Archive for March, 2011

Doing well at GMAT

Before getting into MBA school, you must take the GMAT. Studying for your GMAT is rather difficult. Because of the nature of the test, the only way to prepare is to practice the kind of problems they include. Especially for the numeracy parts you simply have to go over and over questions until you become used to the problem-solving techniques needed to do them well.

The literacy tests are a little different in that they depend on your knowledge of the language that you are to study in – and usually for much of the business world this is English. If this is not your first language, this part becomes that much more difficult; the expected standard for the GMAT is fairly high. However it’s not impossible, and many of my acquaintances whose first language is not English have managed to score highly in their GMAT.

Product Differentiation

I started to look closely at Information Systems MBAs today. I’m working in conjunction with a university that is setting up a professional Masters degree in Technology Management and looking at others offering similar degrees.

Some of the MBAs I’ve looked at were clear in focus but gave a generalist background that would be a good addition for business administrators, but not so focused on technology. Others were doing more what we were doing.

Bottom line: if you are seeking a program that focuses on information systems and technology, make sure the core of the program does just that.

Mark Your Own

I’ve recently spent some time online working on a case study with a group of lecturers. The case study involves looking at group work in MBA programs — the big problem we have been wrestling with is how to assess group work.

We came up with a system that is as likely to work as any other. Each member of the group has to do an assessment of the work done in the group, including their own. They have to justify marks and comment on each member’s work using a five-criteria marking system.

Instructors are to have a panel interview with each student, discussing their progress and their mark allocation. We think that because they will have to defend their assessments face-to-face, it will help students work out with some objectivity on their own and other people’s performance.

Online Referencing

For many people who are studying an MBA online, receiving lectures and program materials electronically is an enormous benefit. It means you can read a lecture as many times as you need to absorb it – something that is never available if you are in a classroom. You do not need to concentrate on taking notes, and therefore you can work through the material, supplementing it with your own research.

In fact online study is in many ways a very different activity from studying in the classroom. You need to apply discipline to do it well, but on the other hand you have materials to hand at the times at which you study best. Lectures become just one of the many resources you have to hand to do your work well.

For me, the largest benefit of working online is that it is largely self documenting, and therefore I can reference almost all of my past study activities and communication with professors and peers. This, I have found, is invaluable.