With top consultancy firms charging thousands of dollars for a day's work, employing their services is a luxury most companies simply can't afford.
But some business schools offer student consultancies for a fraction of the price, making their expertise available to a whole range of organizations.
Student consultancy groups are a feature of many MBA programs, letting companies hire teams of MBA students to solve their business problems and giving the students a chance to put their education into practice.
The Wharton Small Business Development Center (SBDC) is part of Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, ranked by the Financial Times as the having the world's joint best MBA program.
The center employs around 40 MBA students and 40 undergraduates at any time, offering their knowledge and experience to local firms completely free of charge.
Wharton SBDC says it receives hundreds of applications each year from businesses wanting their help, with more than 20,000 small businesses taking advantage of its services over the past 10 years.
Leslie Mitts is managing practice leader at Wharton SBDC. She told CNN that the SBDC works with companies of all types and sizes, including small businesses that would never have the resources to hire a large consulting firm.
"Last week we worked with a lady who was running a dance center for underprivileged kids. As much as she wanted to give away lots of scholarships the school wouldn't exist if she gave so much free service away," she said.
"We made a couple of changes to her business, consolidated a couple of classes so teachers didn't have classes with only two students, and increased the fees by $10 a semester which isn't much, but it is when multiplied by many students.
"Now the center can not only teach all the underprivileged kids in that neighborhood and continue to give scholarships, but it also has a plan for sustainability that keeps it in business."
At Cambridge University's Judge Business School, part of the MBA program requires students to take part in the Global Consulting Project (GCP). The project sees teams of five MBA students spend three to four weeks offering free consultancy services.
Margaret O'Neill is projects manager at Judge and says non-profit companies are among those who have benefited from its services. But it's not just small businesses that can see the advantage of student consultants -- Microsoft, Toyota, Procter and Gamble and Shell International have all taken part in the project.
O'Neill told CNN that companies using the GCP benefit from the students' knowledge of up-to-date research methodology gleaned from the course and the fact that students have diverse backgrounds in a variety of disciplines. And with an average age of 32 the students can offer a wealth of experience.
At Temple University's Fox School of Business in Philadelphia, MBA students can participate in the Enterprise Management Consultant Practice (EMCP). The EMCP charges companies $20,000 for a consultancy, but managing director TL Hill estimates this is only a tenth of the commercial going rate.
Hill says the fee is offered on a sliding scale for non-profits, charities and smaller companies. He gives the example of a project working with a Philadelphia arts program that has created more than 2,000 murals around the city.
Hill says the MBA consultants helped the arts program think about ways of using its copyrighted artwork images to generate extra revenue, including selling prints and T-shirts featuring the artworks.
Robert Parikh is an MBA student at London Business School. Along with seven other students, he forms part of the London Business School (LBS) Consulting Team, a project that runs throughout the summer vacation.
"The idea is to take the skills we're developing and offer them at a reasonable rate," Parikh told CNN.
"The people involved with the team often go on to work for the likes of McKinsey and BCG. By hiring us for a short period over this summer our clients will get very high caliber people before they get too expensive."
Parikh points out that the LBS Consulting Team has a strong background in the field. Parikh, 27, has nearly five years of experience as a general manager for BAE Systems, while other team members have worked for IBM, and in real estate and consulting.
The team is run as a business and profits are kept by the students, but money isn't the motivation for Parikh.
Each year the project starts from scratch and Parikh hopes that being involved from the start will teach him entrepreneurial skills, as well as providing sales and marketing experience he believes will be useful when he finishes his MBA in 2010 and embarks on his chosen career -- in consultancy.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
HBS Essay Questions Released
Application Deadlines
Round 1: October 1, 2009
Round 2: January 19, 2010
Round 3: April 8, 2010
Note: All deadlines are 5 p.m. EST.
Notification Dates
Round 1: December 15, 2009
Round 2: April 6, 2010
Round 3: May 13, 2009
Essay Questions
1. What are your three most substantial accomplishments and why do you view them as such? (600-word limit)
2. What have you learned from a mistake? (400-word limit)
Please respond to two of the following (400-word limit each):
1. What would you like the MBA Admissions Board to know about your undergraduate academic experience?
2. Discuss how you have engaged with a community or organization.
3. Tell us about a time when you made a difficult decision.
4. Write a cover letter to your application introducing yourself to the Admissions Board.
5. What is your career vision and why is this choice meaningful to you?
Round 1: October 1, 2009
Round 2: January 19, 2010
Round 3: April 8, 2010
Note: All deadlines are 5 p.m. EST.
Notification Dates
Round 1: December 15, 2009
Round 2: April 6, 2010
Round 3: May 13, 2009
Essay Questions
1. What are your three most substantial accomplishments and why do you view them as such? (600-word limit)
2. What have you learned from a mistake? (400-word limit)
Please respond to two of the following (400-word limit each):
1. What would you like the MBA Admissions Board to know about your undergraduate academic experience?
2. Discuss how you have engaged with a community or organization.
3. Tell us about a time when you made a difficult decision.
4. Write a cover letter to your application introducing yourself to the Admissions Board.
5. What is your career vision and why is this choice meaningful to you?
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
经济危机结束了吗？
虽然大众对于谢国忠的经济评论毁誉参半，但是我对于他本人一直都是很尊敬的。不多经济学家能够像他一样实事求是，真正花时间下乡去理解中国经济。以下为谢国忠在财经网发表的一篇对于目前经济情势的文章，我很同意他的看法，也觉得相当客观的反映了目前的环境。
节录于财经网，全文请见 http://magazine.caijing.com.cn/2009-04-26/110153554.html
全球股票市场自3月初触底后大幅反弹。截至4月中旬，全球主要股市均报出约20％的涨幅。处于金融危机重灾区的美国银行业公布了业绩不错的年报。美国总统奥巴马对看到的一线希望津津乐道。美联储主席伯南克也觉得经济有了初步复苏的迹象。日本刚刚宣布了新的一揽子经济刺激计划。市场预测，中国也将公布第二轮经济刺激方案。突然之间，市场上出现了“再不入市就晚了”的骚动。
然而，我认为，这轮上涨仅仅是最终以泪水作结的熊市反弹。接下来一系列新难题将使行情再次下跌。银行业“优良”的年报以及宣称复苏的言论，很可能是有些公司试图利用反弹获得大量资金的幌子，以便度过即将来临的漫长冬日。初次公开发行股票（IPO）将吞没新兴市场。看多的投资者将用自己的真金白银，为这些受苦受难的银行和公司织寒衣。
事实上，配股潮可能已经涌起了，熊市的反弹可能会在一两个月内结束。受经济数据转好消息的刺激，又一轮的熊市反弹可能在今年秋天上演。等到经济复苏被证实无法持续，经济出现二次衰退，或者通货膨胀的压力迫使央行不顾经济疲软而紧缩银根，反弹就将结束。资产价格将在2010年的下半年跌至最终底部。届时，市场会看到财政刺激政策弹尽粮绝，中央银行再也无法滥印钞票了。
熊市反弹不可持续
在2009年初，我预计二三季度将出现一次反弹。现在，我修正自己的观点，我认为，2009年将出现两次反弹。现在，我们正经历第一次反弹，证券配售和IPO将终止这场反弹。转好的宏观经济数据将在三季度推动新一轮反弹。在以前发表的文章中，我预测经济将在2010年出现第二次衰退。
自2007年夏天次贷危机爆发以来，恐惧主导了金融市场。历次市场反弹都短暂无力，仅仅是下一次暴跌的前奏。过去五周的上涨，是迄今最长的一次熊市反弹。它持续的时间越长，市场上的猜惧也越多。我能感觉到看多投资者的悲观情绪。
在前几天CNBC电视台美国频道的一次采访中，一位持“金融危机浪潮将扑面而来”观点的嘉宾几乎被主持人推出门外。当我谈到香港房价将大幅下跌，并回落至正常水平时，主持人的眉宇拧成了一个“川”字，高声强调，香港人有控制价格的能力。“信念”而不是证据，在推动着市场反弹。
市场的严峻挑战，将在公司发行股票、筹集资金的时候出现。高盛首开先河，在公布“良好的”收入数据后，即宣布增发50亿美元的普通股。其他金融机构，可能也将打着偿还政府的旗号展开融资。可是，如果这些机构真的经营状况良好，它们还需要筹集资金来偿还政府吗？在新兴市场，IPO在暂停两年后也将重现江湖。
对投资者而言，他们需要考虑的是这些企业需要融资的原因。在可预见的未来，全球经济强劲增长的可能性不大，企业并不需要资金来扩张，最有可能的答案是为未来的苦日子做准备。我认为，这些在公开场合发表积极言论的企业并不看好未来，只是想在市场仍处于乐观气氛时借机圈钱。新增融资需求最终将压垮市场。
出现牛市的条件是：市场已经跌无可跌；全球经济正在复苏或者将要复苏；如果经济仍处困境，政府能采取更多的经济刺激措施。出现熊市的条件是：债务水平仍相当高，全球经济在债务水平非正常化情况下无法重现增长；全球经济仍在萎缩，尽管可能幅度较小；政府的刺激计划无法启动新一轮经济增长周期。
我站在看空阵营一边。这是一场百年一遇的经济危机，惟一可以比拟的是20世纪30年代的“大萧条”。启动新一轮经济增长，有两个条件必须满足：首先在消费经济国家，例如美国、英国、澳大利亚、爱尔兰、西班牙，债务相对于收入的水平必须重返20年前的标准；其次，制造业出口国，例如中国、德国、日本，必须显著弱化其生产导向性特征...
全文请见：http://magazine.caijing.com.cn/2009-04-26/110153554.html
节录于财经网，全文请见 http://magazine.caijing.com.cn/2009-04-26/110153554.html
全球股票市场自3月初触底后大幅反弹。截至4月中旬，全球主要股市均报出约20％的涨幅。处于金融危机重灾区的美国银行业公布了业绩不错的年报。美国总统奥巴马对看到的一线希望津津乐道。美联储主席伯南克也觉得经济有了初步复苏的迹象。日本刚刚宣布了新的一揽子经济刺激计划。市场预测，中国也将公布第二轮经济刺激方案。突然之间，市场上出现了“再不入市就晚了”的骚动。
然而，我认为，这轮上涨仅仅是最终以泪水作结的熊市反弹。接下来一系列新难题将使行情再次下跌。银行业“优良”的年报以及宣称复苏的言论，很可能是有些公司试图利用反弹获得大量资金的幌子，以便度过即将来临的漫长冬日。初次公开发行股票（IPO）将吞没新兴市场。看多的投资者将用自己的真金白银，为这些受苦受难的银行和公司织寒衣。
事实上，配股潮可能已经涌起了，熊市的反弹可能会在一两个月内结束。受经济数据转好消息的刺激，又一轮的熊市反弹可能在今年秋天上演。等到经济复苏被证实无法持续，经济出现二次衰退，或者通货膨胀的压力迫使央行不顾经济疲软而紧缩银根，反弹就将结束。资产价格将在2010年的下半年跌至最终底部。届时，市场会看到财政刺激政策弹尽粮绝，中央银行再也无法滥印钞票了。
熊市反弹不可持续
在2009年初，我预计二三季度将出现一次反弹。现在，我修正自己的观点，我认为，2009年将出现两次反弹。现在，我们正经历第一次反弹，证券配售和IPO将终止这场反弹。转好的宏观经济数据将在三季度推动新一轮反弹。在以前发表的文章中，我预测经济将在2010年出现第二次衰退。
自2007年夏天次贷危机爆发以来，恐惧主导了金融市场。历次市场反弹都短暂无力，仅仅是下一次暴跌的前奏。过去五周的上涨，是迄今最长的一次熊市反弹。它持续的时间越长，市场上的猜惧也越多。我能感觉到看多投资者的悲观情绪。
在前几天CNBC电视台美国频道的一次采访中，一位持“金融危机浪潮将扑面而来”观点的嘉宾几乎被主持人推出门外。当我谈到香港房价将大幅下跌，并回落至正常水平时，主持人的眉宇拧成了一个“川”字，高声强调，香港人有控制价格的能力。“信念”而不是证据，在推动着市场反弹。
市场的严峻挑战，将在公司发行股票、筹集资金的时候出现。高盛首开先河，在公布“良好的”收入数据后，即宣布增发50亿美元的普通股。其他金融机构，可能也将打着偿还政府的旗号展开融资。可是，如果这些机构真的经营状况良好，它们还需要筹集资金来偿还政府吗？在新兴市场，IPO在暂停两年后也将重现江湖。
对投资者而言，他们需要考虑的是这些企业需要融资的原因。在可预见的未来，全球经济强劲增长的可能性不大，企业并不需要资金来扩张，最有可能的答案是为未来的苦日子做准备。我认为，这些在公开场合发表积极言论的企业并不看好未来，只是想在市场仍处于乐观气氛时借机圈钱。新增融资需求最终将压垮市场。
出现牛市的条件是：市场已经跌无可跌；全球经济正在复苏或者将要复苏；如果经济仍处困境，政府能采取更多的经济刺激措施。出现熊市的条件是：债务水平仍相当高，全球经济在债务水平非正常化情况下无法重现增长；全球经济仍在萎缩，尽管可能幅度较小；政府的刺激计划无法启动新一轮经济增长周期。
我站在看空阵营一边。这是一场百年一遇的经济危机，惟一可以比拟的是20世纪30年代的“大萧条”。启动新一轮经济增长，有两个条件必须满足：首先在消费经济国家，例如美国、英国、澳大利亚、爱尔兰、西班牙，债务相对于收入的水平必须重返20年前的标准；其次，制造业出口国，例如中国、德国、日本，必须显著弱化其生产导向性特征...
