Champagne reception at Harris Manchester College. The weather was perfect and the ash cloud from Iceland made way for all of the guests!

Rosalind, Liam and Kristina

Arlosh Hall, before arrival of the guests

Thinking back to January 2008, I can still relate to the anticipation you’re feeling, not only because I remember all too vividly how anxious I felt during this same time two years ago, but also because this January, I stand on a different sort of threshold, with a significant birthday approaching swiftly on the horizon (and for the record, it’s not 30!).

I’d like to think our anxieties are not so different. You stand on the threshold of a most challenging, captivating and rewarding journey. You have as much to look forward to as you have to learn. You will further define and improve your standing within the Oxford community, at home, and within and beyond your organisations. You have embarked on this journey during a tenuous recovery from a crisis of global dimensions… You will approach this crisis by grasping opportunity with both hands…And you will of course soon come to appreciate that 63 is a number just as meaningful as 40!

No doubt you will want some advice about how to navigate through the EMBA and the ancient if even arcane traditions at this fine institution.

Firstly, don’t panic! You’ll soon master the mechanics of the EMBA, so don’t distress yourselves with the series of induction lectures concerning plagiarism, the examination schools, proctors and group assignments, that you have been listening to throughout this past week.

Secondly, focus on people at least as much as process. Process is crucial in time management, which will take on an entirely new dimension as you will soon master the timing and mechanics of assignment submissions, exam preparations, managing logistics of travel, work and family…

As regards people, although you were all strangers to one another just a few days ago, it won’t be long before the unique character of your cohort emerges. The Oxford EMBA, now in its 7th year, is not unlike wine; each cohort brings with it its unique vintage. Together, all of you will define what it means to be EMBA VII…  

At SBS and beyond, we await with eager anticipation!

We would also like to thank the Dean, Colin Mayer, The Director of the EMBA Programme, Stephan Chambers, the members of Faculty and all the EMBA staff who have assisted to make our lives as easy as possible over the last 21 months.

Kristina
In some ways it seems like only yesterday when we first arrived here in Oxford, apprehensive and excited about the journey upon which we were about to embark.  Since then there have been many trials and tribulations; the midnight oil has burned long and bright, and principles, beliefs and ethics have been tested to breaking point. We have been thrust into study groups and have toiled through individual assignments and dozens of case studies; by the end of this month we’ll have written more than a hundred thousand words and have submitted more than 40 assignments…

We have learned to speak confidently and persuasively using the most convincing MBA jargon that would impress even the most experienced business people around the world.

Cliff
However, we think we are quite safe in saying that although the entire class is extremely impressed with Saïd Business School faculty, and we are grateful for all that we have learned from them, they really have not made life very easy for us in any way whatsoever!

As a result of their efforts to equip us with the business wisdom required to fulfil our professional aspirations we have, to a large degree, become absent partners, parents and friends immersed and focused on a parallel and alien world of assignment deadlines, weekend conference calls and endless reading lists.

I am certain that I speak for the majority of students in saying that in order to manage the competing commitments between work, family and friends and studying, we have made a number of significant sacrifices.  We must remember however, that it is the silent party, those who have effectively lived through this MBA with us, who have had to make the most sacrifices.  Despite this, all the guests here today have all continued to support us throughout the course of our studies.  The time has now come for us to emerge from our shells of introspection, to recognise that our destiny is intrinsically linked to the destiny of those who support us, and for us to celebrate them.

To all partners, children, parents and friends, although this ceremony is billed as a celebration of our achievements, we think it only fitting that we should celebrate you.  We commend and thank-you for all that you have put up with over the last 21 months.
 
Kristina
Living in a modern world of instantaneous digital communication, and thank-you Sir Tim, we sometimes found that navigating through the ancient and arcane traditions of Oxford could be incredibly frustrating.  However, in much the same way that a conductor skilfully orchestrates complex harmonies and elusive melodies to create a symphony, so have the last 800 years of teaching allowed Oxford to master the art of educating and preparing students to become world leaders, innovators and beacons of inspiration.  Building on these foundations, SBS and its proud spirit of entrepreneurship fosters a culture that encourages and facilitates the germination of ideas that can be transformed into life changing applications.

As the final curtain draws to a close, the EMBA 5 cohort have begun to consider how we might realise the fruits of our investments and turn some of the ideas that have bubbled to the surface, into reality.

