The World Bank, over the past 10 years, has conducted annual global competitions seeking to indentify novel ideas to address development issues. This was done through the Development Marketplace platform which has awarded grants totaling about US$64 million. As part of the SCP we set out to look at those past winners of these grants and see if they are currently bankable from the eyes of the social investors. The SCP is to look at the issue of development finance from the perspective of both the investors and the social entrepreneurs – more like the matchmaker. We are working on evaluating around two dozen social enterprises around the world that focus of various development issues such as water, healthcare, basic infrastructure, food, etc. Some of these enterprises have made significant progress in scaling up their operations while some have struggled to find growth capital. We looked at the issue of finance from the perspective of some large social investment funds, foundations, etc. We are just about to complete our desk research on these organizations. We have to continue the due diligence work by doing field visits to these organizations around the world. We are hopeful that it would be an interesting experience.

Being at World Bank HQ at Washington DC gives us access to lots of useful resources. There have been interesting conversations about macro economic factors, economic policies, loan negotiations, project finance, etc. Will update more as we explore.

Marcell, Kushvajeet, Virginia, Muthuvelan

Photographs Courtesy: Marcell Orosz

One of the perks of a 1 year MBA program is the quick return to the job market.  Of course, this comes with some negative side effects as well.  For anyone looking to make a career change, this poses particular challenges due to a lack of time for internships.  My job search process was far from perfect and I thought it might help some of you who are starting to think about what you want to do post-MBA.

I am American and was planning a return to the US after school.  I worked for a Public Accounting firm prior to school, but was hoping to make a shift into Strategy or Marketing for a large corporation in consumer products or retail.  To my fellow MBA’s, this would be considered a “double-jump” (role, industry…. triple jump would add a new location to the mix).   Here is a brief summary of my timeline throughout the year:

• Sept-Dec: Spruce up resume, mock interviews with sector consultants, develop strategies of marketing myself with the career services group.
• Jan-Feb: I sent out 50+ applications and custom cv’s/cover letters to companies posting MBA internships and full time positions.
• Feb-July: I started getting in touch with companies I really liked using either Oxford Alumni, LinkedIn connections, and contacts of my fellow classmates.

Based on my past failures, here are a few recommendations on how maximize your time spent on the job hunt:

• Prepare: Get your plan together before you even start school.  Our first recruiting event (J&J) was during induction week!  Banks and Consulting firms roll in shortly after… do anything you can to get that CV ready and start doing mock interviews to make sure you have your pitch nailed down.
• Only Talk to PEOPLE: I sent out over 50 applications to online job postings (company websites, careerbuilder, etc).  I got 3 automated reject emails and absolutely no response from the others.  Don’t waste your time on these, they don’t work.  Do use these resources to find cool jobs at companies you like, but then find any way possible to find someone within the organization to submit your application in for you.  I had closer to a 50% response rate when I went this route and landed quite a few interviews this way.
• Be Relentless: A had to contact one company every week for 3 months before I finally got an interview set up.  Being persistent (in a tactful and non-annoying way) shows you are really interested.  This company told me they were impressed how hard I worked to get to the interview.
• Keep Your Head Up: This is going to be a very depressing and emotionally depleting time of your life.  You will hear “no thanks” more times than you can count.  Keep your head up and press on, taking time to be depressed is just wasting time when you could be landing a job offer.
• Prepare, Prepare, Prepare: I know I said it before, but this is how you land the job.  Getting an interview is hard, you’ve got to capitalize once you finally get an interview.  There are lots of resources available at school.  I talked to Professors, Alumni, Career Services experts.  I read articles, case studies, books, and annual reports.  I knew EVERYTHING about the companies I interviewed with and this made a huge difference in getting an offer.

You’re dream job is out there.  You took the risk/time/debt to come to Oxford.  Use the vast array of tools, networks, opportunities, and reputation Oxford has to offer and you will find what you are looking for!

Another early day, we checked out of our hotels and headed back to Dubai, destination: Dubai Ports World and their operations in Jebel Ali Ports. The presentations we had from the CEO and the Operations  Manager were very informative where we learned about the companies strategy and their acquisition spree and expansion that put them as on the list of the biggest port operators in the world. The tour we had of the port was equally impressive.