全文请见：http://magazine.caijing.com.cn/2009-04-26/110153554.html
Monday, April 27, 2009
Wall Street Pay Bouncing Back?
Interesting read. My view is still the same: there is no fundemental changes on the market and the market will take longer than expected to recover. But an optimistic view is always helpful on the bear market, just like religion.
After Off Year, Wall Street Pay Is Bouncing Back
By LOUISE STORY
The rest of the nation may be getting back to basics, but on Wall Street, paychecks still come with a golden promise.
Workers at the largest financial institutions are on track to earn as much money this year as they did before the financial crisis began, because of the strong start of the year for bank profits.
Even as the industry’s compensation has been put in the spotlight for being so high at a time when many banks have received taxpayer help, six of the biggest banks set aside over $36 billion in the first quarter to pay their employees, according to a review of financial statements.
If that pace continues all year, the money set aside for compensation suggests that workers at many banks will see their pay — much of it in bonuses — recover from the lows of last year.
"I just haven’t seen huge changes in the way people are talking about compensation,” said Sandy Gross, managing partner of Pinetum Partners, a financial recruiting firm. “Wall Street is being realistic. You have to retain your human capital.”
Brad Hintz, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein, was more critical. “Like everything on Wall Street, they’re starting to sin again,” he said. “As you see a recovery, you’ll see everybody’s compensation beginning to rise.”
In total, the banks are not necessarily spending more on compensation, because their work forces have shrunk sharply in the last 18 months. Still, the average pay for those who remain — rank-and-file workers whose earnings are not affected by government-imposed limits — appears to be rebounding.
Of the large banks receiving federal help, Goldman Sachs stands out for setting aside the most per person for compensation. The bank, which nearly halved its compensation last year, set aside $4.7 billion for worker pay in the quarter. If that level continues all year, it would add up to average pay of $569,220 per worker — almost as much as the pay in 2007, a record year.
“We need to be able to pay our people,” said Lucas van Praag, a spokesman for Goldman, adding that the rest of the year might not prove as profitable, and so the first-quarter reserves might simply be “sensible husbandry.”
Indeed, last year, when Goldman lost money in the fourth quarter, it did not pay out some of the compensation it had set aside when earnings were stronger.
At other banks, pay scales tilt in favor of particular units. JPMorgan Chase, for example, is setting aside what would total $138,234 on average for workers. But in the bank’s trading and investment banking unit, if revenue stays at first-quarter levels, workers are on track to earn an average of $509,524 over the year. That figure was $345,147 in 2006.
To try to blunt criticism of high pay, some banks have introduced reforms to take back bonuses from individual workers whose bets later lose money. Moreover, executives say that for many well-paid bankers, a good portion of their bonus compensation is in stock, whose value can decline if the performance of the bank lags.
Representatives of several of the largest banks said much of their compensation budget covered expenses other than bonuses, like salaries, health care, pension plans and severance.
Still, the compensation expense is the only publicly disclosed figure related to pay at the banks, and it is the best figure for calculating pay per worker.
This expense includes money for year-end bonuses. For high earners, bonuses can account for three-quarters of pay.
Compensation is among the most cited causes of the financial crisis because bonuses were often tied to short-term gains, even if those gains disappeared later on. Still, as profits return, banks do not appear to be changing the absolute level of worker pay — or the share of revenue dedicated to compensation.
Historically, investment banks have paid workers about 50 cents for every dollar of revenue. The average is lower at commercial banks like JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, because they employ more people in retail branches where pay is lower.
But every dollar paid to workers is a dollar that cannot be used to expand the business or increase lending. Some of that revenue, too, could be used by bailed-out banks to pay back taxpayers.
Wall Street, of course, has a long history of high wages. Not all that long ago, most investment banks were private partnerships, and the workers were also typically the owners. Even when those firms began listing their shares on public stock exchanges, a standard was set in which half of their revenue was paid out to workers.
Their argument is that such lofty pay retains the best employees, who help earn more money, ultimately benefiting shareholders. The set-asides in the first quarter for pay can also help raise morale within the banks.
Some shareholders, however, contend that the earnings pie should be reapportioned. They argue that shareholders have lost a lot of wealth as bank stocks spiraled, so as revenue picks up, more money should be returned in the form of dividends.
“The money should go to shareholders,” said Frederick E. Rowe Jr., a member of the pension board in Texas and the president of Investors for Director Accountability, a nonprofit group. “The fact that the compensation as a percentage of revenue has not gone down is an indication that the root problem has not been addressed.”
Some analysts point to Morgan Stanley as an example of the compensation conundrum. The bank had a dismal quarter, losing $578 million, but still put aside $2.08 billion for compensation. That amount, though lower than the compensation at Goldman, was 68 percent of revenue.
Mr. Hintz, the analyst, said the bank could have avoided losing 57 cents a share if it had reserved less revenue for compensation.
In an interview, Colm Kelleher, Morgan Stanley’s chief financial officer, said the compensation set-aside was based on the bank’s full-year earnings expectations, not just the first quarter. And Morgan could drop its compensation expense only so low, he said, because much of it consists of fixed expenses, like salaries.
“The number of fat cats making loads of money is much less than you think,” he said.
If shareholders do not like compensation policies at banks, they can simply sell their shares. Still, several banks cut bonus pools last year, as losses mounted. And the government is restricting certain pay at banks that received bailout money.
The rule, which applies only to the most highly paid workers, has prompted some banks to try to return the government money as fast as possible.
Executive recruiters in the sector say prospective recruits are still being offered pay packages on par with those of earlier recruits. Some banks that received taxpayer help are even offering guarantees to recruit workers.
Part of the way banks are supporting high pay for their workers is by shrinking their work forces. Citigroup, for example, has dismissed 65,000 people since the start of 2007. That has left Citigroup paying the same amount on average to its remaining workers, though the quarterly cost to Citigroup is down by 25 percent, to $6.4 billion.
After Off Year, Wall Street Pay Is Bouncing Back
By LOUISE STORY
The rest of the nation may be getting back to basics, but on Wall Street, paychecks still come with a golden promise.
Workers at the largest financial institutions are on track to earn as much money this year as they did before the financial crisis began, because of the strong start of the year for bank profits.
Even as the industry’s compensation has been put in the spotlight for being so high at a time when many banks have received taxpayer help, six of the biggest banks set aside over $36 billion in the first quarter to pay their employees, according to a review of financial statements.
If that pace continues all year, the money set aside for compensation suggests that workers at many banks will see their pay — much of it in bonuses — recover from the lows of last year.
"I just haven’t seen huge changes in the way people are talking about compensation,” said Sandy Gross, managing partner of Pinetum Partners, a financial recruiting firm. “Wall Street is being realistic. You have to retain your human capital.”
Brad Hintz, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein, was more critical. “Like everything on Wall Street, they’re starting to sin again,” he said. “As you see a recovery, you’ll see everybody’s compensation beginning to rise.”
In total, the banks are not necessarily spending more on compensation, because their work forces have shrunk sharply in the last 18 months. Still, the average pay for those who remain — rank-and-file workers whose earnings are not affected by government-imposed limits — appears to be rebounding.
Of the large banks receiving federal help, Goldman Sachs stands out for setting aside the most per person for compensation. The bank, which nearly halved its compensation last year, set aside $4.7 billion for worker pay in the quarter. If that level continues all year, it would add up to average pay of $569,220 per worker — almost as much as the pay in 2007, a record year.
“We need to be able to pay our people,” said Lucas van Praag, a spokesman for Goldman, adding that the rest of the year might not prove as profitable, and so the first-quarter reserves might simply be “sensible husbandry.”
Indeed, last year, when Goldman lost money in the fourth quarter, it did not pay out some of the compensation it had set aside when earnings were stronger.
At other banks, pay scales tilt in favor of particular units. JPMorgan Chase, for example, is setting aside what would total $138,234 on average for workers. But in the bank’s trading and investment banking unit, if revenue stays at first-quarter levels, workers are on track to earn an average of $509,524 over the year. That figure was $345,147 in 2006.
To try to blunt criticism of high pay, some banks have introduced reforms to take back bonuses from individual workers whose bets later lose money. Moreover, executives say that for many well-paid bankers, a good portion of their bonus compensation is in stock, whose value can decline if the performance of the bank lags.
Representatives of several of the largest banks said much of their compensation budget covered expenses other than bonuses, like salaries, health care, pension plans and severance.
Still, the compensation expense is the only publicly disclosed figure related to pay at the banks, and it is the best figure for calculating pay per worker.
This expense includes money for year-end bonuses. For high earners, bonuses can account for three-quarters of pay.
Compensation is among the most cited causes of the financial crisis because bonuses were often tied to short-term gains, even if those gains disappeared later on. Still, as profits return, banks do not appear to be changing the absolute level of worker pay — or the share of revenue dedicated to compensation.
Historically, investment banks have paid workers about 50 cents for every dollar of revenue. The average is lower at commercial banks like JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, because they employ more people in retail branches where pay is lower.
But every dollar paid to workers is a dollar that cannot be used to expand the business or increase lending. Some of that revenue, too, could be used by bailed-out banks to pay back taxpayers.
Wall Street, of course, has a long history of high wages. Not all that long ago, most investment banks were private partnerships, and the workers were also typically the owners. Even when those firms began listing their shares on public stock exchanges, a standard was set in which half of their revenue was paid out to workers.
Their argument is that such lofty pay retains the best employees, who help earn more money, ultimately benefiting shareholders. The set-asides in the first quarter for pay can also help raise morale within the banks.
Some shareholders, however, contend that the earnings pie should be reapportioned. They argue that shareholders have lost a lot of wealth as bank stocks spiraled, so as revenue picks up, more money should be returned in the form of dividends.
“The money should go to shareholders,” said Frederick E. Rowe Jr., a member of the pension board in Texas and the president of Investors for Director Accountability, a nonprofit group. “The fact that the compensation as a percentage of revenue has not gone down is an indication that the root problem has not been addressed.”
Some analysts point to Morgan Stanley as an example of the compensation conundrum. The bank had a dismal quarter, losing $578 million, but still put aside $2.08 billion for compensation. That amount, though lower than the compensation at Goldman, was 68 percent of revenue.
Mr. Hintz, the analyst, said the bank could have avoided losing 57 cents a share if it had reserved less revenue for compensation.
In an interview, Colm Kelleher, Morgan Stanley’s chief financial officer, said the compensation set-aside was based on the bank’s full-year earnings expectations, not just the first quarter. And Morgan could drop its compensation expense only so low, he said, because much of it consists of fixed expenses, like salaries.
“The number of fat cats making loads of money is much less than you think,” he said.
If shareholders do not like compensation policies at banks, they can simply sell their shares. Still, several banks cut bonus pools last year, as losses mounted. And the government is restricting certain pay at banks that received bailout money.
The rule, which applies only to the most highly paid workers, has prompted some banks to try to return the government money as fast as possible.
Executive recruiters in the sector say prospective recruits are still being offered pay packages on par with those of earlier recruits. Some banks that received taxpayer help are even offering guarantees to recruit workers.
