Online MBA Forum

I'm finding that working this MBA network is going to be frustrating, although I suspect that when I get a positive answer it is going to be really successful. As with many good people, everyone is really busy, and I'm finding it difficult to get through to talk to people.

Although I can email everyone, of course if the email is not at the top of their priority list they simply read it and leave it alone, so I use this as a first pass, and then ring everyone and talk to the email.

Most people and sort of interested but they want further information - sort of a put off. However, I suspect as in all these things, persistance will pay off in the end.

Well, here is a typical example of networking, and how small the world can be. I worked in Zelenograd from 1993 to 2005, where the Russian part of my business was based.

Incredible, especially as my MBA friend is Russian, and a large part of his network is based in Russia - including Zelenograd, and Kazahkstan as well as Europe and the US. It proves that networks can be truly global, and that you don't have to worry where people are, just what they can contribute.

Of course, starting from the MBA experience gives you both a group of people who are likely to have skills, knowledge and qualities that will contribute to the network, and often other people who are also good at networking and can therefore extend your network.

Any educational program can bring many more benefits than just the course content, but an MBA is especially likely to introduce you to people and give opportunites that can be invaluable in your working life.

Actually I was really interested in reading your comments Failing Economist, as I ran a network company for around 6 years in the 1990s. I had a team of microchip designers working in Russia, marketing and finance in the UK, and clients (and joint venture partners) in the US, Hong Kong and Switzerland. Which of course was one reason that my MBA friend wanted to get me involved in his network venture.

And there is no reason at all why it shouldn't work, in fact we have just started to put things into train. In fact one great advantage is to make the most of the time zones. I live in New Zealand, so I work around a day ahead of the west coast of the US. A great advantage when you have timelines to keep, and one that I'm going to take advantage of. Of course, it also means that many of my telephone calls to Europe are likely to be late at night, but that's life.

I received an email this morning from my friend who studied an Executive MBA at Insead last year. He has started one new venture which is well on it's way, but now has put together another new proposal. The reason is that during his development process for his first venture, it became obvious that many of his colleagues were interested in new ventures, but were not in a position to risk their all at this stage. However, they do have some personal capital or expertise to contribute, and as long as they were only involved tangentially, they would be prepared to get involved.

He wants me to put together a project around a product that he has specified that will use these people and their capital, so that they can have some of the experience of entrepreneurship without all the terrible risk it can entail. I'm very interested, and I think it will give me a further insight into how people who have gone through the MBA process think and act.

The original managers of production companies were the people who invented and supervised production - think of the textile companies, and then the motor manufacturers, who bought in new technology and methods of production. After the early days of industrialization, the management function for a company was taken over by the financial people, mostly in the form of accountants who were responsible for reporting the financial state of the company. This happened for two reasons, one that there was a degree of mismangement and therefore new legislation to regulate industry, and then later because capital and production became separated to a degree.

Business management then went through a stage of looking like it was going to be led by the marketing function - indeed, to some extent it is today; many CEOs have a strong marketing background. However, this direction appears to be moderating to some extent, probably thanks to the increasing prevalence of people with MBAs. Today the good senior manager will be information oriented.