For evening we had another two meetings scheduled. The first was with Intel where we were briefed about their initiatives in the Middle East in supporting education and knowledge transfer. The second meeting was with Chief Strategy Officer of Du Telecom, the first telecom operator to go against the incumbent telecom operator after the deregulation of the sector. Needless to say, the Porter’s Five Forces framework we learned in strategy took a whole different meaning.

Later at night the Gulf Chapter of the Oxford Business Alumni graciously hosted us for a reception in the Radison Sas Hotel in the media city. With breath taking views and great company, we couldn’t ask for more. It was great opportunity o touch base with the SBS alumni in the region and learn more from them about living and doing business in the region.

Final Day (Friday April 9^th)

Weekend Finally! Waking up late for a chance, no suits, the feeling was great. Going to the beach in the was a  great change from the weather back in Oxford. And our last event in the trek was an adrenaline pumped desert safari were we did dune bashing with a 4×4 Toyota land cruiser before heading to a camp in the desert for a barbecue dinner. It was a great finale to the trek.

Overall it was a very productive and fun trip. HSBC called a bunch of us back for interviews, and there were many ideas floated around for business ventures, internships, summer consulting projects and case studies write ups. Opportunities of a lifetime that you get when you are doing the Oxford MBA.

Conversation at dinner varies, but for the most part we reflect on our year at Oxford. The majority of the conversations are positive.  I’m most interested when the conversation turns toward the future. How will the Oxford MBA be viewed in 5-years? What can alumni do to help? What is our class legacy that we leave behind to future incoming classes?

The one-year MBA makes these issues even more pertinent. We even have an elected “Mind-the-Gap” representative whose express purpose is to help transfer knowledge from one class to the next. In my capacity as Finance-OBN Chairman, and Vice President of Finance for the Student Advisory Board, I also try my best to help others. Mostly, I do this through my blog. But sometimes, when I find an equally motivated group of incoming students, or MBA applicants, my job is made that much easier.

For example, Mayank from the 2010-11 MBA class has done a wonderful job organizing a Facebook page for incoming students. Similarly impressive, I’ve been in close contact with Shamik who kindly organized a visit to Oxford for roughly 10 incoming MBAs last week. Members from our class met with next year’s MBA cohort outside SBS where we then embarked for Exeter College for a full English breakfast. Later we headed toward the Oxford Retreat for drinks to share experiences, and answer questions.

Meeting the incoming MBA class made me feel very proud that Oxford continues to improve each year. I’ve even heard rumours that next year’s average GMAT may be above 700 ! The Oxford MBA clearly represents to me a huge growth story, and it’s better to get in early, then wait until our acceptance rates dip below 15%. Look at all we’ve achieved so far:

• FT ranking improved to #16 (tied with Yale, and 5 spots ahead of Cambridge (Judge)
• BusinessWeek ranked us #10 for “Best International B-School,” supplanting Cambridge
• FT ranking for Executive Education improved to #15
• MFE program is more competitive to get into than LBS with an average GMAT of 720+
• Our undergraduate Economics and Management program continues to be ranked #1 in the UK
• Most importantly, we’ve attracted another £25 million investment from Wafic Saïd, which along with a £20 million matching contribution from Oxford University will help complete our “Phase 2″ building by 2013. This is hoping to provide space for another stream of MBAs.

I hope that MBAs reading this will find time in their busy schedules (as I did) to help future years of MBA students and applicants. In addition to meeting with new MBAs, participating in this year’s MBA Class Pledge, and having an occasional Skype call to go over interview preparation, I’m also looking to:

• Raffle off my bike: I bought a nice Trek bike from Halfords for £90 in the beginning of the year. Rather than sell it, I’m going to raffle it off to an incoming MBA studying at Exeter college (my alma mater). I’ve encouraged other current MBAs to do the same.
• Order books in college: I’ve also approached my Exeter College librarian to order enough sets of business books for each of the incoming Exeter MBAs, so they don’t have to compete for the limited number of copies at SBS. And if Exeter won’t order all those books, then I’ll offer to match them through a charitable donation, by having each of us buy 4-sets of books for the 8 MBAs that typically study each year at Exeter College.
• OBA involvement: When I return to New York I will become actively involved in helping the New York OBA chapter, including creating a Finance-OBN website that will offer interview training, alumni contacts, and job application for NY finance jobs.