Part of the way banks are supporting high pay for their workers is by shrinking their work forces. Citigroup, for example, has dismissed 65,000 people since the start of 2007. That has left Citigroup paying the same amount on average to its remaining workers, though the quarterly cost to Citigroup is down by 25 percent, to $6.4 billion.
Friday, April 24, 2009
MBA Ranking 2010 - US News & School Selection
一直以來我覺得選校是在申請前才會有的煩惱。但最近越來越多人問我：Adam, 我申請上了a, b, c 所學校，你覺得我該不該去念？如果要去念，我該去念哪一所？而當我反問，那你當初申請這幾所學校的原因是什麼？答案往往是，我想要去念MBA所以就看著排名試著丟了幾所我覺得可能上的學校，可是現在上了又覺得不知道該不該去念...
這樣的回答真的讓我有些哭笑不得，感覺整個思考的邏輯都本末倒置了。很難想像平常大家吃個飯挑餐廳的時候都會為了該去哪一家比較划算又好吃而煩惱許久，但是在申請學校的時候，兩年的歲月跟十五萬美金的投資決定竟然如此草率。只看排名來挑學校似乎就像是看著facebook來挑終生伴侶一樣...
對於頂尖商學院，如果能夠申請上，大部分的申請者都已經對自己想念的學校都有比較明確的想法，就找工作而言，大家也都有幾乎同等的機會來競爭，也有基本的市場薪資行情，因此decision process也相對容易。對於申請排名在20名後的學校的申請者，以下是我的一些想法：
Career Placement 會是一個非常重要的因素
說直接一點就是花的錢到底要賺多久才會回本。
排名較後的學校，若是畢業要直接回大中華區工作，大部分的公司可能還是以local standard加上你過去的工作經驗來給薪，以月薪兩千美金來計算，不考慮稅，最少六年不吃不喝才能回本。所以學費跟獎學金在你選擇學校的decision process中比重應該要提昇。另一方面，若是畢業想留在美國工作，學校所處的地域性在decision process中比重也得提昇。舉例而言，Austin, Seattle, Minneapolis 等城市是許多美國企業的總部，那些企業一般不想花成本到top school 招人，這樣不cost efficient因為那些學生的選擇太多，因此會轉而到在該州或城市的好商學院來招才。而一般美國企業給 MBA的起薪少說也有6, 7萬美金，雖然生活費高，至少回本的時間應該還是比較快。
當然還有其他許多的因素，如主修專業、校友網路、環境氣候等，然而那些都應該要以未來職業的規劃為前提來考量。
Anyway, 每個機構的排名方式均不盡相同，US News算是已經有多年歷史的排名，一般定義的頂尖商學院以本排名來說應該是在Cornell以上的學校。至於詳細的排名以及評分方式請見以下網址。
http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-business-schools/rankings/
1 HBS
2 Stanford University
3 Northwestern University (Kellogg)
3 University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)
5 MIT (Sloan)
5 University of Chicago (Booth)
7 UC Berkeley (Haas)
8 Dartmouth College (Tuck)
9 Columbia University
10 Yale University
11 New York University (Stern)
12 Duke University (Fuqua)
13 University of Michigan--Ann Arbor (Ross)
14 UCLA (Anderson)
15 Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper)
15 University of Virginia (Darden)
17 Cornell University (Johnson)
18 University of Texas--Austin (McCombs)
19 Georgetown University (McDonough)
20 UNC (Kenan-Flagler)
20 University of Southern California (Marshall)
22 Emory University (Goizueta)
22 Georgia Institute of Technology
22 Indiana University--Bloomington (Kelley)
22 Washington University in St. Louis (Olin)
26 Ohio State University (Fisher)
26 University of Washington (Foster)
28 University of Wisconsin--Madison
29 Arizona State University (Carey)
29 Brigham Young University (Marriott)
29 University of Rochester (Simon)
32 Purdue University--West Lafayette (Krannert)
33 Texas A&M University--College Station (Mays)
33 University of Minnesota--Twin Cities (Carlson)
33 University of Notre Dame (Mendoza)
33 Vanderbilt University (Owen)
37 University of Florida (Hough)
38 Rice University (Jones)
38 University of Illinois--Urbana-Champaign
40 Michigan State University (Broad)
40 Penn State University--University Park (Smeal)
40 University of California--Davis
40 University of Maryland--College Park (Smith)
44 Boston College (Carroll)
44 University of Iowa (Tippie)
46 Boston University
47 Southern Methodist University (Cox)
48 Tulane University (Freeman)
49 Babson College (Olin)
49 University of Texas--Dallas
這樣的回答真的讓我有些哭笑不得，感覺整個思考的邏輯都本末倒置了。很難想像平常大家吃個飯挑餐廳的時候都會為了該去哪一家比較划算又好吃而煩惱許久，但是在申請學校的時候，兩年的歲月跟十五萬美金的投資決定竟然如此草率。只看排名來挑學校似乎就像是看著facebook來挑終生伴侶一樣...
對於頂尖商學院，如果能夠申請上，大部分的申請者都已經對自己想念的學校都有比較明確的想法，就找工作而言，大家也都有幾乎同等的機會來競爭，也有基本的市場薪資行情，因此decision process也相對容易。對於申請排名在20名後的學校的申請者，以下是我的一些想法：
Career Placement 會是一個非常重要的因素
說直接一點就是花的錢到底要賺多久才會回本。
排名較後的學校，若是畢業要直接回大中華區工作，大部分的公司可能還是以local standard加上你過去的工作經驗來給薪，以月薪兩千美金來計算，不考慮稅，最少六年不吃不喝才能回本。所以學費跟獎學金在你選擇學校的decision process中比重應該要提昇。另一方面，若是畢業想留在美國工作，學校所處的地域性在decision process中比重也得提昇。舉例而言，Austin, Seattle, Minneapolis 等城市是許多美國企業的總部，那些企業一般不想花成本到top school 招人，這樣不cost efficient因為那些學生的選擇太多，因此會轉而到在該州或城市的好商學院來招才。而一般美國企業給 MBA的起薪少說也有6, 7萬美金，雖然生活費高，至少回本的時間應該還是比較快。
當然還有其他許多的因素，如主修專業、校友網路、環境氣候等，然而那些都應該要以未來職業的規劃為前提來考量。
Anyway, 每個機構的排名方式均不盡相同，US News算是已經有多年歷史的排名，一般定義的頂尖商學院以本排名來說應該是在Cornell以上的學校。至於詳細的排名以及評分方式請見以下網址。
http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-business-schools/rankings/
1 HBS
2 Stanford University
3 Northwestern University (Kellogg)
3 University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)
5 MIT (Sloan)
5 University of Chicago (Booth)
7 UC Berkeley (Haas)
8 Dartmouth College (Tuck)
9 Columbia University
10 Yale University
11 New York University (Stern)
12 Duke University (Fuqua)
13 University of Michigan--Ann Arbor (Ross)
14 UCLA (Anderson)
15 Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper)
15 University of Virginia (Darden)
17 Cornell University (Johnson)
18 University of Texas--Austin (McCombs)
19 Georgetown University (McDonough)
20 UNC (Kenan-Flagler)
20 University of Southern California (Marshall)
22 Emory University (Goizueta)
22 Georgia Institute of Technology
22 Indiana University--Bloomington (Kelley)
22 Washington University in St. Louis (Olin)
26 Ohio State University (Fisher)
26 University of Washington (Foster)
28 University of Wisconsin--Madison
29 Arizona State University (Carey)
29 Brigham Young University (Marriott)
29 University of Rochester (Simon)
32 Purdue University--West Lafayette (Krannert)
33 Texas A&M University--College Station (Mays)
33 University of Minnesota--Twin Cities (Carlson)
33 University of Notre Dame (Mendoza)
33 Vanderbilt University (Owen)
37 University of Florida (Hough)
38 Rice University (Jones)
38 University of Illinois--Urbana-Champaign
40 Michigan State University (Broad)
40 Penn State University--University Park (Smeal)
40 University of California--Davis
40 University of Maryland--College Park (Smith)
44 Boston College (Carroll)
44 University of Iowa (Tippie)
46 Boston University
47 Southern Methodist University (Cox)
48 Tulane University (Freeman)
49 Babson College (Olin)
49 University of Texas--Dallas
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Susan Boyle
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY
继Paul Potts之后，另一个让我感动的声音。人多多少少都会有些以貌取人，而让自己深省的是很多美德跟优点并不像是歌声一样在短短的几分钟内就能撼动人心。多尝试用不同的角度来看待事物，或许总会有新的发现跟启发
在商业世界而言，能够be open-minded并知人善用者也才能成为一个成功的专业经理人及管理者。
下面是转载网易娱乐专稿 对于Susan的介绍:
一位身材肥胖、其貌不扬的农村妇女，却凭着一首歌在一夜之间成为了欧美各大媒体的头条。这并不是哪部励志电影或小说的情节，而是发生在英国电视选秀节目《英国达人》（Britain’s Got Talent）的舞台上，而这位主角的名字叫做苏珊·波伊尔（Susan Boyle）。
Susan Boyle出生于1961年，成长于苏格兰一个名叫Blackburn的小镇。是家中十兄弟姐妹中最小的一个。她母亲在生她的时候难产，所以导致Susan在出生的时候短暂缺氧。而她还被诊断出有学习困难症，所以小时候的Susan在学校的时候经常被同学取笑。
