Queenstown Holiday

Sorry for the interruption in blog posts: my family and I are enjoying a week-long

holiday in Queenstown.  Enjoy the photos.

Cheers,

David

Adventure Capital of the World

Sometimes, no explanation is necessary: just watch!

                             Queenstown: Adventure capital of the world - Videos - CBS News
1. ► 4:58► 4:58

   www.cbsnews.com/.../queenstown-adventure-capital-of-the-World, Mar 5, 2013

Let's face it, all work and no play is no fun:

Apply now

David

Unique Value Proposition

Logan Park, the home of Otago Cricket, is situated two
blocks from the Otago MBA programme.

Well, our core programme has ended and the students have moved on to phase two.  Time exists to focus on our new student candidates and to offer a feel for life in Dunedin.  I'll share photographs of the local area with each post to reduce the psychological distance of moving to the bottom of the world, but you can access more photos on Flickr.  

Our students enjoy a high quality of life while here in Dunedin and it isn't surprising that about 20 percent choose to stay in New Zealand.  Nonetheless, our value proposition remains focused on advancing your career in the global economy.  

This value proposition carries two meanings: (1) a noticeable transformation occurs in our students as they meet the challenge we place before them and at about month six they interact with us, the MBA management team and lecturers, with confidence and as equals; moreover (2) we use the phase two, BUSI 540 professional consulting engagement as a platform for our students to gain access to the right industry, right corporation (or nongovernmental organization - NGO) and right professional network.  I'll have much more to say about our Live Cases and BUSI 540 in future posts, but you can learn more about this experience and our students' accomplishments here.

Incidentally, it is the transformation of our students from students to peers/equals

 that underlies the lasting friendship we share thereafter.

How do we select MBA candidates?

Sandfly Beach - Otago Peninsula

The Otago MBA is situated in one of the most beautiful places in the world, an adventure wonderland with surfing minutes away and enough beaches to accommodate varying wind conditions. We are lucky in this regard, but we're also uncompromising about the quality of education we offer.

My profile for this blog describes our MBA programme as adhering to a coherent business model designed to deliver distinctive value to our students, defined as attention to the individual and whole person, with an emphasis on his or her thinking abilities and character.  Other programmes follow a different business model that emphasizes scale (N of students) and brand recognition, but compromises on one-to-one mentored experiences that nurture the person and contribute to a cohesive MBA class.  We begin with the careful selection of candidates into our programme: here's what you need to know.

No precise profile or perfect student exists and we cannot fully articulate that which informs our selection of one individual over another.  We know the right person, when we see him or her.  We're looking for well-grounded candidates; with a solid base of experience; who demonstrate maturity and character; are self-motivated and self-directed; with (at least somewhat) clearly articulated career ambitions; who come from diverse backgrounds and cultures; and who demonstrate the ability to think conceptually.

The ability to think conceptually figures prominently into our selection decisions.  Consider this: experience contributes to intuition and has value, but the person who thinks solely from experience relies on either small-N data (i.e., one or a few data points/experiences that do not widely generalize) or opinion.  Without the ability to think conceptually, the student will (1) contribute little to our classroom experiences; (2) struggle to think within a credible business/academic frame; and (3) not easily be able to abstract away from the noisy immediate details of a business situation to discern the structure of a complex problem.  "It's this kind of problem and requires this kind of solution."

No Kids Allowed

Important point: GMAT scores inversely correlate with age, so kids younger than
 twenty post the highest marks.  We require students to submit GMAT scores, but we are far more interested in the maturity and character of the person!  

I invite you to register your interest now 

David

See also, Selection: part two