I share these things with you for one reason, and one reason only. I want to set an example, as others have done before me, that it is our moral obligation to help each other, and to help improve the young Oxford MBA brand. It’s important to ingrain in the MBA culture a sense of giving; that we all have an equity stake in the future of SBS. I hope that as an incoming student, or an MBA applicant, you find ways to play forward to other classes whatever kindness you have received from previous classes.

Day 1 (Sunday, April 4 th):
An early start as we headed to Abu Dhabi for our first meeting with the Abu Dhabi Health Council. The Abu Dhabi Health Council is responsible for providing full healthcare services to 1.9 million living in Abu Dhabi. Their CEO talked to us about the recent change that the council had gone through and their accomplishments as well as the challenges they face. It was a very enlightening talk about management in the Public Sector. After the meeting we headed back to Dubai to meet with Shell where we were met with SBS alumni Mehdi Chennoufi, General manager LNG Trading Middle East. The meeting started with a real case study of an oil refinery operation in an anonymous country. After that our host and his colleagues entertained us with some very exciting stories about their careers in Shell to give a us a taste of what it means to work for Shell. After the Shell meeting, we had a well deserved rest in the hotel before heading for night out in the city to explore some of its landmarks like Burj Khalifah, the tallest tower in the world standing at 808m and Dubai mall, the biggest mall in the world.

Day 2 (Monday April 5^th)

Our first meeting for the day was with HSBC Bank Middle East.  There we had a very insightful talk about HSBC’s operation in the middle east and their market and the way they implement their mission statement “your world’s local bank”. After HSBC we headed to the offices of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation. The Foundation was formed by an endowment from the ruler of Dubai HH Shiekh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum with the purpose of providing Arabs with opportunities to guide the region towards a knowledge economy through promoting entrepreneurship, research and innovation by enhancing access to quality education and professional development. During the meeting, we were briefed about the foundation’s strategy and programmes under Human Capital Development.

With end of our meetings agenda for the day, it was time again to relax and explore the city where we visited the Palm Jumairah Island (a man made island in the shape of a palm off the coast of Dubai) and the famous Burj Al Arab Hotel.

Day 3 (Tuesday, April 6^th)

The day started with a visit to Unilever where we had a presentation about the company and the FMCG business in the Middle East. After the presentation we had a very exiting tour of their operations in Jabel Ali Industrial Area where we visited their factory for packaging their Lipton brand. It was interesting seeing first hand stuff we learned form the operations management course we took in Hillary term. After Unilver we had a meeting with the renowned management consulting firm. The Boston Consulting Group. The meeting was focused about learning about BCG and career opportunities in consulting as well as their view on the Middle East region given the work that they do in this part of the world.

After these two meetings we checked out from our hotel in Dubai and headed to Abu Dhabi to spend a couple of days.

Day 4 (Wednesday, April 7^th)

Wednesday was dedicated to learn more about Abu Dhabi. And what better place to do that than the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry.  In their headquarters we had a very insightful talk about the economy of Abu Dhabi and the Abu Dhabi Economic vision 2030. After the talk we had a tour of the impressive one-stop shop where all the government agencies and ministries are in one place and business people can do all their transaction quickly and with ease.  Abu Dhabi government 1 – Red tape bureaucracy 0.

After that we moved to the nearby tower that holds the headquarters of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), the largest sovereign wealth fund in the world. We were led to a meeting room on the top floor where we were briefed on the investment strategy of ADIA. The views of Abu Dhabi from the meeting room were phenomenal.

After the our visit to ADIA, we headed out to Masdar City, the first zero-carbon, zero waste city ever to be built and haven for innovation in sustainability and renewable ebergy. There we had a presentation on the project and the milestones it had achieved so far.

With the meetings over for the day, we were all looking forward for the night, where the London Symphony Orchestra was playing in the Emirates palace with Sir Colin Davies at the helm performing Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique. We weren’t disappointed.

Well, there is no right or wrong answer to these questions and nobody can answer them for you. But what you may find helpful is what our batch did last year when we got that email to join the Oxford MBA. I have compiled a couple of responses from my class mates that I will list in the rest of this blog.

One of us who didn’t bring her spouse says that it was a sound decision. ‘Getting an MBA degree has some serious financial consequences. It helps tremendously having a partner working in a stable job to support you. Also, not bringing your significant others to Oxford means more time to mingle with the rest of the cohort; half the value of the degree is in the network you build here.’