毕业离开学校之后，Susan曾经当过六个月的厨师。Susan非常热爱音乐，她经常去剧院观看“专业演员的演唱”，并且师从Fred O'Neil学习声乐。她曾经想要参加英国的另一个选秀节目《The X Factor》但最后还是放弃了，因为她认为这个节目选出来的全都是俊男美女。
Susan 一直都在照顾她的母亲。而她母亲生前一直鼓励她走出小镇去参加更大型的歌唱比赛。当她母亲于2007年去世之后，Susan Boyle终于决定要报名参加《英国达人》，她把这次参赛看成是对逝去的母亲的一种纪念。
Susan Boyle现时失业，而且她一直都是单身。兄弟姐妹也在很早之前就离开了家乡。她的母亲去世之后，陪伴她的就只剩下一只10岁的猫。
本年度4月11日，《英国达人》第三季节目的首场比赛中，当Susan Boyle登上舞台之时，无论是观众还是评判都对这位参赛者进行了从外貌到才能上的挑剔，根本没有人相信她能带出像样的表演。可是当这位业余歌唱爱好者用她那极具感染力的声线演唱完出自歌剧《悲惨世界》（Les Misérables）中的歌曲《I Dreamed a Dream》之后，得到的反应是全场观众起立并给予其长时间的鼓掌。
三位评判对她表演的评价更是充满了溢美之词。连《悲惨世界》的监制在听完Susan的演唱后都表示：“我和其他人一样，都被她那充满情感力量的表演吓傻了。从声音上来讲，我觉得她演唱的《I Dreamed a Dream》是我听过的最好的版本。”据报道，评审之一的Simon Cowell甚至已经为她准备了一纸唱片录制合约。
就这样，丑小鸭一夜成名了。而Susan Boyle的故事也得到了世界各地媒体的广泛报道。而对于这股“Susan Boyle热潮”，英国《卫报》的评论认为“Susan Boyle让人们知道，并不是每一个四十几岁的人都可以像广告中所表现出来的那样皮肤光滑妆容细致的。她的一夜成名告诉观众，她就像大多数的人一样，是一个普通的、有瑕疵的和敏感脆弱的人，在一路的失望与嘲笑中成长，但却一直坚持着为自己的梦想而奋斗。”
也有媒体将Susan Boyle与另一位成名于这个选秀节目的平民男歌手Paul Potts作了一次对比，得出的结论是“在二人演唱开始之前，观众对Susan充满敌意的挑剔与对Paul Potts那还算中立的态度，显示出这个社会对于女人总是要求她们才貌双全，而对于男人则没有这个期望。”
苏格兰日报《The Herald》甚至表示，“Susan Boyle其实给今时今日的人们上了一堂很好地道德教育课。因为人们现在倾向于凭着外表去评判一个人。而Susan Boyle的故事显得感人的地方是，这是一次在这个‘外貌至上’的文化中，才华与艺术的一次大胜利。”
而有媒体认为这次起始于英国的“Susan Boyle现象”，在美国社会其实也引起了一定的共鸣。美联社发表的评论表示，“Susan Boyle现象其实就像是人们常说的美国梦的梦想成真——才华总能战胜逆境与贫困。”
英国《独立报》一名纽约站记者写道：美国是一个最易被“丑小鸭变天鹅”的故事打动的国家。从电影《窈窕淑女》到《史瑞克》。而这次的Susan Boyle是真真实实发生的事情，所以美国人会被她所感动。
美国的《The Huffington Post》则指出了“Susan Boyle现象”的策划性。“无可否认，Susan的表现的确是非常感人的，而现场观众的反应也是出自真心的。但这显然是《英国达人》的监制预料中的效果，因为节目故意地用一种明显为加强前后反差的方式来介绍Susan出场。而且Susan是一个差不多50岁的人了，在这一点上，又会为她获得更多的同情分。观众们一定会为她这么多年浪费掉的时间所惋惜。”
继Paul Potts之后，另一个让我感动的声音。人多多少少都会有些以貌取人，而让自己深省的是很多美德跟优点并不像是歌声一样在短短的几分钟内就能撼动人心。多尝试用不同的角度来看待事物，或许总会有新的发现跟启发
在商业世界而言，能够be open-minded并知人善用者也才能成为一个成功的专业经理人及管理者。
下面是转载网易娱乐专稿 对于Susan的介绍:
一位身材肥胖、其貌不扬的农村妇女，却凭着一首歌在一夜之间成为了欧美各大媒体的头条。这并不是哪部励志电影或小说的情节，而是发生在英国电视选秀节目《英国达人》（Britain’s Got Talent）的舞台上，而这位主角的名字叫做苏珊·波伊尔（Susan Boyle）。
Susan Boyle出生于1961年，成长于苏格兰一个名叫Blackburn的小镇。是家中十兄弟姐妹中最小的一个。她母亲在生她的时候难产，所以导致Susan在出生的时候短暂缺氧。而她还被诊断出有学习困难症，所以小时候的Susan在学校的时候经常被同学取笑。
毕业离开学校之后，Susan曾经当过六个月的厨师。Susan非常热爱音乐，她经常去剧院观看“专业演员的演唱”，并且师从Fred O'Neil学习声乐。她曾经想要参加英国的另一个选秀节目《The X Factor》但最后还是放弃了，因为她认为这个节目选出来的全都是俊男美女。
Susan 一直都在照顾她的母亲。而她母亲生前一直鼓励她走出小镇去参加更大型的歌唱比赛。当她母亲于2007年去世之后，Susan Boyle终于决定要报名参加《英国达人》，她把这次参赛看成是对逝去的母亲的一种纪念。
Susan Boyle现时失业，而且她一直都是单身。兄弟姐妹也在很早之前就离开了家乡。她的母亲去世之后，陪伴她的就只剩下一只10岁的猫。
本年度4月11日，《英国达人》第三季节目的首场比赛中，当Susan Boyle登上舞台之时，无论是观众还是评判都对这位参赛者进行了从外貌到才能上的挑剔，根本没有人相信她能带出像样的表演。可是当这位业余歌唱爱好者用她那极具感染力的声线演唱完出自歌剧《悲惨世界》（Les Misérables）中的歌曲《I Dreamed a Dream》之后，得到的反应是全场观众起立并给予其长时间的鼓掌。
三位评判对她表演的评价更是充满了溢美之词。连《悲惨世界》的监制在听完Susan的演唱后都表示：“我和其他人一样，都被她那充满情感力量的表演吓傻了。从声音上来讲，我觉得她演唱的《I Dreamed a Dream》是我听过的最好的版本。”据报道，评审之一的Simon Cowell甚至已经为她准备了一纸唱片录制合约。
就这样，丑小鸭一夜成名了。而Susan Boyle的故事也得到了世界各地媒体的广泛报道。而对于这股“Susan Boyle热潮”，英国《卫报》的评论认为“Susan Boyle让人们知道，并不是每一个四十几岁的人都可以像广告中所表现出来的那样皮肤光滑妆容细致的。她的一夜成名告诉观众，她就像大多数的人一样，是一个普通的、有瑕疵的和敏感脆弱的人，在一路的失望与嘲笑中成长，但却一直坚持着为自己的梦想而奋斗。”
也有媒体将Susan Boyle与另一位成名于这个选秀节目的平民男歌手Paul Potts作了一次对比，得出的结论是“在二人演唱开始之前，观众对Susan充满敌意的挑剔与对Paul Potts那还算中立的态度，显示出这个社会对于女人总是要求她们才貌双全，而对于男人则没有这个期望。”
苏格兰日报《The Herald》甚至表示，“Susan Boyle其实给今时今日的人们上了一堂很好地道德教育课。因为人们现在倾向于凭着外表去评判一个人。而Susan Boyle的故事显得感人的地方是，这是一次在这个‘外貌至上’的文化中，才华与艺术的一次大胜利。”
而有媒体认为这次起始于英国的“Susan Boyle现象”，在美国社会其实也引起了一定的共鸣。美联社发表的评论表示，“Susan Boyle现象其实就像是人们常说的美国梦的梦想成真——才华总能战胜逆境与贫困。”
英国《独立报》一名纽约站记者写道：美国是一个最易被“丑小鸭变天鹅”的故事打动的国家。从电影《窈窕淑女》到《史瑞克》。而这次的Susan Boyle是真真实实发生的事情，所以美国人会被她所感动。
美国的《The Huffington Post》则指出了“Susan Boyle现象”的策划性。“无可否认，Susan的表现的确是非常感人的，而现场观众的反应也是出自真心的。但这显然是《英国达人》的监制预料中的效果，因为节目故意地用一种明显为加强前后反差的方式来介绍Susan出场。而且Susan是一个差不多50岁的人了，在这一点上，又会为她获得更多的同情分。观众们一定会为她这么多年浪费掉的时间所惋惜。”
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
申请top MBA：女生比较有优势？
最近做了些统计，结果似乎显示在国际学生中女生好像被录取的比例远高过男生。以下是我的一些看法
1. 年龄的问题：就我的观察，蛮多男生还是倾向大学毕业读个研究所，一方面可以先不用去当兵 (在台湾)，二来可以让自己找工作更加有竞争力。想想如果念个研究所丶当个兵出来工作三五年，男生已经将近三十岁，这时候男生好不容易稍稍有点积蓄工作稍微稳定丶可能有些人也考虑成家。这时候能够有决心去准备跟有远见看到top MBA的价值的人真的比较少。反之，女生因为年龄的考量多半会想要早点去念书，很多人也因此从early 20's就开始准备，所以在top MBA我的感觉是女性的申请者比男性多。而这几年被Wharton录取的台湾男生当中，碰巧的好像只有一两位有当兵。
2. 英文：不讳言的说，这几年我看到女生的英语能力还是普遍比男生好些。尤其是很多理工背景的优秀男生，英文真的是罩门。
3. 工作经历：大部分的男生，可能还是理工背景居多。若没有早些对自己的career有所规划，三五年的纯technical background 在申请过程中的确较难凸显自己。相反的女生相较之下往往有稍多的不同的经历跟课外活动，所以也会在申请中占有优势
4. 最後这点比较属於我自己的看法，如果所有条件都一样，基於学校会尽量收一定比率的外国学生跟女生来diversify student pool，收了一个国际女学生可以同时将两个比例拉升，如果我是adcom，同样优秀的申请者，如果我只能选一个，我想女生可能还是占优势
1. 年龄的问题：就我的观察，蛮多男生还是倾向大学毕业读个研究所，一方面可以先不用去当兵 (在台湾)，二来可以让自己找工作更加有竞争力。想想如果念个研究所丶当个兵出来工作三五年，男生已经将近三十岁，这时候男生好不容易稍稍有点积蓄工作稍微稳定丶可能有些人也考虑成家。这时候能够有决心去准备跟有远见看到top MBA的价值的人真的比较少。反之，女生因为年龄的考量多半会想要早点去念书，很多人也因此从early 20's就开始准备，所以在top MBA我的感觉是女性的申请者比男性多。而这几年被Wharton录取的台湾男生当中，碰巧的好像只有一两位有当兵。
2. 英文：不讳言的说，这几年我看到女生的英语能力还是普遍比男生好些。尤其是很多理工背景的优秀男生，英文真的是罩门。
3. 工作经历：大部分的男生，可能还是理工背景居多。若没有早些对自己的career有所规划，三五年的纯technical background 在申请过程中的确较难凸显自己。相反的女生相较之下往往有稍多的不同的经历跟课外活动，所以也会在申请中占有优势
4. 最後这点比较属於我自己的看法，如果所有条件都一样，基於学校会尽量收一定比率的外国学生跟女生来diversify student pool，收了一个国际女学生可以同时将两个比例拉升，如果我是adcom，同样优秀的申请者，如果我只能选一个，我想女生可能还是占优势
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
财经杂志专访索罗斯
索罗斯一直是个在金融界传奇的人物，人们对于他的评价毁誉参半，但是不可讳言的他的确在近代的金融史上注记上了他的标签。以下是权威杂志对他的专访，文中提及他对美国及中国经济何时复苏的看法，值得一读。
全文请见：http://magazine.caijing.com.cn/2009-03-15/110120995.html
2008年下半年开始深化的全球金融和经济危机，至今仍不断地突破人们的预期，以异乎寻常的方式发展演变，以至于传统主流经济理论哑然，长期形成的思维方式亦遭受挑战。
拉响警笛者并非没有，甚至数年前开始做空的人也并非寥寥——在众人仍对次贷危机不以为意的时候，就已有对大危机的预警——只是都在当年那热得发烫的气场中被轻易地蒸发掉了。
因为亚洲金融危机而在中国几乎家喻户晓的投资“大鳄”乔治·索罗斯（George Soros），在2005年就开始高呼“狼来了”。刻薄的人们嘲笑道，“一只坏了的钟，一天也有两次是准的”。索罗斯固然有过“狙击”英镑、墨西哥比索和泰铢的辉煌，却也有不足为外人道的沉痛铩羽。只不过，这一次他又赢了。这是一个价值数百亿美元的判断。
2008年1月23日，索罗斯在英国《金融时报》上撰文——“60年来最糟的市场危机”，称“当前的（次贷）危机标志了，以美元作为国际储备货币的基础上进行的信贷扩张，走到了终点……这次危机，是一场超级繁荣经历过60多年以后的盛极而衰”。
79岁的索罗斯，至今仍是金融领域的风云人物，其投资策略仍被许多投资者视为经典。而他的公众形象，则颇为复杂。
——他是“全球金融界的坏孩子”（美国《华尔街日报》）；马来西亚前总理马哈蒂尔更怒斥其为“亚洲金融危机的纵火犯”。
——与投资家的身份相比，他的慈善家和社会活动家身份的曝光率或许稍低。他创立或参与创立的数家基金会，近20年来一直致力于社会慈善事业，在世界范围内推动公民社会成长。
——他是最早表态支持奥巴马的人之一。不无巧合的是，次贷危机以来，他的见解和建言都体现在后来的政府政策中。
2008年以来，索罗斯多次发表关于危机见解的文章。9月，美国前财长保尔森开始酝酿用政府资金购买金融机构不良资产时，他就撰文说“别给保尔森开空白支票”；10月初，美国国会仍在为前“问题资产救助计划”争论不休时，他旗帜鲜明地主张给银行注资。10月下旬，《财经》专访索罗斯时，保尔森已经一改初衷转而采取注资的方式。
此后，美国政府的做法似乎都“遵从”了他的意见。比如，10月28日，索罗斯撰文呼吁美国引领对新兴市场经济体的救援行动，次日，美联储就宣布为墨西哥、巴西、韩国、新加坡四国央行提供各300亿美元的货币互换；今年1月，盛传美国政府将成立一个“集合银行”统购金融机构不良资产时，索罗斯称这种做法“不会发现价格，而会扭曲价格”，后来财长盖特纳宣布的“金融稳定计划”里果然没有“集合银行”的踪影。
索罗斯或许只是众多为政府建言的人之一，但这位“中标率”颇高的建言者，其见解或许值得一听再听。2009年3月11日，在当前美国金融体系支离破碎、金融机构国有化如箭在弦之际，《财经》记者再访索罗斯。
采访在纽约曼哈顿区七大道888号32层索罗斯基金办公室进行。索罗斯一袭黑西服，雪白的衬衫和齐整的领带，标准的华尔街装束。采访过程中，他不断把玩记者的名片——在这位叱咤国际金融界的风云人物身上，看不到丝毫架子，感觉不到压力，也没有想象中的那种犀利。
这是一位年近八旬的老人，头发尽染银霜，眼角爬满皱纹，却难掩其蓝灰色眼睛顾盼之间的熠熠神采，以及偶尔的微笑中流露的天真和狡黠。
“我笑不出来，因为现在形势很严峻。”拍照时，索罗斯说...
