“May I take my work leave in four bits this year?” I asked my deputy manager. I wrote down the weeks I would need for the year. She approved it and forwarded it to my manager who gave his endorsement. I have successfully secured my time for the 2023 intensive week, and I looked forward to each of those. March 20 – 26th was the first intensive week, and I had got all I needed ready including travel tickets.
The governorship elections were postponed by a week, so the intensive week schedule was adjusted slightly. We had to do the first three days virtually, then resumed physically for the last three days. It was a busy time – group meetings, lectures, case study preparations, and class exercise reviews. My wife found it challenging that although I was home, I had no time for them. I found it demanding yet exciting and insightful.
On the Analysis of Business Problems (ABP) Course led by Dr. Yetunde Anibaba, we took the cases on Dima, Slamdex, Micorderm,, Mountain Man Brewing Company, and Ace Automotive. Dr. Anibaba outlined the steps we needed to take and kept leading us back to using them. “Determine the decision problem, define objectives, develop criteria, brainstorm alternatives, and evaluate the alternatives in line with the criteria” She often reiterated. She encouraged us to always ask the who, what, when, why, and how questions to help clarify our thoughts. I was forced to understand and interpret numbers and use them as the basis for solving problems.
Dima had the problem of determining whether to continue the operations of their grocery and frozen food departments since they had never made profits after the deduction of indirect costs. Micorderm needed to consider whether to continue selling Liderm, a product for the prevention & treatment of diaper rash, at losses under the Spanish Government’s Social Security Reimbursement Scheme (SSRS), pull out of the scheme and increase prices, or make a request for price increase with the SSRS officials. Mountain Man Brewing Company had the dilemma of either launching Mountain Man Light, a premium light beer, or keep selling Mountain Man lager beer, their decades-long performing beer. Changing Consumer preferences have lowered sales for the first time. Ace Automotive just began to have faults in their production line and needed to quickly determine the cause of the fault. A labor union conflict in the background complicates the fault identification. We had to look at the numbers, consider the constraints, and question the assumptions to reach solutions.
For Data Analytics, we began to look at the basic concept of probabilities and wound up with Bayes Theorem. Since several of us do not have solid quantitative backgrounds, we progressed at a slow pace. The jam-packed schedule did not permit enough time for personal brush-ups before and after classes. So, we had a tough time keeping tabs on which probability was conditional, joint, or posterior. Prof. Bongo Adi knew this and made efforts not to embarrass people or make them hate the class. We spent his last class addressing the constraints we had for his class and the entire MBA program. He took time to share encouragement and outline coping mechanisms. That derailed session was a huge relief for most of us since we were not prepared for the class.
The Dean’s Cup kicked off with the match between our class, MMBA4, and Full-time MBA 2021. We wore black and burnt orange jerseys. The match ended in a goalless draw. We were not sad about the scores because we still had other matches to play. Additionally, the initial goal that was scored by Full-time MBA 2021 was canceled because the player was not a member of the class. It was a fun and relaxing time – most of the class, including the ladies, were there to see the match and to cheerlead. The Inter-cohort team bonding was held immediately after the match; we joined in and had a sweet evening of games, talk, food, and networking.
*Featured Image: Members of MMBA4 Class before the Dean’s Cup Kick-off Match.
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