It's our BBA blog! : Off The Record

Happenings in BBA Office

Helen — Wed, 03 May 2006 15:33:00 GMT

It would appear that it is quiet on all fronts in the BBA Office. On the surface, it may look as though I have neglected the blog, or the original enthusiasm has died off. No way! It's just that I have reached a point that I need to prioritize, as any human being being S-T-R-E-T-C-H-E-D.

3 fantastic BBA students have joined us as helpers to assist us to tide over this period - (in no order of favoritism) Alex, Cheryl, and Choon Kiong. They are simply godsend !

With their help, we have mustered and mounted interviews for Discretionary Admissions today.

19 interviews for me today (more to go in the coming few days. I need S-T-R-E-N-G-T-H) ....

5 applied to NUS and NTU, but not SMU; 1 applied to NUS and SMU, not NTU; 2 whom we are considering for discretionary admissions have straight offers from SMU Business. Similarly, 2 for NTU Business.

Well, this is just a small sample size. From the looks of it, it looks not all students apply to all three universities, or that matter, the same program. A small test of the hypothesis which was put forth earlier in the blog.

Phase II Campaign: Climbing High

Helen — Wed, 03 May 2006 00:39:00 GMT

The Phase II Ad Campaign: Climbing High starts today.

Career Services Office

Helen — Mon, 24 Apr 2006 15:06:00 GMT

Another exciting and good news for the students today! Today, we have 2 new members joining the Career Services Office. Joan and Yuk Meng, a warm welcome on board! Another 2 new colleagues at the Career Services Office will be joining soon, doubling the staff strength from now 3 to 7 by month end.

We said we are serious, and yes we are.

Outreach talks

Helen — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 14:21:00 GMT

2 outreach talks at the same evening on Friday: RJC and NYJC (at NUS level). (Can you beat that?) We split ourselves into 2 teams.

NYJC: A massive event with about 900 parents and students in the school hall. No presentations, just went direct to good old Q&A. Several questions were fielded. What impressed me was, the School actually bothered to help to translate Q&A into Chinese for the benefit of some parents. Felt it was a nice gesture on the part of the School. Majority of the questions was at NUS level, largely on admissions. However, there was a specific question on NUS Business School's 3+1 years vs. NTU's 3 years (see one of Thesis vs CP earlier discussion on the blog ;-) By the time I left NYJC, it was 10pm *yawn*

RJC: Heard that there's only one word to describe Leonard in RJC - Impressive!

However, I was rather disturbed when I heard that SMU mentioned that 60% (or was it 80%? understand recently this 60 or 80% figure has been making its rounds in outreach talks) of students who were offered the 3 local universities chose SMU. If I were in SMU, I'll hesitate to stand by this figure, simply because I know that this is misleading. For a start, this is based on a fundamental assumption that students will apply for all 3 universities.

Since being in the School, I have already come across a number of very good students who did not apply to all 3 universities, simply because they know very well that they are confident and good enough to get into their top choice.

Likewise, to be fair (I prided myself as being objective), there are students out there who are bent and dead-set in going to NTU and nowhere else.

Like the question posed above in NYJC. The student and her parents who were enquiring on behalf of her elder sister, came up to me personally after the Q&A session. Never once was SMU featured in our conversation, the consideration was solely between NUS and Nanyang.

Let's not forget another assumption, comparative offers have to be made by all 3 local universities. In NUS, both Economics and Social Science are in FASS, and Computing in SOC.

As I understand, the modus operandi and common understanding between the 3 local universities with regards to common information shared among the 3 universities is which university the student will be going in the end, not their course. I stand corrected.

In the same breath, let's not forget another assumption, what if students are being offered not their top choice, but are offered other courses other than their preferred courses?

There are just too many unresolved and unanswered questions.......

Analytical by nature, just too many considerations to make a bold claim and statement.

Bragging is one thing. Objective as I hope to be, the young institution has come far and has come of age. Like a wise age-old Chinese proverb and saying, 上得山多，终遇虎 (when one visits the mountain den once too much, one will finally meet the tiger).

Are we sending the right signals to the students, who hold the institution and the school as role models? To make students proud of their school. I am concerned are we presenting the full picture?

Like the fish-farming tale ;-) which is also making its rounds in outreach school talks, I am concerned how we can get this message clearly across without sounding defensive and confrontational. How do we correct misleading information and claims? Anything we do may appear to be knee-jerk reaction and response, and make us look uncool for a 100-year old institution, and I know that this is what the competitor is thinking and exploiting. This is a delicate situation.

Research Rankings? Er, what's it got to do with me?

Helen — Wed, 19 Apr 2006 13:32:00 GMT

Recent email from Aik "Biz Research Ranking, Fish Farming, Help for Myanmar Village and School, Recent Donations, Biz+Eng DDP" (a rather long one..., this is the abridged version ;-) highlighted the rankings of BIZ.

BIZ recent global rankings follows: 51st for research, 92nd for MBA, and 30th for EMBA. (Objectively, not bad at all). BIZ has been ranked #7 worldwide outside US and #51 overall by UTD in the Top 100 Business School Research Rankings, in a ranking of business schools' research which is dominated by US universities.