全文请见：http://magazine.caijing.com.cn/2009-03-15/110120995.html
全文请见：http://magazine.caijing.com.cn/2009-03-15/110120995.html
2008年下半年开始深化的全球金融和经济危机，至今仍不断地突破人们的预期，以异乎寻常的方式发展演变，以至于传统主流经济理论哑然，长期形成的思维方式亦遭受挑战。
拉响警笛者并非没有，甚至数年前开始做空的人也并非寥寥——在众人仍对次贷危机不以为意的时候，就已有对大危机的预警——只是都在当年那热得发烫的气场中被轻易地蒸发掉了。
因为亚洲金融危机而在中国几乎家喻户晓的投资“大鳄”乔治·索罗斯（George Soros），在2005年就开始高呼“狼来了”。刻薄的人们嘲笑道，“一只坏了的钟，一天也有两次是准的”。索罗斯固然有过“狙击”英镑、墨西哥比索和泰铢的辉煌，却也有不足为外人道的沉痛铩羽。只不过，这一次他又赢了。这是一个价值数百亿美元的判断。
2008年1月23日，索罗斯在英国《金融时报》上撰文——“60年来最糟的市场危机”，称“当前的（次贷）危机标志了，以美元作为国际储备货币的基础上进行的信贷扩张，走到了终点……这次危机，是一场超级繁荣经历过60多年以后的盛极而衰”。
79岁的索罗斯，至今仍是金融领域的风云人物，其投资策略仍被许多投资者视为经典。而他的公众形象，则颇为复杂。
——他是“全球金融界的坏孩子”（美国《华尔街日报》）；马来西亚前总理马哈蒂尔更怒斥其为“亚洲金融危机的纵火犯”。
——与投资家的身份相比，他的慈善家和社会活动家身份的曝光率或许稍低。他创立或参与创立的数家基金会，近20年来一直致力于社会慈善事业，在世界范围内推动公民社会成长。
——他是最早表态支持奥巴马的人之一。不无巧合的是，次贷危机以来，他的见解和建言都体现在后来的政府政策中。
2008年以来，索罗斯多次发表关于危机见解的文章。9月，美国前财长保尔森开始酝酿用政府资金购买金融机构不良资产时，他就撰文说“别给保尔森开空白支票”；10月初，美国国会仍在为前“问题资产救助计划”争论不休时，他旗帜鲜明地主张给银行注资。10月下旬，《财经》专访索罗斯时，保尔森已经一改初衷转而采取注资的方式。
此后，美国政府的做法似乎都“遵从”了他的意见。比如，10月28日，索罗斯撰文呼吁美国引领对新兴市场经济体的救援行动，次日，美联储就宣布为墨西哥、巴西、韩国、新加坡四国央行提供各300亿美元的货币互换；今年1月，盛传美国政府将成立一个“集合银行”统购金融机构不良资产时，索罗斯称这种做法“不会发现价格，而会扭曲价格”，后来财长盖特纳宣布的“金融稳定计划”里果然没有“集合银行”的踪影。
索罗斯或许只是众多为政府建言的人之一，但这位“中标率”颇高的建言者，其见解或许值得一听再听。2009年3月11日，在当前美国金融体系支离破碎、金融机构国有化如箭在弦之际，《财经》记者再访索罗斯。
采访在纽约曼哈顿区七大道888号32层索罗斯基金办公室进行。索罗斯一袭黑西服，雪白的衬衫和齐整的领带，标准的华尔街装束。采访过程中，他不断把玩记者的名片——在这位叱咤国际金融界的风云人物身上，看不到丝毫架子，感觉不到压力，也没有想象中的那种犀利。
这是一位年近八旬的老人，头发尽染银霜，眼角爬满皱纹，却难掩其蓝灰色眼睛顾盼之间的熠熠神采，以及偶尔的微笑中流露的天真和狡黠。
“我笑不出来，因为现在形势很严峻。”拍照时，索罗斯说...
全文请见：http://magazine.caijing.com.cn/2009-03-15/110120995.html
Monday, March 9, 2009
豪宅的标准
相信这辈子拥有一户属于自己的豪宅是许多人心中的美梦，下文是在胡润百富网站上的一篇文章告诉大家「何谓豪宅」。相当准确的说出了我的心声。:)
http://www.hurun.net/showmagazinecncontent1442.aspx
豪宅消费的个性化时代已然到来。千人一面的所谓标准早已不适应富豪们求新求特、惟我独有的心态。但能位列“豪宅”之尊的，却仍然有些基本准则必须遵循。就让我们抽丝剥茧、去粗存精，发现豪宅投资的普通真理。
价位
不要说价格不重要，豪宅的确分相对豪宅和绝对豪宅，前者只要比地区内其他项目拔高许多便可在当地称为“豪宅”，而后者却是真正意义上的高端物业。这种物业在目前算是有了一个门槛——1000万元。数字不能代表一切，却的确能给予富豪强烈的心理暗示，更可以在某种程度上彰显豪宅本身的价值和尊严。区位 区位仍然是最重要的。套句老话，“地段，地段，还是地段”——华人首富李嘉诚的观念依然鲜明。而国际投行对于上海黄金地区物业欲抛还守的扭捏姿态，更是让我们在金融风暴中看到了
区位
这个亘古不变的万能保险。豪宅的建造地点要么在最繁华的城市中心，要么就在风景绝佳、超然脱俗的自然风景胜地。在上海这个人口密度很高的城市，方便快捷的交通是市中心豪宅拥有的无可取代优势，因为可以享用城市经年累月积累的核心资源和配套设施。
稀缺资源
位于郊区的豪宅基本都有着超过平均水平的土地面积及自然景观资源。上海多水缺山，北京正好相反。于是上海的佘山，北京的亚澜湾等地都可以算得上是具有稀缺资源的豪宅聚集地。近观山水，坐拥自己的一方天地，宁静致远，寻求心中的祥和是此类山水豪宅的普遍特性。
产品
豪宅的产品性能自然是绝佳的，它体现在产品套型面积、空间尺度、产品标准及设备等方方面面。如今上海的豪宅，早已超越了假大空的套路。以早期的虹桥别墅为例，其层高低，没有地下室，可人们不在乎，照样以几百万元的价格将其揽入囊中。而如今的潮流是做下沉式庭院，地下面积也早就被记录在销售之中。目前豪宅的实用主义倾向越来越明显，很多项目开始用产品品质定义豪宅，设计中追求低密度、特色景观及别墅化倾向成为重要标志。
装修
豪宅装修的潮流其实从前些年就开始了。当年一些因定制化装修而失败的豪宅不在少数，但仍然有开发商前赴后继地加入进来。随着富豪们消费心态的日益成熟及对豪宅选购认识的日益深入，全装修豪宅的喜好度又有大幅度提升，而开发商们也纷纷推出别具风格的个性产品。如东郊的君庭、佘山的月湖山庄、旗忠的和黄别墅等都主推全装修产品，汤臣一品则与Versace联手打造了样板房。为一套1000平米左右的豪宅装修，精心修葺的话起码需2年时间，而整理园林绿地就更需花费不少时日。虽然省心省力更符合现代人的心态，但富豪们的个性化需求则更为重要。所以，花1千万元购房而花2千万元装修的大有人在。
私密性
炫耀曾是一种广泛的需求。设计界流传的一句话便是，要看建筑的奢华程度，数一数它的洗手间数量便是了。于是我们可以看到几百平米的卧室以及各种金碧辉煌的外立面设计。如今，这股风潮正逐渐淡去，许多位于闹市中心的豪宅外观开始变得极为普通。私密性正日益成为富豪们极为重视的购房因素。出于中国传统的怕露富怕张扬心态，更多开发商将整个项目隐藏得越来越深。对于富人来说，这样的付出是值得的。他们的生活需求无外乎归纳为两点：私密和舒适。将家庭活动区与访客区隔离是目前豪宅设计的主流，套间设置已经是标配。在有些苛刻的设计中，客卧与主卧甚至不允许出现在同一个走廊。
舒适度
舒适的定义一直随着时间的变化而变化。如居住中的直接感官、房间的功能设定、公共空间的设置、社区氛围的打造等等都是值得考量的因素。居住建筑的物理性能决定室内温度、湿度、噪声、采光的舒适度。在科学技术发达的今天，如果建筑的物理性能做得很差：比如温度的调节还要完全依赖空调和暖气，居住者的生理感觉不舒服，就不能称之为豪宅。而环境品质则是由景观和建筑规划、设计共同决定的。如果景观设计没有生态意识，景观与建筑的配合没有整体意识，环境品质就不可能高。以上几点，在现今的豪宅设计中表现得已经很不错了。恒温恒湿系统，负离子的尘土清空系统等都在豪宅中被广泛运用。
精品服务
豪宅的物业服务大多选择国际顶级品牌的物业管理公司，且强调满足业主的个性化需求，体现专属性服务特征。一如旗忠的森林溪谷，鸿艺会等高端会所进驻别墅社区已经不是一天两天了，能细致地去满足和打理业主的公共生活已经成为诸多豪宅开发商的共识。
国际化配套
在生活配套方面,豪宅要拥有全面的国际化生活配套：即大型购物中心、休闲场所及酒店、娱乐场所。在世界名人豪宅名单中，通常会看见一国的首都或一级都市的名人生活聚集区。对这些已经无法对自己的财富进行估算的生活家来说，他们宁愿躲开核心商务区的尘嚣繁忙，选择紧邻商务核心的区域。在享有商务便利的同时，他们更希望坐拥悠闲景致，感受国际生活氛围，所以剧院、博物馆应运而生，更造就了围绕名人豪宅、深具艺术气息的文化街区。美国纽约的第五大道如此，法国巴黎卫城特区也如此，英国伦敦的泰晤士河畔和日本东京表参道都是个中翘楚。
Saturday, March 7, 2009
H1B Limitation from Obama's Stimulus Package
Below is the link to an article from Columbia Business School talking about the new limitation on H1B from firms receiving TARP. If this is a clear policy, foreign MBA students will no longer be able to get H1B sponsorship from those banks who received TARP.
From my perspective, the protectionism is a short-term thing but will still affect the recent graduates. And I don't see the point to restrict firms hiring international students from top b-schools as their compensation is the same as domestic labors.
http://www4.gsb.columbia.edu/publicoffering/post?&top.title=Watchful+Waiting+for+H-1B+Visa+Hopefuls&main.id=68204&main.ctrl=contentmgr.list&main.view=bloga.detail
Some relevant articles from other websites.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123531113396541861.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
http://www.workforce.com/section/06/feature/26/20/13/
From my perspective, the protectionism is a short-term thing but will still affect the recent graduates. And I don't see the point to restrict firms hiring international students from top b-schools as their compensation is the same as domestic labors.
http://www4.gsb.columbia.edu/publicoffering/post?&top.title=Watchful+Waiting+for+H-1B+Visa+Hopefuls&main.id=68204&main.ctrl=contentmgr.list&main.view=bloga.detail
Some relevant articles from other websites.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123531113396541861.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
http://www.workforce.com/section/06/feature/26/20/13/
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Wharton vs Columbia
Understand this article might be controversial. However, below is my perspective posted on a forum to an applicant who got admissions from both schools .
---------------------------------------------------------
Congrats to your admission from Wharton. Not sure whether you have made your mind. 当年申请的时候，我也同样经历了这个甜蜜的难题: Columbia or Wharton.
虽然Wharton给了我奖学金，但是当时Columbia admission director 也同时表示他们会尽力帮我争取奖学金。当然最后我选择了Wharton. 以下是我当年的decision process 跟现在的看法，hope it helps.
Career: 两所都是超级finance强校，我毕业的第一份工作想要去投行。当年还有考虑留在纽约，因此这两所学校差异其实不大 (费城到纽约只要一个多少小时by bus, 50mins by train）。哥大当然还是有些许地利，但是相对的纽约的banker也会有更高的预期你要常去拜访他们to show your commitment.
Location: 这点费城当然是输了...纽约是我当年最爱的城市.
