We had four cases to review for ABP ahead of intensive week. There were two sets of cases. One for regular discussion in class, the other was a group assignment. So group 1 and group 2 tackled one case, while group 3 and 4 also tackled the other case. Additionally, we were also to read cases assigned to other groups. So we could contribute effectively in their case discussion.
We had to find solution for this work volume. There was no competition as to which should take top priority. The group work was assigned a great portion of our assessment so we decided to make that top priority. The remaining three cases would be tackled after we were comfortable with the progress of the group work.
Preparations
I read the group work case once as usual to get an overview. I immediately realized that the quantitative analysis would require a background in finance. So I put members of our group with finance background on notice.
We booked 2 hours on Tuesday night to review it. We spent the first hour and a half mostly arguing about mundane issues in the case. When we finally got into the case analysis, one of my colleagues just pointed out that we would be better served splitting into different teams to tackle the case. One team will look at the quantitative objective whiles the second team will look at the qualitative objective. Why had know one thought about that earlier? It was difficult to manage a discussion with all 11 team members. We split up immediately as there was no time to waste.
In the quantitative team, we discussed possible ways to analyze the problem. There was no clear path to analyze the problem, so we had to dig deep. One by one, people brought out ratios we could use for analyses. Eventually, we abandoned the work 3 hours in, an hour beyond our plan. We were all exhausted from our 9 to 5 lectures during the day. Fortunately, someone volunteered to complete the assessment.
We met the following day in person to continue the review. We split into two groups just as we did the night before. By the end of the allotted time, we had finished our analyses. All we needed was to put it into a slide deck. Or so we thought.
Something has to give
Analyzing ABP cases, has not been easy for anyone in class. I was wary that there might be another angle we could consider. Eventually, I came up with one and discussed with the team member who led the quantitative analyses. However, he said there wasn’t enough data but he will look at it again.
Meanwhile, there were three other cases which required our attention. Since two of the cases were to be reviewed in class on Thursday, we decided to review on Wednesday night. We would review the second case during group meeting the following day.
We decided experiment with the remaining cases. Individuals chose which case they wanted to review. We hoped to cover more cases that way. So we each chose a case and set the meeting times. We would take one case at night, and the second during our group meeting the following day.
The evening meeting went relatively well. However, some people who volunteered to read the case did not do so. They were mostly silent during the discussion. Fortunately, those who read it did a very good job with the break down, as I left the meeting satisfied.
The following day, we went for lectures as usual. It was only after recess that we realized that there was no group session on the timetable that day. Some how, we missed that completely. We could not turn back the hands of time, so we took it in our stride.
Join me in the next blog to continue this story…
#emba27
First Intensive Week – Part 2