, Duke, and Boston College.

For every school, Rudy aims at selecting three to four graduate students from diverse backgrounds, such as business, engineering, and computer science. All share the same passion for entrepreneurship and venture capital. Working with Rudy and the other Managing Partners has been a fantastic experience and, frankly, my learning curve has grown exponentially over the course of three months.

During the program, G51 Scholars are expected to fulfill the following tasks: deal flow review, communication with entrepreneurs, local deal flow and specific projects as assigned by the Managing Partners. Says Rudy, “Our goal is to create an exceptional network of future business leaders grounded in technology innovation and entrepreneurship. We are connecting with the best business schools and entrepreneurial institutions, in the United States and internationally, to enable a global renaissance of science and technology commercialization.”

Since G51 invests in hardware, software, clean technology and internet service companies, the Scholars have plenty of freedom to carry out the sourcing process. So far, I represented G51 at a number of start-up events, including the MIT Bootcamp, Harvard Cyberposium, and the Babson Entrepreneurship Forum. In addition, another rewarding aspect of the program is our exposure to some inspiring visitors in the field of technology entrepreneurship during our teleconference. At one point, I found myself pitching a company to Rudy, without realizing that Lee Walker, the first President of Dell Computing, was also in the room. Thankfully, his follow-up comments were positive.

The G51 Venture Capital Scholar Program has been an amazing journey for me here at BC. I look forward to continuing my commitment to the program in the spring.

For the Quantitatively Challenged: Owning the Admissions Process & Transitioning into the Program

by Siobhan

Over the past few weeks, I’ve met a number of prospective students who have expressed a common concern: I don’t have a formal business background, how is the transition to the MBA program going to be for me? As someone who majored in Foreign Affairs and worked in the nonprofit sector for 5 years in fundraising and event management, the nervousness around the application and then ultimately the transition to the MBA program is a feeling that I am very familiar with and am happy to share that the transition is in fact nothing to worry about! Whether you majored in art history or politics or French or have spent the last 5 years skiing the Alps, here are a few reasons to not stress about the application or the transition from life pre-MBA to your first year in the program:

• It’s all about how you tell your story. Often referred to as your elevator pitch, or “what you wrote in your essay,” it’s critical to know where you are in your career and professional life and how an MBA will help take you to the next level. When you prepare for your interview, Admissions teams are really looking for you to make the connection between your current career and how you think an MBA can further leverage that experience to take you to the next level in your career.

• Everyone has dealt with a management issue. I've talked to applicants who have stressed about their lack of "management experience." Admissions staff isn't looking for you to have directly managed a team or other employees (obviously if you have, make sure to share that!), but even if you have worked in a "softer skill" role, you've probably had to make strategic decisions that have impacted your organization. Or maybe you've been a part of a team where you've really struggled and had to overcome obstacles? Admissions staff are really looking for you to explain how you've used critical thinking to make decisions that ultimately show them that you have the potential to be a business leader and manager.

• People are looking at your GMAT quant score. Yes, the GMAT. We all hate it. That's a fact. However, if you have a non-business or quantitative background, you already know that you can't retake your college courses all over again. Maybe you even took an Econ class and didn't do well (or 2 like someone I know...yes, that's me)? Point is, the quant section of the GMAT is your time to show Admissions that you can in fact hang with your peers with quantitative backgrounds. Obviously, the verbal section shouldn't be ignored - but if you are worried about how to show your quantitative strenghs, the quant section of the GMAT provides the opportunity.

At this point, many of you might be thinking "Ok Siobhan, so I've already done all of this and have gotten accepted to BC and am still a little nervous about what to expect." That's fine! I felt the same way. If you have already mastered the GMAT and rocked your interview and have bought your BC sweatshirt in preparation for the fall - here are a few things that will hopefully calm your nerves about the fall:

• You will never be in a class where you are the only person who hasn't taken Statistics, Accounting, Finance or any quant class before. At BC, if you majored in a specific subject, you can waive out of that course, so often the "experts" are out of the course keeping the class more at the same level. Every course - from Marketing to Finance - is designed to be an intro level for MBAs. Even at other MBA programs, if you are not a "quant person" there are often seminars before the program starts to get you up to speed. At BC, there are sometimes people in your class who have experience with the subject, but luckily, given our culture of a strong community, these are the people you find to help you when you feel lost!

• Group projects are basically the workplace in the classroom - minus the boss. Group projects are collaborative and at BC, teams are formed of individuals with various backgrounds. You will never find yourself on a team with 4 other people who have been trading derivatives or working at a private equity firm. Plus, your teammmates who really are more comfortable with numbers are typically looking for you (yes, you - the English major) to help them with writing up reports and other less numbers oriented activities.

• Your professors want you to excel. At least at BC, your professors are smiling when you did well on that exam - and are upset when they see that you did not do well, especially when you tried your hardest. I have never seen faculty with such dedication to their students' achievement and they will make time to help you better understand how to create that statement of cash flows or identify the NPV on a potential investment. If you are worried about some of your quant classes, go and talk to your professors early on and stay in touch with them during the semester if you see yourself slipping behind or not understanding content. They really do want to make sure that you walk away from their class understanding how to leverage the skills they are teaching you in the classroom in your future career.

Navigating MBA Specializations

by Jaclyn

After reading the title for this post, you might be asking yourself, "What is a specialization?"

spe·cial·i·za·tion (n.)

1. Freedictionary.com - "The act of specializing or the process of becoming specialized." - This only begs the question, why do circular definitions exist? 
2. The BC MBA page - "Specializations are designed to allow students to develop depth and expertise in a functional or interdisciplinary business area." - Much better and way more helpful!