Cost of living: 说真的，同样的房子一个月房租顶多差三百美金，跟学费及两年的投资比起来真的不是太大
Reputation: 这两所当然都是超级名校，但 to be honest, 从我进Wharton到毕业工作，有非常多的朋友都是从这两所学校毕业，从大家的观点Wharton还是带有更多的"Wow" effect。就像是不讳言HBS的Wow effect可能还是高过Wharton.
Alumni network in Asia: 我想这是在我decision process中占相当重要的一部分，因为我长远还是要在亚洲发展。Wharton在亚洲校友的网路非常紧密且强，尤其是在财务、顾问领域。举例来说，在高盛跟大摩的香港办公室，据我的估计，Wharton校友的人数还是最多
Facility: 这点是连我Columbia的好友们都不得不承认的，Wharton的building新又大很多，我第一次去做campus visit就完全被sold...那时还没拿到admission，所以也不敢照相，因为朋友说一照相你就是永远的观光客而不是学生了...haha
Faculty: 其实我觉得这一点客观说来没有太大差别。都有好教授也有普普通通的教授
当然我从Wharton毕业总会有些bias,不过希望以上分析对大家有帮助.
---------------------------------------------------------
Congrats to your admission from Wharton. Not sure whether you have made your mind. 当年申请的时候，我也同样经历了这个甜蜜的难题: Columbia or Wharton.
虽然Wharton给了我奖学金，但是当时Columbia admission director 也同时表示他们会尽力帮我争取奖学金。当然最后我选择了Wharton. 以下是我当年的decision process 跟现在的看法，hope it helps.
Career: 两所都是超级finance强校，我毕业的第一份工作想要去投行。当年还有考虑留在纽约，因此这两所学校差异其实不大 (费城到纽约只要一个多少小时by bus, 50mins by train）。哥大当然还是有些许地利，但是相对的纽约的banker也会有更高的预期你要常去拜访他们to show your commitment.
Location: 这点费城当然是输了...纽约是我当年最爱的城市.
Cost of living: 说真的，同样的房子一个月房租顶多差三百美金，跟学费及两年的投资比起来真的不是太大
Reputation: 这两所当然都是超级名校，但 to be honest, 从我进Wharton到毕业工作，有非常多的朋友都是从这两所学校毕业，从大家的观点Wharton还是带有更多的"Wow" effect。就像是不讳言HBS的Wow effect可能还是高过Wharton.
Alumni network in Asia: 我想这是在我decision process中占相当重要的一部分，因为我长远还是要在亚洲发展。Wharton在亚洲校友的网路非常紧密且强，尤其是在财务、顾问领域。举例来说，在高盛跟大摩的香港办公室，据我的估计，Wharton校友的人数还是最多
Facility: 这点是连我Columbia的好友们都不得不承认的，Wharton的building新又大很多，我第一次去做campus visit就完全被sold...那时还没拿到admission，所以也不敢照相，因为朋友说一照相你就是永远的观光客而不是学生了...haha
Faculty: 其实我觉得这一点客观说来没有太大差别。都有好教授也有普普通通的教授
当然我从Wharton毕业总会有些bias,不过希望以上分析对大家有帮助.
Startup Life
An article written by a successful entrepreneur graduated from Wharton undergrad. Interesting read!
Startup Life 101: The Marathon
Startup Life 102: Leadership
Startup Life 103: Love
Startup Life 101: The Marathon
Startup Life 102: Leadership
Startup Life 103: Love
Sunday, March 1, 2009
巴菲特为旗下公司的损失承认错误
来源：北京商报 编辑整理：Adam Cheng
错误决定令公司损失惨重
和往年一样，巴菲特给伯克希尔·哈撒韦公司股东写了一封信，并把这封信刊登在公司的网站上。但与往年不一样的是，巴菲特非常诚恳地在信中说道：“在过去的2008年，我在投资上做了一些愚蠢的事情，起码在董事会犯过一次重大投资失误，此外还犯过不少其他投资错误。这些错误决策给公司造成了数十亿美元的损失。”自1977年以来，巴菲特每年都会在年报出台时发出这封《致股东信》。
巴菲特信中所提的“一次重大投资失误”指的是，在国际油价接近高点时加仓，他下决策投资美国康菲石油公司，伯克希尔·哈撒韦公司从2007年持有的1750万股增至去年年底的8490万股。“我没有想到去年能源价格能如此暴跌，这一投资失误给公司造成数十亿美元的损失。”巴菲特表示。
而巴菲特承认所犯的“其他投资错误”指的是，“图便宜”，花了2.44亿美元购买当时两家爱尔兰银行的股票，结果到去年年底为止两家银行的股价狂跌了89%，而且两家公司的股价今年以来还在下滑。但随着全球金融股暴跌，公司财务报表上不得不再减记2700万美元的账面损失。
此外，巴菲特还强调：“我还犯下了疏职的过错，当市场需要我重新审视自己的投资决策并迅速采取行动的时候，我表现的相当幼稚。”
上述巴菲特所犯错误还不是伯克希尔·哈撒韦公司的全部损失，损失最惨重的是该公司长期持有的美国运通和可口可乐两只股票，前者的市值跌了50亿美元，后者则蒸发30亿美元。此外，伯克希尔·哈撒韦公司持有的大量富国银行股份去年并没太大损失，但今年开始重创，去年年底持有的3.04亿股富国股份，迄今市值已大跌逾半。
巴菲特屡次承认犯错
其实，这并不是巴菲特首次承认自己在投资中犯下错误。他在1995年致股东信中曾承认投资存在错误；2003年时公开承认，自己很后悔在上世纪90年代末时，没有趁着可口可乐、吉列等大公司股价处于最高位的时候及时把它们的股票抛掉，并看错沃尔玛；2007年，巴菲特还承认，“过早地抛售中石油确实是我犯的一个错误”。
投资长跑中没有常胜的将军，总有犯错误的时候。面对过去一年中自己所犯下的“意外的失误”，巴菲特显得相对坦然。尽管公司的投资组合导致收益下滑，但是巴菲特表示，“我们喜欢这样的价格下降”，因为这样的话如果有资金还可以增加自己的仓位。
2008年是巴菲特自1965年接手伯克希尔·哈撒韦公司以来盈利最差的一年。不过相对基金公司的参考指标标准普尔指数27.4%的跌幅以及同行的表现来讲，巴菲特的成绩仍然是“鹤立鸡群”。巴菲特说，去年的标准普尔指数创下了过去44年来的最大跌幅，“到年底的时候，投资者就像是误入羽毛球赛场的小鸟，满身的血迹和困惑”。
由于目前正是全球市场普遍低迷的时候，巴菲特的投资虽然犯下了不少错误，但表现依然可圈可点。在其他投资者很难赚钱甚至亏钱的时候，巴菲特一些投资还能带来高达15%的收益率。也因为这个原因，他的财富在去年超过比尔·盖茨，成为《福布斯》首富。去年10月，《福布斯》更新了其美国富豪400人榜单。由于伯克希尔·哈撒韦公司的股价在9月份大涨17%，使得其身价增长了80亿美元，达到了580亿美元。相比之下，不善理财的前世界首富微软总裁比尔·盖茨的资产则在9月份缩水了15亿美元，降低到555亿美元。
“可以说，这个世界上，他(巴菲特)比以前更具有竞争力了。”《永久价值：沃伦·巴菲特故事》的作者、股票经纪人安迪·基尔帕特里克说。
坚持价值投资的巴菲特对于今年美国股市的投资机会较为悲观，他认为美国经济将处于乱局，目前没有办法预测股市的涨落。不过擅长长期投资的“股神”对于美国经济的长远发展仍然坚持乐观的态度，“美国曾经经历过更艰难的时期，我们已经克服这些困难”。他相信，美国的好日子还在后面。
一个成功的人，总是很喜欢叙说自己的成功故事，但很少见到能够很开诚布公的承认自己错误的人。相较于许多被起诉或是被调查的CEOs 却还总是侃侃而谈的 justify 他们所犯下的错误，巴菲特的气度也是其另一个令人崇敬之处。
“伯克希尔·哈撒韦公司去年第四季度投资收益骤降96%，全年收益下跌62%，净资产缩水115亿美元，净收入大跌62%至49.9亿美元，创1965年以来最糟糕纪录。”作为公司董事长兼首席执行官，在如此难看的一份年报面前，79岁高龄的“股神”巴菲特不得不低下高昂的头，向股东们说声“对不起”，承认自己犯了错误。其实，在全球金融风暴大背景下，各地“股神”早已走下“神坛”，但在国内真正承认犯错的却所见不多。
错误决定令公司损失惨重
和往年一样，巴菲特给伯克希尔·哈撒韦公司股东写了一封信，并把这封信刊登在公司的网站上。但与往年不一样的是，巴菲特非常诚恳地在信中说道：“在过去的2008年，我在投资上做了一些愚蠢的事情，起码在董事会犯过一次重大投资失误，此外还犯过不少其他投资错误。这些错误决策给公司造成了数十亿美元的损失。”自1977年以来，巴菲特每年都会在年报出台时发出这封《致股东信》。
巴菲特信中所提的“一次重大投资失误”指的是，在国际油价接近高点时加仓，他下决策投资美国康菲石油公司，伯克希尔·哈撒韦公司从2007年持有的1750万股增至去年年底的8490万股。“我没有想到去年能源价格能如此暴跌，这一投资失误给公司造成数十亿美元的损失。”巴菲特表示。
而巴菲特承认所犯的“其他投资错误”指的是，“图便宜”，花了2.44亿美元购买当时两家爱尔兰银行的股票，结果到去年年底为止两家银行的股价狂跌了89%，而且两家公司的股价今年以来还在下滑。但随着全球金融股暴跌，公司财务报表上不得不再减记2700万美元的账面损失。
此外，巴菲特还强调：“我还犯下了疏职的过错，当市场需要我重新审视自己的投资决策并迅速采取行动的时候，我表现的相当幼稚。”
上述巴菲特所犯错误还不是伯克希尔·哈撒韦公司的全部损失，损失最惨重的是该公司长期持有的美国运通和可口可乐两只股票，前者的市值跌了50亿美元，后者则蒸发30亿美元。此外，伯克希尔·哈撒韦公司持有的大量富国银行股份去年并没太大损失，但今年开始重创，去年年底持有的3.04亿股富国股份，迄今市值已大跌逾半。
巴菲特屡次承认犯错
其实，这并不是巴菲特首次承认自己在投资中犯下错误。他在1995年致股东信中曾承认投资存在错误；2003年时公开承认，自己很后悔在上世纪90年代末时，没有趁着可口可乐、吉列等大公司股价处于最高位的时候及时把它们的股票抛掉，并看错沃尔玛；2007年，巴菲特还承认，“过早地抛售中石油确实是我犯的一个错误”。
投资长跑中没有常胜的将军，总有犯错误的时候。面对过去一年中自己所犯下的“意外的失误”，巴菲特显得相对坦然。尽管公司的投资组合导致收益下滑，但是巴菲特表示，“我们喜欢这样的价格下降”，因为这样的话如果有资金还可以增加自己的仓位。
2008年是巴菲特自1965年接手伯克希尔·哈撒韦公司以来盈利最差的一年。不过相对基金公司的参考指标标准普尔指数27.4%的跌幅以及同行的表现来讲，巴菲特的成绩仍然是“鹤立鸡群”。巴菲特说，去年的标准普尔指数创下了过去44年来的最大跌幅，“到年底的时候，投资者就像是误入羽毛球赛场的小鸟，满身的血迹和困惑”。
由于目前正是全球市场普遍低迷的时候，巴菲特的投资虽然犯下了不少错误，但表现依然可圈可点。在其他投资者很难赚钱甚至亏钱的时候，巴菲特一些投资还能带来高达15%的收益率。也因为这个原因，他的财富在去年超过比尔·盖茨，成为《福布斯》首富。去年10月，《福布斯》更新了其美国富豪400人榜单。由于伯克希尔·哈撒韦公司的股价在9月份大涨17%，使得其身价增长了80亿美元，达到了580亿美元。相比之下，不善理财的前世界首富微软总裁比尔·盖茨的资产则在9月份缩水了15亿美元，降低到555亿美元。
“可以说，这个世界上，他(巴菲特)比以前更具有竞争力了。”《永久价值：沃伦·巴菲特故事》的作者、股票经纪人安迪·基尔帕特里克说。
坚持价值投资的巴菲特对于今年美国股市的投资机会较为悲观，他认为美国经济将处于乱局，目前没有办法预测股市的涨落。不过擅长长期投资的“股神”对于美国经济的长远发展仍然坚持乐观的态度，“美国曾经经历过更艰难的时期，我们已经克服这些困难”。他相信，美国的好日子还在后面。
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Follow up on Wharton Interview Tips
Below are some discussions I had with other Whartonites about the application in general on ChaseDream.