Another one who did bring her other half to Oxford says ‘Bring them and make sure they make most of their time while they are here – children, work, volunteering, study, anything. The biggest challenge with partners and the MBA is balancing time.’ There is a lot to do in Oxford not only for you but for your partner too. A friend who came with her partner is volunteering for an NGO and absolutely loving it. Another one decided to work for a local newspaper to fill her time. One decided to pursue her own studies and is now working towards a degree in Business Psychology in London. There are trains running between London and Oxford every half an hour and the journey time is approximately one hour. The cost of commute can be brought down if you book online in advance.

If he or she has a stable job in your home country, the career implications can be tremendous. If you decide not to bring them with you then it might be a good idea to pre-decide on how and when you will talk to each other. One friend said ‘Talk to them a lot when you’re here. Get phone plans that give you cheap international calling credit. Use Skype. Pre-decide convenient times for both when you would speak to each other and meet the commitment. Involve them in what you’re doing; be involved in what they’re doing. Share your days, share your experiences.’

A friend and a fellow blogger Rick Lockton who decided to bring his wife, daughter and dog to Oxford says:

‘Living close to campus would be very helpful; I would have loved to go home for lunch with my girls but couldn’t do so because I lived 30 minutes from the School. Getting a list of all spouses/kids during induction week was really helpful; most people had small groups of friends formed within the first two weeks. (…) Spouses can nearly go to almost every speaker/event/class. I would recommend spouses soak up as much of Oxford as they can while they’re here. Don’t worry about not seeing each other much… there is plenty of time for dates/traveling/going out, it’s all about prioritizing.’

I hope you are not more confused after reading this blog then you were before it The idea is to give you a better picture of what life could be when you bring your significant others to School. Ata, another friend says that one of the reasons he preferred to apply to Said was that it was quite proactive in explaining things of concern for the partners. My personal two cents on the subject: Getting an MBA is an exercise in managing your time and balancing your career goals with your personal ones. There is no way I could have done this course without having my partner’s support. So distance or no distance, most important thing is being emotionally close while you are having the most rocking year of your life!

I first heard about the Club from an Oxford EMBA alumnus (and now a friend), whom I originally met at an Oxford “Open House” event in New York back in February 2008. One day he invited me to the Harvard Club to go over my MBA application. I was surprised to learn that as a member of the Oxford and Cambridge Club, he was also entitled to visit the Harvard Club (founded in 1887). Then, before coming to Oxford, I read an MBA blog that mentioned an annual Club presentation in Oxford. At this point I was fairly convinced that I would join once the invitation came. But I almost missed the opportunity.

There was a 6-day lag between the time my college received the email from the Oxford and Cambridge Club, and the time it was forwarded on to the Exeter students (important to note that the invite comes from your college and not the business school). Even though I tried to RSVP the same day, the reception at Rhodes House on May 21st was already over-subscribed. Thankfully, the Club also hosted an event in London on June 2nd, which I attended. You must attend at least one of these events to find current Club members who will sign your application as your “proposer” and “seconder”.

The Oxford and Cambridge Club has well over 100 reciprocal agreements with Clubs from over 35 countries (visit their “reciprocal clubs” page). When I return to New York this summer, I plan to visit not only the Harvard Club, but also the Yale (includes University of Virginia, Dartmouth), Princeton (includes Columbia, NYU, and Williams), Penn (includes University of Chicago), and Cornell (includes Brown, Stanford) Clubs. As a precautionary measure, I emailed each and every one of these Clubs mentioned, and they confirmed the reciprocal arrangement. In general, they will allow up to 30 visits each year. I don’t believe this will be an issue, though, because with five clubs in New York, I certainly won’t be visiting any one club more often than twice a month.

To join the Oxford and Cambridge Club you must pay an annual fee, which is based on your age and geographical proximity to the Club. The cheapest rates tend to be for overseas. For example, I would have to pay £460 every year. Now this is definitely more expensive than the £198 “Life Membership” fee to join the Oxford Union, but I think that if you can afford it, then it’s definitely worth it. One way to look at is as an investment. All of the most exclusive “gentlemen’s clubs” are located next to the Oxford and Cambridge Club on Pall Mall – within earshot of Westminster and Trafalgar Square – yet unlike the other clubs, no amount of money will buy you entry intoOxbridge, which let’s face it, makes it even more exclusive than the others.

