MBA in the time of Economic Cholera

While the economic travesty of our generation persists and the methods and policies to restore sanity in the system falters – a diverse group of odd students would take it on itself to find hope in what future holds. The CLASS OF DUKE CCMBA 2012!!!

Everyone with his own philosophy, his own reason – to meet his/her (or parents’) expectation of accomplishment, to find an alternative to current career path, to make more money or in case of a few, to create a plank to launch a venture of his/her own. And all these reasons are backed by the fundamental belief in a bright outlook for the future.

As a self-taught student of economics, I have watched Keynesian economics panned and trickle-down economics fail. And in fact I often wonder if trickle-down economics is just an alias for trickle-down politics. While the scope of an MBA extends far beyond learning basic tenets of economics, it can’t be overlooked that every personal, financial and professional decision of an individual just as a corporation is largely a function of P/L. Essentially, when all is said and done, an MBA may yet just be a study of perfecting the art to maximize that P and minimize that L – against all adversities, market conditions, competition, evolving tactics, disruptive technologies, regional politics, negative public perception etc..

OR it may just be an opportunity to specialize in the area of leadership with specific focus on client partnering, models of emb

racing challenges, mechanisms for earning trust, strategies for enabling performance and growth, collaborative influence and its sociological implications, horizontal thinking, conflict resolution and strategic risk taking.

Or yet – it may just be an effort to lend credibility to these 150 odd students, the path to which may otherwise be unknown or more demanding and treacherous even if known.

In all likelihood though, the Fuqua experience would be a combination of all of the above.

So this group of 150 odd students from all walks of life, from places as mysterious as Lebanon, as exotic as Philippines, as obvious as India or US to as intriguing as Azerbaijan would become part of that exclusive club. DukeCCMBA2012!!!  In future they may compete against one another and often they’d compete with themselves but they’d still be bound by this journey they’d take together – a journey that would span 6 countries, 20 courses, countless sighs & curses, many jet lags and some life-long relationships!!!

(With apologies to Math students out there) In some goofy mathematical “Set” way, this can perhaps be expressed as –

{200 students of 2012 CCMBA} intersection {Aug 2011 – Dec 2012} = A unique yet common experience and bond for life!!!

And so let the MBA studies commence. With apologies to Gabriel García Márquez.

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