Q: Is Wharton looking for certain types of candidate?
A:No. Wharton is looking for good candidates in every industry. As Ialways say, if you have unique background/experience, you are likely tohave better chance to get in than typical consultants/bankers as a lotof them are applying and every school is trying to diversify itsstudent pool.
Response from Vickiyan, class of 08:
I would like to elaborate this point a little bit more:
I'm not quite sure that Wharton is looking for candidate in every industryintentionally, but I believe what Wharton is looking for are goodcandidates. No bias on the background, and I don't think the diversityis intentionally designed and picked out: good candidates happen to bespreading out in every industry. What impressed people most are alwaysthe personal qualities: achievements, solid skills (hard+soft) andpersonality.
For your reference.
Response from Jason, class of 10:
To elaborate even further, I'm not sure that there even exists a 'typical consultant/banker'. Everyone has had such a variety of experience, growing up in different places, attending different schools, and many have a lot of different jobs in addition to being a consultant/banker. Indeed, even within consulting/banking, there are so many ways to distinguish yourself, to seek out your own path, and etc. At the end of the day, what it really comes down to is who you are: which is why I'm always against someone using a 'profile' to determine whether he/she is suitable for a school. Indeed what is most important is not your profile, but the stories that you can tell about your life! For your reference as well :)
Response from myself:
Jason, it's great to see current student being active and help prospective students here on CD. Your background is impressive, too.
Let me elaborate more on what I meant about "typical consultant/banker." For consultant, if you join those big consulting firms right after college, it is a natural or sort of mandatory move to apply business school after 2 to 3 years of work because those big consulting firms need you to have a MBA degree to move up. Also for banker, even though you don’t need a MBA to be promoted from analyst to associate, many analysts tend to go to business school to 1) take a break 2) try something else after work 100+ hours per week for 3 years.
From my observation, 5-10 years ago, you can see many top b-school students with this type of “typical” background/experience”. 3 years in consulting/banking and then go to top b-school. However, I do see the percentage of this type of students is decreasing, especially for candidates with pure banking/consulting experience. Two main reasons:
1. Average age or years of working experience to enter business school becomes higher. (You are an extreme case which is very rare. The average age for class of 07 is 28.6 and average year of working experience is 6 years.) Understand HBS and Stanford started to look for young talents these years but you can see the average year of working experience is still higher than say 5 or 10 years ago. Having said that, people with 3 year pure banking/consulting experience need to try hard to persuade adcom to admit them.
2. Bankers and consultants are too busy to work on GMAT and application. Imaging if a person works till mid-night everyday, has almost no weekend and travel every week, it will be tough for him/her to focus on application and we both know MBA application is not just filling the forms.
However, from my perspective, consultants are at better position than bankers to apply business schools. Few reasons
1) The firm will prepare and sponsor them to go to business school. For Mckinsey, they have very comprehensive training and materials to help BAs to apply business school. Also their senior people all have MBAs and know the application process well.
2) Consultants tend to have more diversified working experience from and hours is not as crazy as bankers.
3) Many consulting firms have the policy “up or leave.” You need to have an MBA to move up.
4) Bankers were paid too well before. If you can earn +200K (USD) a year, spending 70K to go to business (a year) means your yearly opportunity cost is 270K.
I can’t agree more on there is no typical candidate/career path to promise you to get into top business school. The most important thing is you need to tell and persuade adcom why you need a MBA and why you.
Q: Is Wharton looking for certain types of candidate?
A:No. Wharton is looking for good candidates in every industry. As Ialways say, if you have unique background/experience, you are likely tohave better chance to get in than typical consultants/bankers as a lotof them are applying and every school is trying to diversify itsstudent pool.
Response from Vickiyan, class of 08:
I would like to elaborate this point a little bit more:
I'm not quite sure that Wharton is looking for candidate in every industryintentionally, but I believe what Wharton is looking for are goodcandidates. No bias on the background, and I don't think the diversityis intentionally designed and picked out: good candidates happen to bespreading out in every industry. What impressed people most are alwaysthe personal qualities: achievements, solid skills (hard+soft) andpersonality.
For your reference.
Response from Jason, class of 10:
To elaborate even further, I'm not sure that there even exists a 'typical consultant/banker'. Everyone has had such a variety of experience, growing up in different places, attending different schools, and many have a lot of different jobs in addition to being a consultant/banker. Indeed, even within consulting/banking, there are so many ways to distinguish yourself, to seek out your own path, and etc. At the end of the day, what it really comes down to is who you are: which is why I'm always against someone using a 'profile' to determine whether he/she is suitable for a school. Indeed what is most important is not your profile, but the stories that you can tell about your life! For your reference as well :)
Response from myself:
Jason, it's great to see current student being active and help prospective students here on CD. Your background is impressive, too.
Let me elaborate more on what I meant about "typical consultant/banker." For consultant, if you join those big consulting firms right after college, it is a natural or sort of mandatory move to apply business school after 2 to 3 years of work because those big consulting firms need you to have a MBA degree to move up. Also for banker, even though you don’t need a MBA to be promoted from analyst to associate, many analysts tend to go to business school to 1) take a break 2) try something else after work 100+ hours per week for 3 years.
From my observation, 5-10 years ago, you can see many top b-school students with this type of “typical” background/experience”. 3 years in consulting/banking and then go to top b-school. However, I do see the percentage of this type of students is decreasing, especially for candidates with pure banking/consulting experience. Two main reasons:
1. Average age or years of working experience to enter business school becomes higher. (You are an extreme case which is very rare. The average age for class of 07 is 28.6 and average year of working experience is 6 years.) Understand HBS and Stanford started to look for young talents these years but you can see the average year of working experience is still higher than say 5 or 10 years ago. Having said that, people with 3 year pure banking/consulting experience need to try hard to persuade adcom to admit them.
2. Bankers and consultants are too busy to work on GMAT and application. Imaging if a person works till mid-night everyday, has almost no weekend and travel every week, it will be tough for him/her to focus on application and we both know MBA application is not just filling the forms.
However, from my perspective, consultants are at better position than bankers to apply business schools. Few reasons
1) The firm will prepare and sponsor them to go to business school. For Mckinsey, they have very comprehensive training and materials to help BAs to apply business school. Also their senior people all have MBAs and know the application process well.
2) Consultants tend to have more diversified working experience from and hours is not as crazy as bankers.
3) Many consulting firms have the policy “up or leave.” You need to have an MBA to move up.
4) Bankers were paid too well before. If you can earn +200K (USD) a year, spending 70K to go to business (a year) means your yearly opportunity cost is 270K.
I can’t agree more on there is no typical candidate/career path to promise you to get into top business school. The most important thing is you need to tell and persuade adcom why you need a MBA and why you.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Should I apply later round?
Again, I have been asking by many friends/students recently about this question. Below is an article from business week which provides candid analysis.
http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/feb2009/bs20090212_798608.htm
http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/feb2009/bs20090212_798608.htm
Wharton Interview Tips
Recently I have been asked by many prospective students about this topic. Let me try to share some thoughts in a Q&A format
Q: What does Wharton interview look like?
A: 1) It's a blind interview, which means the only thing interviewer has is your resume. 2) The interviewers tend to ask more detail about your background/experience to help the adcom cross check what you wrote on your essays is consistent with what you say. 3) For international students, the interviewers also need to make sure the candidate's English is good enough to study the courses and contribute to the class discussion.
Q: Should I choose hub interview or alumni interview?
A: It depends (cliché). For hub, the interview will be conducted by people from adcom. It means you will be interviewed by well-trained interviewers. Good things are 1) the questions will be more "standard" and it is unlikely to see "unexpected" questions. 2) they could be more objective to examine your candidacy. However, on the other hand, it will be more difficult to "impress" the interviewer and you can be easily compared with other candidates on a relative performance basis.
For international students whose native language is not English, if you speak English well and have strong communication skill, maybe hub interview will help you stand out. On the other hand, if you know some alumnus with the same background/career path like you and he/she happens to be on your interviewer list, maybe you will find chemistry with that person.
Q: Is Wharton looking for certain types of candidate?
A: No. Wharton is looking for good candidates in every industry. As I always say, if you have unique background/experience, you are likely to have better chance to get in than typical consultants/bankers as a lot of them are applying and every school is trying to diversify its student pool. Wharton doesn't care how many other business schools you are applying and interviewer will not grill you on this. As long as the school thinks you are good and wants you, you will be admitted.
Q: What type of questions should I expect to be asked?
A: In general, interviewer will evaluate a candidate on the following areas. 1) Professional Development & Career Goals: what's your career path, progress, short-term and long-term goals? Why MBA? Why now? Why Wharton? 2) Soft Skills: communication skill, passion, energy, interpersonal skill, attitude, maturity, poise, etc. 3) Contributions: extracurricular activities, social services, hobbies, etc. In addition, you should expect some unconventional questions because the interviewer wants to see how you think and whether you can communicate effectively.
Q: Any special tips to crack the Wharton interview?
A: Unfortunately, no. Be well-prepared, be confident, be open-minded. Show your urgency, your passion and your commitment to have a MBA degree from Wharton at this stage of your life. Also, practice makes things perfect.
Q: What does Wharton interview look like?
A: 1) It's a blind interview, which means the only thing interviewer has is your resume. 2) The interviewers tend to ask more detail about your background/experience to help the adcom cross check what you wrote on your essays is consistent with what you say. 3) For international students, the interviewers also need to make sure the candidate's English is good enough to study the courses and contribute to the class discussion.
Q: Should I choose hub interview or alumni interview?
A: It depends (cliché). For hub, the interview will be conducted by people from adcom. It means you will be interviewed by well-trained interviewers. Good things are 1) the questions will be more "standard" and it is unlikely to see "unexpected" questions. 2) they could be more objective to examine your candidacy. However, on the other hand, it will be more difficult to "impress" the interviewer and you can be easily compared with other candidates on a relative performance basis.
For international students whose native language is not English, if you speak English well and have strong communication skill, maybe hub interview will help you stand out. On the other hand, if you know some alumnus with the same background/career path like you and he/she happens to be on your interviewer list, maybe you will find chemistry with that person.
Q: Is Wharton looking for certain types of candidate?
A: No. Wharton is looking for good candidates in every industry. As I always say, if you have unique background/experience, you are likely to have better chance to get in than typical consultants/bankers as a lot of them are applying and every school is trying to diversify its student pool. Wharton doesn't care how many other business schools you are applying and interviewer will not grill you on this. As long as the school thinks you are good and wants you, you will be admitted.
Q: What type of questions should I expect to be asked?
A: In general, interviewer will evaluate a candidate on the following areas. 1) Professional Development & Career Goals: what's your career path, progress, short-term and long-term goals? Why MBA? Why now? Why Wharton? 2) Soft Skills: communication skill, passion, energy, interpersonal skill, attitude, maturity, poise, etc. 3) Contributions: extracurricular activities, social services, hobbies, etc. In addition, you should expect some unconventional questions because the interviewer wants to see how you think and whether you can communicate effectively.
Q: Any special tips to crack the Wharton interview?
A: Unfortunately, no. Be well-prepared, be confident, be open-minded. Show your urgency, your passion and your commitment to have a MBA degree from Wharton at this stage of your life. Also, practice makes things perfect.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Still want to be an I-Banker?
Below is an article I posted on a forum in 2006 after I accepted a Summer Associate offer from Goldman Sach HK office. Hope this is helpful for Chinese MBA candidates who are thinking about being an I-banker in HK.
[delete]...well, you probably ask the right person. I just accepted the IBD offer in HK. However, the information is only for this year (2006).
From the perspective of an international student, it is "extremely competitive" to get a IBD position even in Hong Kong. Why? Below are my 2 cents:
1. Who are going to apply IBD positions in HK?
a. People from Asia (including China, Korean, India, Singapore, etc)
b. Asian from US (ABCs)
c. Some US native students who can speak Asia language or are interested in Asia. (believe or not, this number is increasing significantly every year)
2. How many IBD summer offers in HK? (2006) Goldman (8), Morgan (around 5-7), Merrill (around 5), JP (around 6), Citi (around 5), UBS (not sure, but probably fewer than 5), Lehman (probably fewer than 5), Credit Suesse (3), DB (around 5), HSBC (around 10) --> In total, there are around 40~50 openings.
