Finance went well today. I and Gong Ping, my Chinese classmate, finished first so we spent some time playing ping pong before studying for tomorrow’s Strategy exam. He is much more accomplished than I at ping pong (He’s been playing since he was 3!) so he coached me on my forehand smashes. It was very helpful and I appreciate his willingness to work with me instead of just beating me mercilessly. The spirit of collaboration at IMD extends all way to recreational sports!
Now I am wading through 100+ pages of a Strategy case (plus supporting materials) in preparation for tomorrow’s Strategy exam. The case, unfortunately, was written at Harvard Business School. We have noticed all year that HBS cases tend to be much, much longer than IMD cases, requiring much more time to read and much more focus to distill out the relevant details. No wonder it takes American programs two years to finish an MBA!