I know in some of the minds of students, the inevitable question pops up: hey, what's it got to do with me? Well honestly, the reality in this world is, research holds the key to the reputation of any School, or getting into a decent ranking. Teaching?? Hmmm...

Research universities vs. teaching universities. Just a quick search over the web on any rankings of top schools. For these top schools in the world and US, research and graduate school are the cornerstones.

It is a chain reaction: Research drives reputation of the school, in turn attracts good students who are drawn to the solid reputation of the school. Well, for the worldly ones, this is the name of the game.

The "best" jobs in Business

Helen — Tue, 18 Apr 2006 06:29:00 GMT

An interesting post from: Singfat

The "best" jobs in Business

Looking for a job which

pays well YES!
is associated with manageable stress levels YES!
provides flexibility in hours and working environment YES!
stimulates creativity YES! and
has excellent advancement prospects? YES!

Thinking along the lines of Financial Advisor, Human Resources Manager, Market Research Analyst, Advertising Manager, Sales Manager, Advertising Sales Agent, Management Analyst, Financial Analyst, Accountant or Sales Engineer?

Excellent choice!

Indeed, a recent survey reported in Money Magazine (http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bestjobs/top50/index.html) rated these 10 positions among the Top 50 jobs in the USA based on the criteria listed above.

Surprised about the prominence of the "Analyst" position? The job descriptions on the website reveal that analysts are esteemed for their value-add in mining intelligence from data, benchmarking business processes, improving forecasts, optimizing resources etc.

If you are fluent with numbers, methodological, inquisitive and passionate about challenging the status quo, KIV a career as an "Analyst". If you feel you need training, how about enrolling in a new "capstone" course being offered this coming August 2006, DSC4211 Analytical Tools for Consulting.

Looking forward to see you then,

CHU Singfat

Results of Fish Farming continues...

Helen — Thu, 13 Apr 2006 16:07:00 GMT

Combining another 2 into 1 attachment...

Results of Fish Farming - 3rd Prize

Helen — Thu, 13 Apr 2006 16:03:00 GMT

Another intelligent entry...

Results of Fish Farming - 2nd Prize

Helen — Thu, 13 Apr 2006 16:00:00 GMT

Looks like this is the second best alternative to post it on the blog, while waiting during this Easter break...

Results of the Fish Farming Competition is out!

Helen — Thu, 13 Apr 2006 15:14:00 GMT

Drum-roll please. .. The much-awaited result of the fish farming competition is out. Here are the top prizes:

Thanks to Judge Aik

The verdict is in! Gold fish is better!

Feng Chen is going to be one fat gold fish after he spends all his first prize take on ice cream! Congratulations!

Reginald Lee is not going to be much thinner, having won second prize. Well done!

Tran Ngoc Diep has a better chance of beating the BMI, since he only got third prize. Way to go!

Thank you all for the postings, emails, and entries. Shall send an email to all, with one attempt at an approximate solution.

Three cheers to the happy farmer (and his friends in the same trade) who was helped!

Submissions of the above winning entries are attached. We would also like to thank other commendable submissions we received (also as attached). Extracts of the entries as follows:

Guppies
11g - 20%
26g - 60%
41g - 20%

Assuming distribution similar to that of guppies

Goldfish
20.4g - 20%
26.2g - 60%
32g - 20%

Guppy Distribution

0% Percentile: 7.25g

25% Percentile: 16.8g

50% Percentile: 26g

75% Percentile: 35.2g

100% Percentile: 44.75g

Combined 3 wk & 4wk Goldfish distribution

0% Percentile: 16.56g

25% Percentile: 22.18g

50% Percentile: 27.07g

75% Percentile: 30g

100% Percentile: 34.199g

Thank you all for the enthusiastic response and *tongue-in-cheek* metaphors. Not only we know more about fish farming now (ha ha ;-), but more seriously, it goes to demonstrate that NUS BBA students have the substance (which I was talking about in an earlier blog) are mathematically-grounded and statistically-strong. Don't forget to collect your prizes from the BBA office!

Macquarie Pacific Star Competition 2006

Helen — Mon, 10 Apr 2006 03:41:00 GMT

The results of the Macquarie Pacific Star Prime Award 2006 are out. Congratulations to the following 6 finalist teams (not in any particular order).

Team C'EST: Chan Yong Sheng, Kong Yu-Chu, Ong Jun Yu, Tay E Teng, Wong On Wah.

Team EVO: Nigel Kiong Kin Soon, Patrick Ma Junwei, Teo Sue-Mei, Teo Sue-Lynn, Ng Wee Leong.

Rogue: Lim Yan Tyng, Michelle Ng Mei Yin, Liang LiHui.

Aquila: Teo Wei Ling, Lee Qiao Shi, Joyce Liu Jinbi, Tommy Zheng Zhenyao.

Primex: Kalene Ling SeeHui, Dave Wong Weng Keet, Lee Meizhen.

Eclairs: Sum Wai Ying, Hong Chuanhui, Chen Yonghui, Coreen Chia Peck Har, Wong Yan Ting

Congratulations. Give it your best shot!