Honestly, our major competitors are those people, especially Asian from US. They are native in English, conversational to native level in Mandarin and have decent US experience. And also some people they had banking or related experience before. They are strong candidates too.
3. Maybe this year (2006) is more competitve because the media kept saying how much bonus bankers earn and therefore more people applied banking job. Goldman told me that if they pile up all the resumes they received this year from top b-school, it's higher than 4 feet.
4. As far as I know, at Wharton this year, there are around 15 people received the offer and around 11 people are pretty sure to accept the offer. Out of 15, only 6 are directly from Greater China (Mainland, HK, and Taiwan)
5. I met some students from other top b-schools during the HK career trek and Super Days. I have to say some of them are pretty strong candidates especially from those top financial-orieted schools. As I mentioned before, good MBA program could open doors for you. You will have equal chances to compete. But how to stand out among all these strong candidates, that's the question you have to think about.
[delete]...well, you probably ask the right person. I just accepted the IBD offer in HK. However, the information is only for this year (2006).
From the perspective of an international student, it is "extremely competitive" to get a IBD position even in Hong Kong. Why? Below are my 2 cents:
1. Who are going to apply IBD positions in HK?
a. People from Asia (including China, Korean, India, Singapore, etc)
b. Asian from US (ABCs)
c. Some US native students who can speak Asia language or are interested in Asia. (believe or not, this number is increasing significantly every year)
2. How many IBD summer offers in HK? (2006) Goldman (8), Morgan (around 5-7), Merrill (around 5), JP (around 6), Citi (around 5), UBS (not sure, but probably fewer than 5), Lehman (probably fewer than 5), Credit Suesse (3), DB (around 5), HSBC (around 10) --> In total, there are around 40~50 openings.
Honestly, our major competitors are those people, especially Asian from US. They are native in English, conversational to native level in Mandarin and have decent US experience. And also some people they had banking or related experience before. They are strong candidates too.
3. Maybe this year (2006) is more competitve because the media kept saying how much bonus bankers earn and therefore more people applied banking job. Goldman told me that if they pile up all the resumes they received this year from top b-school, it's higher than 4 feet.
4. As far as I know, at Wharton this year, there are around 15 people received the offer and around 11 people are pretty sure to accept the offer. Out of 15, only 6 are directly from Greater China (Mainland, HK, and Taiwan)
5. I met some students from other top b-schools during the HK career trek and Super Days. I have to say some of them are pretty strong candidates especially from those top financial-orieted schools. As I mentioned before, good MBA program could open doors for you. You will have equal chances to compete. But how to stand out among all these strong candidates, that's the question you have to think about.
申請MBA突出不完美 國外商學院更欣賞
It is an interesting article which provides good insight of applying top b-school from adcom's perspective.
來源：網路 編輯：Adam Cheng
在世界頂級商學院參加的MBA巡展上，申請技巧和成功率總是申請者最關心的問題。商學院招生人員普遍認為，中國申請者的申請材料過於完美，而商學院一般更欣賞那些指出自己不足的申請材料。中國申請者在申請國外商學院時到底應該注意哪些細節？
- 國際化: 海外申請者可以提升學院價值
Duke Fuqua商學院招生辦公室副主任Meghan Leypoldt說，商學院的國際化和多樣性不僅體現在國際學生的比例上，而且其全球學術旅行體驗為學生提供了學習其他國家文化和經濟、與全球的企業領導會面的機會。杜克總是確保加強多文化的學校環境，這才是商學院國際化實力的體現。
Stanford商學院招生主任Mansour認為，國際化可以給學校帶來很多不同的活力因子，這是包括中國申請者在內的海外申請者能夠帶給商學院的價值所在。首先，從職業層面來講，來自不同文化背景的學生可以把從工作中總結出的啟迪智慧的經驗和同學分享。其次，從個人層面講，有的學生來自軍營，有的曾隨父母在世界各地生活過，這些學生獨特的生活經驗將給周圍的學員帶來一種有益的體驗。
-職業規劃: 國際學生頗受職業規劃照顧
商學院培養學生的目標就在於就業，所以很多商學院在學生進校之初就開始替學生張羅著“找工作”了。Stanford商學院招生主任Seda P. Mansour表示，Stanford的每個MBA都會有非常嚴謹的職業規劃設計，在他們進入校園的第一天，商學院就會給他們安排職業顧問，這些職業顧問可能將陪伴他們度過兩年短暫而緊張的時光。Seda P. Mansour還透露，學校將給國際學生配備專門的職業規劃師負責他們的職業生涯指導，可以說外國人在Stanford商學院是頗受照顧的。
-申請過程面試機會: 學校招生政策決定面試名額的數量
Duke Fuqua商學院招生辦公室副主任Meghan Leypoldt透露，Duke 給每個申請者都提供面試機會。儘管面試不是硬性規定的，但它增加了申請者展現多方面特點的機會。據了解，美國的CMU商學院、North Carolina、Thunderbird、Maryland等著名商學院都會提供給中國申請者提前面試的機會。
不過，Stanford商學院招生主任Mansour表示，因為申請者太多了，而且每個申請者的機會都應該是均等的，所以斯坦福不會給任何一個申請者提前面試的機會，而是在經過申請材料的遴選之後才決定面試名額的歸屬。
其實對於申請頂尖商學院的人來講，有些學校獲得面試機會就等於成功了一半，故而美國頂尖商學院的哪怕一次面試機會都是非常寶貴的。
-申請技巧: 要學會向招生人員表明自己的目標
沃頓商學院招生主任托馬斯·卡裏指出，大部分中國申請者把自己所有優點全部羅列在申請材料上面。對於此類的中國申請者，沃頓一般是不予考慮的，因為每個人都有自己的特質，不可能包含這麼多大家都有的優點。沃頓所希望看到的中國申請者應該具備三種素質：第一是強烈的求知慾望；第二是激情，看他是否擁有一種激情能從早上的夢鄉中突然醒來；第三必須要有一種強烈的感染力，感染周圍的學員，將優秀的個性和品格在沃頓與同學分享。
加州Berkeley大學Hass商學院招生委員會主席Mr. Pete Johnson表示，大部分中國申請者都具有很強的專業技術背景和很高的GMAT分數，以及豐富的工作經驗。但是這一疊看似完美的申請材料往往會由於申請者缺乏必要的英文溝通能力，而不能得到很好的展示。一個常犯的錯誤就是中國申請者總是在試圖回答問題，希望以此來取悅招生委員會，但這個答案並沒有表明他們的目標和志向。
-訪談: 中國學生“軟技巧”不足
專訪對象：Seda P. Mansour，Stanford 商學院MBA招生主任
Q: Stanford商學院是否針對中國制定了招生名額分配計劃或者限制標準？
A: 2008年我們在全球共招收了370名學生，中國學生大約有四個。學院很難對每個地區給出具體的名額，我們招收學生以人為標準，每一個地方獲得Offer的多少，取決於申請者的品質高低。
Q: 學院如何比較和評判有國有企業、中小企業和跨國公司工作經驗的申請者？
A: 在招生委員會眼中工作經驗只是考察的二十個方面之一，我們不是按照行業錄取的。來自跨國企業的申請者錄取人數最多，但是這是由於中國的國有企業和中小企業申請者人數本來就較前者少了很多。
Q: 在你印象裏，中國學生在Stanford商學院表現如何？
A: 中國學生的數學出奇地好，完全可以做其他學生的老師。不過，中國學生在商務溝通、市場行銷等課程上則顯得“軟技巧”存在不足。
來源：網路 編輯：Adam Cheng
在世界頂級商學院參加的MBA巡展上，申請技巧和成功率總是申請者最關心的問題。商學院招生人員普遍認為，中國申請者的申請材料過於完美，而商學院一般更欣賞那些指出自己不足的申請材料。中國申請者在申請國外商學院時到底應該注意哪些細節？
- 國際化: 海外申請者可以提升學院價值
Duke Fuqua商學院招生辦公室副主任Meghan Leypoldt說，商學院的國際化和多樣性不僅體現在國際學生的比例上，而且其全球學術旅行體驗為學生提供了學習其他國家文化和經濟、與全球的企業領導會面的機會。杜克總是確保加強多文化的學校環境，這才是商學院國際化實力的體現。
Stanford商學院招生主任Mansour認為，國際化可以給學校帶來很多不同的活力因子，這是包括中國申請者在內的海外申請者能夠帶給商學院的價值所在。首先，從職業層面來講，來自不同文化背景的學生可以把從工作中總結出的啟迪智慧的經驗和同學分享。其次，從個人層面講，有的學生來自軍營，有的曾隨父母在世界各地生活過，這些學生獨特的生活經驗將給周圍的學員帶來一種有益的體驗。
-職業規劃: 國際學生頗受職業規劃照顧
商學院培養學生的目標就在於就業，所以很多商學院在學生進校之初就開始替學生張羅著“找工作”了。Stanford商學院招生主任Seda P. Mansour表示，Stanford的每個MBA都會有非常嚴謹的職業規劃設計，在他們進入校園的第一天，商學院就會給他們安排職業顧問，這些職業顧問可能將陪伴他們度過兩年短暫而緊張的時光。Seda P. Mansour還透露，學校將給國際學生配備專門的職業規劃師負責他們的職業生涯指導，可以說外國人在Stanford商學院是頗受照顧的。
-申請過程面試機會: 學校招生政策決定面試名額的數量
Duke Fuqua商學院招生辦公室副主任Meghan Leypoldt透露，Duke 給每個申請者都提供面試機會。儘管面試不是硬性規定的，但它增加了申請者展現多方面特點的機會。據了解，美國的CMU商學院、North Carolina、Thunderbird、Maryland等著名商學院都會提供給中國申請者提前面試的機會。
不過，Stanford商學院招生主任Mansour表示，因為申請者太多了，而且每個申請者的機會都應該是均等的，所以斯坦福不會給任何一個申請者提前面試的機會，而是在經過申請材料的遴選之後才決定面試名額的歸屬。
其實對於申請頂尖商學院的人來講，有些學校獲得面試機會就等於成功了一半，故而美國頂尖商學院的哪怕一次面試機會都是非常寶貴的。
-申請技巧: 要學會向招生人員表明自己的目標
沃頓商學院招生主任托馬斯·卡裏指出，大部分中國申請者把自己所有優點全部羅列在申請材料上面。對於此類的中國申請者，沃頓一般是不予考慮的，因為每個人都有自己的特質，不可能包含這麼多大家都有的優點。沃頓所希望看到的中國申請者應該具備三種素質：第一是強烈的求知慾望；第二是激情，看他是否擁有一種激情能從早上的夢鄉中突然醒來；第三必須要有一種強烈的感染力，感染周圍的學員，將優秀的個性和品格在沃頓與同學分享。
加州Berkeley大學Hass商學院招生委員會主席Mr. Pete Johnson表示，大部分中國申請者都具有很強的專業技術背景和很高的GMAT分數，以及豐富的工作經驗。但是這一疊看似完美的申請材料往往會由於申請者缺乏必要的英文溝通能力，而不能得到很好的展示。一個常犯的錯誤就是中國申請者總是在試圖回答問題，希望以此來取悅招生委員會，但這個答案並沒有表明他們的目標和志向。
-訪談: 中國學生“軟技巧”不足
專訪對象：Seda P. Mansour，Stanford 商學院MBA招生主任
Q: Stanford商學院是否針對中國制定了招生名額分配計劃或者限制標準？
A: 2008年我們在全球共招收了370名學生，中國學生大約有四個。學院很難對每個地區給出具體的名額，我們招收學生以人為標準，每一個地方獲得Offer的多少，取決於申請者的品質高低。
Q: 學院如何比較和評判有國有企業、中小企業和跨國公司工作經驗的申請者？
A: 在招生委員會眼中工作經驗只是考察的二十個方面之一，我們不是按照行業錄取的。來自跨國企業的申請者錄取人數最多，但是這是由於中國的國有企業和中小企業申請者人數本來就較前者少了很多。
Q: 在你印象裏，中國學生在Stanford商學院表現如何？
A: 中國學生的數學出奇地好，完全可以做其他學生的老師。不過，中國學生在商務溝通、市場行銷等課程上則顯得“軟技巧”存在不足。
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