Unsung Heroes ********** mbaprof in the front line

Hello, Goodbye

2006-05-26T16:06:00.000+01:00

The School is delighted to announce the Inaugural Lecture starring Olav Sorenson a distinguished yet still young academic who.... hang on a minute. He took a job where? That chickenshit, two-faced...

Cancel d'yer hear me? Cancel!

Nobody in SIM liked him anyway. He was boring. Who's going to tell the people who accepted the invite? OK you tell one, I'll take the other...

Give it up

2006-05-26T15:27:00.000+01:00

Musing on the possibility that this roof conversion underway is not going to accommodate the School's plans for global domination. Where oh where will we find the money to survive the coming BSchool consolidation? Maybe I should write a book and donate something? I suppose what we really ought to do is create a new financial product to collateralize student debts in return for upside down the line. Something like this:
> student leaves LBS owing $100,000.
> LBS pays the debt and receives "personal equity stake" that says we are due 1% of gross worldwide income forever, rising in stages to 10% when total wealth reaches $100m etc etc.
> We NPV the collective future income and sell it at a discount to HSBC.
> After paying the student debts we are left with a nice endowment.

OK.

Nope can't see any flaws in this yet....

Holy Cow It's PERFECT.

Do I give it to Laura now or save it for the incoming Dean? Huh? Like let her take it back to Haas you schmuk? Yeah you genius, save it for later glory.

Meanwhile I'm thinking with this so-called Summer weather those branded umbrellas are going to ramp our endowment haul this term.

Primal Urges

2006-05-26T00:26:00.000+01:00

Right more fun: NEVER, say, NEVER, but, NEVER get involved in an inappropriate relationship with a Student. OK fellow MBAProfs? I know there is a tradition for you OB guys to pick off the chicks with your smart psycho babble (by the way are you clearing the decks for angel angie in London?) but, as a RULE, control yourselves please!

p.s. Sorry angie you were picked at random. I know your picture will be nothing like the real thing. Believe me, we spend hours reviewing those class pics looking for eyecandy of whatever sex and reality always disappoints.

Not to say you will be disappointing etc etc

oh who cares? I'm avoiding students until I get tenure anyway.

Dean Wanted - Apply Within

2006-05-25T23:55:00.000+01:00

Ok here's your weekend poser: "how the hell do you recruit someone to run a top ten BSchool?"
You don't know me so well yet so of course my candidature is still not yet fully supported amongst the MBAblogger community. But hell, whoever comes to LBS at the end of 2006 has a hell of a job to replace our current Dean, Laura. [you sure about that link Prof?]

You can bet that the faculty are working out who should be in the top seat... and it will have nothing to do with the person best suited to serving the customer (you, The MBA student geddit?) and will have everything to do with narrow careerist needs. This might seem normal in big organisations but get this: there is no need for a common mission/vision/culture for your average group of academics. We are programmed to crap all over each other. We just need to get our A list journals published and we are truly mobile... a visit here, a visit there, an endowed chair at the end. Teaching? "Well look guys we just gotta give those junior fac a chance to earn points don't we? I'll step back from the class just now, don't want to embarass others with my feedback scores huh? "

"No way!", I hear you cry. "We DO get to see the gurus in class. That Greek guy right? So I didn't go to class but he never notices as he told me at mid-term I'm ok for class participation scores (I squashed my sick note for the last four classes and dropped it into the trash on the way out). I guess it was the other thirty no-shows who've got it coming then.... Hey but he's fun isn't he? Did you BUY that book? Seriously I'm not sure that was the right move Chuck..."

Warming Up or Before the Flood

2006-05-25T13:52:00.000+01:00

Ok folks here's the plan as I see it. I want to open up for your benefit the thinking that is stimulated by the experience of being a BSchool Prof. You might be surprised to know that some of us can operate a personal computing device and no doubt the quality of this blog will demonstrate that this is still an issue for us but give the elderly respect won't you? One day you will be old too...

The method will be to surf the blogs that are already out there and respond where merited, or simply to blog whatever comes to mind (normal modus operandus for Profs by the way...)

If you want to correspond I 'm sorry but I already deal with a blizzard of emails from current students asking me questions that can largely be answered by referring to classmates or the written papers already given to them. Try getting an MBA blogger to post a question and maybe I'll pick it up.

You can imagine why this is an anonymous blog. I can tell you though that there is a strong chance of homebase being London Business School . I figure you'll guess that anyway as the anglo references are unavoidable and hey there's only one world class BSchool in the UK right? But I'm not admitting anything. Nix, ok?

Gee Laura that's real nice but you forgot to sign it honey!

"Observation 1"

Difference between candidate blog and student blog? The first are obsessed with the detailed content of their MBA, what uptick in salary it will give them and how it ranks on a thousand spurious dimensions against other BSchools, starting a business (which they won't) and generally ascending to the top of the business world ("because I'm a genius and my friend told me I don't need anMBA"). Actual students have forgotten most of that and are more appreciative of the life-changing qualities of the 'MBA experience'... a vague concept but one which all MBAs will recognise. You might say that they are already committed so are bound to see it as a good thing but my experience is that the MBA is a real ummmm.... experience?

Opening Post

2006-05-25T13:43:00.000+01:00

Well folks, dare you peer into the mind of the MBAProf?
You better have a strong stomach...
It ain't pretty...
YOU might be in it!