So, what can you do as a member? I think that the main benefits of joining the Oxford and Cambridge Club are the chance to dine there (breakfast, lunch, and dinner are served 7 days a week), the squash courts, the library and reading rooms where you can recline in an old burgundy red leather armchair with a nice glass of scotch, and the overnight accommodations, which can cost as little as £100 per/night for a single bedroom. To compare, I’ve paid that much to stay at a budget Premier Inn in the London hinterland (Tube Zone 4).

It’s still hard for me to understand why only 10 out of 238 MBAs (4%) decided to attend either of the two receptions. To use my old stockbroker lingo, I would say that MBAs tend to “underweight” the networking potential of joining an elite gentlemen’s club, and “overweight” the price tag. I think, however, that just like Long Term Capital Management in 1998, that they might be on the wrong side of the trade. Of course, it’s also necessary to address the persistent image of a stuffy old club of pretentious Oxbridge grads. To dispel this rumour, it’s interesting to note that nearly 20% of the Clubs 4,000 members are under 40 y/o, and an increasing number of women are also joining. I think that the Club is undergoing a positive transition to more accurately reflect the greater diversity found in Oxbridge< today. Hopefully when you come to Oxford you’ll choose to be part of that change, too.

Pack it now! Saturday morning started by getting ready to leave Tokyo and jumping into an Oxford alumni reception, Tokyo Chapter. The party was held at the very heart of Tokyo, gathering over 70 alumni members, current classes, and those admitted to the school in 2010. Few glasses of champagne heated the chats, encounters and reunions. We were thrilled by the variety in the alumni network. One could be a House of Representatives member, a famous entrepreneur, or a professional Geisha…

Let me show you the cabin full of suitcases. This bullet train is going to stop at Kyoto for no longer than one minute. I don’t want to even think about the mess. (we actually did a superb job in relaying all the luggage and throwing them out.)

As Dean Colin Mayer spoke to the attendees of this dinner, I realized I had recently heard him give a similar speech to the attendees of the Skoll World Forum in April. This was another incredible opportunity afforded me by being a part of the Skoll Associate Fellows Program through the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship. Hundreds of the most impressive social entrepreneurs across the globe come together each year in this internationally recognized forum to talk about current issues and, this year in particular, how to collaborate more effectively. Some of my favorite parts of the conference were hearing Paul Farmer of Partners in Health speak about his work in Haiti, and hearing Tim Smit of the Eden Project talk about how he motivates his workers (including making every employee say good morning to 20 people before beginning work in the morning).

All in all, I realized how much is possible at this School if you get involved. There is so much more I could be doing, but I know that in the limited time here, I will never forget the experiences I have had.

LifeNet Company is an online life insurance venture co-founded by a 64-year-old industry expert Mr. Deguchi, and a 34-year-old HBS graduate, by Mr. Iwase, holding career in management consulting and private equity. After a heart-warming welcome speech by Deguchi-san, Iwase-san gave us a presentation of the industry overview, revolution with LifeNet business model, entrepreneurial environment in Japan, and his career path after an MBA. Their public relations strategy was particularly striking: they saved most of their advertising cost by executives publishing books; they disclosed the cost structure to build customers’ trust; and the president even stood in front of the station to distribute leaflets. Iwase-san articulated why he sought for a venture after his shining career; “Life is once. You’ve got to do what only you can do.”

Our last corporate visit in Tokyo was to such a high-profile figure: Mr. Nobuyuki Idei, the former Sony CEO. While rushing into the session, I felt something different from any other visit. Idei-san speaks gently at a calm pace, but had obvious radiance around him. He gave us some quick notes on the impact of internet on global business and society, an issue of system builders and free riders, the shift in the notion of intellectual property, and the consulting business he launched after ‘graduating Sony’. We raised questions around strategic changes in tech firms, globalization of Japanese corporations, leadership development in Japanese society, etc. He answered each question carefully and we were amazed by his vast and deep knowledge and experiences.

Hanami party in Yoyogi Park was just an indescribably beautiful experience. The park was full of people celebrating Sakura – cherry blossoms – and we saw them singing and dancing all around. Our challenge was, although it is common in early spring, the chilly air. But we are MBAs. We are destined to face challenges and find solutions. So this is the one.

This was Friday night (I don’t know if it even matters, though.). We refuelled ourselves and went out to underground Tokyo. And the night went on….