Whether these are new and innovative business ideas, or ways to improve our standing within our existing organisations, as we ruminate on the best way to achieve our goals in the face of one of the deepest financial crises that the world has ever seen, we must remember that the bank of opportunity is not bankrupt.  We are but an island in a vast ocean of opportunity and although potential investors may appear tentative at present, we must carry the conviction of our beliefs through to fruition.

Cliff
However, in looking to achieve our dreams we must also remember that the privilege of holding a degree from Oxford University brings with it responsibilities that, in our haste to better ourselves, are far too often forgotten.  Although it makes perfect sense that the journey may have started as a course of action to improve our individual brands and saleability, it is vitally important for us to remember that this undertaking is not solely about us.  We should ask not what an MBA from Oxford University can do for us, but what can we do for our MBA from Oxford University!

By challenging ourselves with this question, we’re not suggesting that we should all become philanthropists, but that we should have the courage to continue the process of change that started when we elected to do an MBA.  We need to change the way in which we think. 

Our macroeconomics lens shows us how growth is a result of both accumulation and progress. And whilst there is nothing inherently wrong with accumulation, we should remember that it is growth from progress that shifts the curve upwards…

When thinking about accumulation, FDR challenges us with these words:  “The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who already have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.”
 
Kristina
When thinking about our next steps, it’s also important to acknowledge that whilst the financial investment in our education may well take time before generating a return, we are already considerably more wealthy than we were when we started this journey, when we think about things from a social capital point of view… Social capital being the sense of civic-mindedness, shared values, trust and participation within our communities which grow ever wider as we exercise the impact of our education.

And just as we are now much better equipped to generate growth in financial capital, so must we endeavour to promote and share our wealth of social capital. We’ve become fluent experts in complex financial capital structures, instruments and transactions that are intended to generate growth and returns to investors; let us think with equal sophistication about how we can contribute our growing resources towards inclusion and social enterprise; let us include all of society in our definition of investors, because we are all bound together by a common future.

Indeed, objectives to raise financial capital and social capital are neither mutually exclusive nor incongruous. We are now better positioned than ever before to apply our tools towards the reconciliation of these intents.

George Bernard Shaw reminds us that, whilst “reasonable people adjust to the world around them, unreasonable people attempt to adapt the world to themselves. All progress in the world therefore depends on unreasonable people.”

Let us aspire to be unreasonable when answering the question, what will we do with our Oxford MBA?

So with these very forward-looking ambitions to consider, let’s set them aside to today celebrate the family and friends who have and will continue to support us throughout the very colourful journeys of yesterday and tomorrow.

EMBA V Class Reps, Cliff and Kristina

He eventually homed in two things I myself had reservations about: my frequent travel for work— how would I successfully navigate the demands of the programme? Most of my recent work related travel had been to the US to cover the primaries and general election, and now that that was over, I said, I’d be doing far more studio presentation.

The second was how I’d cope with the demanding quantitative component, seeing that my barely used engineering background was a long time in the past. I allowed that I was preparing for GMAT and getting a good sense of where I stood on algebraic matters.

Ginny Madeley from EMBA admissions kindly showed me around.

I came back to Saïd Business School in later that month, to cover the Silicon Valley Comes to Oxford event. I’m a techie, had done technology pieces for and presented the World Service’s technology programme, and talking with the guys like Biz Stone, the founder of Twitter and Reid Hoffman, chairman of LinkedIn, was like giving a greedy kid the keys to the chocolate shop.

I liked what I saw at Saïd Business School.

The quality of the lecture theatres was first-rate. I’d looked at some other biz schools and in this respect, the school’s teaching facilities were as good as any I’d seen.

I like the aesthetics of the building— brick, pale wood and glass modernism and high ceilings along the lecture theatre corridor.

The stone courtyard and the amphitheatre above look inviting. I had the feeling that as the days grew longer and, especially in the spring and summer, I’d really enjoy being at Saïd Business School.

Of course, the building has its critics, as I’ll show more fully in a later post. That muted mood lighting in the evening may look great along lecture theatre row but it doesn’t work in the library at night. MBAs and undergrads, who spend a longer time at Saïd Business School than we EMBAs do, find it wholly inadequate.

Nonetheless, I like the look and feel of Saïd Business School. I’d like to think that it’s not because I spend relatively little time there. Can’t wait for the summer. I hope we get an open air class in the amphitheatre. Never taken classes in sunglasses.