First course at SJTU: Impressions

The first class of the quarter, International Business, ended today. Overall it was a good class, highlighted by an outstanding professor (Dr M S S El Namaki) and a challenging classroom environment.

El Namaki was born in Egypt, and raised in Holland. Probably about 60 years old, he now lives in Dubai but spends most of his time travelling all over East Asia teaching executive programs at various universities, corporations, and governments. His career is not 100% clear in his bio, but was revealed during his lectures. It has included McKinsey, Philips (Holland), Time Magazine, followed by consulting with many governments (China, Thailand, Kazakhstan, Egypt,..., European Union). To say the least, he offered personal experiences for just about every issue raised in his lectures and by the students.

Kien and I agree, he would be a great candidate if a Fares Boulos replacement was ever needed. His lectures, selected case studies, and follow-up stories definitely imparted many meaningful strategic lessons and theories into my brain. It was more effective than Fares.

Here's how the classes progressed:

45-75 minutes of lecture, followed by a live case, all having China flavor. The case was typically presented in print media or video. Afterward, groups assembled for about 30 minutes to create a presentation using material from the lecture. No PowerPoint- just poster paper and markers. Definitely 'on the spot' thinking, group organization, and problem solving. Of course, depth of analysis was lost in these quick cases, but the shear number solidly drove his lectures home for me.

The classroom environment was a distraction, however, and often frustrating. I didn't think I would use "shhhh" so frequently in my life ever again, but Kien and I found ourselves doing it almost daily. It is clear that the interest in education, the level of respect for classmates, and the level of professionalism is much higher at UW than at any other program represented here. What does that say about these programs? One thing is for sure- they are definitely not the same as an American MBA Program. As jerilyn said in a previous post- excessive talking was prevalent every day. During lectures, during presentations. We didn't have the 'luxury' of a seating chart as we did during our core classes at UW (hah!) but the absense rate would have been embarassing as well.

Overall, it was definitely a worthwhile class, but we'll see what the next class brings soon.

But first: some time for travelling!