Farmer Needs Help!

Helen — Fri, 07 Apr 2006 02:53:00 GMT

From: Aik

Guppies are spawned by the hundreds in a fish farm by a farmer. After about 4 weeks, the guppies are ready to be sold on the market. They are weighed before leaving the farm. The average fish weighs 26 grams, but the top 20% weighs an average 41 grams. The farmer is not very good with math, but he wants to calculate and see how the remaining 80% of the distribution looks like:

(1) Average must be 26 grams, (2) Top 20% must average 41 grams, (3) All percentages must add up to 100, (4) Distance between adjacent intervals must be roughly the same, (5) Likely to be roughly bell-shaped distribution (though may be skewed) and with at least 5 intervals.

In another pond, gold fish is being bred. The incubation period is between 3 - 4 weeks. A set of gold fish is ready after 3 weeks weighing 25.5 grams on average, with the remaining weighing an average 29 grams after 4 weeks. The incubation period varies from batch to batch. For one particular batch, 80% was 3-week while 20% was 4-week. The top 20% of the combined 3-week and 4-week gold fish weighs 32 grams on average. Like the above, the farmer is interested to know how the distribution looks like, when there are at least 5 weight intervals. Overall, he wants to know whether it is better for him to breed gold fish or guppy, if the weights of the fish and their distributions (spreads) are the only concerns.

Prizes to be won: $100 of cash prize + $100 of Haagen-Dazs voucher for the 1st prize, $100 voucher for the 2nd prize; and $50 voucher for the 3rd prize. Entries to be received by next Wednesday, 12 April 2006. Judges' decisions will be final, and no petitions will be entertained. Proof of farming knowledge is not necessary, and multiple entries from the same person are encouraged. Query (if any) on the competition to be posted to comments please. Offer is void where prohibited by law. Please send entries, with tables and graphs, to Chelsey bizczc@nus.edu.sg .

Beta Gamma Sigma

Chelsey — Wed, 05 Apr 2006 07:59:00 GMT

I just met with some of the top students from the Business School at the Beta Gamma Sigma induction ceremony. These students (top 10% of their graduating year and top 7% of the junior year) have been honoured by an invitatation to membership in Beta Gamma Sigma because of their achievement in scholarship and service.

It's really cool! Now they are part of this scholastic honour society dedicated to principles and ideals essential to a worthy life as well as to a commendable business career. And that's because our School is AACSB accredited. Not only it makes the CV look much much better, it also helps alot when they want to further their education, or simply, work in a US based company.

The mission of Beta Gamma Sigma is to encourage and honour academic achievement in the study of business and to foster personal and professional excellence among its members. We will be doing the invitations to students again after the next academic semester.

Congratulations to our first batch of BGS members!
For those of you who were here just now, click here to view your photos.

Azrudi bin Buang

Celestine Chua Seow Hoon

Chan Sim Kiat

Chee Ching Yuin

Chen Jianwen

Chia Pei Fen Adeline

Chng Eng Hin

Chua Beng Huat

Foo Wei Wen Jennifer

Goh Ting Yun

Huang Jinwei Shane

Huang Thien En,Joshua

Kimberley Huston

Lee Reginald Reagan Chua

Li Jia'en Alicia

Lim Shu Mei Michelle

Lin Weiling

Liu Huihua

Liu Tiebin

Lou Seng Lee

Low Kek Seng

Navin Chandra Nathani

Ng Shi Wei Leonard

Pang Zi Wei

Phua Zhenghao

Png Tian Chye Maurice

Sari Chandra

Teng Seng Hong

Teoh Zeng Wee

Toh Xing Yu

Wang Fei

Zhuo Qingwen

Tribute to the Teaching Faculty

Helen — Tue, 04 Apr 2006 09:29:00 GMT

Was trying to link to woonzai's blog (note: I STILL don't know who he is...) on pressing deadlines, projects, presentations, reports and more reports, when I noted his interesting new entry. An appreciative blog (which is rather unusual ;-)

http://woonzai.com/blog/2006/04/03/excellent-professors/

http://woonzai.com/blog/my-favourite-lecturers/

Chee Kiong and Ravi, cheers to you!

Love birds in rivaling business schools

Helen — Mon, 03 Apr 2006 16:37:00 GMT

Although it is way past midnight, I just had to do this.... Was off the phone with one of our BBA graduates working overseas, and guess what, I just got to know his girlfriend who decidedly joined him, is from a friendly rival business school (com'on, I think you know which one I am referring to ;-) And, amazingly, he's not the only one I know. There's another couple I know... and I am really curious how many of such couples are there out there? Let me know if you know of someone else ;-)

This reminds me of a famous Chinese opera "Liang-Shan-Bo He Zhu-Ying-Tai", the English version being Romeo and Juliet. Well, though nothing as drastic. But it is a rather interesting phenomena that has surfaced.

Also, it is also rather interesting that I have yet to hear of such a pair - BBA student with business student from the business school in Jurong....Hmmm..... I wonder why? Again, if anyone knows of such a couple, let Aunty Helen know ;-)