But, at the same time, I did not want to just study. MBA is not just about preparing yourself in the classroom but also to experience life outside. My choice of coming to Europe and especially Berlin was to experience what the city and continent have to offer me. As much as I spent time in the program, I had given time to see Berlin and Europe, enjoy occasional beers (sorry guys, I am still a lousy drinker) and food.
One thing for sure, I have put to rest a topic that I want so much to explore – technology decision making. I had this idea two years ago when I was scouting for an MBA program and always wanted to explore what goes behind the mind of each decision maker. How did they make technology investment decisions? In the last one month, I finally had the chance to research on this topic for my master’s thesis. I was also fortunate to have the support of my ex-colleagues in Malaysia; some of whom were in the senior management level. They were all very forthcoming in their responses and shared their decision making thoughts with me. Not forgetting were the “new colleagues” from Germany – again, some of them were senior decision makers who also shared their wisdom. I added a twist to the topic by looking into media hype and its influence on decision making. I got in touch with a leading researcher in this topic from Gotland University in Sweden and Bo “Bosse” Lennstrand was helpful in giving some hints on what to look out for. In the end, I am pleased with the final product. While the topic was a “heavyweight” for a one-month effort, in the end, I have addressed the key questions that I was in my mind for two years.
Recently, I went to London for a two-day telecoms conference. It was exciting to hear from industry leaders on the challenges and opportunities in the telecommunications industry for the next two to three years. Someone once told me that it would be a sunset industry but in the last 14 years, the industry has never failed to excite me. The topics and trends raised during the conference raised my awareness of what are coming soon and how I should prepare myself for them. My recent MBA consulting project on the opportunities and strategies for a smartphone operating system (OS) showed how exciting this industry would be. Are you ready for my return to the mainstream?
Jimmy Low
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