One of the most challenging aspects of completing an MBA in just 1 year has got to be the time-scales involved for everything, it’s very concise.

At just 5 weeks in we are entering a transition period, with modules starting to finish, tutorials occurring and assignments being finished ahead of our first deadlines.

November 22nd is the day of our first deadlines, we have a marketing audit to hand in on a business of our choice – I’ve chosen, fairly predictably I guess, a cycling clothing company – focusing on their women’s range in particular (fascinating stuff!), we also have a case study for Human Resources comparing and contrasting strategies of strategies within a head office environment (not quite as fascinating but equally as important!)

What makes them so much fun, and by golly I mean that, is that they involve so much reading, so much learning and applying newly codified skills in a practical manner. At 4,000 words apiece they are still quite short in the grand scheme of things, but certainly long enough to put some meat on the bones of any argument that you make.

With access to a cornucopia of business resources (more than simply google) it’s an absolute pleasure to be able to this level of reading. The marketing assignment journey has taken me from branding, marketing, gender relations, brain chemistry, hormones, social policy and back to cycling – there’s never a dull day!

In just one week’s time we start on block 2 of our modules, bringing to an end the study of Marketing, Economics, HR and Operations – it’s a whirlwind! We cover more in 5 weeks than the undergrads do in a full year – a great deal of this coming from reading before and after the lectures – without wishing to sound like a broken record, if you don’t like reading then this may not be the route for you!

It’s always hard to quantify exactly how much actual learning occurs within the lectures – from having spent the last 20 years working there’s obviously some learning going on – however the frameworks that are erected around existing knowledge fill in plenty of gaps.

To be able to devote so much brain time to complex after hours reading is an absolute pleasure – I’m looking forward to block 2!

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”

            Dr. Seuss, I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!