From my point of view, the school is saying, "Hey Jaclyn, you've been exploring courses and careers since you got here. It's time you decided what you want to be when you grow up, so you can focus and develop those skills before graduation."

And there you have it. The Carroll School of Management offers a number of Specializations to suit your interests and career goals. The best part: you don't have to declare until March of your First Year, which is great for those of us needing more time to explore.

Asset Management
Leadership and Management
Competitive Service Delivery
Corporate Finance
Entrepreneurial Management
Financial Reporting and Controls
Global Management
Marketing and Information Analytics
Product and Brand Management
“Tailored” Specialization

A couple helpful tips from someone who is going through this process right now:

1. Start Early. Don't wait until you get the email notification to declare before you look at the specializations and their required and elective courses.
2. Ask Around. Reach out to 2nd year students who are in a Specialization you're considering. Ask them what they think, is it helpful, what courses would they recommend, what professors they enjoyed.
3. Leverage Professors and Specialization Advisors. They know what opportunities are in the marketplace and what skills employers are looking for. Reach out to them for their feedback, they're more than willing to help.

Check out http://www.bc.edu/content/bc/schools/csom/graduate/mba/specializations.html for more information on specializations and course requirements.

Happy Specializing!

Welcome to Second Semester!

by Matt

“Back to school, back to school, to prove to Dad that I'm not a fool. I got my lunch packed up, my boots tied tight, I hope I don't get in a fight. Ohhhh, back to school”
- Billy Madison

Happy New Year and welcome back to my blog! I hope everyone had a happy and safe holiday season. Here we are after a 4 week winter break, gearing back up for another semester starting Monday. While the initial semester for the first year class was pretty intense, it’s looking like the pace will not slack at all for the second semester.

In addition to beginning electives towards our concentration, we begin our semester-long consulting project. This project is a yearly event where local area companies have teams of BC MBA students come into their corporation and act as an outside consulting team. A few of the things teams in the past have been asked to do is install a new business process, developing business plans and evaluating investment opportunities.

Our class has been broken up into 15 teams of 5 to 6 people each. Each group is assigned 2 companies to interview with, learn about what specific issue they will address, and toss out a few ideas on how they would plan to attack the problem. My team has had both of our interviews and is waiting to see which company we are chosen to work with. These projects are time intensive, and it will be a challenge ensuring we deliver a quality product to our clients. However, I’m sure I speak on behalf of everyone in class when I say I’m excited for the experience and can’t wait to find out which company we will be working with.

And on a final note, the Divisional round of the NFL playoffs is going down this weekend with the Pats taking on the Texans… GO PATS!!

Second Quarter, Post-Sandy, and Flag Football

by Matt

Welcome to the second quarter! My classmates and I all survived the first quarter finals and are rolling along into our next round of classes. For the next seven weeks headed into the holidays we will be taking Finance, Marketing, Information Technology and Economics.

Our marketing class in particular has given us a great real world opportunity. Divided into groups, we are tasked with coming up with marketing plans for real world clients. My group in particular was given a tasking from the toy company Hasbro to help market a mobile app they have turned into a board game. It's looking to be an interesting and fun experience and these kinds of real world learning experiences are what separates BC from other MBA programs.

As I'm sure most everyone knows, Hurricane Sandy just hit us pretty hard here in the northeast but it looks like everyone in class managed to survive Hurricane Sandy relatively unharmed. Compared to some other areas on the East Coast, Boston got off pretty easy without too much damage. Aside from some downed trees and branches, the campus is in pretty good shape. However, we did make some BC history as the first students in a long time to miss classes for weather. I hope the folks reading this are doing well after the storm as well.

On a lighter note, the flag football season is in full swing. We have our games on Sunday mornings and they've been pretty competitive. Our full time MBA class has two teams, one for each section. So far my team for section 2 is in a good spot for the playoffs, 3rd place at 3-2... I'm feeling a championship this year!

That's about it for now, have an awesome day!

First 7 Weeks at BC

by Matt

Hi and welcome to my blog! First, let me introduce myself. My name is Matt and I am a full-time first year MBA Candidate at the Boston College Carroll School of Management. About 7 weeks ago, my classmates and I began what will be 18 months of rigorous study, culminating in the award of an MBA in June 2014.

These first few weeks have been extremely busy. My situation was unique from my other classmates. I am an Air Force Reserve officer and recently returned to the US from a deployment, arriving a week after the start of classes. While arriving in the US from Afghanistan on Saturday morning and sitting down in class on a Tuesday was a quick transition, the first thing I’ve learned about the BC community is that everyone, from the faculty to my classmates, was incredibly helpful and went out of their way to ensure I had a smooth arrival and was setup to succeed.

The 1st year of the BC MBA program is broken up into 7-week quarters, essentially scheduling the coursework of a full semester into 7 weeks. Needless to say, the workload is substantial, but everyone works together to get things done. Between collaborating on our weekly group accounting projects, studying together for exams, and bouncing ideas off each other for our other classes, I’ve gotten to know my classmates very well, very quickly.

Of course, all work and no play makes Matt a dull boy! The MBA program sponsors weekly Thursday meet ups at local bars and BC’s home football games provide a great chance to meet and socialize in a relaxed environment, introduce classmates to significant others, and generally blow off some steam on a Saturday afternoon.

Overall, this last month and a half has been a whirlwind of meeting new people, learning new things and settling into a new lifestyle, but I know I’ve made the right choice and chosen the right school. As the next quarter begins, I’m looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead.